Dramatic changes in the music industry addressed at TILT

Designed to address the changes in the way music is discovered, distributed and demanded, changes which are driven by an ever-evolving technology, the inaugural TILT (Tomorrow's Ideas Leading Today) forum, held last week, gathered leading industry professionals to present talks on a variety of topics including how creativity can combat piracy, and the rapidly increasing importance of social engagement.

Presented by the Australian Institute of Music (AIM) on 5th July, TILT was an opportunity for both the speakers and the audience to tackle what is perhaps the greatest evolution the music industry has gone through since the introduction of the mp3.

Drawing inspiration from the fascinating formats of TED Talks and ABC's Q&A, this forum gave each speaker 20 minutes to argue for a big idea they feel passionately about and then open the discussion up to the audience to create a think-tank style brainstorm of ideas.

Television presenter James Mathison kept the audience entertained and engaged as he introduced each speaker and their chosen topic, as well as giving insights of his own as to how current changes will affect the industry in the future.

Sounds Australia National Live Music Coordinator Ianto Ware used anecdotes from his childhood to compare what music discovery was like without the internet, to how it is now, explaining "suddenly you had this machine to amplify your homing beacon to find other people like you."

Ware recalled while detailing the time-consuming process of tracking like-minded people through online message boards and LiveJournal, back when the internet was seen as a new and unfamiliar technology.

The importance of finding people with a common cultural identity was given great emphasis, with Ware concluding that the great accessibility to music communities that the digital world now offers needs to be harnessed for the sake of social engagement.

Deezer, Australia & NZ Managing Director Thomas Heymann, explained how subscription-based streaming services have become tool for artists to "find their audience and create an engaging musical experience."

The importance of artists directly relating with their fans and "going global" as soon as they can was one of Heymann's primary points, with his suggestion "go where the networks are you need to think global."

Gizmodo Australia's Luke Hopewell zoned in on the significance of sharing and 'going viral'. While not directly involved in the music industry, Hopewell used his knowledge of the digital world to encourage artists to get their fan base to 'make noise' for them, and inject themselves into a culture once they use the internet as a platform to find an audience. Building a fan base Hopewell indicated is the solution to navigating the digital space, stating "the key to success is knowing your audience."

A Q&A session with the first three speakers followed, mediated by Mathison, who invited members of the audience to challenge and build upon our speakers' ideas.

Discussions around the revival of vinyl reiterated the established idea that despite our deep involvement in the digital space of music, there exists a large portion of people who still want the quality of owning something physical; as Heymann put it "vinyl is the new coffee table book."

Before a lunch break, the audience was treated to a performance by two AIM students Kieran Warner-Hunt and Jesse Ledesma using Xth Sense, a biosensor that channels inaudible low frequency sounds made by muscle contractions and amplifies them into electronic sounds.

This resulted in an entertaining exploration of the union between electronica and human movement that left a firm impression on the forum.

Former Minister for the Arts, and current Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, Peter Garrett gave the keynote address highlighting the importance of creativity and the essential role it will play in tackling

http://www.aim.edu.au