EMMA was so excited to be a part of this year’s by:larm Festival in Oslo, moderating and actively participating in four different activities, all hosted by NEMAA and EMMA and part of our mentorship programme event series this year. This festival is one of the milestones of the EMMMA mentorship program and we were pleased to offer both educational resources as well as networking opportunities for local NEMAA managers as well as EMMA members and EMMMA participants
So what did EMMA get up to in Oslo? Panels, roundtables, networking and much more!
THE DIGITAL MEGAPHONE: PROMOTING LIVE PERFORMANCE
This panel was moderated by EMMA board member Magdalena Jensen (Chimes Agency), with participants including: Marcel Hunziker (PlayLiveArtist.co.uk), Sindre Horseby (Sesong 1) and Elise Eriksen Løssfelt (Live Nation).
It focused on aspects of marketing online for the live performance, covering a wide range of topics from basic DIY tips to specific retargeting for events. The key takeaway was the need for artists to actually own their own media channels (and thus have possession of and access to their data), so that marketers on the promoters’ and agents’ side are able to put together better-targeted and more efficient campaigns. Panelists also highlighted how important it is to make an ad interesting and catchy or else you get lost in a sea of digital advertising, especially amongst younger target audiences.
SEAL THE DEAL
This panel was moderated by Annabella Coldrick (MMF UK) and joined by David Jacobs (Attorney, Grubman Shire & Meiselas), Eoin O’Leary (A&R Sony Music/ATC Manager) and Virpi Immonen (Chairwoman, EMMA/CEO Fullsteam Management).
The panel covered various aspects of music contracts, with a focus on publishing and record deals. The panelists discussed the right moment in an artist’s career to sign the deal, short term vs long term planning, emphasising the need for a strategic approach due to the length of nowadays deals. They then touched on the importance of assembling the right team for the project and the artist, which is one of the key success factors: the right people may get you the right deal. The main thing the panel emphasized several times was the importance of artists keeping their rights by choosing licensing models over selling master rights.
ROUNDTABLE: THE DYNAMIC ROLE OF THE ARTIST MANAGER
This roundtable were hosted by Annabella Coldrick (CEO, MMF UK), Per Kviman (Chair, EMMA and CEO, Versity Music), Virpi Immonen (Deputy Chair, EMMA/chair, MMF Finland) and Magdalena Jensen (EMMA/Poland).
For our first ever roundtable of this kind, we were THRILLED at how many people showed up! A circle of Norwegian and international managers, aspiring managers and self-managing artists (what a diverse bunch!) discussed quite a few topics. We spent quite a bit of time on debating whether to commission on gross or net; how are sunset clauses clauses treated in each market; do managers consider themselves to have ownership over their artist’s brand and how to discuss this with an artist; how you build trust with your artist and what your team relationship and dynamics look like.
This roundtable was presented by NEMAA, EMMA, Music Norway and YouTube Music and was a part of the EMMMA Programming.
NETWORKING: MEET THE MANAGERS & AGENTS
To round off the day, NEMAA, EMMA and YouTube Music invited everyone to meet up in the Music Norway International Lounge to meet, mingle and make connections with the managers and agents associated with organizations. Of course, the party was full and we pushed the limit of the lounge’s capacity 🙂
As we look back at By:Larm 2020 we see that this is a perfect place to connect with the norwegian and scandinavian music industry. We are really happy to have it included as part of our EMMMA Programming and also very grateful for the opportunity to meet all those inspiring people. Special thanks to NEMAA for co-organizing, by:Larm for hosting us, YouTube Music and Music Norway for the support and, of course, to our mentorship programme co-fundor, the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
Disclaimer:
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.