I spent last week at Vallekilde, about an hour outside of Copenhagen, at an annual event called Summer Session.
It’s an intensive retreat for jazz musicians hosted by national agency Jazz Danmark. They invite world-class artists to come along and work with the musicians, do workshops, stage concerts and jam together. It’s a fantastic week for all concerned.
With my New Music Strategies hat on, my role at the event was simply to try and be helpful where possible, talk to the musicians about their own digital strategies, and help them think through what they’re doing online and how that could be refined.
I thought I’d share some of the advice I gave and my answers to the most common questions and problems I encountered.
I’ve had a pretty hectic time of it recently – especially on the writing front – and so I’m off to the Scottish Isle of Islay for a week. I don’t expect to be posting a great deal on New Music Strategies in that time… though – who knows? The mood may strike.
I’m going to be attending the Islay Jazz Festival which is pretty much a perfect combination of things for me: a jazz festival held in whisky distilleries.
It also happens to be my birthday while I’m there, so I may have a glass of something nice.
I’m going with my friend Clutch – a fellow whisky enthusiast, and the singer and guitarist from (x) is greater than (y).
Together, we host the occasional whisky tasting event (feel free to enquire), do a spot of whisky collecting for investment (we specialise in the Islay malts, as it happens), and we have a fledgling website about all that called Dubber and Clutch.
But I just thought I’d let you know I was going quiet on this site for a little bit.
Its aim is to provide useful resources, advice and strategies for innovation and success in the independent music sector in a rapidly changing technological environment.
NMS examines emerging technologies (and buzzwords) such as AI, blockchain, metaverse and 'Web 3.0', but focuses primarily on sustainability, music as a tool for social change, participation, equality and inclusion, and the ways in which music technologies can build better worlds.