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Mushroom Group breaks ties with Harbour Agency following complaints by former employees
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 7 December 2021
Australia’s Mushroom Group has broken its ties with the Sydney-based Harbour Agency following an external investigation into complaints made by former employees regarding workplace culture at the live music business. Although, for now at least, Mushroom still has a minority shareholding in the booking agency.
The specifics of the complaints made by the ex-staff members are not currently known. But in a statement to The Australian, Mushroom says that a number of former Harbour Agency employees had recently been in touch with “historical allegations about management behaviour and workplace culture”.
The corporate culture at music companies has been very much in the spotlight in Australia in recent months, of course, following the major exposé about working practices at Sony Music Australia under long-time former boss Denis Handlin, who was axed by the major in June. In August, Universal Music then also announced it had launched an investigation into allegations of harassment and bullying at its Australian division.
In its statement regarding the complaints made about the Harbour Agency, Mushroom simply says: “Recently several former Harbour Agency staff contacted Mushroom with historical allegations about management behaviour and workplace culture [at] the Harbour Agency. External investigators were appointed and the concerns raised were investigated, including via interviews with a number of former staff. The issues raised by the investigation have been taken seriously and are now being addressed by the directors of Harbour Agency”.
Mushroom was also keen to stress that its day-to-day involvement in running the Sydney-based business was minimal. Mushroom founder Michael Gudinski was a director of the agency prior to his death earlier this year, and Harbour’s agents often work with their counterparts at the other booking agency within the Mushroom Group, Melbourne-based Premier Artists. However, “unlike all other Mushroom Group companies, [The Harbour Agency] has not shared HR, legal, finance or other group corporate services”.
“Mushroom doesn’t have a controlling shareholding in Harbour, nor input into the decision making process at Harbour”, the company’s statement continues. “The findings of the investigation emphasised the lack of direct day-to-day visibility and influence we have over the running of the Harbour business. At Mushroom, we take the creation of a positive and creative workplace culture seriously and, without the ability to influence the culture at Harbour, Mushroom has made the decision to formally separate the business from the group”.
The other directors of the Harbour Agency have confirmed that their business is no longer formally part of the Mushroom Group, although, their statement adds, actual ownership of the agency is unchanged. They also insist that they “take workplace culture very seriously”, and that any past issues with working practices have already been addressed. With that in mind, they also basically criticise Mushroom’s investigation into the complaints by former employees for not interviewing current staff members.
In a statement to The Music Network, the agency’s directors say: “The governance of the agency has remained under review with Mushroom not taking up a seat on the board since the passing of Michael Gudinski. During this time, the [other] founding members Frank Stivala and Philip Jacobsen, along with the dedicated staff of the Harbour Agency, have continued to provide a high level of service to our clients and the wider industry”.
“There have been suggestions of historical workplace culture issues within the Harbour Agency”, they add. “The Harbour agency takes workplace culture very seriously. We are proud to promote an inclusive, culturally diverse and safe environment which nurtures the skills of budding industry leaders as well as extending these values to our clients and the industry as a whole. In effect, any previous issues within the Harbour Agency have been assessed and dealt with over a period of time as is consistent with our values”.
They go on: “At no point during Mushroom’s external investigation were any current employees interviewed. Had these accounts been included, the findings may have told a different story. The agency has remained fully operational over a very difficult period of time for the live music industry. We have stood unwavering, in our service to our employees, our client base and the wider community”.
“Moving forward”, they conclude, “The Harbour Agency will continue to operate independently. Whilst the company is being restructured, it will not preclude or prohibit our dealings with the many great companies within the Mushroom Group”.
