BA (Hons) Music Industries students Matt Pitcher and Maya Gaynor-Kubisa tell us more about the must-attend event for anyone looking to begin their career in the music industry.
What is BBC Music Introducing Live?
Maya: BBC Introducing Live is an event that was held over 3 days in London at the Tobacco Dock in East London. A whole three days of panels, workshops, networking and Q&A’s. We went on the Friday. It’s a great opportunity for any aspiring musicians or anyone who wants a career in music, like a Disneyland for future employees of the industry.
Matt: It’s a new three-day music discovery festival that took place in London’s iconic Tobacco Dock which held 15,000 people. Budding musicians and industry talent packed the Tobacco Dock building which held over 100 inspiring panels and talks. There was a massive range of these activities which catered to a whole range of music fans and aspiring artists who could listen to over 250 speakers from all quarters of the music industry.
What did you do at the event?
Matt: I listened to many panels and talks which ranged from how to get festival bookings for your band to talks with some top producers in the business. My personal favourite talk was at the end of the day from Romesh Dodangoda, a top rock producer who has worked with big bands such as Bring Me The Horizon and Motorhead. This was a very interesting talk as he gave an insight into what professional producing is like and he went into a lot of detail about what his process is when approaching different projects. Another favourite of mine was the panel about ‘Making it’ in rock and alternative music which featured industry experts talking about the rock music scene in great detail.
Maya: I headed to the live podcast recording with Phil Taggart and rock band You Me At Six. I’ve been a fan of You Me At Six since I was 13 so it was kind of a no brainer for me to attend! I actually learnt a lot from both the interview and the Q&A that took place. They discussed the ups and downs of the music business, touring as a band and bad record deals. The band didn’t shy away from discussing their bad experience with a major record label (Virgin EMI) and then getting dropped all together. They are now signed to an independent label/ (infectious records). The band said that despite the fact they’ve been through 5 managers, 3 record labels and two drummers that by having huge ups and downs they’ve learnt a lot about the industry that they felt they wouldn’t know otherwise and given some big life lessons. It makes them appreciate what they have now and the fans that have supported since the start.
Next I headed to ‘What’s The role of a label in 2018?’ with Martin Mills (Founder/director of Beggars Group), Rhian Jones (FreeLance Music Business Journalist) , Stacey Tang (Columbia Records) , Maya Kalev (UK & Europe Label Manager for Stones Throw Records) and Dumi OB (Founder of Distributing London) and from there I went to a panel with Joe Whiley which was really good, as she was very knowledgeable about the industry and offered some amazing advice to anyone aspiring a career in the music industry. Quite often people say how hard the industry is and talk quite negatively about it, however she was encouraging and said if you really want it everything will fall into place eventually.
What was the highlight of the day?
Maya: I’d say the day was pretty successful and definitely an event worth going to if you are some one looking to work in the music industry! There’s a networking lounge, along with coffee and comfy sofas, so it’s a pretty chill environment to get talking to different people. I certainly did and it was a much more informal way of meeting people rather than it feeling forced or pressured. There are so many different people from the industry that attend, it’s an amazing opportunity to get your name out there and your foot in the door!
Matt: It was a great experience to be a part of an event with so many fellow fans of music which showcased all aspects of it. If you are a music fan, whatever the genres, this is the event you need to go to.
