BIGSOUND Speaker Profile: Darryl Bailey

Business: Six Boroughs Media

Position/Title: Director

How did you first become involved in the music business? I always wanted to be on the radio so while doing a radio-announcing course I scored a job at a record store in suburban Brisbane in the late '80s. It was there that I realised it was actually selling music that I liked. I started at Warner in 1990.

What do you perceive to be your area of expertise and how did you gain experience in this field? I always had a love of radio and was interested in the singles they played. To this day "the single" is just as important as it was 60 years ago. Working at retail and then labels like Warner and EMI and liaising with radio continues to feed that love of radio.

Popular culture tells us that the music industry is all about hedonism, drugs and partying — how true is this in your experience? It's not about that at all. It exists of course and probably more in certain areas of the industry but in terms of selling music to media and the music-buying public, the music comes first. Our job is to give it every chance. The public does the rest.

In this time of technological change how do you see the dissemination of music changing in the future? Is there still a place for physical product? I know as a music consumer I'm a bit "deer in the headlights" at the choices I have. I think access is one thing but curation will become one of the most important factors in the digital age. Physical for "super fans" will be around for some time yet.

Some pundits espouse that the future of music is electronic-based — in your opinion is rock'n'roll passe? That's crazy talk! Music trends are such a cycle. Each time it goes around it picks up new sounds. Rock'n'roll is no different. There's great rock released all of the time and it's evolving like other genres. It's only a matter of time before the old is new again.

Do you think it's a good or bad time to be starting out as a musician? There's never been a better time. That's if the artist is doing it for the right reasons. If it's about money and stardom then they're doomed from the start. To have the ability to reach a global audience from your bedroom or garage is pretty incredible.

What advice would you give young practitioners in your area starting out today? Do it for the right reasons. Work hard and have patience. Talk to as many industry people as you can and listen to their advice. But do what feels right to you because that's who you're doing it for.

What will you be primarily discussing during your appearance at the BIGSOUND conference? Demystifying commercial radio for young artists. A lot of artists start their career at community radio, triple j, etc so we'll be discussing what makes commercial radio tick.

What are you hoping that people will be able to learn from your panel/interview? Commercial radio have one goal in mind, keeping their listeners so they can make money. I hope that delegates learn that it's not personal when it comes to music choice on commercial radio. It's powerful when you get it but when is the right time to push for it?

What do you personally hope to take away from your time at BIGSOUND? 150 bands across 15 venues over two nights. That's not counting launch parties on Tuesday night! It's like musical tapas. Can't wait.