If the international success of homegrown talent like Cut Copy, Pendulum (R.I.P.) and The Presets (who’ve just dropped their third album, Pacifica) just to name a few, are anything to by Electronic Music is a big deal here in Australia, yet still doesn’t quite the industry recognition it deserves compared to some of its musical bretheren.
That’s all set to change however with the announcement of a new collaboration between Sound Alliance and ARIA, November’s Electronic Music Conference.
Sydney is set to host EMC 2012, a conference lined with host artists, managers, publicists, promoters, key industry figures and media across panels, keynotes and (no doubt) performances over Tuesday 27 and Wednseday 28 November.
Sound Alliance CEO Neil Ackland offered his enthusiasm with the announcement of the new industry conference, saying, “Australia has been one of the world’s leading dance music markets for over a decade, with more than 750,000 Australians visiting dance festivals each year.”
“Our artists are achieving great success on a global stage. Our festivals are breaking new ground. Our industry is not just respected, it is envied the world over, and we believe it’s time Australia had a conference that matched our global status and ambition,” said Ackland.
Announced as part of ARIA Awards’ newly-minted ARIA week, which sees the face of the Australian music industry’s awards ceremony – to be held this year on 29th November – capping a week’s worth of festivities including a number of artist showcases in and around Sydney’s CBD.
The EMC 2012 is claiming to be the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region, dedicated solely to the development and celebration of electronic music. ARIA CEO Dan Rosen told TheMusic that the Electronic Music Conference is part of shining “a week-long spotlight on our local industry and firmly put the last week in November on the global map as the definitive showcase of the Australian music industry to the rest of the world.”
It further Rosen’s comments from earlier in the month, first announcing the transformation of the ARIA Awards into a week-long celebration. “The other thing we’re very keen on is making the ARIAs the focus for Australia and the wider Pacific region for the music market,” he said.
“Australia just became the sixth largest music market in the world so we’re increasingly becoming a market that has global relevance and we want to make sure we can expose our artists – not just to everyone around Australia, but everyone around the world.”
ARIA Week officially kicks off on the last weekend of November, with events taking place each day in the lead up to the 26th ARIA Awards, which will be held on Thrusday 29th November 2012 in Sydney, with the ARIA Academy’s voting on potential nomniees having closed last Monday.
The list of nominations, along wit the full ARIA Week schedule – including the full details for the Electronic Music Conference 2012 – are set to be announced on Wednesday 3rd October.
