BDO's Ken West To Open Up On Festivals At Face The Music

Outspoken Big Day Out founder Ken West is set to open up on his opinions of the Australian festival market at November's Face The Music as the music conference announces if full program today.

West, who was at the centre of Big Day Out's recent restructure, will be part of a panel, called What The Festival!, that also includes Rock it's Paul Sloan, Groovin The Moo's Steve Halpin and the New Zealand's Blink from Camp A Low Hum.

The announcement is a sure-to-be-volatile cherry on the top of this year's conference, which is proudly presented by The Music and also includes a blockbuster keynote with Michael and Matt Gudinski together and innovative Vice Music General Manager Jamie Farkas.

Earlier this week the Melbourne gathering also announced that Courtney Barnett, M-Phazes, Oval, Georgia Fields and more would be sharing their wisdom in this year's Learning Hub while Ball Park Music's vocalist Samuel Cromack has been added today. He will discuss his songwriting with triple j's Dom Alessio for APRA In Conversation before joining filmmaker Darcy Pendergast and rage's Tyson Koh to discuss the impact of visual imagery on music in Moving Pictures.

Earlier announcements had included ARIA boss Dan Rosen, Universal Music legend Peter Karpin, Gotye and Birds Of Tokyo manager John Watson, AIR's Nick O'Byrne and leading festival booker Richard Moffat.

The conference takes place during the start of Melbourne Music Week, who will present a number of the keynotes and workshops.

Today's reveal also boasts the timetable and program for the conference, which will be held Friday 15 and Saturday 16 November. Tickets are on sale now.

The full timetable is below, click on the image for full size.

Catch up on the first announcement of speakers here and the second here.

FACE THE MUSIC: EARLY TALK

With the program locked in today, theMusic.com.au caught up with a few of the panellists to whet our appetites for some good old industry gossip discussion.

Dave Ruby Howe (triple j unearthed)
The Unearthed Team – What's Getting Played And A Look To The Future, Presented by Face The Music

“The Unearthed team is looking forward to the panel at this year's Face The Music as it's a great opportunity to get directly in front of musicians, artists and other industry figures who are using triplejunearthed.com every day. We'll be talking about how to get the most of an artist's profile on the Unearthed website and getting identified for airplay. With the Unearthed digital radio station still in its infancy it's also a chance for us to shed some light how the channel operates and some of the work that we're most proud of.”

Nick O'Byrne (AIR/BIGSOUND)
How To Sell Your Music In 2014, Presented by AIR

“Our discussion will focus on getting music into the hands of the audience. We're going to discuss the shared and sometimes differing interests of the artist, the label (if the artist has one) and the fan.”

Stephen Green (SGC New Media Marketing)
Moving Pictures – Music Video, Presented by Music Victoria

“I'm very excited to be speaking on the video panel. More than ever, music is combining with other art forms and really connecting with people. The difference in cut-through between something with a great video and something without has never been greater and I'm looking forward to some robust discussion about the art and commerce around clips.”

Kim Carter (Rockstar Management)
Bands, Fans And Brands – A Masterclass, Presented by Face The Music

“Marketing is a daunting subject for a lot of musicians, especially those starting out. The reality is that all artists need to be able to stand on their own two feet these days and have a vision for their brand. In the Bands, Fans And Brands masterclass we'll cover the importance of having a point of difference – knowing who you are, who you aren't and how to communicate it.”