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North by Northeast 2008 Blog

Industry jibber-jabber

Friday, June 13, 2008 | 09:27 PM ET

I rarely feel out of place when it comes to the business of rock. I mean, I don’t always appreciate or agree with the kinds of decisions made by the individuals responsible for the “industry” side of the music industry, but it’s not often that I find myself lost at sea while music folks talk shop. This afternoon’s FACTOR Fiction panel, however, might as well have been in cuneiform, so foreign did I find the discussion surrounding the Canadian grant organization FACTOR.

I knew I was reaching a bit when I decided to attend the panel – as a member of the media who deals fairly exclusively with cultural criticism, I have few opportunities to parse the nuts and bolts of how working musicians actually go about getting funding. But it was for that reason – combined with the fact that I know enough musicians who’ve bemoaned their FACTOR rejections – that I opted to check out the panel. I’d assumed the session would provide more background information on the inner workings of FACTOR; instead, two high-up members of the organization gave frank pointers and answered direct questions, all of which were variations on “Um, how the f--- can a band get cash to survive in this country?” I may not have understood all the answers (or questions, for that matter), but I was duly impressed by the candour with which FACTOR general manager Erin Kinghorn addressed frustrated artists’ queries. (“Don’t call me at 2 p.m. on deadline day screaming and crying,” she snarked. “Um, and also? Don’t call me and scream and cry if you get rejected. I mean, I’m used to it by now, but just don’t.”)

An earlier panel, which brought together a handful of tenacious young promoters, agents, label types and show bookers, was more accessible, but as loosely on-topic as its misleading title: Meet the New Boss. I guess the point of the title, judging from charismatic moderator and MuchMusic producer Jason Richards’s explanation, was to, y’know, cleverly reference the Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again in an effort to invoke some rock cred. It didn’t quite work. The gist of the panel, from what I could gather, was to introduce a bunch of Music Biz 2.0 kids (a.k.a. members of the generation that has inherited the industry from baby boomers) and have them explain… uh… what they do? Or maybe how things have changed? Or, uh…

I’m still not clear on the original focus of the Meet the New Boss panel, but I enjoyed Richards’s chatty repartee. An entertaining hour, if nothing else.

After my talking head-saturated afternoon, I’m itching to see some actual music. On to Dundas Square, where I can only hope New Jersey punk prophet Ted Leo will surprise the crowd by busting out one of his amazing cover tunes. Were he to play, say, his take on Kelly Clarkson’s massive pop hit Since U Been Gone (which segues into a heart-mashing excerpt of Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), I would be in heaven. Stay tuned for a full report tomorrow.

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toronto

Check out-- public-- at the Rivoli..... Wow!

Posted June 14, 2008 06:10 PM

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