Some random thoughts and takeaways from this week's NMS LA:
It was exciting to see both a sold out crowd and this great event coming into its own. It's a credit to the tenacity of Tom Silverman and Dave Lory and bodes well for the future of the new music business.
- It's also refreshing that almost no one asks, "How can I get a record deal?" anymore, but rather "How can I move my career forward?"
- The Death of D.I.Y. - There's finally a realization that you can't do it all yourself. You need to assemble a team. But the beauty of the new paradigm is that you get to assemble the team and it may come together and change dependent on a particular project.
- Spotify's "Coming Soon" sign may be starting to wear out its welcome. (MOG anyone?)
I enjoyed the panel that I was in with Ian Rogers of Topspin, Bryan Calhoun of SoundExchange, Mike Doernberg of ReverbNation and moderated by Tom Silverman. We shared some great information. It's too bad that Paul at Digital Music News managed to feature everyone's name and deliberately leave me off the list. I may be overreacting and maybe he's upset that Hypebot has 2-3 times the unique visitors that he has, but still... Come on Paul...there's room for everyone. The new music industry deserves many voices.
The Official Post NMS Press Release:
Music and technology leaders convened yesterday at the sold out New Music Seminar at the Music Box at the Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles. During the intensive one-day conference, New Music Seminar laid out a vision for a new music business that forges a union between artists and their managers, labels and support teams along with web technologies to help artists achieve maximum exposure and maximum revenues, in service of their fans.
CEOs, Founders and heads of the most important music technologies, the architects of the next music business were all present at NMS including: Keynote speak Daniel Ek; Spotify, Christina Calio; Microsoft, Joe Kennedy; Pandora, Courtney Holt; MySpace Music, Mike Doernberg; ReverbNation, Eric Garland; Big Champagne; Derek Sivers, Ian Rogers; TopSpin, Remix Galaxy, and principals of Electric Sheep, Nimbit, RemixGalaxy, SoundExchange, Fanscape, OurStage, OwnGig, Audiolife, and many more.
Also in attendance were a cross section of key indie labels including Nettwerk, Vagrant, Dangerbird (Silversun Pickups), Concord, Century Media, Stones Throw, Thrive, Tommy Boy, Big Cat, Mack Avenue, Fontana, ADA, CBS, Side One Dummy, Hopeless, Rockingale (Carol King), ABB, Nacional, Delicious Vinyl and RaSa .
The conference kicked off with a private NMS opening night “After Grammy Jammy” party at The Roxy with a hot line up of bands including headliner Semi Precious Weapons as well as U-N-I, Family of the Year and DJ Dan Morrell spinning between sets.
Mountain Dew, who is partnering with NMS as part of a larger, growing relationship to develop new platforms and educational tools for independent artists to advance their careers in the music industry, also sponsored the conference.
“Mountain Dew is proud to partner with New Music Seminar to sponsor the Reflection Award, which celebrates talented, emerging artists and offers musicians much-needed assistance that brings them closer to recognizing their professional goals and personal dreams,” said Frank Cooper, SVP, chief consumer engagement officer, PepsiCo Americas Beverages. “We’re thrilled to be in on the ground level supporting new music and today’s up-and-coming artists.”
Other sponsors and media partners included: NARAS, SESAC, LA Weekly, Music Connection, Billboard, Digital Music News, Yahoo Music, MySpace Music, Hypebot, Filter Magazine, OurStage, Rainbo Records, Remix Galaxy, ReverbNation, Echonest, Mozes and A2IM
Also in attendance were a cross section of key indie labels including Nettwerk, Vagrant, Dangerbird (Silversun Pickups), Concord, Century Media, Stones Throw, Thrive, Tommy Boy, Big Cat, Mack Avenue, Fontana, ADA, CBS, Side One Dummy, Hopeless, Rockingale (Carol King), ABB, Nacional, Delicious Vinyl and RaSa .
The conference kicked off with a private NMS opening night “After Grammy Jammy” party at The Roxy with a hot line up of bands including headliner Semi Precious Weapons as well as U-N-I, Family of the Year and DJ Dan Morrell spinning between sets.
Mountain Dew, who is partnering with NMS as part of a larger, growing relationship to develop new platforms and educational tools for independent artists to advance their careers in the music industry, also sponsored the conference.
“Mountain Dew is proud to partner with New Music Seminar to sponsor the Reflection Award, which celebrates talented, emerging artists and offers musicians much-needed assistance that brings them closer to recognizing their professional goals and personal dreams,” said Frank Cooper, SVP, chief consumer engagement officer, PepsiCo Americas Beverages. “We’re thrilled to be in on the ground level supporting new music and today’s up-and-coming artists.”
Other sponsors and media partners included: NARAS, SESAC, LA Weekly, Music Connection, Billboard, Digital Music News, Yahoo Music, MySpace Music, Hypebot, Filter Magazine, OurStage, Rainbo Records, Remix Galaxy, ReverbNation, Echonest, Mozes and A2IM
