There’s a quiet revolution happening in Australian music, and it’s being led by a small label in Melbourne that most casual listeners have never heard of. Chapter Music has been operating since the mid-1990s, and their archival reissue program is doing something that no government institution, major label, or streaming platform is doing: preserving Australia’s musical history in physical form and making it accessible to new audiences.

What Chapter Music Does

Founded by Guy Blackman and Ben O’Connor, Chapter Music started as a contemporary indie label and has evolved into something much more significant. While they continue to release new music from Australian artists, their archival arm has become their most important cultural contribution.

The reissue program focuses on Australian music from the late 1970s through the 1990s that has fallen out of print, been forgotten, or was never widely available in the first place. We’re talking about post-punk, synth pop, experimental electronic, underground rock, and genre-defying music that was vital in its time but has since disappeared from the cultural conversation.

Each reissue is treated as a scholarly project. Original master tapes are sourced (when they can be found). Audio is remastered with care. Detailed liner notes provide historical context, often including interviews with the original artists. The vinyl pressings are quality productions from Zenith or reputable international plants.

Why It Matters

Australia has a frustrating habit of forgetting its own musical history. Acts that were significant in their time get overlooked by the international narrative, and without physical reissues, their music becomes inaccessible to new generations.

Chapter Music’s reissues have rescued records from obscurity that deserve to be heard. Some examples:

Essendon Airport. Melbourne’s experimental electronic collective from the early 1980s. Their music was years ahead of its time, combining synths, tape loops, and performance art in ways that wouldn’t become mainstream for decades. Without Chapter Music’s reissue, this music would exist only on deteriorating original pressings and a handful of digital uploads.

Primitive Calculators. Another Melbourne group, this time combining synth punk with confrontational performance. Chapter’s reissue introduced them to a generation of listeners who couldn’t believe this music was made in 1979.

Makers of the Dead Travel Fast. Tasmanian goth/post-punk from the mid-80s. The original records are near-impossible to find. Chapter’s reissue made this extraordinary music available again and revealed a scene that most of us had no idea existed.

The Challenge of Archival Work

Reissuing music from decades ago is harder than it sounds. Master tapes degrade, get lost, or were never properly stored. Artists move, lose contact, or in some cases pass away. Rights ownership becomes tangled, especially for music released on labels that no longer exist.

Chapter Music navigates these challenges with persistence and genuine care. They track down original tapes through networks of musicians, engineers, and collectors. They negotiate fair arrangements with artists, ensuring that the people who made the music benefit from its rediscovery.

The financial equation is challenging too. Archival reissues typically sell in small quantities — a few hundred copies is common for an obscure Australian release from the 1980s. The revenue barely covers the cost of research, mastering, pressing, and promotion. These projects are labours of love, not profit centres.

The Broader Impact

Chapter Music’s work has influenced how other Australian labels and institutions think about musical preservation. The National Film and Sound Archive has its own programs, but government institutions move slowly and can’t cover the breadth of Australian music history.

What Chapter Music demonstrates is that independent labels can do this work effectively, driven by passion and knowledge rather than bureaucratic process. Their curatorial judgement about what to reissue — which records are historically significant, musically excellent, and culturally important — is informed by deep engagement with Australian music culture.

For Collectors

Chapter Music’s reissues are consistently good value. The pressings are well-done, the packaging is thoughtful, and the prices are fair — typically $30-40 for a standard LP with detailed liner notes. These are the kinds of records that enrich a collection by adding depth, context, and discovery.

Start with whatever genre interests you. If you like post-punk, the Primitive Calculators and Makers of the Dead Travel Fast reissues are essential. If you’re into electronic music, the Essendon Airport collection is extraordinary. If you want to explore broadly, just browse the Chapter Music catalogue and pick whatever catches your eye.

I stock every Chapter Music reissue I can get my hands on, and they consistently generate the best conversations in the shop. Someone picks one up, asks what it is, I put it on the turntable, and twenty minutes later they’re buying it along with two other Chapter titles.

That’s the magic of good archival work. It turns forgotten music into new discoveries, and it reminds us that Australia’s musical history is richer, stranger, and more fascinating than most people realise.