CMW Recap: Day Two
By Chuck Teed

Today was my big day at the conference component of CMW, so I tried to make
the most of it by hitting as many panels as possible. I started off on the
wrong foot by running into a presentation called Canada Does Promotions
Right, a presentation of the top ten promotions that happened in Canada in
the last year. Apparently I missed the fine print, because it was part of a
radio promotions summit, and from what I can tell, radio promotions had
nothing to do with music whatsoever (In fact, the MC said something to the
effect that music just gets in the way of good radio promotions. Let’s hope
he was joking.). Anyway, there was nothing else going on at this point of
the day, and they had free drinks and pizza, so it wasn’t a total wash.

Next up, a conflict: I wanted to go to Making Money in the Digital Age, as
well as the Indie Promoter Panel. After careful deliberation, I decided to
hit both, with the Promoter Panel being my first priority. Entitled Rise of
the Little Guy, the Promoter Panel featured people from booking agencies and
promotions companies talking about their craft. Or, more accurately, arguing
about their craft. The only consensus I could get from the back and forth
was that a lot of up and coming bands are forgoing the corporate approach
and looking for venues and promoters they can build actual relationships
with. Good news for the little guys.

I snuck out of the room mid-conflict and headed over to Making Money in the
Digital Age. I didn’t catch a lot of the information – I showed up quite
late due to the scheduling conflict – but the folks on the panel all seemed
to agree that companies like CD Baby and IODA (and 1000 others that I didn’t
catch the name of) were the best ways to access digital sale sites such as
iTunes, Emusic, Napster, etc. There wasn’t a lot of talk about how to
maximize sales on these sites, but I am sure that was covered in other
panels.

The International Manager’s Panel was up next, and it went through the
basics of what to expect from a manager from people who spent years in the
industry. A lot of the material was rudimentary stuff, with a focus on the
changing role of a manager in today’s industry. The highlight was Paul
Harvey’s comment that a manager’s main role is to get fired as a way to
appease tensions between a label and an artist. Funny stuff.

My last workshop of the day was The Tour Survival Kit, which was another
basic conversation about the ins and outs of making tours pay for
themselves. While I can’t say I learned too much, I will give kudos to the
panel for giving the audience – which consisted mainly of independent
artists – exactly what they were looking for, instead of talking over the
heads of the audience members. Nova Scotia even got kudos for a being a
supportive province for arts and culture. Way to go, Nova Scotia.

Unfortunately, this was where the conference ended for me. Saturday looked
full of promise (Chuck D keynote, anyone?), but I had to get ready for the
Music Nova Scotia Stage at the Rivoli. Luckily, I saw plenty of bands over
the course of the weekend, so I’ll recap my favorites shortly.

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