Musexpo Examines 'State Of The Sonic Union'

Moderating Keynote Panel

MUSEXPO 2012 kicked into high gear at the W HOTEL in HOLLYWOOD, CA. this morning with legendary broadcaster, LARRY KING, moderating a star-studded keynote panel, "The State Of The Sonic Union," that examined the incredibly rapid pace of technological change in the music industry and the best ways for artists to exploit this change to build a fan base and distribute their music.

BBC Radio 1 & 1XTR (UK) Head of Music GEORGE ERGATOUDIS, The Agency Group CEO/Founder NEIL WARNOCK, BMG CHRYSALIS/NORTH AMERICA EVP/Creative & Business Development RICHARD BLACKSTONE, STAMPEDE MANAGEMENT Sr. Partner TED CHUNG, and SONY NETWORK ENTERTAINMENT WORLDWIDE Pres. TIM SCHAFF focused on what artists, labels, and managers can do to break out above the clutter of an intensely crowded and competitive music marketplace where so many artists are taking their music directly to consumers using social media and easily accessible web technologies.  

Thus, when KING asked the panel, "If you’re a great artist, will you be found?," the response from CHUNG was immediate: "If you put in the work," he said, citing his client, SNOOP DOGG, as an example. "SNOOP is a legend because he works harder than anybody else I know.  Just because you know how to go online and look up a statistic or find a new artist or even be an artist that knows how to put up your content online, doesn’t guarantee success.  Nobody can be successful without consistency and discipline -- and that’s incredibly important for an artist to remember and those who want to get into this business."

During the question-and-answer period, one of the artists in attendance asked if the panelists could share any additional ideas for breaking out of the clutter.  Explaining that she personally handles everything from booking her own performances to maintaining her YOUTUBE page, she wondered aloud if there was anything else she could possibly do.  Before any of the panelists could answer, however, KING, surprised her by saying, "Do a song!"

Without skipping a beat, she immediately responded with the first 30 seconds of one of her songs, which won wide applause and brought the question of how to succeed in the music business into ever sharper relief. "What I would do is make sure you get that video clip and then post it immediately online and make sure you put LARRY KING in the tag on it," CHUNG said.

"And I would add ‘recommended by NEAL WARNOCK and looking for management by TED CHUNG -- appearing soon on the BBC and can be seen on SONY, and my catalog will be with RICHARD BLACKSTONE and the creative management at BMG,’" KING said amidst laughter and applause, then concluded, "A career is born." 

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