THE STATE OF GLOBAL INDEPENDENCE: Doing It My Way
Presented By: AIR

Moderated by: Nick O’Byrne – General Manager, AIR

Speakers:

Mark Smutz Smith – Founder, C Management (UK)
Patrik Larsson – Partner/Founder, Headlock Management/Lights Out! (Sweden)
Martin Novosel – Founder, Boundary Sounds (Aust)
Franz Schuller – President, Indica-Records (Canada)
Raghu Dixit – Artist (India)
Russell Thomas - Owner, KAOS Entertainment (Aust)
Jaddan Comerford – Co-Owner, The Staple Group (Aust)
Monte Malone – Vice President, A&R Worldwide (USA)

Nick O’Byrne – General Manager, AIR: A lot of these people are happy to do favours for people, happy to exchange goodwill, because it always tends to come back to you, and help you. Does anyone want to comment?

Mark Smutz Smith – Founder, C Management (UK) [pictured right]: The more good stuff we’ve done for other people, the more good stuff’s happened for us. One of the biggest turning points for us was a few years ago. Athena - who runs C Management - and I had an idea to put a tribute on for a British artist called Matthew Jay, who most people in this room probably still haven’t heard of. He was a great British singer-songwriter who unfortunately died when he was 25. He had one incredible album, and then it was all kind of lost. We realised two years ago that it was coming up to what would have been his 30th birthday, so we decided to put on a tribute concert at Shepherd’s Bush Empire. It was one of those things that started with a conversation, and before we knew it, we paid for and booked this venue. It got a little bit out of control, and there was some major hassles, but it ended up being a critically incredible event, and it meant we got to meet some great artists and make some great connections. People like Passenger and Dan Medlin, from IE Music, Tony Moore in the UK, which opened things up for us at SXSW. This great big thing that was kind of a heartache and cost us a lot of money - because we didn’t make money from this thing, it was all done for charity - just opened loads of doors, and it’s something that echoes what we do now, two years later. For us, three things really: putting yourself out there; sharing and helping as much as you can; and being driven by a lack of money, to be fair. The fact that we didn’t have any money didn’t mean we couldn’t do things. Once we accepted that you didn’t mean money, you just needed to find new ways of doing stuff. And a lot of that involved just meeting people and helping, and it all spilled from there. It’s hugely important; it’s everything.

Martin Novosel – Founder, Boundary Sounds (Aust) [pictured right]: One of the core business values in our company is something that Carly – my general manager – and I have been doing since when we first started is the idea of ‘favour credit’. We always talk about doing favours for other people, in the sense that one of the things we [Boundary Sounds] do very well is communicate with that hard-to-reach demographic. Since day one, one of the income streams that we do pretty well from now is our weekly mailout, which goes out to tens of thousands of people. We’ve always used the idea of editorial; even though it has key bits of propaganda, which is obviously our part of the business, the editorial part is something we’ve used for years to help others. As a result, there’s probably not a company [in the music industry] that hasn’t used us at some point, and it’s really fuelled those relationships. It’s just a really friendly thing to do. I mean, initially, it was just this idea of, “we should make our mailouts more interesting by including fun stuff in them,” but since then, it’s become a key part of our business. I’d suggest to anyone that if you can do favours for other people… for a start, it has to be a) valuable, and b) stick to your niche, and your business, because obviously you don’t want to dilute your message. But if you can do it – do it, because you never know what the universe is going to send back at you. And as a result, we’ve made a lot of business from that [mailout editorial] in ways that we never realised would happen.

Patrik Larsson – Partner/Founder, Headlock Management/Lights Out! (Sweden) [pictured right]: Our business believes in the value of people networks. It’s why I travel to, I don’t know, 20 conferences a year around the world. I want to; I take the time, I spend the money, because it’s worth so much to have that conversation, or to take that business card. Sooner or later, I’m gonna need Franz’s advice on something. And he’s gonna need mine. I know Scandinavia and Sweden inside-out. I know every player there. I could be a valuable person; if you’re standing between three or four choices, check with me. I promise I will be brutally honest with you. “Don’t go with that idiot, he hasn’t paid his invoices in 20 years!” I’ll tell you who to go to! And that’s worth a lot of money, at the end of the day. To build this communication of independent souls around the music, that all have their independency and passion for the music. It’s worth a lot to carry the business cards you have and just build that relationship. It doesn’t mean that you’re doing business tomorrow, but you might be doing business in two years’ time. I follow everything that Sat and Monte and the guys are doing, because it makes sense. I go to LA, I go to London, I go here for the first time, and I’m blown away by the people out here. You have such a strong platform here in Australia. You guys are coming across as very professional people. I’m so amazed, and I’m excited. I’m gonna go back next year. Definitely!

Franz Schuller – President, Indica-Records (Canada): I also just want to add that probably the most positive and proactive people anywhere, here in Australia. It’s a very valuable asset in life, but it’s really valuable in music right now, where the entire industry is dominated by absolute fucking defeatism and pessimism and depressiveness. Whatever you do, do not lose this positive, proactive attitude that I’ve seen here since I first set foot. In 2005, I met a guy called Stuart Watters, who did the same job that Nick now does at AIR, at a blind date in CMW, on the basis of a ‘Hey, how are you doing? Let’s have a beer,” we started talking about surfing in the first minute, and by the next 15 minutes we’re best buddies. Six months later he’d hooked me up with 40 different people in Australia, and I had a tour and all this stuff, because of one relationship. What Patrik was saying; this is a relationship-driven industry. There’s really nothing more important than your relationships with the people. It’s not the name of the company or the size of the structure, or the amount of money in the chequebook. It really is about the quality of the relationship and the people, and certainly Australians are top-notch at that level.

Martin Novosel – Founder, Boundary Sounds (Aust): I’d say a keyword is ‘goodwill’. Goodwill goes a long way. But genuine goodwill; not like, “hey, I’m going to talk to you because I think I can get something down the track” or whatever. It doesn’t work like that. The world doesn’t work like that. You’ve gotta throw your positive energy out there, because you want to do it. Not because you’re gaining something from it. All you’re gaining is your own good feeling, and in some way, it will come back. But that’s not a business strategy, that’s actually just being a good human being. Something that Sat is big about – and I completely agree – is that you never know when that person you’re speaking to is going to be the next… I don’t know… the next Sat Bisla! Something that has happened to me this year, for various personal reasons, is ‘living in the right now’. Literally, if you’re having a conversation with that person, it doesn’t matter who they are, just engage in that conversation until that conversation is done. Don’t be like, “Oh shit, there’s all these other people I should be moving to and talking to, and shaking hands and kissing babies,” or whatever, because it doesn’t work like that, because you’re not going to achieve that in a place like this.

Monte Malone – Vice President, A&R Worldwide (USA) [pictured right]: I just want to make a point on that. Sometimes when you’re a band and you’re starting out, you’re struggling and trying to figure it out, sometimes you learn a lot just by helping others. So if you can’t make inroads or if things aren’t working out for your band, sometimes from the outside perspective of seeing your buddy’s band and seeing them succeed, that’s going to help you as well, because you learn from what just happened. Sometimes it’s easier to help others than to help yourself in certain situations, because sometimes it’s not your time. It’s not your season. Things just don’t work, no matter how hard you work. So if you can help anyone else, sometimes that helps yourself.

Martin: Totally. And do it because you want to do it, because people can see through bullshit. If you’re saying, “I want to help your band,” because you’ve got some ulterior motive, people can see that. On a long enough time scale, the truth always comes out. That’s something that, for me personally, and for my business, I have to live by, because I don’t present very well. If you actually met me, you’d think I’m a total douchebag, but over a long enough period, you’ll realise, “hey, nice guy, and he’s got something going on in his head”. But that doesn’t happen immediately, and I don’t care. Give people benefit of the doubt. You never know who they are, what they are, or what they’re going to do, or most importantly, what ideas are in their head. Because it’s the ideas – not just business ideas, but song ideas too – that’s what drives our industry. Especially in independent music.

Nick O’Byrne – General Manager, AIR [pictured right]: Your reputation is what opens every door to you. You have to be really careful with that, and the best way to maintain a good reputation is the way of treating your business and your life the way these guys are. Now, talking about issues of the heart is really nice, but it’d be good to talk about something else. AIR have copped a bit of flak in the last week about our definition of independence, and I’d like to throw this open to some people. We’ve talked about it a lot at AIR, because one of the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards winners was a band called Cloud Control, who are an amazing band, and who, for all intents and purposes, are completely independent. It just so happens that they’re distributed by Universal. There’s been all sorts of accusation about whether or not they’re independent.

Patrik: You seriously have that discussion, just because they’re using Universal as a distributor?

Nick: It’s something that we talk about amongst the board of AIR, as to how we define it, and it’s also…

Patrik: But the guys still control their shit?

Nick: Yes.

Franz: That’s independent.

Patrik: They’re truly independent. They’ve just taken advantage of Universal. Good for them! That’s what independence is all about! That’s what I’m trying to tell people; if you’re an artist, and you really want to do this, full-on, you are the 360. You wake up, you own everything. And then you continue to build upon that. You add people to the team who’re going to make a difference. You add companies. I mean, if you sit down with Universal and you haven’t done shit in your life, of course they’re going to pass a certain type of contract. If you’ve created the leverage, you’re going to get another type of contract. And if you reach the point where you can have Universal as a distributor – well, good! Perfect! They’re going to put that machine behind you. But you’re still independent. I mean, Lykke Li, Robyn, The Knife – all of those guys are major worldwide stars, but down the line, they control the masters. They made license deals. And to me, that’s independence. They haven’t signed away their rights, for their life. This is a very important discussion. You can align yourself with a lot of different people. Majors; bring it on! I love the majors. But it should be for the right reasons, and the right type of contract.

Jaddan Comerford – Co-Owner, The Staple Group (Aust) [pictured right]: Nick and I were talking about this this morning. I’ve had a lot of thoughts lately about why I’m independent. I sit on the board of AIR, and have for about three and a half years; I’m the secretary. This year in Australia’s been really interesting. One thing that really affected me in a big way, and forced me to think about what I’m doing… and this is hard thing for me to say, but what happened with Shock Records. That’s made me look at what I do, with my record label [Boomtown], and what I’m going to do next. There’s people here in this room from Shock Records, and I’m not trying to create any animosity or anything like that – much respect – but I’m thinking about the future of my artists, and my catalogue. I’m in a particularly interesting situation right now where a band of mine named The Getaway Plan are reforming and are going to do another record next year. If anyone knows that band, they’ll know that that record’s going to sell 100,000 records. So a lot of people are going to want to get involved in that. So I’ve got this situation where I need to think about – what does it actually mean? A lot of people sit around and go, “Majors are this and that,” and “All these old dudes,” blah blah… talk about that however you want to. The thing that I’ve come back to is working out a way where you can be master of your own destiny. And to me, that is the most important thing. One of my main things that I’ve learnt by doing what I do, is that the traditional music industry as we know it – publishers, labels, managers, agents, etc – can be quite restrictive. You know, you sign this deal, then they own it for this long, and then a little bit longer, and it goes over there, and it comes back, and it looks like this now, and there’s this percentage, and it’s like – whoa, who the hell made this thing? This is ridiculous. For me, to be independent is essentially to be master of your own destiny. Make of that what you will.

Martin Novosel – Founder, Boundary Sounds (Aust): You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. In some cases, you’ve gotta make deals with bigger companies. In some cases, you try to do it on your own. It depends; it’s project-by-project. It doesn’t matter who the act is; at the end of the day, it’s about the act communicating with the fan. It’s about getting the band’s message to the fan, however that’s done. The main thing is that [the message] isn’t diluted. So if it’s a major label system that you’re using to do that, and you have the people on board at the major label who’re going to clearly send that message on behalf of the act, then great. Or, we understand that, with having a major label on board and having hundreds of people around the world working on your behalf, the message does get diluted. That’s probably part of the problem. It’s a lot easier when you have six or seven people working on your act, but then you don’t have the leverage of a major label. It really depends on what the act is. The way I see success is in terms of saturation of a market. Different markets have different sizes. If you’re Black Eyed Peas and you have a #2, that’s not a success for the Black Eyed Peas, because you need to have a #1 record. That’s what makes that part of the industry work. If you’re Bonnie Prince Billy, you’re never going to have a fucking Top 40 record, but you can play 2,000-cap venues in parts of the world for the rest of your career. That’s success there. Success is different, and you’re going to use different mechanisms for each type of act. At the end of the day, it’s about that message. Let’s not forget that that’s what we’re here to do, as industry, to help spread the act’s message. Not the business’ message; the money is just a result of being fucking good at what you do. That’s the bottom line. If you’re good at what you do, then you will make money.

Franz Schuller – President, Indica-Records (Canada): It’s my view that if major labels want to survive in the future, the only way they’re going to be able to survive is to come to us, the independents. Their business model doesn’t really make sense anymore, because of technology and what’s happened in the business. For us to use the fact that they need to come to us now, because we’re the ones that are developing acts. Major labels do not know how to develop new artists anymore. It almost never happens, worldwide. So the focus is on independents; labels, managers, bands, to create the great music and success stories of the future, and the major labels are gonna have to come to us in order to survive. You know, I’m not a communist, I’m not a purist, but I don’t have any problem with working with a partner, whether he’s a pure independent or a major label, as long as they do it on my terms.

Russell Thomas - Owner, KAOS Entertainment (Aust) [pictured right]: I’ve got this rule of thumb from my business: he who makes the phone call loses. In other words, if you’ve got a record and you ring Sony and say, “OK Sony, I want you to do me a deal,” you’re going to do the deal on Sony’s terms. If you go out, make your own business, sell 10,20 or 30,000 albums, get played on the radio by using independent promotion, and the record company rings you up, you’re now doing the deal on your terms. So empower yourself before you go and take yourself to a record company, and offer yourself up for sacrifice.

Patrik Larsson – Partner/Founder, Headlock Management/Lights Out! (Sweden): I’ve seen people getting offered contracts, and they actually think that they’re signing with that person who likes them. It’s like – no you’re signing with a company, which has an owner somewhere, one million miles from here; that person can get fired in a week and you’re still going to be at that company. Have you met the guy who’s going to do your radio promotion, two doors down? Have you met the guy or girl who’s doing press promotion? Have you said hello to the head of marketing, or head of sales? Have you walked around and met the people? Just common things like that. Sorry – I’m just getting carried away. This is a great panel!

Raghu Dixit – Artist (India) [pictured right]: Just on the topic of who is really independent, from an artist’s point of view. I was signed to an independent label, who took help off a major label to distribute to the album. And since the album was not the major label’s baby, it still wasn’t in stores three months after the release date. My independent label panicked about what to do, because I kept calling up saying, “My fans are calling up saying the album’s not available – ‘what do we do?’”. And then I got tired of calling up and asking what to do, and that’s when me and my bandmate decided we should take things in our own hands. We bought the stock back; the band bought the stock back from the major label, and we started selling them at our gigs. We pushed it up by 10 rupees, which is about… 20 cents, maybe. So that was our profit for the CD. I think that’s what being independent is; it’s about taking things into your own hands, and selling hello to your retail store owner, your radio stations, newspaper people who will be evangelists eventually. I remember days when I used to cycle to fans who’d call me up saying they’d just missed my gig, and therefore couldn’t buy my album. I’d take their address, and cycle down and give them the album.

Franz: Now that’s service!

Patrik Larsson – Partner/Founder, Headlock Management/Lights Out! (Sweden): Some of the stories you hear about are almost too good to be true, but once you do it, you realise that, you know, that’s the way you do it. I was fortunate enough to work with one of the more established hip-hop acts from Sweden called Looptroop, and one of the lead guys, Promo; he’s very charismatic and a very independent soul. I released his first solo album, so he called me up and said, “Can you print 3,500 vinyl LPs, gatefolds?” I was like, “What do you want that for?” He’s like, “I want it, so I’ll come pick it up in a month’s time.” He came to the office – this is when I was working at Playground – and he had this minibus outside, with a lot of friends inside. They took the 3,500 vinyls, filled the bus, and went on a journey all throughout Europe. They stopped at every vinyl store on the way; went in, sold at least 5-10 copies of the vinyl because they were there, talking. They’d play the record in the store; “Yeah, this is cool, we’ve heard about you, we’ll take some copies.” They made to the end of the route, and on the way back, the stores were starting to call them back, saying “We want more copies”, so they had to stop at the same stores on the way back. And that’s how Looptroop built their European fanbase. And then, the interest grew, the record stores kept in touch and started to buy more copies, the festivals started to get in touch… that’s grassroots-level. It sounds like something, “Eh, I’m not going to be able to do that, am I?” But do it! It happens all the time. Take charge of your career and shit will happen.

Franz Schuller – President, Indica-Records (Canada): When I worked at a hip-hop label, we’d seed the artist with like, 2,500 copies of their own records. Just give ‘em free and clear to the artist. They’d sell ‘em out of their trunks for $10, $15 apiece, throughout the hood or wherever they were at. You do the math; think about what kind of money was coming directly into their pocket, but it was still saturating the streets, getting the record out there, and that hand-to-hand combat was real. We’d have these records distributed in all the major record stores, but that hand-to-hand thing coming out of the artists’ trunk really marketed and promoted those records in the key territories, and the artists made a lot of money that way. For things sometime to tip, and become large, they need to start with something small. You need to create a micro-success, which then expands outwards. The onus is on us, as independents, to create that initial demand, which then blows up. Anything that becomes really big starts small. If you read a book called The Tipping Point, they talk about it a lot. The small thing is something we can all control early on, and we really have the power to change that.

Martin Novosel – Founder, Boundary Sounds (Aust): There’s an important concept in ‘the music industry’, of the ‘zero to 60’ and ’60 to 100’. I’m going to give you a tangible example of something I’m going through right now. I just started managing an indie dance act called Clubfeet. They own their own masters. We’re at this point where I’m talking to most of the labels in the country, and one of the key conversations we’re having is: are you going to be able to provide the act with that really important initial growth phase? Are you going to be able to place the record with the right tastemakers in this territory? I see people as planets, and they have satellites. There’s key people and key media that are going to be able to take your message to the right people, and it’s important that it starts there because that starts the process. For example, when Philadelphia Grand Jury started, they didn’t have CDs. They simply wrote their name on burnt CDs and gave them away at shows. That was the beginning of their career and their punk ethos. When they had enough money, they started to do the same thing with 7 inches, and as a result, we’ve pressed a 7 inch of every single so far. Fans really like that. One day, once they’re selling… they’ve now sold 20,000 I think, but once they’re selling 200,000, they’re probably not going to be able to sign every single copy. But that’s the 60-100 we’re talking about. That zero to 60 – we’re talking miles per hour – it’s the most important part of an act’s career because it defines who you are to the public. After that… I mean, everyone knows John Butler as a hippie now, but the fact that he’s making squillions of dollars is irrelevant, because that first part of his career… I mean, I’m sure his ethics are still exactly the same, but what I’m talking about is the public’s perception. That’s where the team you have around you is super important. So you might go out and – for example, like Dylan [Liddy] has with Hilltop Hoods – make a distribution deal with a major label, because you simply can’t shift hundreds and thousands of units from your bedroom. You have to take on those partners. But in that initial phase of the development of the act – zero to 60 – it’s really important who you choose, and how you choose to send that message.

Nick O’Byrne – General Manager, AIR: I want to go up the panel here, and have each of you answer two questions: what’s the biggest mistake you’ve made in your career, and who you have looked up to and admired in your career. We’ll start with Monte.

Monte Malone – Vice President, A&R Worldwide (USA): The biggest mistake I’ve made? I can’t think of any, honestly. I mean, you learn from your mistakes. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I’ve learned so much from them. I make mistakes every day – big mistakes. But people I’ve look up to? Everybody. I’ve worked with some of the most notorious, hideous bosses in the world. Guys that are gangsters, the most notorious guys from music industry books, and I’ve learned the most from them. What not to do; how to do things; just because of their cruel work ethic. Obviously I’ve learned a lot from Sat [Bisla, A&R Worldwide president and founder], he was the first person that I ever saw in my life – especially in the States – who gave a shit about international music. Back in those days, people would laugh in his face when he would try to play tracks from the UK [on the radio], because no-one cared back then. Now people are a lot more humble, and looking for new ways to create revenue streams, people are listening across all boards. But there’s something inside of yourself, too, that drives you to no end, as there’s many moments where I’m not thinking about any mentors or people I’ve worked with. I wake up in the morning, I’m thinking about my own self and how I’m gonna do it, and what I want to do with my own life.

Russell Thomas - Owner, KAOS Entertainment (Aust): Biggest mistake I’ve ever made is probably working for a major [label] directly, plugging a record. Trying to toe the line for what they expect, in a situation where they’re crunching numbers instead of looking at the artist’s personal needs. I won’t be going there again. The most influential person I’ve ever met – apart from my number one artist, John Butler – would have to be Sebastian Chase [of MGM Distribution]. This is a man who’s created the road that we’re now all walking on. He came along and said, “OK, I’m going to be a distributor. I’m gonna take 25% of the wack [money], I’m gonna give you 75% of it. If you have to take a discount off the retailers to sell your album in big quantities, I’ll take it off my 25% as well. Let’s not give lawyers money with contracts, let’s keep that out of the equation.” And this is the man who probably said the most prophetic thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life about the business: “Fame’s expensive, but career’s cheap.”

Jaddan Comerford – Co-Owner, The Staple Group (Aust): Both things I’m gonna say here are controversial. My biggest mistake was getting too big for my boots. About three years ago I just thought I was the mad shit; I was kicking arse. I was at a club, and I got punched in the face twice. Once by a security guard, and two, by one of our artists. I’d never been in a fight in my entire life, and that was the most amazing thing that happened to me, that night. You’re a human being no matter what you do. You’re not better or worse than anyone else. This is probably controversial too, because the person that’s inspired me the most in my life is Dave Williams from Shock Records, and as I said earlier, it’s been a very interesting year. But I’m inspired and motivated every day by all my staff and our business partners. That’s what drives me forward.

Franz Schuller – President, Indica-Records (Canada): See, I didn’t make any massive mistakes. I did everything myself and made tons of little, stupid mistakes that taught me. I never made the one doofus mistake of throwing everything I had away, or giving it away to somebody else, and screwing up. I chose to work within my unit of people, the people I trust, and fuck up on my terms. And every time I faceplanted on the ground, I learned from that and it was very useful. Realistically, I’d have to say the most inspirational person was probably John Lennon. The guy who gave me the reason to want to play music. That’s probably why, form the age of eight years old until today, I’m here doing what I do. I do 16 hour days and I do seven days a week, and I feel like I’m having fun. I don’t feel like I’m working, ever, because one day I listened to John Lennon and The Beatles, and I thought: that’s what I’m doing with my fucking life.

Martin Novosel – Founder, Boundary Sounds (Aust): I’m going to give more of the same [answer]. I fuck up every day. Sometimes little bits, and sometimes momentously. I can’t explain to you how much I fuck up. It’s cool, you know. It’s totally OK to fuck up, because as long as you get up and do it again… this is going to sound totally retarded, but has anyone seen the movie Rocky Balboa? I know it’s a Hollywood movie and shit, but there’s this one moment where Rocky is talking to his son, and it makes me fucking cry every time I see that movie. He says, “You know what? I thought you were someone. I’m not a champion. A real champion is someone who gets knocked out, and gets up and does it again. And again. And again.” Because that’s what life is about. That’s what I live every day. So – I don’t know. Biggest mistake – whatever. It’s just what you learn from them. And the most inspirational people; once again I sound like a cliché, but it’s so fucking true. Every person you meet, there’s something you can learn from them. If I could hug all you guys enough – and I don’t know all of you – but if I could spend a moment, I would learn from you. But it’s the key people, like my general manager Carly. To be able to deal with me, she’s inspiring. And Jaddan, the last two years that I’ve known him has been a mind-blowing experience. And they’re not industry people, but I learn from my best friends. They inspire me; they make me be the person I am. I think I inspire myself, in some sort of way. I think you guys should all say the same thing about yourselves, because if you don’t, then search inside and find it.

Patrik Larsson – Partner/Founder, Headlock Management/Lights Out! (Sweden): You also have to stop and remind yourself everyday what it is you do. Sometimes you get like, “Oh, what am I doing?” Just stop! Listen to the music you work with. “Oh, this is good shit!” Of course, we all made mistakes. There are certain acts I should have pursued a little harder to have management of, and I shouldn’t have sold my stocks in Spotify that early… just joking. I wish! I’ve made some deals that weren’t that great. I’ve learned to have patience. Sometimes you’re stressed. We all get a little bit like, “Wow, I’ve got a deal on the table for this project.” Keep the patience; thinking about the long-term is great. And sometimes I hate myself for working harder than my clients, which is terrible. I have to remind myself that they need to work harder than me, because they make more money than me. Sometimes you make the mistake of being more motivated than the artist, which is something you have to have a conversation with your client about. And for people I admire, I mean, you need to remember that back in the day, it was all about independence. There was a time when there weren’t any major [label] structures. The people that built this world, all the Seymour Steins, the Russell Simmons, the Rick Rubins of the world; they’ve made the journey, and now we’re making the journey again. We were talking [earlier] about a time when you had to work the road, you had to have singles, you had to prove yourself before you did an album. And it’s all coming back. It’s back to the hard work and the independence, so I’ve learned from the masters in the past.

Mark Smutz Smith – Founder, C Management (UK): The biggest mistake I’ve made – and periodically continue to make – is in limiting myself, and not realising what I’m capable of. A few years ago David Gray’s manager, Rob Holden, took me aside and said, “Mark, you’ve got my absolute permission to be able to do anything.” Periodically I forget that. If you approach everything as though it’s impossible for you to fail, you open yourself up, and there’s so much more you can do. It wasn’t so long ago I was talking to John Gillings; a great guy, there’s probably loads of people who know John. I was asking him for advice and help in booking a tour in the UK. He cut me short and said: “Mark, you’re doing loads of stuff in Asia. Why do you need my help? Why don’t you do it?” And for some crazy reason, it had never dawned on me that perhaps I could apply what I was doing in other parts of the world to my own country. People I admire: bringing it back to the music, the person I admire the most currently is an artist who treats being an artist as his career, his job, and his life. And that’s Mike Rosenberg – Passenger. This guy gets up in the morning, and no matter where he is in the world or what he’s doing, he goes to work. And that means he’s up, getting his CDs ready, planning his strategy of where he’s going, and then he’s out, meeting people, connecting people, and busking. I’ve never been out with him for more than an hour when he hasn’t sold 50 CDs at 10 pound a pop. This guy’s sold thousands and thousands of CDs, and made amazing connections with people because he’s still out there every day, doing his job: being an artist. And that’s what it’s all about.

Raghu Dixit – Artist (India): The biggest mistake in my life was when I quit my job as a scientist in Belgium and came back to India to become a musician. When I did that, and started knocking on record label’s [doors], every label rejected me. They said my music wasn’t ‘Bollywoodish’ enough; some thought I wasn’t good looking enough; some thought I was rather too poor for the industry. And then somebody in Bangalore said, “I’m starting a new record label, it’s supported by this huge financial institution, and I think we will release your album”. I blindly signed that thing, which entitled three years and three albums. I didn’t know what I was signing on. And about six months later, a major record label who I had met in Bombay earlier, called me up and said “Now we are open to releasing your album, would you be interested in a record deal?”. And when I went back to the other record label, I just realised what I had signed on. And for three years I couldn’t do anything. That company ran bankrupt and didn’t do anything at all for my album. I missed the bus, and I always keep telling [myself] I missed the bus by five years. When I wanted my video to be played on MTV, they ceased to be MTV. Channel V also took the same [route]. Everything I wanted to do was five years late because of that one deal. But one good thing that I look back on now, is that when I signed that record deal, I knew three chords. Today I know five chords. I have about 600 gigs behind me, so those extra years really helped.

People I admire most in my life? I should start with my Dad. My Dad, very young in my life, told me: “whenever you want something, don’t look at me”. That’s a lesson I learned from my Dad, and it’s helped me to this day! I also met this guy who made me believe in this amazing concept that we all hallucinate about, about miracles happening in your life when you want them life. I had just finished my first ever acoustic gig – just guitar and voice – a show in Bangalore, after I had moved from my home in search of a job. I did this show, and there was a man and his wife and kid at the end of stage. They were like, “What you just sang was beautiful! You should release an album!” I was like, “What? I just learned three songs and four and a half chords, I can’t release an album, I don’t even know how to go about it!” I didn’t even have a demo CD – that’s what is required for record labels and stuff. Next week he calls me up and says, “We’re having a small dinner. Would you like to join us? Could you also bring your guitar along?” So I happily took my guitar along, and to my surprise there were 15-20 people. And I sang to all the strange people, everyone ate, and spoke to each other nicely. I was the last one to leave. That’s when the kid handed me a greeting card, saying ‘Thank you’ on the front, and inside was a cheque for 50,000 rupees. I looked up at the guy, and he said, “Go and record your demo”. That was it. That was the moment when I started believing in my music. I started believing that there are good people out there who will definitely help you if you really need [it]. And if you believe in God, God has a place somewhere out there for you when you need it the most. Just believe in what you’re doing and continue doing it, and that’s it. It’ll all happen. Eventually.

++

Wow. Take a deep breath and congratulate yourself for reading that entire transcript. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed seeing the discussion develop before our eyes. Thanks to everyone involved!

This post concludes One Movement Word’s blog coverage for 2010! We’ll be back next year.

Elsewhere:

• Videos: Paul Kelly and Dan Sultan performing at the One Movement Music Festival
• Photos: One Movement For Music by Twilight Festival, Friday October 8 2010
• Photos: One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010
• Photos: One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010

For more blog coverage of One Movement For Music 2010, including the MUSEXPO Asia Pacific sessions, the Festival, and the industry showcases, click here.

You can also ‘like’ One Movement on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Check our Murdoch University’s work below; 18 interviews all up, with a wide range of acts, so there’s bound to be at least a few you fancy!

Miyavi interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Drapht interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Grinspoon interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Tim and Jean interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Karnivool interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Jake and the Cowboys, winners of One Movement’s Australian Indigenous Music Scholarship, interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

British India interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Miami Horror interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

The Lost Souls Club interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Raghu Dixit interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Hungry Kids Of Hungary interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Cloud Control interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Liz Green interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Biuret interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Dead Letter Circus interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Dengue Fever interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

ZE! interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Bedouin Soundclash interviewed at One Movement Music Festival 2010:

Elsewhere:

• Videos: Paul Kelly and Dan Sultan performing at the One Movement Music Festival
• Photos: One Movement For Music by Twilight Festival, Friday October 8 2010
• Photos: One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010
• Photos: One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010

For more blog coverage of One Movement For Music 2010, including the MUSEXPO Asia Pacific sessions, the Festival, and the industry showcases, click here.

You can also ‘like’ One Movement on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Last Friday night, Paul Kelly’s ‘greatest hits’ set at the Twilight Festival was a standout. One Movement Word was standing side of stage at the time, and recorded Kelly and his band playing one of his greatest: ‘To Her Door‘. [embedded below]

At the Sunday Festival, one of the main attractions was Dan Sultan. Standing backstage, we recorded Sultan and his band performing ‘Old Fitzroy‘ at the Esplanade before thousands of fans. [embedded below]

More festival footage from the online community to come! Elsewhere:

• Photos: One Movement For Music by Twilight Festival, Friday October 8 2010
• Photos: One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010
• Photos: One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010

For more blog coverage of One Movement For Music 2010, including the MUSEXPO Asia Pacific sessions, the Festival, and the industry showcases, click here.

You can also ‘like’ One Movement on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

For the benefit of those who weren’t in attendance, we’re publishing the full interview transcript. Enjoy! In the below photo, Lars is on the left, and Richard is on the right.

Lars Brandle: We only have 30 minutes, which isn’t enough time for what I really wanted to achieve. I wanted to do two main things; I wanted to discuss the machinery of triple j, and I want to learn a little bit about you. Let’s kick this thing off.

Richard Kingsmill: I’m happy to take questions from the floor as well, because one thing I gauged when I was here last year was that there is a lot of interest in how triple j works as a radio station, and obviously we are a big player in the Australian music scene, but also from international guests as well, and probably triple j and the role we play here. So Lars and I talked, and I’m happy for any suggestions or any questions at any point, just to clarify things.

I think the key word is interactivity; triple j is interactive and we’re going to try to be today. If you have questions, put your hand up and we’ll do it. Million dollar question; how do you identify the good from the bad?

There is absolutely no formula to how it works. It’s just a lot of hard work and basically a lot of years of experience, I find, really helps. And it’s really just listening to a lot of stuff and listening to as much stuff as you can, because the good stuff will really shine through.

We obviously get inundated with music. We get so much music that it’s really hard for all of us to get through it. Seven years ago when I became Music Director of the station, I didn’t want to be a megalomaniac. I wanted to open it up, basically canvassing as many thoughts within the station is really crucial, I think, to the success of the station as well. It’s healthy for the station to be diverse and also reflect a lot of different opinions.

I kind of came into the role with something which had always been in the back of my mind; if two people in the station thought something was worth having, seriously consider it, even if you don’t get it, you don’t see it yourself; do the homework, do the research, see what these people are seeing and then give it a shot, give it a go. Trust the people that you’ve got around you.

And that’s what we try to do as much as possible within the station. We want every song that we pick to play on the radio… what we want to do is make every addition count. There are a lot of good songs out there and there are a lot of talented artists. We want to try to pick the artists that we think the audience is really going to connect with, the ones that are really making a difference, the ones that are really special, and the ones that are just going to keep on rolling out those songs. We don’t want to just get the fluke good songs; we want to get the artists who have got a lot of good songs.

How much do you rely on the internet to provide you with that knowledge on new bands? Are you spending a lot of time, or is it word of mouth?

Word of mouth is still a really big part of it, and there’s obviously a whole bunch of people in the music industry that you learn to trust the word of. It’s like any industry, and it’s like working in any domain, I would imagine; you get to know the people who are reliable, who give you good stuff, and who you can trust. You keep listening to them. The ones that try to sell you shit; you listen and you hear them out, but at the end of the day you go “the track record’s not great here, so why should we trust you on this one?” So word of mouth is still a viable part of it.

Obviously the internet is a huge resource of finding music. We still get music sent to us in packages, through Unearthed of course. We get stuff sent to us as files, and we source stuff as well. We’ll hear whispers around, “This band’s really good, blah, blah…” and if they’re not on Unearthed, we’ll go to MySpace. If they haven’t’ got anything there we’ll try to get a contact and get in touch with them. So we can chase it from alternate angles and I think that’s the best way of doing it.

You have great big towers of CDs in your room. You must have some unique filing system?

No, it’s a terrible filing system, but it works for me. Everyone comes into the office and looks at them and thinks that I’ve completely lost the plot. I’ve got lots of CDs everywhere, but there is a system. There is a method to my madness and it works for me. I can usually find stuff pretty quickly. At the end of the day at my job…The most frustrating thing about my work is that the thing I like doing the most, I sometimes don’t get enough time to do it. Which is just listening to stuffing; sitting there with my headphones on, going through CD after CD after CD, checking out bands, listening to stuff, reviewing it on Unearthed, recommending it to people. We’re a big network, but we’re not exactly resourced to the max. There’s a lot of work to do, logistics to plan, events to plan, things to put in place, meetings to have - and sometimes they can blow out your days. That’s the one frustrating part, that I just don’t get enough time, I find. But I take a lot of it home, and I try to get through it.

How much of the plot of a band do you need to know? Is it enough to just hear a record and have it blow your hair back and say “that’s it, I’m into this”? Or do you need to speak to the manager, to see what path these guys have plotted out; have they got an international future? How much do you need to know? Do you need to see the band?

Seeing the band does make a big difference. A good case in point was last night. Split Seconds played, and I loved them. I thought they were terrific last night. We’ve had one or two songs sent to us this year but being on the other side of the country it’s a bit hard to get the whole picture. You see them play live and I actually thought that they were better than the songs that I’ve heard, so I’m going to go back and review those and try to get them on the radio a bit more, because I was really impressed with seeing them live.

Obviously, being based mainly in one city, it’s hard to see every live act in the country and I would love the opportunity to be able to do that with everything that’s sent to me, but it’s a hard path to go down, that one. Sometimes a record will just blow you away; you don’t need to know anymore. You just go “from beginning to end this is a great record, this is great, we’ve got to get it on the radio,” and of course then as a music fan you go “I want to find out a bit more about these guys. Where do they come from? What are they listening to?”

That can be really exciting as a music fan, to hear stuff in bands and go “this is amazing! This is great, what have they been growing up listening to?” That’s an exciting place. But you want to make sure that the bands that you want to give support to on the radio are serious about what they’re doing.

What tools do you use to gauge feedback from triple j listeners?

It’s one of those double-edged swords in that you can be manipulated by certain street teams and bands, and they can get a little bit over-voracious about it all. The text line is pretty active. We’ve got Facebook, Twitter; the one thing that triple j’s done really well, I reckon, is the social interaction that we’ve got. We’ve got a piss-all marketing budget. We’re a publicly-funded broadcaster so we don’t have the millions of dollars which the commercial networks have to place ads on TV, billboards, and all that sort of stuff.

I think what we’ve done is much smarter. We’ve got a really great social network; we’ve got a quarter of a million people as friends on Facebook, which is huge. Hamish and Andy are by far the biggest media personalities on Facebook, but I think we’re second. We’re doing well there. We’ve got about thirty thousand people following us on Twitter. For any international people, that might sound not much for twenty million people in this country, that’s pretty good.

We listen to the audience a lot. You get to know when you’re being manipulated by a band and you get to know where the street teams are there doing the fake texting. We have a request program every night. There are lots of different ways in which we can get feedback from the audience, and our audience is great at giving feedback. They don’t hold back in telling us what they think of the music.

Of course, triple j has to evolve. Every time I’ve attended these conferences, someone always puts their hand up and says that radio will be dead in five years or ten years or whatever. More than Twitter and social networking, what does triple j need to do to stay relevant through it all?

There are very good indications that we’re making it work, because this year the reach figures that we’ve got around the country are some of the best we’ve ever had. For the first survey this year, we hit over 1.5 million just in the top five capital cities; that doesn’t even count the regions, where they don’t do ratings research. But that’s phenomenal. That’s bigger than back in the days, in the 90s, when we didn’t have Nova as a competitor and we didn’t have some of the public stations around. We’ve kept to 1.4 [million listeners] for most of this year.

Reach is fantastic, because it means what we’re doing is right. People are coming to triple j every week and wanting to know what we’re playing and thinking. The one thing in radio we’re finding - and we’re not the only ones here - is that the time spent listening is going down a little bit. A year ago it might have been nine hours across a whole week that people would tune into triple j; now it’s more like eight. I think that’s because there’s so many opportunities out there, especially for the 18-24 year old demographic. There’s a lot of things online, there’s a lot of other things that’re taking their attention away from radio. But radio is still important; it’s still a huge part of breaking new music. Basically, it’s the voice that people want to hear. They want to hear that human communication. Going to a blog and streaming, or shuffling on your iPod is great, but what made radio great years ago is still what it is today. You want to hear a trusted voice; someone who knows what they’re talking about, someone who can give you an idea of new stuff to make your life even better.

Of course there may be a challenge ahead with Spotify in Australia. Do you see this as a challenge for triple j?

Looking back over the last few years and hearing all the naysayers about radio and the fact that it’s going to be outmoded, outdated, and die a death… none of it has ever come true, I think what Spotify is just going to do is… anything that excites music fans, any new toy that’s out there – it happened when the internet took off in a big way, it excited people into finding out all sorts of stuff about music – but the thing it did was confuse a lot of people. There was so much more music out there, they needed filters. They needed someone to tell them “where is the good stuff?”, “what should I be listening to?”

And so that’s where triple j needs to keep… one, the brand really strong and trusted; two, we need to keep the benchmark really high as to what we do, and also getting that unique content we have access to. We’ve got great interviewers. We’ve got fantastic live-music teams, the best live music teams anywhere in the world and week in, week out we record some phenomenal bands, both international and Australian. And that’s unique content which we can provide our audience, so I think I answered both questions there, the last one and this one.

We have time for questions, if anyone is sitting on one.

Audience: I just wondered what kind of reach does triple j have outside ofAustralia?

It’s hard for us to gauge, that one. We’re curious about it. We do get a lot of emails from America, Europe, Scandinavian countries, sometimes the U.K. but usually from ex-pats. A lot of people really miss triple j and really want to connect with it when they’re overseas, but in terms of an international community it’s really hard to gauge. We only have the emails to go off.

I had a dream a few years ago and made some inquiries about trying to get us on satellite radio in the States, but that’s a hard row to plow for an Australian radio station. I think the potential there is for triple j to extend even further, and to sell Australian music to the world as best we can. It’s a matter of making people aware of it overseas.

A lot of the bands we interview and who come by, especially in the States, are really pleasantly surprised a radio station like us exists and bemoan the fact that it doesn’t exist in the States. We win a lot of international people over; bands have a huge respect for what we do.

Audience: Do you have any kind of ratio you work on as far as domestic art and international art?

Yeah, we do 40% Australian [music], and that’s self-imposed. When I became Music Director, it was around 35% and I just knew the scene could handle 40% easily because there were so many great bands and so much interest in Australian music, so we did 40%.

Speaking about Australian music, are there any Australian bands that are particularly floating about that you’re excited about at the moment?

This is a question and I hate, because basically you come away from it going “fuck, I didn’t mention those guys.” There’s a few bands where you’re interested where they go; these are, once again, names at random. A band like The Jezabels, a few years ago we knew that they were pulling crowds in Sydney. We didn’t like their first recordings all that much. Then all of a sudden, the second and third EPs have come and that process has been really great. The audience has really responded to the sound of that band on the radio. They get a lot of requests coming through. It’s been a really organic process with that band and I think they’re going to be a band that’s going to extend even further. They haven’t even put a full album out yet.

Recently through Unearthed and Unearthed High, which has been a fantastic initiative of discovering fresh high school bands, we came across four sisters in Victoria, called Stonefield. Their youngest member is 12 years old, and they’ve just had an absolutely brilliant musical upbringing. They’ve got very wide and considerable depth in their music knowledge. They’re four sisters who can really play, and who can really belt it out. As they get older and a bit more professional in their playing I guess, they’re already great live. I think they might be a band that might evolve into something. And once again, there’s a story that’s ready-made for success, really; four sisters from rural Victoria who were discovered through high school.

So those are just two names.

Two of many; it’s clear we have a very strong music scene here. So few of them actually cross over and make a big impact overall. It’s a tough one to ask. No one really has an answer to it. Why do you think so few Australian bands really make it big?

It depends; the thing I tell people is to set the goals, and set them realistic. The Temper Trap’s people would disagree; Temper Trap have done pretty well. There’s bands that have worked and it’s just a matter of how big… I mean, Cut Copy have got a big profile internationally. If you want to be INXS, it’s not going to happen all that quickly. There’s not going to be too many Australian bands that get to that level, but if you’re going to tour, find an audience, work with overseas people, and get talked about on blogs internationally. Quite a few bands are managing to make it over.

With anything there is so much competition out there and trying to sell bands to the States, there are a million bands in the States trying to make a mark. For Australian bands, of course it’s going to be hard over there but the one thing, people who are in this industry, and people who have been in this industry for a while, we can be really proud of the fact that we have got some of the best bands anywhere on the planet. We know it. It’s just a matter of us trying to sell them as much as we can overseas.

There was a panel earlier about the future of the music business. You would have been a great panellist on that one. If you looked in your crystal ball, what do you think is the role labels will play, five years from now?

They’re going to be there. Once again, it’s knowing the trusted voices and knowing the people who really know what they’re talking about and ones who by and large make the right decisions day in and day out. Labels are still going to have a place to play, so long as they’ve got a strong recognition that their brand is as important as the brand of triple j.

A label here at home like Modular, Modular’s got a good name to it. Not everything they’ve released has been a success, but they’ve got enough of a track record where you go “if it’s on Modular, I’m going to give this a listen because they’ve got a good name.” If you’ve got a good name, you’ve done good things in the past that really champion young talent, and make the right decisions there, they’re going to be as much of a filter and as much of an important part of the machinations of the industry as radio.

What about yourself? Not everyone in this room would know that you have two books to your name. You have a brother who is an ARIA hall of famer. Let’s start with the books. How on earth did you find the time, with being Director of the station, with being a presenter…

That was a while ago. I’ll never write another book. Ever.

Did you say that when you finished the first book, or the second?

The first book was okay. The second book put me in hospital, seriously. It put me in hospital with a kidney infection. It nearly killed me. I thought I was literally going to die. Basically I had my first child, I had one of those completely delusional moments where I thought I was Superman and could create anything, I think, after having my first kid. I thought “I’m going to write a book now.”

I had a month off work, and I thought “Yeah, I’m going to write a book,” basically the label, the interviews, and all the pieces of music trivia, and all the knowledge that I’ve had in my head for years into a book, and I just spent 18 months doing it. It turned out to be fun, fantastic. I look back on it now but seriously I worked myself into the ground. I don’t think I’ll ever do that again. It was a fairly relentless course.

It’s nice to look back on now. I wanted to do it; wanted to do it for my kids as well, to tell you the truth. There was a bit of me that wanted to do it for myself but they came around and I went “well, I’ve done a lot of good work, and they’ll not know anything that I’ve done, so I’ll do it and they can look at it in years to come and go ‘hey, you were actually okay once upon a time. You actually got to sit in a room with Led Zeppelin; that must’ve been pretty cool.’”

And your brother being the drummer in Hoodoo Gurus; did the rock and roll path attract you? Did you want to play in a band?

Yeah, very briefly I did. I saw Mark play because he started playing drums at the age of 14 and he had a lot of years of playing in bands that didn’t really go anywhere for a long time. I knew that the music industry was a pretty hard industry to make a go of. Eventually, it became good for him, but I did, at the age of about 15 or 16, start to learn the guitar. I was a huge music fan as a kid and I thought “well, maybe I can do this.”

I did start playing in bands for a period of time and started managing bands. I think there was a lesson here that maybe a few other people can take away; some people are born to do it and some people aren’t born to do it. I realised pretty quickly that I was not born to make music. It’s something that’s not easy. It’s not easy to make really good music. I was a huge music fan, and it was a piece of humble pie to eat. It was good. I made a go of it as a radio broadcaster, music director, and I don’t look back with any regrets.

I have huge admiration for the truly great musicians out there. It’s a really special talent to have. I’m glad I got my toe in the water a bit briefly and found out how hard it is because I can appreciate all the work that goes into it.

Audience: You were saying before about who can you trust, relying on people that are gonna feed good music. How advantageous is it then for a band in Perth to hire someone who does have the on-the-ground, in-person…?

I didn’t mean it that way, so much. It was more speaking to people at gigs or just via email, over the phone, or just out and about, occasions like that. I don’t go up to people and say “yes, I believe everything you say,” and flag who I listen to and who I don’t. You get to know the industry and you get to know in the wider industry the people who call it, and see it pretty accurately.

In terms of hiring pluggers and bringing in records that way, I’ve never basically said to people “you need to do it that way.” A band from Perth cannot have that face-to-face contact that a lot of bands in Sydney can have with me. It is a difficult equation. I know that and recognise that so I basically give as much assistance as I can, especially to bands from Western Australia. Send your stuff to me. I really don’t expect bands to fork out money to have to pay someone to physically bring it into me. It’s ultimately the band’s call but it doesn’t have to work that way.

Audience: How do you prefer to receive the music, digitally or…?

As quickly, easily, and simply as possible, I don’t quite have a formula and I don’t really expect bands to do it this way because that’s the way I work best. Make it simple for us as well. Don’t send us six songs, send us the best one. Make it quick, easy, and you’re more likely to have success that way.

Audience: I think Unearthed is probably the best form of finding the best talent in Australia. I just wanted your thoughts on where that’s going to next.

Unearthed has been really fantastic. The iPhone app has really elevated its prominence as well. For any international visitors here, you should really kind of investigate the iPhone app for Unearthed. It’s proven to be incredibly popular in the last year. It’s been a great way of disseminating new Australian music. There are plans for Unearthed to expand even more. There is a revamping of the site, which will be a long process for us because it’s hefty. It’s big.

Unearthed is a miraculous thing in that there’s essentially one person who drives it at the station. There are 40,000 tracks there, 20,000 artists. It’s a phenomenal work load she’s got, but she does an amazing job. We obviously lend as much assistance to her and her job as we can.

There are whispers around the corridors of power of digital radio. We’ll see what pans out there. We’re going to do the digital radio station again in November. Unearthed is a fantastic brand. It’s something we’re really proud of and it’ll keep growing, expanding.

Imitators are coming along trying to eat into the market. I think our name ultimately is a fairly reliable brand, first and foremost. I think it will hold us in good stead. I think it’s been really fantastic, not for just us but also for the fans and communities that are part of it.

Sat Bisla, MUSEXPO founder: I’m a big believer in radio as you know, Richard. I cannot think of one radio station that’s gone dark in the past 10 years but I can think of thousands of technology companies that have come and gone. Radio has a special relationship with artists and the music in general. What are some of the things you think radio can do to continue to evolve that relationship and regain its foothold as the first social music community, which it was, before technology came along like Facebook and Twitter and MySpace? How can we regain that overall partnership with the artist and the fan?

I would maybe disagree and say in my mind I feel like it already is. Edison Research has just done a study in the States. I saw it this morning. I haven’t read all of it but basically it’s a study that talked to 24-year olds in the States and 90% said that radio was still the way they discovered new music.

Radio has that wonderful format and that wonderful ability to transform itself and to turn it on its head and to basically reflect things very quickly. I think so long as radio maintains that level of flexibility, and basically is that trusted disseminator of the relationship between artist and fan, radio’s always going to be powerful and it’s always going to be strong. If you’ve got the people who are knowledgeable and the music fans know what they’re talking about, it’s always going to be a strong thing.

Just personally, I would love the podcasting laws to be eased up so we could do some more music-rich podcasting. I think that would really help spread the word of some of the great programs we do and the music specials that we could offer. But we’re so limited in terms of what we can do in that regards. All our talk podcasts have done incredibly well. I’m just salivating for the day we can do some music-rich podcasting that would really blow peoples’ minds. We’ve got the ability to make some fantastic radio along those lines, as well.

Sat: As they say; don’t ask for permission, ask for forgiveness.

We do that too.

Audience: You mentioned that triple j’s running on 40% Australian content at this stage. I think the commercial stations generally run around about 20%, or something. Do you think there’s any likelihood for that increase in the future?

It might be a little bit higher than that. Some of the stations are hitting around about 25% now. I think to a large degree we’ve had a big part to play in that. I think commercial stations have realised that there’s a lot of Australian music out there that the audience actually does wants to hear. Years ago they thought international was best and Australian music really, well, [didn’t rate]. It’s nice to see bands like Birds of Tokyo that we’ve been big supporters of, and basically their first two records were ignored by commercial radio, and we featured… well, I don’t think we featured the first one, but we featured the second one. We played a lot of tracks off the first one. It’s nice now to see where they’re at and we don’t have any qualms about commercial radio picking up and playing a band like that because they deserve to be played. I think the audience will determine how much commercial radio will play. It’s as simple as that. I think they’ll always stay around the 25% mark though.

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For more blog coverage of One Movement For Music 2010, including the MUSEXPO Asia Pacific sessions, the Festival, and the industry showcases, click here.

You can also ‘like’ us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Like yesterday’s photo blog, here are the acts that One Movement Word got to see - with apologies to those we missed!

Wolves @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

The Chemist @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

The Jezabels @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

Kyu @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

Passenger @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

Via Tania @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

Cloud Control @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

Biuret @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

Boy & Bear @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

Operator Please @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

An Horse @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

ZE! @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

Kora @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

Dan Sultan @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

Shapeshifter @ One Movement Music Festival, Sunday October 10 2010:

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After the festival, we joined the masses attending the final night of One Movement industry showcases, which took place at venues across the inner city.

Ernest Ellis @ Dilettante showcase presented by One Movement, Sunday October 10 2010:

Guineafowl @ Amplifier Bar showcase presented by Sunset Events and Chugg Entertainment, Sunday October 10 2010:

Redcoats @ Capitol showcase presented by Street Press Australia, Sunday October 10 2010:

Final Flash @ Amplifier Bar showcase presented by Sunset Events and Chugg Entertainment, Sunday October 10 2010:

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And just like that, One Movement For Music 2010 was done!

Here at One Movement Word, we’re not quite done, though. We’ll be bringing you belated blogs from the bowels of MUSEXPO Asia Pacific 2010, some exclusive festival video footage, and a round-up of the event’s online media coverage. Stay tuned!

Here are the acts that One Movement Word got to see - with apologies to those we missed!

Wolves At The Door @ One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010:

The Holidays @ One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010:

Miyavi @ One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010:

APRA Collaboration: The Raghu Dixit Project and Mama Kin @ One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010:

Note: We recorded some footage of this collaboration - we’ll post it on the blog in the near future!

Grenadiers @ One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010:

Hungry Kids Of Hungary @ One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010:

Stonefield @ One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010:

The Trews @ One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010:

Ben Kweller @ One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010:

Parades @ One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010:

Children Collide @ One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010:

Dead Letter Circus @ One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010:

Karnivool @ One Movement Music Festival, Saturday October 9 2010:

Afterwards we caught a few of the One Movement industry showcases taking place in venues around Perth - namely, the following.

Metals @ Wolf Lane Carpark showcase presented by Sunset Events and Chugg Entertainment, Saturday October 9 2010:

Split Seconds @ Wolf Lane Carpark showcase presented by Sunset Events and Chugg Entertainment, Saturday October 9 2010:

Cameras @ Dilettante showcase presented by One Movement, Saturday October 9 2010:

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One Movement 2010 is over! But the event coverage on One Movement Word isn’t. Check back soon for more coverage of MUSEXPO, the festival, and the showcases!

GLOBAL MANAGERS FORUM: From The Eye of The Storm

Presented by: AEG Ogden

Moderated By: Bill Cullen – Manager & Chairman, One Louder & Association of Artist Managers

Speakers:

Dan Medland – Manager, IE Music (Ladyhawke)

Rebekah Campbell – CEO, Posse/Scorpio Music (Evermore)

Paul Piticco – Founder, Secret Service/Dew Process (Powderfinger)

Dylan Liddy – Director, Blue Max Music (Hilltop Hoods)

Phil Stevens – Director, Jarrah Music (John Butler Trio)

Phil Stevens [pictured right] on conquering Australia, bit by bit:

“There’s some really simple guidelines that you can go by as an independent band. If you can’t bring the dollars through the door in your own backyard, you’re unlikely to be able to bring the dollars in through going to Sydney or Melbourne or stretching out. If more people aren’t coming back every week to see your band play, then you’re probably going to struggle as an independent artist. The independent artists who’ve done well out there in Australia are the ones that people want to see, week in week out, and expand their business in an organic way across the country.”

Dan Medland on the value of EPs in the Australian market:

“From a UK perspective - I’ve been over here for the last 19 months - the amount of bands I’ve heard about doing some really cracking EPs like The Jezabels at the moment, and Boy & Bear who we’re working a little bit with - that seems to be a really proven method in. Being able to minimise the amount of spend you’re putting up front seems to be really key. EPs aren’t so prevalent in the UK.”

Dan Medland on the value of creative brilliance:

“It’s about, for a new artist, understanding the core of what your artist proposition is, and making sure it resonates through everything you do. So that would follow on from the imagery, and the music obviously the central glue to that, but everything the artist does need to resonate from one central, strong core of what they believe in. Not politically, just what they are as an artist. If that’s strong, then you’ve got a shot. And also, trying to make everything you do as an artist be creatively brilliant. I know that sounds like a stupid statement, because of course, but I think it’s really key to not let anything you’re doing artistically be mediocre, be average. Everything you do - video, art, whatever it be around an artist’s career - as long as you and the artist think it’s brilliant, and you’ve really put a lot of time into it, then you’ve got a shot, if the core of your artist as a proposition is right.”

Paul Piticco [pictured right] in response to whether managers deserve a pay raise beyond the traditional 15-20% of artist’s income:

“If you start running the label affairs of an artist, or you’re finding syncs for them; if you’re staffing a team that they would normally be paying a higher percentage for those services, there is some argument that you could say, “You trust us, we work together, you’re eyeballing the guys in the office every other day when you’re in here - you know that we’re going to work for you,” I think on certain, specific strands of income, you could. If you were providing that service as well as an external company, I think you’d have an argument to say that you could be paid more. I think that would be a very difficult argument, because they’ll always inevitably see you as a manager, and probably not see you as the services you’re providing, but if you’re paying a second person in your office to book the syncs - and normally that sync person is getting 30-40% of the money - maybe there you could have that argument.”

MINI KEYNOTE – Presented by Kosmic Sound

Moderated by: Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum - Music Reporter/Presenter, Channel 7/MTV Classic/Foxtel (Aust)

Featuring: The Legendary Todd Rundgren

AUSTRALIA: State Of The Host Nation

Presented By: Darren Sanicki Lawyers

Moderated By: Damian Trotter – Managing Director, Sony/ATV Music Publishing

Speakers:

Paul Piticco – Founder, Secret Service/Dew Process (Aust)

Leigh Treweek – National Marketing & Sales Director, Street Press Australia

Shaun James – General Manager, XYZ Networks (The Music Channels)

Mark Poston – Country Chairman, Australasia & Sr. VP Marketing, Australasia, EMI

Harvey Lister – Chief Executive Officer, AEG Ogden (Aust)

Paul Piticco on the state of the Australian music industry:

“I think it’s extremely healthy overall. The only thing that I’m noticing that’s actually not working is the sale of a little plastic, silver, shiny disc. Music is ubiquitous; it’s everywhere at the moment, it’s probably more embedded into our lives and our endeavours than it ever has been in the history of mankind. I think it’s boomtime for music. The extensions of that - seeing a performance, wanting to hear it - it’s just the format of how we receive it, and how it’s promoted to us, that’s changed. Other than a CD-specific business, the music business is very healthy.

In our field, the internet has only made other areas of our business better and easier to navigate. I think the touring business is booming, it’s healthier than it has been in years. The way we market artists - whether it’s their music or their live performance - has become easier. It’s much easier to connect with an audience than it used to be. You still use facilities of the media, as we always did, but you can get feedback and a response much quicker. You have a much better idea of how you’re going than before.

I think the negativity is starting to subside. There was some label-bashing and music industry-bashing, and that was probably from a generation that was used to it the old way. I meet young managers and young artists, who’ve come through these issues of downloading, or piracy or whatever; they’ve been there since they were a teenager, and now they’re in their 20s, and that’s just the way it is. It’s something that’s taken in stride. I’m upbeat; the industry’s changing, it has to change. Music is more powerful, potent and compelling than it has been in years, and you just have to find what your particular role is in getting that to people, and fulfilling their exposure to it.”

Mark Poston [pictured right] on EMI’s takeover by Terra Firma, and other challenges:

“What I inherited when I came back to run EMI [Australasia], which was a crazy, one-off time where we’d been taken over by a private equity firm, is - on top of all these other challenges - we were trying to move through that. A bunch of good things happened; and a bunch of bad things happen, and I’m sure you read exaggerated versions of both. It was real interesting, because what happened was a total culture clash of a private equity firm mentality - strike me down if this gets quoted - but a little bit like, “OK well, this is the music industry, there must be better ways of doing this, what’s all this clutter?” Guess what: as you would have read about, artists are artists, and they have an opinion, and there was a whole clash.

They brought in a bunch of highly educated, qualified people, and put a whole bunch of money into making us more of a consumer-faced business. Some of the great stuff that worked was the consumer insight stuff; which I have to say, is not the be-all and end-all, but it’s a whole sophisticated, extensive consumer research model, where we have thousands of people across the world - which is moderated by a couple of the biggest, most qualified agencies around the world - and they interview consumers about music. We all need to know that more than we ever have. It’s just great for us when we’re signing artists. When we’re trying to work through a marketing campaign and generate a sales base, we’re able to use these roadmaps to try and get through.

The other big, big point here in what we’re all trying to do - and I end up saying this to my guys - is that with every record, every release, every artist signing, it’s like you’re trying to reinvent the wheel every time now, which is really interesting. What I mean is that there’s no one way to do anything anymore. You need to be really fluid and adapt, every time you’re working with an artist, and there are always strange anomalies with that. For me, two of my biggest ones this year are Gorillaz and Arcade Fire, where I have these amazing records and I’m really frustrated that [their] sales base is really low, yet I can go and see them live, or through my instincts, know that a lot of people have these records, or are interested in going to the shows, but where the whole equation isn’t adding up…

One of our biggest challenges - for me, the label, and the industry - is that on top of what’s happening with ‘free’, on top of all this clutter that’s going on, you just have to be smarter, and have as much insight and data to try and get that sale or make that ticket purchase, or make that consumer become a fan of your band, when there’s so much going on every time you open up the press, look at the net, go outside, go to a venue, or go to a festival.”

Mark Poston on piracy decimating the creative industries:

“I’m just going to be controversial and make a point. I think that it is fair time in this country - and one of my wishes for what happens in the next 12 months or so - is that ISPs need to take some responsibility in terms of what’s going on in the music industry right now. Whether you believe that it’s 10-to-1 piracy or 20-to-1 piracy, it’s not acceptable that artists and the creative industry - it’s not just music, as well all know, film is starting to feel it as well as TV - it’s time that we really need to stand up. I think government has got to play a huge role in this. I’m trying to make a shift, because I just say: be wary of free. Free has its place, but all these people in this room, we’ve got to work closely together.

If that means doing some business with the ISP, I would never want that message to be anything more; we’ve done a couple of deals, obviously now that we’re moving toward a time where everything’s going to be one piece of kit. Whether that’s going to be Soundcloud model, or a Locker model, or streaming, but it’s really important that artists get their fair share, and that’s more than point 0.0002% of that. It’s big, big work, but there needs to be some moral responsibility when there’s this ridiculous level of piracy going on. Maybe we can learn some things from our friends in the film industry; an example I always use is that you go and rent a DVD, you can’t fast forward that message that “this is an industry that piracy is killing jobs, it’s killing creative industries, the directors, the film editors, the artists - all those things”. If you go to the cinema, it’s the same thing. The music industry in Australia really needs to step up with what’s going on. It’s gotta change. And it’s a real dichotomy for someone running a label and representing artists.

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Today (Sunday 10 October, for those playing at home) is the second and final day of the One Movement Weekend Music Festival, headlined by Xavier Rudd tonight. Gates open at 1pm.

Afterwards, the final One Movement industry showcases will take place at the Amplifier Bar, Capitol, Amplifier Laneway, Wolf Lane Carpark and Dilettante - all showcases begin at 10pm and end around 1am.

Click the below links to view the relevant timetables. (Psst - did you hear about our free iPhone/iPad app?)

One Movement Weekend Music Festival timetable (page 2)

One Movement Industry Showcase timetables

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One Movement For Music 2010 is happening right now! We’ll blog daily updates - subscribe to the blog via RSS. You can also follow us on Twitter for live tweets, or ‘like’ us on Facebook to stay abreast of the latest One Movement news.

Metals

Chris is a Melbourne based producer/writer/DJ who has been composing, performing and releasing recordings under the Digital Primate moniker for several years now. His most recent release Keep Calm and Carry On was mixed by The Mad Professor.

Raised in South Australia, Candice was a published poet at age 11 and grew up on stage and TV, performing as a dancer and actor throughout her childhood. Finding her heart in hip-hop and neo-soul, she performed with local musicians and by chance came to the attention of Professor Griff of Public Enemy and was invited to perform live with them during their Australian tour. This led to an invitation to record her first demo in Atlanta, produced by Professor Griff himself. Candice jumped at the chance, fully immersing herself in the alternative hip-hop and soul scenes and traveling with Griff and PE in the US.

On returning to Australia, Candice made Melbourne home and began singing and working on many diverse music projects from rock to house, techno to deep funk. After being spotted MCing at an all female hip hop event in Melbourne, Candice was linked up with Digital Primate. The two then decided to write and record.

Ahead of their  appearance at the One Movement industry showcases in October 2010, One Movement Word caught up with Metals’ producer Christopher Coe for a quick chat on all things music.

What’s your favourite song of all time, Christopher?

‘French Kiss‘ by Lil’ Louis [embedded below], because it is a classic floor filler every time!

But I also love ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ by Joy Division because I have experienced it.. I am old.

Favourite musical moment of 2010 so far?

Seeing Massive Attack perform ‘Unfinished Sympathy‘ live with the woman I love next to me (Hang on, maybe that’s my favourite song of all time!)

You’re a musician. Why? What compels you?

Originally, ego.. now.. creative output, a desire to have creative success and also to contribute to world peace!

What’s more important to you: living comfortably from your art, or artistic integrity? Is it possible to have both?

Artistic integrity but I believe it is possible to have both if you live in a bigger country and you have different values.

Social media for musicians: friend or foe?

I don’t buy it. But Candice does. She loves chatting and putting up status reports.. I see that there is a balance needed and I like mystery.. however, I do love the fact that it can be a leveler and I love the idea that we can have more direct contact with the artists we admire.. as a fan I am into that…

Favourite music video of all time?

‘Window Licker‘ by Aphex Twin [embedded below]. Chris Cunningham is a genius.

Your recorded music is an advertisement for your live show. You should not expect that people will buy your music. Agree/disagree?

I don’t mind giving some music away but there is a real art in recording great work and as such it needs to stand on it’s own merits. Music will get out there way easier nowadays, but I think there needs to be a way to reward the artist for his/her labours in the studio.. this is where magic of a different kind happens. I think the ISP’s and Telco’s should pay a royalty that is distributed directly to the rights holder and then for a minimal fee pass on the right to users to download to their hearts content. As long as everything is tagged, it should not be a big issue to figure out who is owed what.. should it? The interweb is out there man! Let’s use it for good!

What do you hope to achieve as a result of playing at One Movement?

FUN! World Peace and sexual favours.

Finally, please recommend our readers an amazing band/artist from your hometown, and tell us why you love their music.

From Melbourne: We Are Fans are really great, also Ehsan Gelsi is an amazing electronic artist, Digital Primate is a legend and I love Acid Jacks cos they are very naughty and make jackin’ tunes!

Thanks for your time, Christopher.

Metals are appearing in Perth at the One Movement industry showcases on Saturday 9 October at the Wolf Lane Carpark, at 10.00pm. For more details on the festival, including artist and ticketing details, click here.

Visit Metals on MySpace here. The music video for their song ‘Drop Your Guard (feat. Boxwars)‘ is embedded below.

The inaugural One Movement Music Festival by Twilight kicked off from 5pm, and One Movement Word was there to witness the action. Let’s take a look at some of the artists who played.

The Joe Kings @ Crossover Stage, One Movement Music Festival by Twilight, October 8 2010:

Todd Rundgren’s Johnson @ Snowball Stage, One Movement Music Festival by Twilight, October 8 2010:

The Medics @ Breakthrough Big Top, One Movement Music Festival by Twilight, October 8 2010:

Pink Martini @ Crossover Stage, One Movement Music Festival by Twilight, October 8 2010:

Kate Miller-Heidke @ Breakthrough Big Top, One Movement Music Festival by Twilight, October 8 2010:

Paul Kelly @ Snowball Stage, One Movement Music Festival by Twilight, October 8 2010:

Note: we got some footage of Paul Kelly and his band performing ‘To Her Door’ from side of stage - we’ll post it on here in the near future!

Lil Band O Gold @ Breakthrough Big Top, One Movement Music Festival by Twilight, October 8 2010:

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After the festival, we caught a couple of showcase sets, before calling it a night.

The Chemist @ Wolf Lane Carpark showcase presented by Dew Process, October 8 2010:

Eli Wolfe @ Amplifier Laneway showcase presented by Sunset Events and Chugg Entertainment, October 8 2010:

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Today (Saturday 9 October, for those playing at home) is the first day of the One Movement Weekend Music Festival, headlined by Karnivool (on Saturday) and Xavier Rudd (on Sunday). Gates open at 1pm both days.

Afterwards, One Movement industry showcases will take place at the Belgian Beer Cafe, Amplifier Laneway, Wolf Lane Carpark and Dilettante - all showcases begin at 10pm and end around 1am.

Click the below links to view the relevant timetables. (Psst - did you hear about our free iPhone/iPad app?)

Moving onto the next MUSEXPO Asia Pacific 2010 discussion panel that One Movement Word sat in on:

INTERNATIONAL LIVE ENTERTAINMENT SUMMIT: Touring & Promotion “Feeling It Live”

Presented by: Posse

Speakers:

Shaw Saltzberg – Sr. Vice President, S.L. Feldman & Associates (N. America)

Declan Forde - Head of Music, Pod Entertainment (Ireland)

Neill Dixon – President, Canadian Music Week (Canada)

Bobby Talwar - Partner, Only Much Louder (India)

Martin Elbourne – Booking Agent, Glastonbury, The Great Escape (UK)

Frank Takeshita – General Manager, Creativeman (Japan)

Folkert Koopmans – Founder, FKP Skorpio (Germany)

Michael Chugg – Founder, Chugg Entertainment (Australasia)

Michael Chugg [pictured right] on the state of the live music industry:

“The last couple of years have been fantastic, on every level: new acts, established acts, festivals. But the writing’s on the wall since the election was announced three months ago; things have really steadied down. We’re getting reports back from festivals like Playground [Weekender] that they’re down 30%. Ticket sales slowed when they announced the election, and they have not come back.

We have eight or nine major touring acts in Australia in December. The last one to go up was U2, and from all reports they’re really, really struggling. I’ve renamed ‘Rocktober’ to ‘Shocktober’ because of the reaction we’ve had. There’s too much going on, America’s down the fucking tubes, and has been for about two years. We’re starting to wear it here because there’s too many greedy American agents pumping bands down here, and us being suckers, of course, we’re buying them all up very quickly and losing our arses. So it’s going to be a very interesting summer. Could be the summer of blood, baby.

We’ve got a government in power that’s trying to get you to do your visas three months before; trying to get visa details out of some of these bands three days before is a miracle. We’re facing a lot of obstacles in our way. We’ve got this stupid, antiquated law that’s come back in where you have to use Australian support acts - which we don’t have a problem with - and if you look at what’s been happening the country since that law was discarded, there’s probably been more Australian acts getting support slots then there was when the law was in.

So they brought that law back in, which is screwing everything up for everybody, and we’ve got a headless government. So things are looking really good. Do you want me to keep going, or should we just get a knife out and we’ll cut our wrists?”

Michael Chugg on tour sponsorship, and commenting on a discussion involving international live performance royalties:

“Sponsorship in the Western countries - the act wants it all. There’s no way you can do a tour with Bon Jovi or U2 or Robbie Williams, and expect to get the sponsorship money. They take the lot. Merchandising is owned by the act. The promoter doesn’t see one fucking red cent out of it. So who’s going to pay that one? It’s just bullshit, and it’s going to create problems.”

[Note: current Australian live performance royalty rate is 1.5% of the promoter's gross, which is handled through APRA]

“If I was to lose 10% of my gross to APRA - who, by the way, are an excellent organisation who put a hell of a lot of work back into the Australian music industry - but, if I was to lose 10% of my income - I’m out of business. I’m gone. We need 90% to break even now. How on earth can we absorb another 8.5% of the gross without hitting up the punters for another $20-30 a ticket? We can’t do that. We’re fighting to keep the ticket prices down, to keep it interesting enough as it is.

Let’s move on from there to Asia. In Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, China; there will be no concerts without sponsorship. The tickets are $10 each. You start ripping in there and taking that.. by the way, the mob in Singapore take 30%, and they don’t give any of that to the acts, so let’s really get into this one. What a shitfight that’s going to be! There won’t be any more fucking rock and roll music in Asia Pacific if that starts! And on that note I’m going; I’ve got to go and do a radio interview.”

And then he left! The next panel we visited:

PUBLISHING & COPYRIGHTS: The Real Estate of The Global Music Business

Presented By: AMPAL

Moderated By: Peter Hebbes – General Manager, AMPAL (Aust)

Speakers:

Spek Hussain - Managing Director, Fairwood Music Publishing (Arabia)

Damian Trotter – Managing Director, Sony/ATV Music Publishing (Aust)

Ian James – Managing Director, Mushroom Music Publishing (Aust)

Thomas Scherer – International Repertoire, BMG Rights Management, GmbH (Germany)

Brett Cottle – Chief Executive, APRA / AMCOS (Aust)

Ian James [pictured right] on the state of the Australian publishing market:

“I’m obviously concerned by the renegade attitude. There was an interesting comment from the convergence panel on Wednesday [at the One Movement Creative Industries Dialogue], where a woman talked about people’s attitudes and sense of entitlement that today’s youth seems to have, that people will give them things [for free]. I’ve no idea where it came from; something from their parents, perhaps, might be in play here.

I’ve got a reasonably cynical attitude towards that frame of mind, and I’m hoping that it’s some sort of generational thing, which may go away. In terms of the mechanism of it; we’re in a similar position to you [Ian gestures to Spek Hussain]. If we stick enough legal letters in front of them and make it quite difficult, then people will come to their senses. There’s a level of amateur disregard, but there’s also a lot of serious money revolving around the use of music, and there’s a lot of new companies that rely on it quite substantially for their success. If we can make their life and our life a compatible partnership - some sort of arranged marriage between best friends - then we will do alright. I think that once the tech world settles down into a groove; once we’ve got our deals in place with YouTube and the big users in the digital world. Once we’ve got the big agreements in place, and that platform is established, everything will settle down.

Of course, that does assume that people are going to continue to create good music. If we have a completely bereft generation of people who are incapable of that, then maybe there’s nothing going on. That’s my Chuggy-type statement.”

Damian Trotter in response to whether artists should embrace free MP3 downloads:

“It’s a horses for courses thing. I think there comes a time when we have to ask - for what purpose is it? To promote the artist? For what, so they can sell more records? It’s not happening. I think sometimes there’s a genuine promotional opportunity, and you should take that up. But sometimes I just think it’s the telcos, or the ISPs, the various digital operators, just trying to get a free ride and promote their own services at the expense, ultimately, of the artists. I think you have to look at each one on its own merits, and if there’s a genuine promotional benefit for the artist and the writer, then certainly consider it, but it shouldn’t be slavishly accepted as the right thing to do.”

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From the MUSEXPO conference at the Hilton, to the Wolf Lane Carpark for a book launch. Hey, You In The Black T-Shirt is a Michael Chugg biography written by Iain Shedden of The Australian. Iain was asked a few questions about the writing process by Molly Meldrum, before Chugg took to the stage and read aloud the title chapter, which revolves around the famous 1992 Guns ‘N Roses Australian tour.

As night descended, One Movement delegates had some important decisions to make: with around 35-40 acts showcasing across six different stages, it was always going to be tough to choose. Below are some photos of the artists that One Movement Word elected to see.

New Saxons @ Wolf Lane Carpark showcase presented by triple j Unearthed, October 7 2010:

Colin Moore @ Amplifier Beergarden showcase presented by Canada Music Week, October 7 2010:

Daniel Rata @ Amplifier Bar showcase presented by A&R, October 7 2010:

Hungry Kids Of Hungary @ Capitol showcase presented by EMI, October 7 2010:

The Honey Month @ Wolf Lane Carpark showcase presented by triple j Unearthed, October 7 2010:

Drawn From Bees @ Amplifier Bar showcase presented by A&R, October 7 2010:

Dzham @ Amplifier Bar showcase presented by A&R, October 7 2010:

Miami Horror @ Capitol showcase presented by EMI, October 7 2010

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Today (Friday 8 October, for those playing at home) is the second day of the MUSEXPO Asia Pacific conference, as well as a very full night of industry showcases - and of course, the One Movement Music Festival by Twilight (headlined by Sarah McLachlan and Paul Kelly).

Click the below links to view the relevant timetables. (Psst - did you hear about our free iPhone/iPad app?)

MUSEXPO Asia Pacific 2010 program

One Movement Industry Showcase timetables

One Movement Music Festival by Twilight timetable

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One Movement For Music 2010 is happening right now! We’ll blog daily updates - subscribe to the blog via RSS. You can also follow us on Twitter for live tweets, or ‘like’ us on Facebook to stay abreast of the latest One Movement news.