Slides from the lecture

2. MUSIC: MAJOR PROJECT
PERF2068
IAN ROGERS & GENE SHILL
ian.rogers@rmit.edu.au
gene.shill@rmit.edu.au

3. The one thing you need to know...
“ Many people seem to think that the
music industry exists to make music. In
fact, it exists to make money from music,
mostly by moving it from one place to
another.” - Charles Fairchild

4. Some realities...
● $0 price-point for recorded music : Premium for live music
● High volume of material to market : Low barrier to entry
● Cultural capital (leisure) : Capital (work)
● Australian market 90% fuelled by cultural capital.
● Export market / Visas : DIY International Touring
● Success = entrepreneurship (financially, creatively, etc.)
● Politics in play: identity, state policy, party politics, etc.
● Virtually no tier of Australian music unaffected by grant-
funding
● For some people, all this is fun.

7. When I asked James Kritzler (2008) of Slug Guts
why bands usually break-up, he gave a simple
answer: ‘Because I’m in them.’

10. Interviewer: Why do bands normally break up?
Luke Boerdam: Because a band must be one of
the stupidest ideas of how to run something
logically. Who would have thought ‘Let’s put four
people together and make one whole piece of
music or art’? It’s one of the hardest things ever.

12. Your one big advantage....
YOU CAN BEHAVE FASTER AND LOOSER THAN
EVERYONE ELSE.
SMASH OUT TRACKS. (Speed to market)
TAKE WILD CHANCES ON EVENTS, RECORDS, BANDS,
TOURS, STORIES, ETC. (Profit from risk / Can take the
knocks)
GO OUT EVERY NIGHT. (Build social capital)
PERCEIVED & REAL VALUE OF YOUTH (Yr own focus group)

13. TODAY
● Course Admin
● Assessment
● Cohort building

14. COURSE ADMIN
● CANVAS is the only place
● Class attendance is strongly
recommended (Peer review is 10%)

15. ASSESSMENT
3 pieces:
1. It’s all on Canvas
2. It’s all on Canvas
3. It’s all on Canvas

16. MAKE MUSIC
This are 3 key projects...
BUSINESS
PLAN
RESEARCH
PAPER
MAKE
MUSIC
BUSINESS
PLAN

17. DOING MUSIC (GENE)
› Unless you have demos ready, you’re
working in pairs.
› 5 songs, ready for market by semester’s
end.
You don’t need to know what you want to
do but you need to be willing to commit.

18. DOING BUSINESS (IAN)
› Unless you have a project TODAY,
you’re doing the group project.
› The group project is awesome and
touches on a wide multitude of music
industries aptitudes.

19. DOING RESEARCH (IAN)
› ACADEMIA IS LUCRATIVE & STABLE
› YOU’VE ACTUALLY STARTED YOUR
ACADEMIC CAREERS.
› 5,000 WORD FULLY REFERENCED
RESEARCH PAPER.
You don’t need to know what you want to
do but you need to be willing to commit.

20. LET’S
THINK OUT
LOUD
IN GROUPS OF 3-4, TALK ABOUT WHAT
YOU MIGHT DO. WRITE IT DOWN. BE
READY TO TELL THE CLASS. (10 MIN)

21. PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR
CREATIVES:
1. Initiating
2. Planning
3. Executing
4. Monitoring
5. Closing
> Exploring your initial idea
> Developing the details of your
project
> Systems for delivering the
project successfully
> Completing and following up the
project

22. STEP 1: Exploring the idea
PROBLEM STATEMENTS A concise statement of
the underlying issues to be addressed.
NOT: We have to build a house.
BUT: We need shelter.
Problem statements are about WHY? They speak to the
core of the matter at hand.

23. STEP 1: Exploring the idea (cont)
Problem statements and WHY?
NOT We have to book, promote and execute a tour! BUT THE
ISSUES ARE…
● The band is broke.
● The band has no audience.
● The band’s best product is their live show.
● The band’s contracted to tour.
PROBLEM STATEMENT: We need money / fans / a means to
perform live / a cost effective way to hold up our end of the
contract

24. SUPER IMPORTANT IN THE MUSIC
INDUSTRIES BECAUSE THE MUSIC
INDUSTRIES ARE FULL OF MYTHS!
● Long tours produce results
● Big festival slots produce results
● You have to be on the radio
● You have to be on JJJ hi-rotation
● You have to have a manager, an agent, a
lawyer and a contract
● You have to be pretty
● You have to be desperate
DO WHATEVER
FIXES THE
PROBLEM!!!

25. STEP 1: Exploring the idea
Goals: A project goal is the high-level
target that states the end result that the
project will achieve. Must be simple.
Objectives: Flesh out goals with
multiple specifics and metrics for
gauging success.

26. STEP 1: Exploring the idea
Goal: The label will increase its audience 10x
by November, 2015.
Objectives:
● 500 mailing list sign-ups
● Play live in front of 500 people, spread
across 15 shows
● Social media metrics

27. SPLIT UP
ASSIGN AS 2 GROUPS

28. ASSIGN AS 2 GROUPS
- Exchange contact details
- Brief discussion on how/when
you might work on the
assignment
- Take 5 minutes to bounce
around some ideas for topics?

29. BREAK OUT

30. TAKE 15 MINS & WRITE DOWN...
1. THE PROBLEM YOU ARE
SOLVING
2. THE GOAL (SIMPLE / START
BASIC)
3. THE OBJECTIVES
(SPECIFICS AND METRICS)