Day 3 at MEETSSS
Music production, promotion and developing a digital identity
After an awesome evening of music from Perera Elsewhere, Dope Saint Jude and Mafalda, delegates were looking forward to another exciting line-up of speakers for the final full day of panels and workshops.
Check out our blog on the first panel of the day, The Urgent Need For A Sustainable Music Industry.
FIRESIDE CHAT | RESIDENT ADVISOR EXCHANGE WITH GEORGIA TAGLIETTI
Speaking in conversation with Martha Patient Caidan (Resident Advisor), Georgia Taglietti (Communications and Digital Director, and Head of International Media, Sónar Festival) says she excited to share her exchange with RA and shesaid.so as to Georgia; ‘they are both my family’.
Georgia emphasises the importance of giving and taking between the intersection of generations as even experiences professionals can still have lots to learn.
Having experienced being the only woman in the room at the same time as being the most senior, Georgia advises: “projecting your authority is needed; you need to accept the leadership”.
A recording of the full conversation will be available to download as a RA Exchange podcast. Make sure to listen for Georgia’s distinction between “good stress” and “bad stress” and how we handle the two.
PANEL | WOMEN IN MUSIC PRODUCTION & COMPOSITION
ÁINE TENNYSON (UNIVERSAL PRODUCTION MUSIC, UK) / DELHIA DE FRANCE (ARTIST, GE/USA) / HARRIET MOSS (MANNERS MCDADE, UK) / RIA MORAN (COMPOSER, UK) / CHAIRED BY DINA LIBERG (UNIVERSAL PRODUCTION MUSIC, UK)
The panel opens with a questions: how can we increase the number of women working in music production?
Founder of ComposHER, Harriet Moss, quotes the statistic that of the 250 box office films last year, 94% were scored by men.
In an initiative to counter the current imbalance, shesaid.so have teamed with Universal Production Music to produce the production music album, 100% HER.
In response to an audience question about how major labels and publishers can help to affect change, Harriet answers: “I think it’s the responsibility of the label or publisher to be introspective look at their roster and see if those rosters are representative of the wider industry, otherwise change is going to be a very slow process”.
Ria and Áine both discuss their wish to speak to reach more schools and start educating younger students on the range of careers in the music industry. On the topic of access and the expense of software, Spitfire Audio is commended for their LABS project, offering free samples for writers wanting to experiment with writing production music.
PANEL | PROMOTING MUSIC ON A GLOBAL SCALE & THE ROLE PLAYED BY INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITIES
ANETTE COLLINS (THE ORCHARD, UK) / DA CHICK (ARTIST, PORTUGAL) / CHISAREM NKEMERE (CONCORD RECORDS, US) / MARINE DE BRUYN (LE BUREAU EXPORT, FR) / CHAIRED BY FILIPA MARINHO (RED BULL, PORTUGAL)
This panel largely approaches the topic from two angles; having an international team on board, and on the other hand, artists going it alone.
Whether daunting to some or empowerig to others, leading her own campaign strategy artist Da Chick says the ball is in her court: “I have to decide what’s next”.
Chissy (Chisarem Nkemere) speaks from her digital and streaming experience, stating that “it’s all about timing and goals”. There is a lot of discussion about the valuable insight provided by digital platform analytics, and Anette Collins agreed:
“It’s about working smart. You have the opportunity to use data to see where your music is working or not, so pick your markets.”
Look at how people are streaming. As Chissy asks, are these lean back or lean in streams (ie. are people being suggested your music or are they actively searching and streaming yours again and again?). And to act on this information, research which is the best performing platform in that territory, or research the platform that will open you up to new audiences.
International promotion does not have to mean expensive travel. Marine de Bruyn offers the example of What The France (an arm of Le Bureau Export’s ‘Made In France’ artists), who collaborated with a streaming platform only in Korea, to target new international audiences.
WORKSHOP | MUSIC MARKETING IN A MOBILE WORLD, WITH VANESSA BAKEWELL (FACEBOOK/INSTAGRAM, UK)
All the notebooks were out for Vanessa Bakewell’s workshop on how to grow artists in a mobile world. With 40,000 pieces of music added to Spotify daily, it’s a competitive space! But with ‘music’ being the second most-searched topic on Instagram, there’s appetite for it.
In summary, hear are Vanessa’s top tips for digital music marketing:
1) Be authentic
2) Connect to your community
3) Think vertical
4) Think mobile first
5) Make your best creative work best practice
6) Optimise ads for reach
7) Think broadly when targeting advertising and take the bias out of marketing
8) Keeping testing and iterating!
And for those wondering about paid versus unpaid media:
- Paid content should be 10–15 seconds max. Paid media is for reaching new audiences.
- Unpaid media is to fans, so you should see more value by posting longer-form content (eg. 2 minutes)
ROUNDTABLE | EXPLORING THE CONCEPT OF FEMININITY AND GENDER IN A WORLD DRIVEN BY TECHNOLOGY
CHANTELLE AYANNA (LICK EVENTS, UK) / CHIDERA EGGERUE (THE SLUMFLOWER, UK)
Inviting a delegate to the stage to join the roundtable, Chidera and Chantelle introduce an honest conversation with an energised and open-eared room full of attendees. This enables an ongoing flow of conversation in a discussion of experience and identity online; a few highlighted here, in reflection:
- “Think about how you can find exciting and genuine ways for connecting to people who aren’t the same as you” (Chidera Eggerue).
- If you’re building a public identity, let followers see you grow and connect with those who have grown with you. Be clear about what you’re passionate about and what you stand for.
- Activism starts at home: speak to people close to you and set boundaries so that they’re more aware in interactions with others.
- Amplify voices and share the experiences of others. We don’t have to speak on every single issue, but share and support the real lived experience of others with different identities, if they are speaking out.
- But if you feel the need to disconnect for a while; turn off your phone!
WORKSHOP | PUBLIC SPEAKING, WITH ALISON WENHAM OBE
With an incredible career and a whole host of achievements to-date, Alison Wenham OBE captivates the room for the final session of the day, already pulling in to play her public speaking skills.
Alison starts with two initial and important reasons for why we should go out of our comfort zone for public speaking:
- Visibility and authority is good for a career
- We need to say yes in order to reflect the true representation of the industry
So here are Alison’s top tips for smooth and successful public speaking (well, some of them!):
Attitude & confidence
You have been asked to speak because of your knowledge and experience, so step up!
Practical preparation
Who is the audience? Are you the moderator? Audiences want to learn so for omst of the time, are on your side.
- How long have you got?
- Any language differences?
- Keep your speech readily understandable. Understand the audience’s level of knowledge so that you keep their engagement.
- Keep your speech to-the-point. As Aristotle said; “tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them”.
- Arrive early & acclimatise yourself to the environment. If it’s a panel, check the position of the microphone to make sure you have ease of opportunity to offer your thoughts.
On the day
Breathe.
Breathe slowly; this lowers the voice and slows the heart rate, resulting in a clearer and calmer delivery.
Finally, if you’re looking for practice (and want to be part of your own outreach programme), give a speech at a school. The questions might even more more difficult than during the real thing.
