The new focus on local content without a doubt makes this a very exciting year for the South African music, film and entertainment industry.
How, with all these increased opportunities and their accompanying pitfalls, do our entertainers go about building meaningful careers in a highly competitive environment?
According to the organisers of MUSIC EXCHANGE 2016 (#MEX16), a vibrant world class South African music industry is premised on successful home-grown talent locally with a global reach and international acclaim.
South Africa’s premier music, film and entertainment programme returns to The Mother City between 8 and 9 September 2016.
Celebrating its sixth anniversary, this year not only will it be within heritage month, MEX16 returns to Sun International’s GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World, to host South Africa’s definitive entertainment economy indaba.
We at Bruinou.com suggest that anyone who in any way has a notion of being part of entertainment economy should invest in themselves by attending and participating in #MEX2016.
Their tag-line "Discover, Collaborate, Evolve" is very much in accord with what we aspire to achieve with the coverage we give to the artists from our communities and in showcasing their events and celebrating their achievemnets.
I first met Martin Myers, one of the founders of Music Exchange and the organiser of #MEX16 when I was representing Bruinou.com at one of the Good Hope FM Ready Show Live on Stage events where he was the keynote speaker imparting knowledge in an auditorium filled with mostly young up-and-coming entertainers.
What made the encounter most interesting was that Myers, with over 30 years in the South African music industry of which 16 years were spent as an executive with Sony Music Entertainment SA, did not simply deliver a lecture but also facilitated an Exchange of Ideas ...and that is what MEX16 is touted to be all about.
In a conversation we had during the break, Martin was kind enough to answer some of the many questions I had, and that was when I first learned what Music Exchange is all about.
Music Exchange is a non-profit organization founded in 2009, with chairperson Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse and Dr Trevor Jones as board members.
The 28 speakers over the two day conference will not only be delivering addresses but they will be actively engaging their audiences.
Each one of them covers an aspect of the music, film and entertainment industry as well as the digital landscape and some of them are in fact household names who all intend to not only share what makes them great at what they do but to inspire those in the audience to each reach their own greatness.
The keynote speaker at #MEX16, Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, this year celebrates his golden anniversary in the music industry and he brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the program.
Also confirmed as guest speakers are Samm Marshall, Sophia Foster, Derek Geddes, Lukas De Beer Nick Matzukis, Steve Harris, Brian Mawdsley, Brandon Bakshi (BMI London) and John Fishlock, amongst others.
We are excited that longstanding Bruinou.com member Marvin Levendal of Mobcow Records and member of the legendary Hip Hop group Suburban Menace will be speaking at #MEX16 on a topic that he has carved quite a niche for himself.
Marvin emphasis the importance of supporting musical creatives particularly from urban environments and has a track record helping a number of formerly unknown artists to launch their music careers.
Many have through his nurturing moved on to become established artists in their own right.
Marvin told Bruinou.com: "Music Exchange is a vital part of the South African entertainment scene. I attended my first Music Exchange in 2009, and the networks I've forged in the industry since then has been phenomenal."
Another definite highlight to look out for will be the address by Mornay Hoffmeester, the drummer of the super band TopDog SA which we wrote about earlier this year when they launched their debut album Griqua DNA.
Mornay is endorsed by DW drums, Sabian cymbals , Roland SA Vater Sticks and Evans Drum Heads. Top player and besides playing for Topdog SA, he is a sought-after session musician and runs Cape Drummers Lab.
Shaun Johannes the ‘Electric Bass Guitar’ lecturer for the Jazz Studies programme at the University of Cape Town. will also be at #MEX16.
Shaun is the owner and in-house 'audio engineer' at ‘Mahogany Recording Studios’ since 2008. The studio has enjoyed relative success doing nearly every kind of work imaginable for a 'small production studio'.
From to credits for mixing and mastering on movie soundtracks to production on tracks by phenomenal artists like Chad Saaiman, the contribution to MEX16 by Shaun Johannes is something to look forward to.
Someone we can all learn a lot from is Siphokazi Jonas who we have mentioned in quite a few of our social media posts and who is often on the bills of events we share on our pages.
Not a conventional musician, Siphokazi is foremost a Spoken Word Poet who has taken her craft to new heights making inroads in the entertainment industry that some mainstream musicians and entertainers are only dreaming about.
Siphokazi who at the end of March 2016 staged her first professional, multi-genre theatre production, “Around the Fire,” at the Artscape Spiritual Festival has just returned from one of the biggest poetry events in the world.
She made history as the first African to perform at Rhetoric in Los Angeles. This is a feat she's accomplished through her own crowd funding initiative.
She credits many of her amazing accomplishments thus far to attending the previous three Music Exchange conferences.
Siphokazi Jonas took some time out of a very busy schedule and spoke to Bruinou.com about her journey with MEX.
“I consider my experience with MEX14 as a turning point in my career. It didn't matter that I was a poet at a music conference, the principle was universal: As an artist I need to arm myself with business knowledge.”
“In the same way that I find ways to perfect my writing, I need to perfect my brand. This influences my thinking about how I present myself and my role in the global industry.”
“This year I will be sharing a bit about the pioneering things I have done in our field including staging a show at the Artscape Theatre, Releasing the first poetry DVD of its kind in SA and being the first African poet to perform at Rhetoric in Los Angeles.”
“I hope to encourage artists to be fearless about taking risks and forging new paths. We have no business following the crowd, as artist it is our calling to bring new ideas and worlds into imagination.”
Also no stranger to our pages is Ebrahiem Inglis known by many as EBI or The Inglisman whose series of vlogs we featured on Bruinou.com earlier this year in our article 'How to Submit Your Song to Radio - Become part of the 90 percent'.
EBI took a little time out of his hectic schedule to speak to us about his role in #MEX16.
EBI will again as in 2015 address the topic of bridging the gap between musicians and radio with a focus on the approach musicians need to be taking when submitting their music for radio airplay. He also intends delving into "the choices artists have to make especially in terms of their mind-sets".
With the exciting new developments that are shaking up the music industry since the dramatic shift in focus towards local content on radio, this area of expertise has become much more important than it already was, as radio stations are now inundated with much more submissions than ever before.
We asked him what he believes is the most important reason beginners and experienced people in the music industry who have never attended before should treat participating in Music Exchange a priority.
"The biggest thing for us as music makers, and when I say music makers I'm involving artists, songwriters, producers and everyone else involved in the process of making music, is that we need a mind-set change."
"There are lot of things that are happening that we are actually not noticing."
"Yes there are a lot of negative things and yes there are lots of things that are wrong with regards to our own music industry, but simply just highlighting all those bad areas... that's easy to do... and that's not enough."
"What we need to do is recognise that, yes, this is the situation, but what are we going to work around it?"
"What are we going to do to make it work for us?"
"I think if we have that particular mind-set, things might actually move forward for us."
EBI is of course speaking of being able to identify opportunities when one is surrounded with problems and we have gathered that #MEX16 is geared toward exactly that; the sharing of skills in identifying and exploiting opportunities in the music, film and entertainment industry.
Adding weight to the now well-established and much respected conference, MEX’s most recent new inclusion the Mother City’s regional pop radio station, Good Hope FM, will be broadcasting live from the conference throughout its duration.
The radio station will kick off proceedings for #MEX16 on Wednesday 7 September with its "The Ready D Show Live on Stage" format broadcasting live from the main stage of the Good Hope Suites at the GrandWest Casino complex.
For details on booking for the live show visit the Good Hope FM website. (Link to be inserted.)
Another new addition to Music Exchange is that DJ Ready D will be sharing his vast experience of the music industry & along with The Beatbangaz will also be presenting lectures and DJ exhibitions as part of the conference.
With so many diverse fields covered by the conference, if you are serious about a career in the music industry, whether you are a newby or see yourself as an old hand, #MEX16 should be considered as investment in yourself and your career.
Costing only R200.00 for both days, a limited number of tickets are now on sale through Computicket, Shoprite and Checkers outlets countrywide.
You can also book online at www.computicket.com, or by calling 0861 915 8000
Bruinou.com has a limited number of Free Tickets for our Members and Readers who are serious about Advancing Their Careers in the Entertainment Industry.
To Get Your Name on the Bruinou.com #MEX16 Guest List email
WATCH: Martin Myers speaks to SABC TV's Samm Marshall on Youtube
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WATCH: #MEX16 Promo Video
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