MUMBAI: U2 Manager and Principle Management CEO Paul McGuinness heads a stellar lineup of music industry luminaries who will be speaking at the third annual Music Matters forum, which takes place from 3 to 5 June at the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong.
Renowned concert promoter Harvey Goldsmith, Nettwerk Music Group CEO and manager of Avril Lavigne, Terry McBride, Linkin Park Manager Rob McDermott and "Guitar Hero" creator Charles Huang are also set to talk at the event before an expected 600 high profile attendees, who will include top record label executives, concert promoters, mobile industry leaders, handset manufacturers, advertisers, managers, digital media leaders and musical acts from around the world."It's a truly global speaker lineup," says Music Matters President and Branded Co-Founder & Executive Director Jasper Donat. "This is now a global event based in Asia, focusing on Asia." One of the hottest topics at this year's cutting edge event is bound to be talk of "360° Business Models", which is currently reshaping the music industry. With such superstar acts as Madonna and rapper Jay-Z signing new high profile deals, many attendees will certainly be discussing the possible impact on the industry.
Ironically, the concept of all-encompassing and wide ranging deals has been commonplace in the Asian entertainment industry for years, and others are looking to this region to catch up and move ahead. "Right now, Asia is the most important marketplace if you want to have a worldwide career," claims Nettwerk Music CEO Terry McBride who will be on the panel that will discuss such change. "It's a complete paradigm shift."
With Asia seeing a vast increase in touring and visits by international acts, many attendees will want to learn how the region is adapting. Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok are already seeing more big-name artists like Avril Lavigne and Alicia Keys, as well as edgier shows, each tailor-made to their markets. Yet with such a huge population and so many cities, China could become one of the biggest touring circuits in the world, if its infrastructure can adapt. Rob McDermott, who guided hard rock act Linkin Park into Shanghai, will be addressing this topic in the panel "China-Making and Breaking An Artist In The Middle Kingdom".
With "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith" set to debut at the same time as Music Matters, RedOctane EVP and Co-Founder Huang will be talking about how such synergy can rejuvenate the industry at the same time he is exploring ways of localizing the game.
Aside from touring, games and new business models, there will be discussions about the ways in which the telecommunications industry is working hand-in-hand with the music industry to create new business models for the future. At the same time, there will also be plenty of discussion about how consumers will benefit from it all.