Mel Bainbridge

I've spent two decades trying to build things that don't fit neatly into a business plan — sustainable local governments, impactful arts funding, and now, a fairer way for musicians to be paid for their work. I'm a creator as much as I'm a founder, so this was never theoretical for me. I've watched a fraction of a cent per stream decide whether a friend could pay rent that month.

It started in a kitchen in Perth in 2016, with my partner Harry, a bottle of red, and a shared fury at streaming royalties. We wrote down one half-serious question: what if Spotify, but not evil? That question became The Pack Music Co-operative.

The years since have taught me exactly who gets funded, and who doesn't. Twenty-five grant rejections. Five thousand dollars raised across six years of applications. A start-up scene that wasn't built for women of "a certain age" pitching ethics instead of exits. Eventually we stopped trying to win at capitalism and built a cooperative instead - one member, one vote, real people curating instead of algorithms, and seventy cents of every dollar straight to the artist who earned it.

Today I lead The Pack as Executive Director, work in impact design at Lotterywest, and still sing with Mama Red & the Dark Blues. Every part of that life points the same direction: toward systems that treat creative people as owners, not inventory.

What Australia is missing is a mature, working example of a platform cooperative in the creative industries. That's what this Fellowship offers - time with the researchers, builders and survivors of cooperative music platforms across the UK and Europe, so I can bring home more than inspiration. I want to bring home proof and tools, and finish building something Australian musicians can finally call fair.