Hi I’m Katie. I’ve been working in music for BPM now for almost 6 years, starting out as a junior & working my way up to being the editor of an online & mobile music download store, a 24×7 Music Video IPTV channel (BPMtv) & MOG, our new music streaming service. I’m currently gearing up for the summer music festival season where we’ll be interviewing some great artists and preparing some rad new MOG & BPM functionality.
You work for Bigpond Music & MOG as the content manager, tell us what your day-to-day job involves.
My job involves a lot of listening to music. Like a LOT. Day to day it’s about making sure the BPM stores are updated with new music, current news and music videos & that we have interesting things for people to come look at even if they don’t want to download any music. I also spend a bit of time helping the many MANY music nerds who curate the MOG editorial areas. Then there’s the running around making sure the music actually makes it to our stores & works!
There have been rapid changes in the digital world over the last five years, what have been some of the biggest changes in your position?
Without a doubt, the biggest change for me in the last 5 years is the growth of streaming music. I always thought the cloud was the answer to everyone’s needs – you would download your collection in to the cloud & access it anywhere – but essentially that is what streaming music services have become. It drives me crazy when I can’t listen to something instantly & this surely isn’t a new thing, we just didn’t have any other option 5 years ago.
You’re speaking at Face The Music Conference this year, will this be your first time attending the conference and how important as these kind of conferences young people either wanting to work in the music industry or looking for a leg up?
This is my first time attending & I’m really excited about it! I remember when I studied Music Business at uni there was no conference like this in Melbourne. There was one in Sydney that I actually attended & people seemed to really take a lot away from it. It was so great to be able to meet people you looked up to, or maybe didn’t even know you looked up to yet, and ask them questions. I’m really thrilled to be able to attend & meet the people coming through the industry now. It’s absolutely invaluable for anyone wanting to work in music in my opinion.
BPM is the only 24/7 music video channel is Australia, how do young unsigned or independent acts go about getting their music videos on BPM?
I think we’re the only non pay tv 24/7 channel in Australia, but I’ll take that claim!
We’re actually in the process right now of building a form in to the BPM site that allows unsigned & new artists to submit their music videos for us to play. It’s been a pet project of mine for a few years to do more for unsigned artists & I think this is a step forward in the right direction. We expect to uncover some amazing talent & hopefully be able to give them a little help on their way.
You launched MOG out here in Australia; tell us how it differs from the other streaming services.
The thing that made the entire BPM team fall in love with MOG was the discovery ability of MOG Radio. As I mentioned previously, there is a whole team of music specialists that curate the content which is all fed through MOG Radio. I have discovered & rediscovered so much amazing music simply by choosing a track & turning on MOG Radio. Of course, Telstra customers don’t use data to stream online or on their mobiles either, so that’s pretty awesome if you listen to loads of music like me!
What’s on heavy rotation on your iPod right now?
I’m not sure what’s on my iPod, I haven’t looked at it in a year. But..
I absolutely cannot stop listening to The Presets ‘Pacifica’ & Plan B’s ‘The Defamation Of Strickland Banks’ lately, which I blame/thank Parklife for. I think I’m driving people in my office mental with how often they’re on rotation. I also completely fell in love with Oh Mercy & Ball Park Music’s new albums. And Tame Impala. And the new Gypsy & The Cat. I could go on..
How do you find new music?
I will generally give most things a go once, so I’ll generally attempt to listen to most things that come across my desk. I’m incredibly fortunate that I am in a position where people send me new music to listen to constantly. I’ve also recently taken to spending a day a week listening to MOG’s Editors Picks. They mix old & new music and pull out some absolute gems!
In no particular order, name your favourite five Australian artists?
At this particular moment:
The Presets
Hermitude
The Bamboos
Gotye
Sia
What the first music video you ever caught your attention, who was it by and why did you love it so much?
I remember being in year 9 & seeing the Powderfinger music video for ‘The Day You Come’ & being completely mesmerised by not only the song, but by the art style used in the video. It’s just such a striking music video & blends so well together with the song. I think it was the moment I fell in love with Australian music. Previous to that I had some pretty questionable music taste.. And now I’ve completely shown my age..
If you could curate your own festival, where would it be, who would be on the bill, how many people would you let in and what features would it have ?
This will probably sound like a cop out, but I don’t think I could curate a better festival than one that already exists: Meredith Music Festival. I’ve been attending Meredith since I was 18 after Matt High came & spoke at my uni & have never looked back. The lineup of artists that Aunty puts together each year is always out of this world, even if you’ve never heard of them. 2 nights camping is always fun & the people that attend are my favourite people in the world. I’ll never forget the first time The Presets played the supernatural amphitheatre & just blew the lid off the place. Or the first time Yacht Club DJs made everyone lose their minds. Paul Kelly & Neil Finn singalongs & the now infamous electrical storm behind the Dirty Three – moments you never forget. Who would have thought having a ‘no dickheads’ policy would actually work! I wouldn’t dare even attempt to make it better, I would just happily keep attending Meredith every year.
Where do you see a conference like Face The Music heading in the future?
I hope the conference just keeps on expanding. The music & arts industry is not going away any time soon, and something like Face The Music is such a fantastic way to meet people in the industry, or even people you may want to go in to the industry with, and learn from people that may have made the mistakes before you. Hopefully – and this has always been my pipedream – it can one day be something like SXSW, where people come from all over the world to showcase their music & meet people from all corners of the world.
Catch Katie speaking at Face The Music Conference Friday 16th & Saturday 17th November 2012
2 Day Conference Pass $70/$50 or 1 Day Conference Pass $45/$30
Tickets now on sale at: www.facethemusic.org.a
Face The Music 2012 is supported by: The Push, Music Victoria, APRA | AMCOS, AIR, AAM, the Arts Centre Melbourne, Shout Out Loud.
