Q&A: Toby Dewar on Telstra Road to Discovery
Over the last decade, Telstra’s touring talent discovery program has evolved into one of the independent music sector’s largest advocates, unearthing the talents of some of Australia’s most treasured acts like Jessica Mauboy, Melody Pool and Neda. With a level of engagement that doesn’t end when the competition does and an experience curated by its alumni and fans, what was once widely aligned with country music and regional Australia is now one of the nation’s most fostering music competitions. TMN chats to Toby Dewar, Telstra’s General Manager of Strategic Partnerships about the new era of Telstra Road To Discovery.
Where does music sit in Telstra’s marketing strategy?
To take a step back, we know that music is the greatest passion driver for consumers. Telstra’s ability to use music to lift advertising for example, we’ve done that with our brand activations in the past, or the ability to use music to create brilliant experiences, which is a lot of what we do across our portfolio, and then you get down to the transactional side of things with Bigpond Music, more recently you have Telstra Thanks – which is again providing access to experiences – so music’s always been an enabler and a means to elevate what we do from an emotional sense. There’s no doubt that it provides a more functional sense in terms of how we give people access through technology and through purchasing music as well. It’s nice how it has that spectrum effect.
Why has a telco put so much time and money into a music program over such a sustained period?
It’s been successful. Each year we do the program we are inspired and have that sense of purpose of what we are trying to do to discover and support new talent; it just keeps building and building by the nature of the people who participate. It’s been fueled by the people who are a part of it, and for us to be able to do that again and inspire more and further careers is one of the key reasons we do it. The second reason is around creating digital content; we feel this is a strong model whereby you’re getting a nice intersection of people providing us content and learning and being mentored through that content. So you’ve got that nice intersection of organically building content whilst people are wanting to be involved.
The TRTD website features Master Class videos with Kate Miller-Heidke, Jake Stone and Andy Bull. It’s almost a venture toward TRTD as an educational platform as well as a competition.
A lot of that came from the artists themselves wanting to be a part of it. When you consider what they’ve been through to get to where they are – that backstory of the challenges they’ve faced or the journey they’ve been through – it’s testament to how Road is perceived within the industry; artists of global recognition want to come back and equally support people who are starting at the very beginning. That sense of mentoring, whether it’s on songwriting, production or I dare say the basics of music, I think that’s a really profound part of what we do at the moment.
What is the purpose of TRTD and how has it evolved over the past 11 years?
Over the past 11 years, we’ve helped hundreds of Australian musicians navigate their journey into the Australian music scene by providing development opportunities and mentorship from some of the industry’s most influential figures. In 2014, we’re allowing new audiences to be a part of this journey through our revamped digital platform by providing regular updates and bespoke content through a series of master classes, blogs, artist interviews, profiles and more. The site is for music lovers as a whole, from those who are trying to become an established artist through to those who are just keen to discover great new Aussie music.
Why move from country music with a regional focus, to a more mainstream approach?
It wasn’t a conscious decision to move away from country per se, if you look at where Australian music has gone over the last 11 years, which is how long Road has been going for, and how things have shifted, we just want to keep pace with where the music industry’s going. When you consider that at the core of the program, it’s about original songwriting in particular, we believe that that’s the entry point of how you want to express yourself through your music, and whatever genre that is, Road’s got the flexibility to accommodate that and to promote that. It’s more a reflection of where the industry has gone and where it’s going, country music is welcome to be a part of that but we do feel it’s got to be broader.
With so many other music talent programs around, what differentiates TRTD?
Lately we’ve been working on how we can re-write the rules of talent discovery and make a difference in that market. There are many programs in the market that provide or talk to music discovery and song competitions and so forth. Ours at the core needs to be more in the community aspect; it needs to focus on songwriting and we want to be more involved in their journey over time. The purpose is frankly to provide a sustained level of support to the industry and to individuals as opposed to being caught in the moment. The alumni program and those that have been involved with the program over the 11 years, the sense of connection we have with them to continue to support them, I think comes through in the program. That’s ultimately the purpose, to provide that sustained difference to the industry. That sustained focus on the artists over time is something that keeps us committed to the program so that legacy continues.
What have been some of TRTD’s greatest achievements?
We’ve just re-launched a new website and the metrics that we’re seeing shows growth year on year. There is no doubt that within any business there is a pressure to maintain programs, particularly in an environment that is focused on sales and on results. This has a measure that is softer around brand and advocacy and it certainly is making an impact in that area. There’s also certainly been a litany of artists who have been a part of it, going back to what Jess Mauboy did 11 years ago as the first winner of the program. For us as a brand, being a very commercial brand and a well-known brand, I think you do get that tension of how you have independents like Kate Miller-Heidke get involved. I think we are finding the right positioning of Tesltra Road relative to what the industry needs and relative to artists’ needs. I think staying consistent on what the program stands for over 11 years is something we should be most proud of. I think that needs to be our compass moving forward, how we do that through a greater focus on digital and the events [like the competition’s Brisbane heat at BIGSOUND last month] is how it gets more reach, but at the core it’s still the same.
How will Telstra continue to support the Australian music industry?
The focus on music will continue to grow. How we can better serve the existing properties that we have is where we see the growth, and doing more with Road through a digital reach, whether it’s what we’re doing at the moment with the Katy Perry tour which we’ll roll out in a couple of months, what we do with Thanks, there’s more being launched in the coming months as well and the continued focus we have on things like Mog and BigPond. It’s more about how we can shift them to the next year and there are some broader announcements that we feel will be in place that will further elevate the whole strategy. We’re excited by where that will take us and we’re excited by the sense of purpose that it will create within the music industry as well.
TheGrand Final of Telstra Road To Discovery will beheld at the Forum Theatre in Melbourne on Wednesday 3 December.