Take 5 with the brains behind BIGSOUND: QMusic CEO, Joel Edmondson

BIGSOUND is one of the biggest events on the Australian music industry calendar.

A jam-packed three days which sees industry and artists come together to hear some of the foremost community minds speak, network and discover the next big thing in Aussie music.

2018 promises to be the biggest year yet, with keynotes from the likes of Paul Kelly, Virginia Hanlon-Grohl, Erin Kelly-Burkett and stacks more. Not to mention the 100+ musical acts that will be bringing their A game to showcases right across Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.

To prep for the massive conference, TMN is catching up with the people that make it all happen.

Halfway through his fourth year at the helm of QMusic, the sunshine state’s music industry development association and driving force in staging BIGSOUND each year, Joel Edmonson has seen a massive growth in the yearly event.

With last year’s attendance increasing 40% on 2016’s numbers and picking up Australia’s Best Live Music Event at the 2017 National Live Music Awards, Edmonson has been instrumental in making BIGSOUND the community-minded, engaged festival that it is today.

TMN caught up with Edmonson to talk about tourism, Queensland musician and what the future holds for BIGSOUND.

What is the biggest change that you’ve seen at BIGSOUND over the years?

This is my fourth year leading the delivery of BIGSOUND. In that time, festival attendance has almost tripled. In that respect, BIGSOUND has transformed from something that was mainly known by industry to be something that has much more public recognition.

Although BIGSOUND will at heart always be an industry event, we’re proud to be able to present Australia’s best emerging talent to a larger public audience.

I’m also passionate about helping the Australian public better understand the music industry and the value it delivers to them, so this transformation of BIGSOUND is one way of achieving that.

What impact does the festival have in terms of tourism and attracting people to Brisbane?

About $3m is spent in Brisbane over the 4 days of BIGSOUND every year. We would like to think that BIGSOUND also inspires people who come to Brisbane for the first time to see it as a place worth revisiting – it’s hard for them to really take in the place when they’re fully immersed in the Valley for the time they’re here for BIGSOUND!

For years the focus had been on Sydney and Melbourne when looking for upcoming artists, now some of the biggest names in Aus music are coming out of Brisbane and Queensland, how much of a hand do you think BIGSOUND has had in this evolution? 

I think what BIGSOUND does is show the rest of the country that the Queensland music industry has the tenacity and community spirit to collaborate effectively over 17 years to deliver a world-class event, but to do it in such a way that isn’t parochial and genuinely tries to be inclusive of people, regardless of where they’re from.

Where breaking artists is concerned, I think geographical location is less and less important in a globalised industry – Amy Shark is an example of someone who broke through because her music has an undeniable quality, despite being from a relatively isolated music community like the Gold Coast. This said, Amy’s is also a story of how industry awards like the Queensland Music Awards can give emerging artists a media platform they need to be recognised by labels and publishers from around the world.

How is QMusic leading the event into growth? 

Where the conference is concerned, our rationale for programming is becoming quite different now. People in other industries, particularly people who work in corporate organisations, enjoy professional development experiences as part of their everyday jobs that independent music entrepreneurs could only dream of affording.

That’s why our industry is really behind others in terms of gender equity, mental health, design thinking etc – as a community we don’t normally get access to the learning we need to make the change we want to make. What we’re trying to do with BIGSOUND now is deliver an experience that leaves people feeling genuinely transformed in terms of their ability to innovate, lead change, manage themselves and their businesses, and relate to other people.

We’re also trying to create more audience-generated sessions, so as to get away from the model of having a perceived expert on stage and everyone else being relegated to just being a listener. There is so much knowledge and wisdom within our community and we want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to contribute to our collective learning.

Of all the BIGSOUND events you’ve attended, what is your favourite memory?

My favourite memory would have to be the double-decker bus stage at the Oztix party in Winn Street in 2015. I’m looking forward to the day an event partner pulls off something equally spectacular and fun/loose. Perhaps that will happen this year…