AIM Connected returns today (February 4) with a panel-less second edition of the trade body’s flagship conference.
The event is staged at Kings Place in London. The line-up includes Ninja Tune MD Peter Quicke on the climate crisis, PPL CTO Mark Douglas on data and AJ Tracey alongside manager Andy Musgrave.
AIM CEO Paul Pacifico will be speaking at the event, where the indie sector will be coming to terms with Brexit.
“What we’ve got to really be sure of is that government supports and takes account of the entrepreneurs, the small businesses, the real value generators and innovators in the music market, so we're not inadvertently prejudiced by Brexit,” he told Music Week. “So we need government to just reinforce their support. This is a Tory government. who instinctively should understand what it is to be an entrepreneur, to be a self starter, to be self employed, and we need their help to make sure that those innovators and value generators in the music market are sufficiently supported through whatever the transition is to the new world.”
Here, other speakers at the event reveal some of the big talking points on the agenda…
“I'm working on a music business venture in Vienna and we just have no clear idea as to how it's going to be impacted by our departure from the EU. Losing freedom of movement is just insane; there will be direct costs and additional time taken up with red tape all acting as barriers to travel and do business with each other but we don't know yet exactly how much, which makes planning difficult. It's hard to believe we have voted for this nonsense.”
Vick Bain, former BASCA CEO and gender research specialist
“Riffing on ideas for new voice features we can build in the next year and beyond to continue to make the Amazon Music experience on Alexa better and better - whether that's coming up with interesting, new ways to connect artists with their fans, further ways to encourage music discovery or simply making it even easier to listen to music. Something I've been thinking about a lot in particular is optimising the music experience for our newest devices such as the Echo Buds and Echo Studio.”
Ivy Taylor, senior voice product manager, Amazon Music
“The unavoidable negative impact on the environment from touring, producing events and my weekly food shop keep me awake a night. How do you do all of this with the planet in mind? 2020 is the year to look at every aspect of our personal lives and businesses to see what incremental actions can we take to realise a sustainable future. Climate change is real and we’ve all got to do something about it now!”
Annie Norman, day-to-day Manager, Involved Group
“Working in mental health and wellbeing has opened my eyes to a whole new world of opportunity, and I’ve been lucky enough to learn a whole new set of skills, meet a whole new community of people and fall in love with work all over again. It’s given me real purpose. If you are lucky enough to truly love what you do for a living, it makes learning easy, it keeps you on your toes and keeps you alive and awake... 2020 is going to be a year of new beginnings, new learnings, and most of all using that newfound purpose to help people.”
Jenni Cochrane, CEO & Founder, Getahead
“I'm keen to see how User Centric Payment Systems (UCPS) might be deployed across streaming services. With UCPS, each individual subscription fee is split solely based on what that specific user has listened to. It remains to be seen how big the impact could be, but some feel it could be fairer. Deezer are piloting a scheme this year and everyone will be looking closely at the results.”
Ashley Howard, relationship manager (dance), PRS for Music
“What should keep everyone in the record business awake at night is how we can sustain the current boom in revenues and are we prepared for when the inevitable slowdown in growth comes along. After five straight years of growth in UK record industry revenues, I fear there is a little too much triumphalism and not enough reflection on where we go next.”
Kim Bayley, CEO, Entertainment Retailers Association
To read Music Week’s recent round-up of industry execs on their hopes for 2020, click here.
