Mushroom 50

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Mushroom Group, Australia's largest independent music and entertainment company. Throughout their 50-year history, the Mushroom Group has continued to nurture and support local and international artists through recording, publishing, touring, booking, management and creative services amongst others.

In 1972, a 20-year-old Michael Gudinski and business partner Ray Evans launched independent label Mushroom Records. Their ambitious debut release was a triple-disc compilation, The Great Australian Rock Festival – Sunbury ‘73, which features live recordings of 17 Australian artists from Sunbury Music Festival. From this first release, Mushroom Records would go on to become the largest independent label in Australian music history.

Mushroom Records had their first commercial success in 1975 with Skyhooks’ debut album, Living In The 70’s (1974), the highest-selling Australian album to be released up until that time. Throughout the decades, the label continued this success with albums including Split Enz’ True Colours (1980), Kylie Minogue’s Kylie (1988), Jimmy Barnes’ Soul Deep (1991), Yothu Yindi’s Tribal Voice (1991), The Temper Trap’s Conditions (2008), and Vance Joy’s Dream Your Life Away (2014).

Now comprised of over two-dozen subsidiary companies, the Mushroom Group has launched and developed the careers of iconic Australian artists such as Christine Anu, Bliss n Eso, Deborah Conway, Renée Geyer, Ruby Hunter, Hunters & Collectors, Julia Jacklin, Paul Kelly, No Fixed Address, Archie Roach and Dan Sultan and brought some of the world’s biggest artists to our shores including Blondie, The Police, Frank Sinatra, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Foo Fighters.

The Mushroom Group have a long history of giving back to artists and the local community. In 2009 they staged Sound Relief, a multi-venue event which raised money for people affected by the Black Saturday bushfires and floods in Queensland. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mushroom Group developed a number of initiatives and events, including Music From The Home Front, The State of Music, The Sound and ALWAYS LIVE to ensure artists and fans alike stay connected to the music they love and support the industry on the path to recovery.

Michael Gudinski passed away on 2 March 2021. The following month, Matt Gudinski was appointed Chief Executive Officer, continuing his father’s legacy and leading the vision for the future of the Mushroom Group.

Read more about the history of the Mushroom Group in Jeff Jenkin’s article, The Man Who Created a Nation’s Mixtape: Michael Gudinski and 50 years of the Mushroom Group.