London: Australian artists could miss out on lucrative international deals - and even Grammy nominations - due to a funding bungle that threatens to gut the official organisation that promotes and supports Australian musicians overseas, music industry members claim.
The decision to cease funding for Sounds Australia, compounded by delays resulting from the federal election, has boiled over into a row between federal government departments, with diplomats ruing the potential loss of a cost-effective and well-run project in "cultural diplomacy". 
And artists and managers have joined in an appeal to save the body, which they say was crucial in launching the international careers of recent breakout successes like Courtney Barnett, Chet Faker and Vance Joy, all of whom played Sounds Australia showcases in their first year of export.
Sounds Australia helps Australian artists find audience, managers and promoters overseas, and promotes them at key international showcases such as South by Southwest in the US.
However this year's decimation in arts funding left them without the lion's share of their budget, after a bid for a grant renewal from the government's Catalyst fund was knocked back.
The current funding, of $1.75 million over four years, runs out at the end of 2016.
"We can't execute the program at its current level without (this)," APRA spokesman Dean Ormston said. "The overall Sounds Australia service will need to be stripped back."
An email inadvertently sent to Fairfax Media by a senior arts bureaucrat suggested that a department move to throw Sounds Australia a lifeline had been stymied by the election, with time running out before they have to start scaling back plans for 2017, including South By Southwest held in the United States every year. 
Last month in Brighton at a networking lunch organised by Sounds Australia in the wings of the Great Escape festival, Australia's deputy high commissioner to the UK implicitly criticised the decision to withdraw funding for the body.
Andrew Todd said DFAT was a "proud partner and supporter" of Sounds Australia which was "an extraordinary organisation".
Australian musicians brought economic benefit to Australia and helped portray the country as contemporary, dynamic and modern.
"This is something that grey-haired old diplomats like me simply can't do," he said. "We are indebted to organisations like Sounds Australia."
"They need to be rest assured that there are certain elements of the Australian government, including the department of foreign affairs and trade, that's absolutely in your corner, not only because it's the right thing to do but because there are economic benefits."
The organisation has estimated its work has led to more than 1200 new performance opportunities and more than 1500 business outcomes for Australian artists, including record deals, booking agents, distributors, publishing deals and brand endorsements.
It had supported 620 Australian acts at 48 international events in 52 cities in 19 countries.
Courtney Barnett's manager Nick O'Byrne said they had been "absolutely instrumental" in fast-tracking his client's success.
DZ Deathrays manager Maggie Collins said the negative effects form the loss of Sounds Australia "will not take place for another 3-5 years but they will result in less Australian acts getting Grammy Nominations. I can guarantee them that."
An official response from the Department of Communications and the Arts summarised the existing funding, without mentioning the shortfall.
Asked for a further explanation, the department added that due to the upcoming federal election, caretaker rules meant "any funding proposal beyond 2016 would be put to the incoming Government for consideration or confirmation".
Sounds Australia was eligible to apply for DFAT funding, or to re-apply for money from the 'Catalyst' arts fund, the response said.
Mr Ormston said they had been told their business case was not compelling and it was clear they would not be able to secure their previous level of funding.
Fairfax Media was also copied an internal email from Rebecca Rush, director of arts investment and cultural diplomacy at the ministry.
She reminded her colleagues that "we are in caretaker so cannot bind an incoming government in the response [to Fairfax Media]" - suggesting the existence of an as-yet unapproved proposal to refund the organisation.
Words of support:
Jess Beston, founder and director of Tiny Monster, manager of Holy Holy
"This is absolutely devastating news ??? The help and support that Sounds Australia have provided to myself and my bands has been nothing short of essential??? Sounds Australia have helped enormously in lining up some of the most important meetings of my career that have ... helped me lock in some of the most significant deals of my career."
Alastair Burns, director Heartstop Music, manager of Jordie Lane and Matt Langley
"The door to international success has never been more open for Australian music than right now. Sounds Australia have been the key to this development. The success of Courtney Barnett, Vance Joy, and rising stars like Oh Pep and Julia Jacklin has not occurred by chance. It is a reflection of hard work, and strategy that has been led by Sounds Australia.
"Judge these businesses and this industry like any other in the Australian landscape, see its development and its potential, and support it to at least the equivalent level of other commercial industries."
Johann Ponniah, founder I Oh You label
Sounds Australia have always proved to be a great asset to not only the artists that we work with but also us as individuals! Whether it be hosting parties for Australian acts to showcase at [being an unknown Australian act, it can prove difficult to get good shows in foreign cities], linking us with key industry figures from overseas markets or in my case even letting me crash in their room when my hotel was too far away.
Maggie Collins, manager John Steel Singers and DZ Deathrays
"The people who decided to cut [the funding] have no idea how much damage they're doing. The negative effects will not take place for another 3-5 years but they will result in less Australian acts getting Grammy Nominations. I can guarantee them that.
"The events they hold are pivotal to meeting new people in the international territories. Australia is the envy of every other nation [including markets as big as North America and the UK] because of Sounds Australia. The proof is in the pudding with the rising success of all the Australian acts from the past 5 years."
Follow Fairfax World on Facebook
Follow Fairfax World on Twitter