The International Industry's Favourite Bands From BIGSOUND

BIGSOUND's third-day program of live industry panels is almost over, with this afternoon proving an excellent opportunity for an international panel of industry representatives to discuss a broad range of discussion topics, in a session facilitated by The Music's Leigh Treweek.

With the panel comprised of US visitors The Billions Corporation's Ali Hedrick, Mom + Pop Music/Q Prime's Julia Willinger, Panache Booking founder Michelle Cable, Chris Sampson of Superfly (Bonnaroo, Outside Lands), and Brits Jaimie Hodgson of House Anxiety/Marathon Artists and Adam Ryan of The Great Escape/MAMA + Company, the discussion ranged from favourite acts to future predictions and everything in between.

Early questions yielded few surprises, as the delegates invariably sided with their respective home country's event when asked whether Coachella or Glastonbury is the superior festival (with Sampson offering a cheeky "Bonnaroo!" before siding with his compatriots), and offered up classic names such as The Verve, The Kinks, Pulp and Blur as acts they would give their left eye to work with.

Once talk turns to BIGSOUND and Australian artists, however, responses become nothing short of illuminating — Willinger and Hodgson both point to Courtney Barnett as a shining example of an artist they work with who oozes professional excellence, for example, while several of this year's showcase artists were mentioned numerous times by the panel when asked for favourite acts of this year's event.

It's not just the bands that have impressed the industry visitors, however, as Hodgson and Ryan admit the Australian industry has one big advantage over its British counterpart.

It's a sentiment echoed by the other members of the panel, too, with Sampson enthusing that "the music industry down here ... has been equally as exciting to be a part of [as the bands]," while Hedrick takes it one step further on the niceness scale - even if she's none too impressed with the nation's broadband (but really, who is?).

Hodgson, too, is generous with his praise for BIGSOUND, exclaiming that his past three days have yielded "literally the most fun I have ever had at any conference, ever".

With eyes moving towards the future, Sampson discusses the continuing necessity of live music in the wider industry landscape, especially in the face of an increasingly digital world, while also predicting a shift in the make-up of festival circuits around the planet.

A brief discussion about social media - and specifically, a certain rap artist that might be lamenting a certain trip to a certain wax museum at the moment - also reveals that, despite the wealth of options and channels through which bands and artists are now able to publish and publicise their music, it is a boon that has also changed how the industry operates, with everyone from solo artists to labels needing "a combination of platforms" at their disposal, and certainly does not come without a price.

Unanimously, though, there seems to be acceptance of and agreement with the idea this may very well have been the best BIGSOUND to date - yes, it's a sentiment that gets offered up every year, but to see the fevered nods and to hear the positive affirmations in the crowd once the sentiment is expressed, it's a little hard to doubt it.