A look at Wide Days 2016.
We were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to visit Wide Days which is described as Scotland’s Music Convention that has been running since 2010. It has subsequently gone on to win acclaim as Best Networking Event at the Yearly Music Convention Awards in 2014 and plenty of acclaim from music business professionals.
Embarassingly it was our first visit to the event, and the trip itself was abridged due to various circumstances, but in saying that we we couldn’t help but be impressed by the setup. So what did we take from the event..
1 The vital significance of the Agents of Change agenda to live music venues needs no emphasis. Agents of Change (as proposed) aims to protect the protect the first property so if a music venue is in place before the residential building, the residential building would be responsible for paying for soundproofing and vice versa.
Whilst it is tempting to see it as a localised issue, the impact of positive change in Edinburgh could have reprecussions else where in Scotland. Check out the Music is Audible website for more details on the current debate.
2 The political hustings held highlighted the political will to further change and development the support of the music scene.
This included various issues that both directly and indirectly affected musicians. The issue of Creative Scotland and the perceived problems inherent in the organisation were echoed by most of the political representatives.
Politicians well worth seeking out and listening further to on the subject include Carolyn Scott of the Rise Party and Zara Kitson of the Green Party. Both were well versed in the current issues and received significant support from the floor. Iain McGill of the Conservative party didn’t bode anywhere near as well…
3 There is a lot squeezed into a day, eight panel workshops in the day saw a vast range of music based discussion ranging from royalty payments to the move towards greener festivals. Add to that the showcase event and the various planned and impromptu networking opportunities, it makes for a very busy couple of days indeed.
4 Surprisingly after promoting the showcase event as having a majority of acts being fronted by women (although not clear as to wether this was by design), the issues of gender equality within the music business were not on the agenda this year. Perhaps a case of it not needing to further emphasise the issue or a missed opportunity?
5 Youth had a lot of stories to tell The award winning producer ,who could possibly be described as eccentric was the keynote interviewee for the event.He spoke frankly and entertainingly about his experience in the business. The overwhelming themes of being yourself and the need to keep pushing forward were clear. So too was the dangers of wearing the same suit for a prolonged period.
6 The wonder of Emu Bands was well emphasised. A well recognised tool for those self releasing music, the managing director of the business talked about Emu Band’s role and also some of the nuances of the system including the data collected (in some cases being told the geographical area of purchasers of music down to postcode) to the value to acts of streaming (if you play music on Spotify Premium acts get more than Spotify’s free version).
7 The value of the play list can be impressive, the panel of ‘Dissecting the Digital Dollar’ had plenty of anecdotal stories of acts that had been selected on various playlists (on Spotify and the like) that had benefitted greatly from it.
Perhaps unsurprisingly it was noted that control and influence of play lists have moved away from a user led experience with the companies themselves gaining control of such a powerful marketing tool.
8) There is nothing simple about music rights, Chris Cooke’s (Co-Founder of the Complete Music Update) whistle stop tour of rights and licensing in the digital world was both extensive and intriguing.The research completed by Cooke on behalf often Music Managers Forum is freely available here.
You can see some photos of the event via the Wide Days Facebook page and check out the Wide Days website directly.
Photo, via Wide Days website, by Jannica Honey
