I took a train all the way to Leeds yesterday to take part in an event that’s happening almost exclusively on the internet.
The event’s called AmpNMS – a New Music Strategies knowledge event that’s being facilitated by an organisation called Amplified.
There are four seminars in AmpNMS – two in the UK, moderated by me, and two in the USA, moderated by Steve Lawson, who is in Nashville. The discussions are about independent music in the digital age, and are happening live online.
How it works
We start by playing a pre-recorded ‘provocation’ video, then our two panellists (Laura Kidd and Rich Huxley here in the UK – Kira Small and Stephen Mason in the US) discuss the topics raised in a live, online streaming video. Meanwhile there is a text-based web chat going on that viewers can participate in.
It’s my job to incorporate that discussion into the mix on the live stream.
The whole thing is captured and archived on the New Music Strategies website so that people can go back and revisit the discussions, or go and watch them if they missed the live conversation.
The first two are already up online here:
Session 1: Entrepreneurship and Sustainability
Session 2: Making Friends with Fans
The next session is taking place at 4pm today (here in the UK) on the topic of Underground Music Scenes – and the last one, about Music and Open Technologies will be at 8pm UK time.
You can join in AmpNMS live from wherever you are in the world here:
http://newmusicstrategies.com/ampnms
And, of course, if you missed them, the provocation, the video panel and the chatroom discussion will all be permanently archived here.
When will the link for Underground Music Scenes be up, or am I missing it somewhere? I couldn’t possibly hope that one of my favorite artists would be mentioned, but I’m curious anyway. There’s an amazing singer/songwriter/musician named Happy Rhodes who’s been making music for 25+ years, has 11 brilliant albums, interesting and thoughtful lyrics, a phenomenal, rich and gorgeous 4-octave voice, a world-wide cult following, and yet is so totally obscure that it’s almost comical. I keep wondering when she’ll be discovered (not by the general public, but by people who are supposedly knowledgeable about music). It will happen, she’s too good for it not to happen, but I keep waiting. When I heard “Underground Music Scenes” my ears perked up in hope. She’s an artist who’s made ALL of her music available as streaming audio (I put the link in the website field) and on YouTube (/happyrhodesalbums) because she wants her music heard, not buried. Most of her albums are out of print so letting people hear it all is very valuable, in my opinion. (Btw, I’m not Happy Rhodes and I don’t work for her, I’m just a fan, and have followed her music for 23 years)