{"id":282110,"date":"2026-06-25T21:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T01:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/25\/musical-theatre-job-losses-why-musicians-are-being-replaced-by-keycomp-technology-as-production-costs-rise\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T01:40:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T05:40:36","slug":"musical-theatre-job-losses-why-musicians-are-being-replaced-by-keycomp-technology-as-production-costs-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/25\/musical-theatre-job-losses-why-musicians-are-being-replaced-by-keycomp-technology-as-production-costs-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"Musical theatre job losses: Why musicians are being replaced by KeyComp technology as production costs rise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Musical theatre job losses: Why musicians are being replaced by KeyComp technology as production costs rise<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/culture\/music\/it-took-james-years-to-master-a-single-note-now-he-s-being-replaced-by-technology-20260618-p607wq.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-06-25 21:30:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.smh.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

June 26, 2026 \u2014 11:30am<\/span><\/p>\n

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Australian orchestra musicians have been cut from the country\u2019s highest-grossing musical, Disney\u2019s The Lion King, and replaced by technology as theatre productions across the country buckle under the pressure of rising costs.<\/p>\n

Musical productions are rapidly turning to cost-cutting technologies such as KeyComp to replace live musicians. The abrupt cancellation of the national tour of Eddie Perfect\u2019s Beetlejuice the Musical is just the latest example of how cost-of-living pressures are hitting the sector.<\/p>\n

\"MusiciansMusicians James Steendam (left) and Ben Gurton claim audio technology companies such as KeyComp are reducing their opportunities.<\/span>Steven Siewert<\/span><\/p>\n

Violinist James Steendam, federal president of the musicians\u2019 arm of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, believes he would be playing in The Lion King if six musicians hadn\u2019t been cut from the pit since the show\u2019s last tour in 2013, when there were 17.<\/p>\n

Of those cut, four were string players, and two were trombonists. Those sounds are now produced by KeyComp, a technology used mostly in musical theatre, which requires a single keyboard player to replicate the size and dynamics of a full live orchestra using prerecorded sounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely conceivable that \u2026 I would have been working on that musical,\u201d Steendam said.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Instead] our jobs are being replaced by musicians in Germany \u2026 The irony is that where it\u2019s recorded in Hamburg, Germany, they\u2019re not allowed to use this technology in their own local scenes.\u201d Its use is also banned on Broadway.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Rose, a music industry lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, said session musicians \u2013 who often play in the pit, or as advertising composers \u2013 are frequently the first casualties of companies implementing new technologies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been very unnerving for musicians who are getting displaced by certain…<\/p>\n

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