For years I’ve been collecting curious stories, facts and anecdotes that the history of pop music provides. I’ve now managed to put them together in a book. „Useless Music Knowledge“ is a ~180 page time travel offering where you get to learn, why Prince is to blame for the infamous „Parental Advisory“-stickers and why Fleetwood Mac once sued Fleetwood Mac. I had a great time researching and writing this, and it hopefully is for you to read it. The book is available in German („Unnützes Musikwissen“) and English.
THE EU’S STRUCTURED DIALOGUE ON MUSIC
At Hamburgs famous Reeperbahn Festival (18-21 Sep 2024), i have the honour of conducting the Music Moves Europe Dialogue on music, which is following up on the ‘EU Conference on Music’ that took place in Brussels on 22 February and covered a full range of topics relevant for the European music ecosystem. Back then i moderated the panel on Streaming; this time we will have three hours of focussed discussion among a small group of high ranked industry professionals. The topic once again circles around fair remuneration strategies in Music Streaming.
The topic of the dialogue will then be taken up in the corresponding conference session Policy Dialogue: Fair Pay in Music Streaming on Friday, September 10, at 11:15 a.m. in the Schmidtchen with representatives from the industry and politics and all interested delegates, which I will co-moderate with Ivana Dragila.
Update: It went well. On the picture, from left to right, the participants of the said panel, „Fair Play in Music Streaming“: Ivana Dragila (co-moderator), Erhard Grundl (Member of the German Parliament), Benjamin Feyen (former Sec. Gen CultureCreators EU), Robbert Baruch (Universal Musics Chief Lobbyist in Brussels), Jean-Philippe Thiellay (President, CNM), Balbina (akademie für populäre musik), Hannes Heide (MEP), Ruth Koleva (ANMIP/So Alive), Nuno Saraiva (AMAEI), René Houareau (BVMI).
BZZZZ’24
In its second edition, „bzzzz“ – the Austrian Music Conference – teams up with Waves Vienna, the long-standing international conference and festival happening in the city. I had the honour of curating the programme and you can find it here. Focal points this year are the music economy and, in its broader sense, the music ecosystem that surrounds it. A recent study (see below) found that music has a widely underestimated economic impact on top of a hard to estimate social and societal impact, so we ask: What can be done to make use of this? Also diversity will be a big topic; when we try to challenge unconcsious bias in places where it seems to be common sense that change is somewhat impossible. How can we still make things better?
FALL SCHEDULE 2024
It will be yet another busy fall season – here are just some of my activities during this time. I’d be happy to see you here or there for a chat!
05-06 Sep 2024 / Bzzzz / Vienna, AT / host / moderator 12-15 Sep 2024 / Ship! / Sibenik, HR / speaker/panelist 18-21 Sep 2024 / Reeperbahn Festival / Hamburg, DE / workshop facilitator, moderator 2-4 Oct 2024 / Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting / Bregenz, AT / delegate 28-31 Oct 2024 / Act in Synch / Athens, GR / host / moderator 7 Nov 2024 / Music Business 101 / Atzenbrugg, AT / lecture 20-22 Nov 2024 / Linecheck / Milano, IT / workshop facilitator, moderator
MINISTRY OF CULTURES CONFERENCE DAY ON MUSIC & GOING INTERNATIONAL
BMKÖS (Federal Ministry of Culture, Sports and Public Service) invited me to host a conference day in their halls, dedicated to topics close to my heart: Music and its internationalization. We will take a closer look on programmes like Creative Europe and Music Moves Europe, but also discuss best practices, role models and opportunities for Austrian music to go abroad. Mark the date: May 28th.
„BUILDING BRIDGES“ TO BERLIN FOR AUSTRIAN MUSIC EXPORT
One of the key projects I helped to develop for Austrian Music Export is a capacity building and networking programme called „Building Bridges“. Our one year long (second) cycle of the programme recently ended with a three day programme for select young industry professionals in Berlin. It included the conclusion of a half-year long mentoring programme for austrian industry youngsters, a full day of workshops with Berlin based offices of YouTube, TikTok, The Orchard and Recordjet; a networking event with industry friends and partners and visiting Spotifys „All Music Friday“. Big fun, big success!
EU CONFERENCE ON MUSIC: STREAMING REFORM AND REMUNERATOIN
The European Commission has invited me to moderate a session on „streaming reform and remuneration“, with presentations of findings of the recent discussions in the European Parliament and a high profile panel discussion featuring representatives of GESAC, IFPI, IMPALA and Streaming Services. You can follow the programme on 22 Feb here.
CLOSING REMARKS AT MOST WANTED : MUSIC
I had the honour to be invited and hold closing remarks at the 2023 edition of „Most Wanted : Music“ in Berlin; held under the thematic umbrella „Humanize!“. The title of my speech was „The Tide Is High (but I’m holding on)“, reflecting on the many challenges not only the music industry, but society and the world in general face. And why music and culture can and need to play a pivotal role in it.
DEVELOPING A NEW FUNDING SCHEME FOR THE AUSTRIAN MUSIC FUND
In 2022, the Austrian Music Fund approached me to help paving the way for an extension of its funding programme(s). Today (07 Nov 2023) the results were presented by State Secretary Andrea Mayer and some grinning representatives from the music sector (from left to right: Harald Huber/Austrian Music Council, Sabine Reiter/mica, Harald Fuchs/Austrian Music Fund, Mayer, Georg Tomandl/Chairman Austrian Music Fund, and myself). The State Secretary will add 1,5M€ to the fund over the next three years, enabling it to start a long overdue Marketing programme (ÖMF+) to strengthen the visibilty of austrian music abroad. Parts of the money will also be used to extend the Toursupport programme for tours that go beyond the austrian borders (that was not yet possible under the current regime). This is a significant step forward for the Austrian Music Industry as a whole. I’m very happy to have played a role in this.
LOW BUDGET, HIGH SPIRIT: „TAX THE POOR!“
For the german industry newsletter „Low Budget High Spirt“ i wrote a commentary about Spotifys decision to introduce a threshold of 1000 streams before paying any royalties in the future. You can subscribe to the newsletter here. Spoiler: I find that the concept should go in the exact opposite direction.
WAVES HEARTBEATS SONGWRITING CAMP
For Austrian Music Export, I helped setting up a joint project with fellow music export offices from Switzerland and France. Following a „Building Bridges“-mission to Zurich earlier this year, we set up a Songwriting Camp during the days before the Austrian showcase festival „Waves Vienna“ in early September. We opened up six different studios in Vienna and invited artists from Switzerland (as a partner country in 2023) and France (as a long-lasting partner of the festival) to collaborate with austrian writers and producers and set up new friend- and partnerships. Results should hit the airwaves soon!
🐝 BZZZZ! 🐝
The music industry probably has never been so full of challenges and opportunities at the same time. And this might be especially true for markets like Austria. So we decided to do something about it. „Bzzzz“ is a dedicated music conference to discuss local talents‘ and businesses future and potentials, to tackle the obstacles, to address the challenges; to learn, and of course to meet. For the „we“ in that case I brought the most relevant music industry organisations on board, the FV Film- und Musikwirtschaft (Chamber of Commerce), IFPI Austria and Austrias collection society AKM. My work on the project was the idea itself, to set the event up, find a suitable name and general concept, including bullet points of the programme and the main round of speakers. Save the date: May 5th.
SPRING DATES (2023)
This is where you (probably) can meet me and when you know you might not meet me behind my regular office desk during the next weeks:
22-25 Mar | „Building Bridges“ – Mission for Austrian Music Export / M4Music, Zürich 20-22 Apr | International Music Publishers Forum, Stockholm 28 Apr | Amadeus Austrian Music Awards, Vienna
CIMIX CONFERENCE
2023 kicks off with a conference for the audiovisual industries in Vienna, called Cimix. It is meant to bring together Film and Audio industry in particular, which gives perfect reason to present Europe in Synch there. I will do so on Friday (13 Jan, 16:30h) and be part of the concluding panel of the conference.
MORE PODCASTS
One of Austrias best known podcasts, „Erklär mir die Welt“, invited me to demystify the music business and talk about how to actually make a living off his:her art. You can listen to the episode here.
20 Oct | Vienna Music Business Research Days | Vienna Hosting a panel discussion on “Parallel Worlds of Music Streaming?” with Dave Hesmondhalgh (University of Leeds, UK), Hyojung Sun (University of York, UK), Fabian Schütze (analogsoul, Leipzig, Germany), Yasmin Hafedh aka Yasmo (musician, Vienna, Austria)
25 Oct | Tag der Tiroler Film & Musikwirtschaft | Innsbruck, Austria Keynote: „Musikverwertung in Zeiten der Streamingdienste“ Panelist: „Musik in Tirol – Potentiale einer umfassenden Standortentwicklung“
23-26 Nov | Linecheck! | Milano, Italy Speaker/Panelist | Mentor
30 Nov & 07 Dec | Soundbase | Vienna, Austria Lecture: Music Business 101
10-14 Dec | Les Arcs Film Fest | Les Arcs, France Europe in Synch Ambassador
ANALYSING THE ‚RADIO PROBLEM‘
In the light of debates circling around major reforms within the radio fleet of austrias public broadcaster ORF, Der Standard interviewed me to analyse the situation and how i respond to Radio Director Ingrid Thurnhers claim that the young, alternative station FM4 might become more of a young version of the (in the past quite succesful) mainstream pop channel Ö3. I explain, that, on the contrary, Ö3 should become more of an adult version of FM4. Here’s the full story. – the article was published 11 Oct 2022
KEYNOTE SPEECH FOR AKM
Austrias authors, composers and publishers society AKM asked me to hold a keynote speech about the future of distribution and marketing at their annual summit, entitled „Music from the regions“. Here’s the script (german only). – 5 Oct 2022
LOW BUDGET, HIGH SPIRIT
I was asked to contribute to German high-class magazine Low Budget, High Spirit, that offers lots of stories, tips and backgrounds from the inside(s) of the independent music business. It is only published once a year on paper, but offers a wide range and great collection of long reads and articles. I did a piece on gatekeepers in the modern day industry and how they affect our work in small(er) markets. You can order a physical copy here. – the magazine was published in August 2022
EUROPE IN SYNCH
Synchronization in the music business‘ context means providing music for films, TV, advertising or games. It can be magical, it can be incredibly complex and yet also very simple. „Europe in Synch“ aims to enable all parties on the table, to collect and distribute know-how, build and evolve a network around this ever more crucial part of rightsholders value chain. It is a joint initiative by 8 organisations and companies from across Europe.
A topic close to my heart, I contribute by creating an overall communication strategy for a 4-year project term period until 2026. I will have the honour and joy to therefore work with a bunch of beloved colleagues from the publishing and sync field to put this topic on everybodys mind. Watch out for more news! – Project duration 2022-2026
VISITING FESTIVALS AND HOSTING PANELS IN FALL 2022
This sounds like quite a busy season already: I will be moderating a panel on „Digital Music Distribution in Eastern Europe“ at Waves Vienna (Sep 9), where my guests Alona Dmurkhovska (Music Export Ukraine), Tomas Lacina (Believe CZ/SK) and Agnese Cimuska (Music Export Latvia) will discuss obstacles and opportunities of the digital age and how the political environment affects their work in the region.
At this years Reeperbahn Festival, i will be Introducing Europe in Synch with my fellow colleagues Nis Bogvad, Markus Linde and Nikolina Finska (Sep 22, 15:30, Arcotel Suite 616). You should definitely check this out and say hi!
„THE SHOWCASE TRAIN“ & MORE AT TALLINN MUSIC WEEK ’22
When my friends at Tallinn Music Week told me about their one-day-move to bordercity Narva for their 2022 edition, i came up with the idea of „The Showcase Train“. It not only transported delegates to the city but created an excellent opportunity to meet and get to know representatives from the international showcase circuit. It turned out to be a great format for a decent conversation along a comfortable 2h ride. Furthermore in the Tallinn part of the conference I had the honour of hosting an interesting panel on the future of the Baltic scene. – Project finished May 2022
EUROVISION, ONCE MORE
Wrote a piece on #Eurovision for Austrian newspaper DER STANDARD. It is (or can be) so much more than a competition – and after being a bit of a joke and clownshow for a long time, it somehow managed to find its place. To me it still carries a lot of memories and claims from childhood. So, this year, more than ever, watching a show from Italy, we should remind ourselves: „Insieme! Unite, unite Europe!“. Read the full article here. (My personal favourite this year, by the way, was Portugals entry.)
HEMI MUSIC INNOVATION HUB
I’m delighted to join an extraordinary round of beloved colleagues from across Europe and become a part of HEMI – Hub for the Exchange of Music Innovation 2022. This incubation programme will train and mentor select innovative music industry companies and entrepreneurs throughout the year. I’m eagerly looking forward to hearing about brillant new ideas for the music business, to meet new people that follow those ideas with passion and dedication – and hopefully being able to help them on their way forward. – March – November 2022
SOUND OF V
The Vorarlberg Music Prize „Sound of V“ gives away 25.000 Euros in total to up and coming talent from the region – i will be one of three jurors in this years competition. This years final takes place at beautiful poolbar in Feldkirch (July 9, 2022). Details.
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF RUNNING A RECORD LABEL ON A SMALLER MARKET?
MENT Ljubljana asked me what the challenges of running a record label on a smaller market (and in times of the pandemic) are. We also spoke about our decision to shut down our long-running live department and what struggles young independent labels face in the modern era of the music business. (I’m quite impressed how they boiled the lengthy talk we had into considerably meaningful 5 minutes).
If you don’t already know that MENT Ljubljana quickly became one of the best music conferences in Europe, check their event (8-10 Jun) and also their video channel with many more interesting short interviews out.
MUSIC & MONEY
Since I turned from regular guest to actual resident of Tallinn, Music Estonia had the idea of making me the host for a series of music business seminars throughout spring. We’ll tackle „Music & Money“ from all sides, will talk about income streams, copyright and contractual relationships between the artist and her/his surrounding workfield of publishers, labels, agents and managers. Plenty to talk about – and I’m very much looking forward to it! (Full programme). – Project duration February – May 2022
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Hannes Tschürtz 