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What are the new avenues of exporting the Armenian music and establishing cooperation with music industry abroad? This question has been explored in the series of interviews with international specialists in music business that Panorama.am has been presenting after Armenia’s participation in MIDEM international music festival.

This time Nvard Chalikyan has discussed the possibilities of cooperating with UK music industry with Wozzy Brewster OBE – experienced artist manager and the Founder/Executive Director of The Midi Music Company  in London.

Wozzy shares her experience of working as a consultant in different countries. She also gives advice on possible avenues of cooperation between Armenia and the UK in the sector of music that will be valuable both for the government and for individual artists. Below is the complete interview.

- Ms. Brewster, you have worked as a consultant in the field of music at British Council in different countries, including Brazil. Could you tell us more about your experience? How did your projects help facilitate music exchanges or promote the music of the given country in the UK?

- I was very fortunate to have worked with the former Director of Connect Youth International – British Council, Gordon Blakely, since 1992. I travelled to Italy, Ireland and Mauritius, to work with organisations to either develop cultural youth exchange projects, or specifically address some of the issues around the music industry infrastructure for emerging artists/bands.

In Mauritius, I worked with Pentakruz Entertainment Association to look at opportunities to develop a more cohesive strategy for artist development, industry networks and resources (recording, rehearsal space, teaching programmes etc.) With my colleagues from The Midi Music Company, we did a presentation for the Ministry of Arts & Culture in Mauritius, and discussed ways of investing more resources in Music, and the potential links with other agencies in order to develop more festivals and events.

When I participated in the Brazil Music Exchange back in 2012, I was part of a consultancy team from the UK; Crispin Parry – British Underground, the late Felix Hines – Westbury Publishing and Jody Gillett – freelance journalist/Brazil Music Exchange. Our remit was to work with the Ministry of Culture for Bahia to meet with artists, managers, producers and music industry professionals to explore the reality of exporting emerging and established Brazilian artists. It was a kind of X Factor where artists made presentations to us as a panel, and we shortlisted potential artists to work with directly, or to link with promoters/booking agents in the UK.

The outcome of the consultancy trip to Salvador, Bahia was that Letieres Leite Quinteto was hosted by The Midi Music Company in 2013, allowing maestro Letieres Leite to deliver workshops in schools and the O2 British Music Experience as well as to perform at The Albany and The Barbican. It also resulted in the creation of a commissioned new musical work with South London based Future Afro Jazz four-piece United Vibrations . Letieres Leite’s booking agent was also able to attend WOMEX in Cardiff, whilst participating in the Brazil Cultural Music Project funded by the London Borough of Lewisham, Arts Council England and the Ministry of Culture & Tourism for the state of Bahia.

British Underground also hosted artists from Bahia and ran the Bass Culture Clash at the Roundhouse, facilitating performances from Brazilian artists and taking UK artists to Salvador.

- What British companies, government bodies or programs would you advise us to cooperate with for promoting the Armenian music in the UK or for doing music exchange programs?

- There are a range of music convention events that you can attend to build networks and showcase artists in the UK, including FOCUS Wales , Liverpool Sound City, Norwich Sound and Vision, The Great Escape and Showcase Scotland . There are also international platforms to make contact with promoters, managers, booking agents etc. such as WOMEX where you will find representatives from the UK and other countries. You can firstly attend as delegates and build your network, or approach the organisers of any of these events to create new partnerships – obviously, they plan way in advance so the potential to develop new pathways for Armenian artists may take a couple of years, but the end result will be to have new avenues to export your music.

The UK Trade & Industry organises trade missions to various countries, working in partnership with the BPI and the Association of Independent Music – it would be worth Armenia’s equivalent organisations making contact with these bodies to build relationships and new contacts for future project music export, if they have not done so already.

- Based on your experience in the music business, where would you advise an individual musician from Armenia who wants to pursue a career internationally or in the UK to start with?

- Firstly, I would advise an individual artist to ensure that they have a fanbase in Armenia, good social networks (website/FaceBook/SoundCloud/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube), press coverage, photos, music videos and product (EP/Album/Single). There needs to be a ‘buzz’ around the artist in their home town/country.

The next step could be to identify if there are any international trade missions happening from Armenia where an individual artist can apply to perform. In addition to this, they can attend the range of conference/showcase events that happen globally, including The Great Escape, WOMEX, SXSW and MIDEM. Attending as a delegate in the first instance can allow an artist to network with booking agents and promoters – there are also accelerator programmes at MIDEM  where they can apply to perform and showcase opportunities at SXSW.

Using the digital domain to enable international collaborations is also another route – portals such as Music Gateway, putting call outs on Facebook for collabs, or even SoundCloud.

It is really important to be part of a network as an individual artist, therefore networking within the independent music industry in Armenia helps to be kept informed of new developments and opportunities.

If there is interest in pursuing a career in the UK, then joining organisations like the Featured Artist Coalition  can help you to keep in touch with the latest news. The FAC have started to talk to other countries about establishing similar networks like themselves, so perhaps there might be a similar organisation for artists and music industry professionals in Armenia in the near future – if anyone is interested in making this link contact The FAC directly.

Finally, it is worth visiting the UK, once you have researched the types of events/gigs/festivals that you would like to play…seeing a live music night in action, meeting artists, making contact with the venue/performer can be really beneficial for future bookings.

Interview by Nvard Chalikyan

Wozzy Brewster OBE has worked in the music and entertainment industry for over thirty years; working as House Manager of the infamous theatre, The Albany Empire in Deptford south-east London, in its heyday in the 80’s as one of the most vibrant music venues, and Project Managing music education programmes for Community Music London. She is currently Founder/Executive Director of The Midi Music Company  based in Deptford, where she manages a small staff team who help to develop music education programmes, short courses, artist development and events.

Wozzy is also an artist manager (former Manager of United Vibrations), Executive Producer for Red Pyramid Productions Ltd, which is developing a forthcoming digital creative business, and Youth Culture Adviser to the Mayor of Lewisham, Sir Steve Bullock.

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