Taylor Swift and Troye Sivan: what their love-in means for Australian music

The internet has sped things up for Australian acts such as Tame Impala and Troye Sivan breaking the international market, say insiders at Big Sound

• Peter Garrett at Big Sound: music key to making Australia 'planet friendly'

Even a decade ago if you were a 20-year-old singer living in Perth it would have been nigh on impossible that the world's biggest pop act would personally endorse you to her 63 million fans.

But panellists speaking on the state of the Australian music industry at the Big Sound conference in Brisbane on Wednesday said the electronic pop act Troye Sivan - the latest inductee into Taylor Swift's posse of famous friends - is an example of how technology has radically changed the game for Australian musicians.