This year’s goNORTH will take place in Inverness on the 11th and 12th of June.
SMIA will be holding a members only event at 11.30am on Friday11th. Venue details TBC.
Welcome
The Scottish Music Industry Association has been established as the representative body for the music industry in Scotland.
The SMIA seeks to work in partnership with the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Enterprise to achieve sustainable growth in this industry section which comprises an essential, vibrant and vital component of Scotland's creative industries.
Following the meeting at goNORTH here are my thoughts:
1. Decide what SMIA is for by deciding who or what the ‘Scottish Music Industry’ is. If it is to be truly representative then it needs to be totally non-exclusive. If it is to be closer to a BPI then what are the financial and company structure criteria for joining.
2. Have minuted meetings with a written agenda followed by prompt online precis for the members.
3. Make sure that SMIA is democratic (look to the PRSFM set up).
4. A categorized Wiki contact list of the industry north of the border (including incentives to post) connected to the main site. Email all members to ask them to register their details.
5. Don’t waste time & money on a new comprehensive survey to find out what skills and services are missing in Scotland – use the knowledge base already there to make a case (IE: 200 plus members – ask them and then look in the phone book. For instance, where are the PR companies? Where are the local rehearsal rooms? Ask for experiential examples. For instance, why is the sound tech quality so low in Scotland? Compare regional sections in, say, the Music Week book.)
6. Do one thing at a time IE: call a meeting with definite proposals to decide on point 1. before moving on.
7. Look towards an event that truly integrates all industry aspects whilst adding value to the industry based in Scotland. A good place to start would be unConvention.
8. Involve Olaf & Derek from Born To Be Wide as much as possible.
9. Realise that a truly successful Scottish Music Industry needs to be able to survive without public funding and for the SMIA to have a representative and independent voice then its relationship with Creative Scotland needs to be formal and as a clearly separate organisation.