It's felt like a lonnnnng time coming this year but today's the day - BIGSOUND 2020 is finally here!
While we're missing the sights and sounds of Brisbane's Fortitude Valley, The Music team are still 'on-ground' and covering this year's conference (AKA sitting at our desks at home eating cookies and watching panels).
Here's what has happened so far on day one of BIGSOUND 2020:
The Future Of Live Streaming
A large turnout for this morning’s The Future Of Live Streaming panel is indicative of how vital the gig-streaming platform has become for the COVID-era music industry.
DJ/producer/label head Nina Las Vegas observed how quickly the dance music scene took to COVID-era streaming, pointing out, “EDM is adaptable.” Adding that the genre’s creatives “had a streaming existence before” and that at ‘live’ shows, DJs are often set away from the crowd and so were already used to performing without that immediate contact with the audience.
Most of the panel - which also included moderator Hugo Dean (Bolster), Dedilla’s Emily Copeland, Select Music’s Stephen Wade and Twitch’s Lewis Mitchell - acknowledged that licensing music to be streamed across multiple platforms was the biggest hurdle for performers. Copeland offers the view that if live-streaming is to continue to exist beyond COVID, “we need this [licensing] to be easier.”
On the positive side, Mitchell noted that artists adapting to streaming gigs now possess “an element or skill set they wouldn’t have had.” The panel concluded with advice for performers who are contemplating entering the streaming realm. Wade offered: “Be true to your brand and artistry”. While, Las Vegas stated, “If you wouldn’t watch it, don’t make it.”
Australian Music: What Does It Look Like In 2020?
Hosted and curated by journalist Sosefina Fuamoli and featuring OETHA's Dizzy Doolan, label head and artist Joji Malani, and artist Kwame the panel discussed what "Australian music" is and means, looking at the "thriving and multi-dimensional community of artists in Australia from all backgrounds, who are consistently breaking the mould of music made through a traditional Anglo-centric lens".
"To use it as a category is almost redundant now," said Fuamoli on the term "Australian music" early on. The panel discussed several key points throughout the conversation, including how generally the artists that find the most international success shape "the identity of Australian music" at that moment, while Doolan raised that once Australian artists find success overseas they're often more easily embraced at home.
"What is Australian music? I would like to know, someone tell me please," said Malani, while Kwame raised that the sub-categorisation of Indigenous and First Nations artists in media is "cringe and it just needs to stop".
A highly engaging panel, and critical viewing for anyone working in the Australian music industry, if you missed the live stream, do not miss it when BIGSOUND post the panels on line for delayed viewing.
Johann Ponniah: 200 Shits Per Album
I OH YOU Records' founder Johann Ponniah's keynote address will surely go down as one of BIGSOUND's best; from the unusual counting method to the many, many costume changes, Ponniah had the crowd heavily engaged and interacting throughout the entire conversation.
Humourous and heartfelt, Ponniah detailed how he went from buying albums based on the labels that were putting them out to working for street teams, to blagging his way into international tour management at 17 and launching his own label in the years following, and why empathy has been the most crucial skill throughout it all.
A Licence To Live
There are infinite paths into the music industry and a wealth of different careers within it, and BIGSOUND’s A Licence To Live panel, hosted by Mushroom Music Publishing Creative Manager A&R Julian McGruther, took a deep dive into the successful careers of three artists with diverse backgrounds.
The panel held a constant viewership throughout, and judging by the frequently comments during, a lot of those watching were aspirating artists themselves who no doubt went away with a stack of inspiration and practical knowledge, thanks to singer-songwriter Nat Dunn (who was answering questions in the comments section), video game composer and sound designer Mick Gordon and Zimbabwean-American artist Shungudzo Kuyimba.
When it came to the year so far and how COVID has affected the industry and how they operate, Gordon noted that “you’ve just got to focus on the things that are inside of your control and cut out everything else”, something that was a common thread throughout the hour-long discussion on not only breaking into the industry but how to thrive within it and juggle artistic integrity and financial stability.
For LA-based artist Kuyimba, her time in quarantine also yielded a valuable lesson: “Music is a matter of taste and so nothing you do is wrong, so long as it feels right to you, and that’s one of the most beautiful lessons that came out of this period for me.”
“Being authentic will always win,” Dunn added. “And if you’re feeling something it’s usually because of a good reason.”
As always with a lot of creative career paths, it tends to be about who you know, something Gordon stressed when relaying his experiences while working on major gaming releases that sometimes have upwards of 1,000 people on the team.
“Within those 1,000 people, you’ve got to know who it’s appropriate to speak to,” Gordon said. “You know, do you reach out to the creative director? Do you reach out to the producer? Do you reach out to the audio director? So finding who those people are at different companies and getting your music in front of them is still important.”
McGruther responded by saying that “that can be applied across the board in the industry, regardless of whether it’s gaming or pitching music to a label or a publishing team, you need to know who that champion is for you and for your work”.
“Regardless of where that person sits in the company, if you know there’s someone in your corner who’s always going to fight for you and push for you and loves what you do, then it’s going to make the world of difference,” he said.
“Those people can hop around to different companies, but they’ll generally take you along as part of their journey too, I find.”
In regards to her journey, Kuyimba reiterated the importance of trusting your gut. “I think during the beginning, especially when I was writing a lot of songs for other people and going to these sessions with writers and producers I admired, I tried really hard to write like them, or to write about the things that I thought they wanted me to write about, rather than really acknowledging my own story.”
Tom Morello: Whatever It Takes
Head over here to read our wrap-up on Tom Morello's keynote address.
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Stay tuned for more coverage throughout the day.
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