Recently, the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) hosted IndieWeek 2023 in Manhattan. The three-day networking conference is not only the world’s largest gathering of independent artists, but also brings together distributors, labels, DSPs, investors and others.
For the launch of our new platform DMN TV, sponsored by Open On Sunday, Digital Music News hit the road to report panel discussions and industry awards. The three-day event, A2IM IndieWeek, also featured artist and songwriter performances, all held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Times Square.
A2IM IndieWeek 2023 kicked off with a rooftop party presented by ADA. During the panel, Open On Sunday’s Adrienne Muhammad gave record labels tips on how to manage their catalogues, saying: “Before we even buy a catalogue, we need to know who the audience is.” So we know how to market those catalogs as soon as we buy them acquired.”
Multiple panels throughout the three-day conference prompted discussions on how evolving technologies and processes are impacting the independent music community. Participants shared their knowledge of AI, dubbing and music marketing, among other insightful topics.
At a panel discussion, Rostrum Records’ Leslie Rosales shared how a Milwaukee artist pulled out all the stops to market his music. “Our artist stood on his friend’s car roof, set up a large speaker and played songs from his album. His fans were crazy. It was controlled chaos. For one, something happened in Milwaukee. Second, it’s their hometown hero who’s doing something special for them,” Rosales said.
Rich Goldman of Riptide Music Group discussed dubbing opportunities and the notoriety that came with them, explaining how one of their artists caught the “spark” of dubbing. Goldman explained that one artist has “now hit the 100 million streaming mark since the song hit YouTube,” adding, “It’s kind of crazy.” (The song) has been ported to a number of different channels, there was this streaming activity and the song keeps going.”
Eden Shiferaw, Vice President of NVG, LLC, addressed the latest developments in Congress surrounding AI and the perceived national security threats posed by mainstream AI use. Shiferaw revealed, “[Members of Congress]are particularly concerned about America’s adversaries about what they’re doing with AI and how they’re regulating it.”
Other external events included a rooftop party hosted by dot HipHop, several investor conferences, and two major events centered around songwriters and their accomplishments.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony for the 2023 class was held at the Marriott Marquis and the National Music Publishers Association Annual Meeting was held at Alice Tully Hall.
During the NMPA Gala, Taylor Swift’s songwriter Liz Rose performed a live rendition of her Grammy-nominated single “All Too Well,” co-written by Swift. Alana Springsteen performed the song. The following night, Rose was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame along with Glen Ballard, Calvin Broadus (Snoop Dogg), Gloria Estefan, Jeff Lynne and Teddy Riley.
NMPA President and CEO David Israelite concluded the closing event by commenting on the “stronger” state of the industry, adding: “Last year combined revenues for the songwriting and publishing industries were just over $5.6 billion. This corresponds to an increase of 19.25% compared to the previous year.”
The A2IM IndieWeek 2023 events took place from June 12th to 15th.