Post Forum Report

by Gayle Young

The conference took place on the top floor of the Edward Johnson building at the University of Toronto, and the space was regular enlivened by sound. The first morning we were greeted by Scott Johnson and John Oswald, bringing a few notes of brass and red to the proceedings. At lunch we were greeted by Christine Duncan and Nilan Perera, and the next day by [please add the others and their times/places?]

Graham McKenzie opened the discussion part of the conference by telling us about the challenges he’s met when changing the artistic mandate of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music festival, a highly informative talk that was followed by a panel discussion among organizers for some key Canadian festivals and concert presenters.

The discussion of ways to participate in the new options available on the web was a continuation of discussions that had begun during the Soundstreams conference. A related theme shared between the two conferences was the “monetization” of music, that is, how are we supposed to get paid? There were discussions of many different possibilities, but they all seemed to require intensive, committed, and highly skilled “person-hours” in order to be effective. Everyone seemed to agree that there is plenty of opportunity, but that the financial support has been reduced. Compare the costs of mounting a major show, recording it, editing it, and putting it up on what amounts to a consignment web site for 50% of sales, with the “old model” where a radio, TV or recording company paid the performers up front, paid studio and editing costs, and promoted the final product. There was little complaint heard, however, as none of this is news. We were looking for solutions, and plenty of options were brought to the table.

Several participants discussed the personal nature of their curatorial activities, almost all speakers saying that artists participating in their festivals were chosen because of personal interest, because the musicians presented a sense of excitement and engagement. David Lang of Bang on a Can as much as said “It’s our festival, and we play what we want to.” Graham McKenzie pointed out that every time an artist is invited to a festival, it is the beginning of a personal relationship he or she will carry with them the rest of their lives. He then asked, with reference to the thousands of promotional packages that arrive every year: How many of these do you need? Someone pointed out that he listens to and responds to every submission, because he sees the mailing of unsolicited packages as a gesture of hope on the part of the artist, and does not want that gesture, that hope, to go unheard.

Discussions of radio, and physical infra structure provided a sense of the challenges faced all over Europe and North America, as adminisrative priorities are changed, and as real estate prices go up. The impressive new building in Amsterdam was presented [give name of building, organization and speaker please] but a slightly disturbing fact also emerged: to open it for a single concert requires 18 paid staffers to be brought in. Discussions on radio showed several options, including the unfortunate Danish model where announcers, who provide context to the music, have been dispensed with, and replaced by computer-zed track selection process. BNBNB from US public radio spoke of a small scale and highly successful radio operation in which the announcer remains central.