Executive Summary

As we near the end of 2011, Scotland has the constituent elements of a dynamic and burgeoning music industry.  For a nation so small, our recording artists exert a disproportionate influence on the world of music; our audiences enjoy an incomparable reputation for knowledge and enthusiasm; we have well-established, home-grown labels of international renown, while festivals like T in the Park, Celtic Connections, Rock Ness, the Glasgow Jazz Festival and, of course, Edinburgh Festivals invaluably contribute to Scotland’s reputation as a nation of innate music lovers.

We have much to be proud of as our industry develops, but there are challenges also: challenges for the retail and live sectors; the need to bridge the gap between music and media; how to maximise the potential for exploiting IP; promoting greater use of Scottish music in film, TV and advertising; mitigating the worst symptoms of the economic downturn. When The Scottish Music Industry Association (“SMIA” or “the Association”) was incorporated in 2008, it was in recognition of the fact that our industry lacked an effective trade body to assist with tackling these challenges; an organisation equipped to represent the industry’s best interests, ideally with a single, unified voice.

Three years on and the provision of that voice remains one of the SMIA’s most formidable challenges, not least when the industry it aims to represent comprises a complex network of sectors, genres and disciplines. Uniting these diffuse elements will require an unprecedented degree of inter-sector communication and co-operation: a sharpened focus on our common, rather than competing, interests. By securing a mandate from all sectors and genres within the industry, the SMIA can become an effective and powerful advocate on its behalf: connecting our members; encouraging trade; lobbying government; liaising with government agencies and promoting our nation’s musical endeavour at home and abroad.

These are ambitious goals which will require clearly defined strategies, objectives and timeframes if they are to be achieved. This business plan and strategy document not only articulates the SMIA’s mission statement, it delineates the organisation’s core objectives, key strategies and flagship activities. It also presents the timeframe in which we expect them to be achieved and delivered.

To download the entire SMIA Business Plan and Strategy Document please click on the link below

SMIA Business Plan & Strategy Document 2011—2016