BACKManaging Director of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishing
Media and Music Manager at Mute Song
Co-Founder and Director of Halban Publishers for books
Last night’s Noted Talk ‘Publishing Across Genres’ was a captivating event hosted by WildKatPR and Sane & Able. The evening featured three animated experts: Janis Susskind, David McGinnis and Martine Halban, who spoke on their knowledge and experience in Publishing. Throughout the evening, the speakers talked on the role of publishing in the worlds of music and the written word. They also contributed top advice in the area of self-publishing, which was applicable in a variety of ways for the eager attendees.
Many perspectives across the topics covered were highly valuable as light was shed on everything from how our speakers select what to publish, to the affect of new technologies on the industry. The importance of understanding the business was emphasised by Janis Susskind who explained the behind the scenes grass roots provisions needed for success: “For a year I typed index cards and memorized names, and learned the business from the ground up.” David McGinnis highlighted the validity of a gradual rise to the top: “Play some gigs, have some fans. Get some people throwing their underwear at you. Don’t go straight to sync”.
Martine Halban commented on the changes that the industry has undergone in the last twenty or so years: “In the 90s, Amazon started and the whole publishing scene changed. Now we are in the era of e-book publishing”. Interestingly, what arose is that it seems advanced technology has not merely removed older formats for accessing and listening to music, but more the emphasis has changed for these tools. Janis Susskind illustrates this: “I see more CDs being sold at classical venues. At the beginning we could never get a record company to agree to this”. David McGinnis took this one step further by explaining the potential value of CDs: “The physical disc might become like a piece of novelty merchandise”.
The entire evening was an eye opener into music publishing from professionals who were able to divulge valuable advice. It was an atmospheric evening full to the brim with young professionals and keen students, and the experience was both stimulating and informative with a good insight into the future of music publishing.
Take at look at our next event which will take place on Wednesday October 23rd ‘Noted Talks…Music Money Matters’. You can find this via the noted Event Bright.
Check out Noted via Twitter or Facebook for more quotes from the speakers and information about the event.
Check back soon for a video blog from last night’s guests!
Oliver Hyde-Tetley