It’s not often your correspondent gets to feel like Brad Pitt but, on Wednesday morning, both he and I awoke for the first time with a big, gaping void where something that once occupied our every waking moment used to be.
His was Angelina Jolie, mine was MUSEXPO Europe.
Music Week’s first major conference event, produced in partnership with A&R Worldwide, was – like Angelina, probably – high maintenance, but ultimately worth it.
Music Week is very grateful to everyone in the biz who gave up their time, whether to sit on the stage and impart some wisdom or sit in the room and absorb it.
The most satisfying thing about the event – apart from the numerous highlights, which you can read about elsewhere on this page – was surely the honesty of so many participants.
That contributed to the odd barney between panellists, but also helped shine the spotlight on what the truly big issues are for the industry right now.
And, on panel after panel, it became clear that finding the right balance between the reams of new data available to executives and the gut instinct that, historically, so many creative decisions have been based on, lies at the heart of the biz’s future direction.
Go too far one way and you risk losing the maverick edge that’s brought us so many great artists and records.
Too far the other and you’re just shooting in the dark. The awesome-looking Q4 line-up – something else you can read about elsewhere in this issue – should provide an interesting litmus test on where we’re at with finding that equilibrium.
I’ll certainly be grateful to have something to help the long winter nights fly by. Let’s hope Brad gets as lucky, eh?
Mark Sutherland, Editor
msutherland@nbmedia
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