Fans treat their artists like they treat their lovers...

Last night nextMedia hosted their Vancouver event, Bands, Brands and Audiences, at the new Vancouver Convention and Exhibition centre. Anyone who had been attendeding the Convergence09 conference during they day and chose to skip the evening event to catch the Canucks game definitely missed out. The event featured keynote presentations from Ethan Kaplan, Vice President of Technology for Warner Bros. Records, and Robert H. Reynolds, Lawyer and Manager for the multi-platinum band The Killers. The evening offered a lot of great insight and like many of these events, likely left attendees with more questions than answers - but at least they're good questions to be asking.

Kaplan's presentation on "What the industry can teach us about technological change" addressed many of the changes the music industry has gone through from the prespective of the record label. Gone are the days of payola and likewise the losing battle with file sharing. Kaplan, as VP of technology, has overseen the implementation of a network of over 120 community sites (all built on drupal!) where artists have a space to interact directly with their fans. According to Kaplan, any social media strategy requires four key factors: Deliberation, Adaptability, a Measured Approach and Determination. Social media, unlike other distribution channels, doesn't seem to work well with an out-of-the-box solution. Bands, like their fans, are unique and produce unique relationships. Kaplan did a great job of illustrating how bands are no longer in a position to prescribe their image to their fans, but their image is now negotiated through the relationship they have with their fans.

Reynold's presentation on "promotion, marketing and selling out in the 21st century" spoke to the decisions a band or manager has to make to protect the relationship they have with their audience. In his words, "fans treat their artists like they treat their lovers," so you can't just go around cheating on them. Even with an audience as large The Killers have, Reynolds told of the importance of regular communication with fans as a way of remaining authentic. Selling out, in Reynold's opinion, happens when a band moves away from what kept them authentic. Bands will inevitably change over the course of their career, experimenting with new styles and musical genres, but keeping their audience in the loop can help a band remain authentic. After all, a band isn't much without an audience.

And while the keynote presentations were great, probably one of the most interesting parts of the night was the panel discussion that took place at the end of the evening. The discussion, led by former Raincity Studios president Kris Krug, featured both Kaplan and Reynolds alongside vancouver-based indie artist Adaline, The Beat Music Director JaXon Hawks, and David Gratton, VP Products and Business Director of Work[at]Play. The panelists themselves illustrated the diversity of the music industry, from the independent artist using free online tools to distribute her work to the lawyer who pens multi-million dollar recording contracts for his band that's touring the globe. Likewise the distribution channels, it was great to see the conversation including both new media initiatives alongside traditional radio stations. In this sense, the panel seemed very representative of the music industry itself with everybody trying to figure out how to operate in an industry in flux.

If anything, the only shortcoming of the evening was there just wasn't enough time to really dig into what was being discussed. But the event definitely left people with some great questions, started some great conversations and I'm pretty sure most people left excited about opportunities social media has to offer, not just bands, but anyone with an audience online.