Face The Music draws capacity 850 crowd, embraces digital future

The seventh Face The Music conference, held on the weekend at Arts Centre Melbourne, drew a capacity 850 attendees, organisers said.

A highlight of the two-day summit was Vote For Me! where five political parties outlined their contemporary music policies before the November 29 Victoria elections. Minister for Liquor and Gaming, Edward O’Donohue, announced that the Coalition will fund Music Victoria’s $1 million regional music action plan to stimulate the regional touring circuit (this was reiterated by the Nationals’ David O'Brien on the Regional Victoria panel) and provide $400,000 operational funding to Music Victoria over four years.

Fiona Patten of the Australian Sex Party called for at least 1% more of arts funding to be diverted to the grassroots. “The money’s still going up to the top, it’s not coming to the musicians.” Kris Schroeder of The Basics Rock‘n’Roll Party is keen for a greater spend on community radio stations to provide more exposure for local music.

Martin Foley, Shadow Arts Minister, went into detail of Labor’s $22.2 million Music Works package and $2 million Musical Futures program for music in schools.Sue Pennicuik of the Greens supports the continuation of a music round table as a conduit between industry and Government.

Face The Music focuses on the grassroots aspect of the music industry (to such an extent that the How To Earn A Living In The Music Industry session was streamed for ticket-holders who couldn’t make it in person).

Entrepreneurialism and innovation was a theme through the two days. Steve Albini’s inspirational standing-room-only keynote proved he was excited about the new businessmodel.In pre-internet America, he recalled, “Independent bands became resourceful, building their own infrastructure. They'd operate on a profit-sharing basis that encouraged efficiency. It was the beginning of an alternative to the major label paradigm."

De’Sean Jones of Detroit techno collective Underground Resistance, advised, “Let go of those preconceived ideas about how to create music. We get to unlock our brains in a way to create true experimental music but still make people move." Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream, pioneers of working outside the traditional media/label set-up, does not regard himself as a musician:“I'm not interested in music any more. What I'm interested in is energy – the power that lies beyond matter." He warned that audiences will always suss out if art and music does not come from a “real place.”

“Think social media impact, not record sales”, was another mantra from most of the 150 speakers. Audiences were told to prepare for more industry changes as consumers shift from buying to accessing music through streaming. The successful act of the future will be those who effectively use branding and social media. “Music is only going to become more visual. Make your music as visual as possible," suggested Henry Compton of The Orchard. As other sessions indicated, this includes holding gigs at out-of-the-box venues to create a fresh experience for fans or winching amps at 2am down a waterfall for a spectacular shot as Byron metalcore band In Heart’s Wake did to make their Divine video a stand-out.

In an APRA AMCOS sponsored Q&A with The Living End and manager Rae Harvey, the latter explained that in the beginning, she “just winged it … but I was never afraid to ask questions or learn.” The Living End revealed there were solo projects on the way, and that a planned ‘spontaneous’ approach to their seventh album could well be “the biggest mistake of our career!”