Branded Ltd is back with its three signature events – Digital Matters, Music Matters and Music Matters Live, scheduled to be held from 22-26 May 2012 in Singapore.
With over 40 bands from a total of 15 countries, the music fest for the first time will broadcast live on YouTube. With a keen focus on key Asian music markets such as India, Japan, China and Korea the conference will spotlight issues like consumption of digital music, launching digital services in Asia, issues in music publishing and key factors to successful music festivals.
Radioandmusic.com’s Poonam Ahuja caught up with Branded Ltd co-founder and Digital and Music Matters president Jasper Donat for a quick chat on the new opportunities the leading forum will bring for the music and digital entertainment industry in the Asia-Pacific region.
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Excerpts:-
How far has Music Matters grown and progressed in the last seven years?
Music Matters was introduced to liven and enrich the music industry in Asia. As the music scene in the continent was growing it was also important to bring this music to the rest of the world. Music Matters became a platform for industry professionals such as artists, band managers, government agencies, media, marketers, creative industries and leading digital entertainment firms to meet, learn and network with each other. We also wanted to provide opportunities for upcoming bands to learn from the people who have truly made a mark in the industry.
As the years passed by and the use of technology proliferated, it was crucial to keep the conference up to date and that was why we premiered Digital Matters last year when the conference moved to Singapore. Consumption of all things digital in music is constantly evolving and playing an important role in the entertainment industry, so it was pivotal to continue to bring together the industry’s thought-leaders to share their strategies and outlook on how online media was transforming. The use of social media, as a result of globalisation, has been increasingly rampant and with the exponential use of multiple mobile devices, it has led to a demand for online ‘gamification’ of entertainment. It is rare to find a conference that covers such a wide range of aspects in digital entertainment and we’re proud that we are able to produce this with our partners.
How will the annual music conference help the industry professionals this year?
Music Matters is the pioneer music industry event in the Asia-Pacific region and is a key annual gathering for the digital entertainment and music industry. We bring the international and regional decision makers to the event for innovation, collaboration and to catch up on the progress of key Asian markets.
We will be focussing on markets of India, China, Japan and Korea, in addition to the live music business and festivals and also the issues of launching music services and publishing music in Asia.
How many Indian Companies are participating in the event?
With our Nokia Music Connects event produced in association with Indian Television Dot Com (ITV) India, the country is absolutely one of our priority markets. It’s important that we profile this great nation in the most appropriate manner. We are producing an hour long panel on the Indian market with speakers like, Sony Music Entertainment India & Middle East president Shridhar Subramaniam, Hungama Digital Media COO Siddhartha Roy, BMI executive director – Europe & Asia Brandon Bakshi, OnMobile content head Atul Churamani, The Orchard vice-president & general manager Prashant Bahadur and Wizcraft International Entertainment director Sabbas Joseph. The panel will be introduced by IMI president Vijay Lazarus who will showcase some of the piracy busting initiatives that IMI have been leading in India.
Some other keynote speakers from India include Times Music COO Mandar Thakur, OML Entertainment founder and CEO Vijay Nair and Artist Aloud associate VP Soumini Sridhara Paul.
We have many Indian delegates, sponsors and media partners at the fest this year. We are very proud to welcome GIMA for the first time and IMI a great supporter of Music Matters and our Indian event Nokia Music Connects, for many years.
Troy Carter and Bob Ezrin would be the spotlight of the event this year. How influential do you think will their session be for the global music industry?
Troy Carter is the face of the new music industry and his unparalleled success with Lady Gaga is proof enough. Bob Ezrin is a legend who has produced at least one album in everyone’s collection. Bob is still breaking the mould today so we’re really looking forward to hearing what they both have to say.
What will be the key topics of discussion for the digital entertainment and music business?
Covering all aspects of digital content monetization and production, Digital Matters has solidified its place as a premier event on the digital media entertainment industry calendar. This year’s programme will feature a line up of leading speakers on topics of aligning entertainment and content for mobiles, the next frontiers in digital advertising, going OTT (Over the Top) in providing content for TV and tackling the ROIs of social media.
Music Matters has signed YouTube as its Official Festival Broadcast Partner for the three-day event. Elaborate.
Music Matters Live will bring together over 40 bands from 15 countries to rock Singapore’s Clarke Quay over three nights. Thanks to our Official Festival Broadcast Partner, YouTube, fans who can’t make the festival can watch ‘live’ via our YouTube channel- musicmatterstome.
This year the conference will premiere “Gaming Matters, produced with GameSpot” workshop. Explain in detail how will the workshop help the industry experts to gain insight into the gaming world?
Zoning into the gaming space in 2012, Digital Matters introduces an exciting new addition- ‘Gaming Matters produced with GameSpot’. This specialised event will bring some of the most influential industry leaders in the gaming world together to help those who wish to break into and/or understand more about the “gamification” process- turning films, TV shows, music and other forms of content into popular games.
What new and challenging opportunities will the event bring for the global digital and music industry this year?
Asia is still lacking major regional music services that exist elsewhere such as iTunes or Spotify. With the focus we are placing on publishing this year, we are hopeful that this scene will change in the not too distant future so we can all enjoy great music, on great legitimate services. This can only benefit the musicians and fans whilst also returning the industry to growth.
