An Outline Of Output

Today I had the privilege of going to the largest music conference in Ireland, it was based between The Mac theatre and The Oh Yeah Music Centre. It was a fantastic opportunity that I was offered through school, that provided a good day out and some very good advice from some very kind people.

The event opened with a speech from the president of PRS for Music Crispen Hunt. Hunt opened the event speaking about the importance of getting paid for your music. He delivered a fairly interesting speech, it was an important topic, but was not very captivating.

The second speech was from a spokes person of the Musicians Union who was not originally meant to appear so forgive me for not remembering her name. Her speech was much the same. I understand the importance of joining a union.... but I have a short attention span and don't want to listen to legal jargon for 25 minutes ( it felt longer than it was). Again I have to state that it is an important area to be aware of (Join a union for anything you can).

The third speech from Tom Gray incited my interest, he spoke quickly, clearly, and covered a lot in a good span of time. He was speaking on his role in the Ivors Academy (which I urge you to join). He spoke to us like his friends delivering a very personal speech.

Now to the fun bit... the Panels

The Panels

My first panel was on Photography with the (rather cheesy) name "A Picture Worth a Million Streams" Gave a good listen and the smaller group lead to a warm intimate feeling with plenty of audience interaction and a fun Q&A. I felt the group of panellists speaking had a good chemistry, and felt like a group of friends. This always helps to make a pleasant environment. They gave a unique introspective on how photographers see music. Also went on to highlight the importance of choosing carefully who you work for within music .

The second panel was a very unique experience, probably not what I would have picked looking at some of the other panels that I could go for, but one of the panellists now follows me, and was a pretty cool and interesting guy. The Panel was based on the collaboration of different sides of the music industry who all worked in sequence with each other, From Jameson Whiskey sponsorships to festival organisers to talent management. It was a bit hard to follow at times, but it was still fun. Would recommend to any of those who were interested in the inner workings of festival management.

The Third Panel is probably the reason I have started writing the blog again, It was on Social media and its place in music. This is the only part I feel that truly applied to me (this does not take away from any of the other panels I visited, I gained a lesson from each and every speaker today). With panellists with much experience on the topic guiding the hour it lead for a fun engaging and comedic listen. More on my main lesson later.

My fourth and Final Panel was on the current state of the Live Music Industry right now. It ain't good. Not that the panel wasn't good, the panel was very good, but live music is becoming less and less feasible as time goes on. I really don't want to get into why because its not a pleasant chat. So lets get to that main lesson I mentioned.

That Main Lesson I Mentioned

If I in anyway want to make this blog work I need to make a few changes on it.

1. I need to be more consistent

I will now be trying to make 2 posts a week one on a Monday and one on a Thursday this will hopefully soon form into a habit. If I do not post I urge you to text and annoy the hell out of me.

2. This is not just going to be music based

Yes I understand it has record on the name but just writing about music can be a little boring. I have 3 pre made blogs that I don't want to submit because I didn't have fun making them.

So nothing to big will change, but the social media panel just showed that it can't be just something I do once a month It has to be something regular. Life will get in the way every now and then but I'm gonna try.

Wish me luck

-Charlie J