EXCLUSIVE: ARIA's Annabelle Herd Discusses The Launch Of ARIA Innovator

Next March, the world of conferences within the Australian music industry will get a little bit bigger thanks to the launch of ARIA Innovator, a two-day affair held at the NSW State Library on 25 – 26 March thanks to the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).

At its core, ARIA Innovator aims to upskill its attendees thanks to both its innovation conference and networking mixer and its Accelerate workshop, an application-only workshop for NSW music industry professionals that aims to help high-performing, mid-senior-level individuals develop extensive leadership skills.

Made possible through support from Sound NSW funding via Create NSW, the event has been described as a “game-changer for artists and professionals seeking inspiration and practical skills to turn bold ideas into market-leading breakthroughs”. 

Speaking to TheMusic ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd explains that the seed for ARIA Innovator was sown as a result of recognising a need to foster the development of skills throughout the wider music industry.

“[ARIA Innovator] came out of many industry discussions that we've all had across the industry through both Music Australia, Sound NSW, and through various policy development processes where it became pretty clear that one of the areas we need to focus is skills,” she explains. 

“Focusing on skills development and upskilling the industry to make sure that it is ready or able to address all of the big challenges that are facing us at the moment and also the big opportunities that we have in front of us.

“The industry is kind of a unique structure in many ways in that it's very fragmented – there aren't many big companies within the Australian music industry, and that can mean that it's challenging to have opportunities for professional development and upskilling,” she explains. “We wanted to step into a place where we could provide some of that for people across the industry.”

According to the ARIA Innovator website, the wider event is pitched to folks within the “mid-level industry and above,” meaning that some of the more fresh-faced individuals might not feel like it’s right for them. As Herd explains, though, there’s nothing to say that new entrants to the music industry won’t get the full benefits of such a conference.

“There are some programs already in the industry that are doing the more entry level stuff, and I would say people who are studying music at the moment would have opportunities to learn about some of the things we're talking about, including AI for example” she explains. 

“But we really wanted to focus on the people that could bring an idea to the table and have an idea and then take it away, develop new revenue opportunities, solve the problems that they're facing in their businesses at the moment, and reach more fans and audiences.”

It’s this notion of ideas that is key to the formation of ARIA Innovator, with those who attend ideally leaving the event with new ways of thinking about different opportunities or challenges present within the industry.

“A lot of music industry panels cover those super important issues, but we felt that there was a need for a conference or for an initiative that actually talked about hard skills and ways of thinking in individual ways, and tools that you can actually use,” Herd explains.

“That's exactly the sort of brief that we've given our speakers. We want people to come in there, sit down, walk out and go, ‘Wow, I learned something today that's going to help me in my business, help me grow my ideas or help me promote my artists’.”

The first day of ARIA Innovator will feature a number of sessions from featured speakers, including a keynote from Panos Panay, President of The Recording Academy; Gabi Lopes, the Senior VP of Global Insights at Universal Music Group; and Dr Nici Sweaney, a data scientist, AI expert, and Founder of AIHerWay.

The second day featured the Innovator Accelerate Workshop, a half-day strategy workshop limited to 30 NSW based mid-senior level industry professionals to put into practice their learnings from the Innovator Conference.

Run by business strategy expert Megan Brownlow and working collaboratively with industry peers, the workshop is an application-only affair, with those with big ideas invited to apply.

While smaller-sized groups are more conducive to valuable and effective constructive insights, the question remains as to how these applicants will be decided. Will it be on the quality of the ideas they have, or the potential these ideas have in the process of realisation?

“I think Megan's going to be looking for people that have a bit of a spark,” Herd explains. ”You don't have to have the greatest idea, you don't have to have invented the new Snapchat or whatever, but just a bit of a spark, a really strong interest, and enthusiasm.

“I have met so many people in this industry that are so entrepreneurial and innovative,” she adds. “They're just full of ideas – they're hustling – but they don't really have the support around them. 

“They're doing incredibly well, actually, but they don't have the support around them that I think could really take particular people to the absolute next level and make them – let's be ambitious – the next Australian billionaire; that's what we're looking to foster here.”

While it remains to be seen whether the next Australian billionaire will indeed be amongst those who apply for the inaugural edition of ARIA Innovator, they will indeed be receiving insights from key players in the industry who can provide them with the tools they need to get there.

With more speakers set to be announced soon, Herd explains that the curation of their speakers was about finding people who aren’t the ones you would normally see at music industry events – effectively playing into the idea of innovation and doing things differently.

“Panos [Panay] has an incredibly important and influential role as the president of the Grammys, The Recording Academy, but he's done so much more than that,” she explains. “He's one of these pioneers, and if you just look at his journey, there are so many little insights there that I think will be so great for people to hear.

“Gabi [Lopes] did a presentation for us when she was in Australia last year, and we just felt her information was so useful,” she adds. “We felt that this was exactly the kind of stuff we need to be able to plan and put together our strategies for releases. So she was a bit of a no brainer.”

Lastly, the addition of Dr Nici Sweaney is a pertinent one given the role of AI in the music industry at the current time. Her presentation at ARIA Innovator will largely be regarding the practical side of AI tools that can help in the business and operational side of the industry as opposed to the big creative issues that are being dealt with on the regulatory side.

However, given the importance of ensuring ARIA Innovator focuses on both opportunities and challenges, Dr Sweaney’s presence is one that perfectly suits the focus of an event such as this.

“AI is obviously going to revolutionise a lot of things, and I think you couldn't avoid talking about AI at a conference like this,” Herd explains. “We were very careful to make sure there are a lot of conversations in the music industry that we're a part of as well about the protection of copyright for creators and getting all of those guardrails right.

“We wanted to talk about the bit that is less discussed in the industry but as important actually; the really positive opportunity side,” she adds. “The great thing about Nikki is she looks at all the opportunities but also talks about the risks, what we need to be careful of, and the things that AI can address that go beyond just business, such as gender and ethics in AI. 

“We felt like her combination of the practical skills and her knowledge and drive to push ethical AI was the perfect value alignment for us and for the music industry.”

Of course, one question that should be asked about an event such as ARIA Innovator is the comparisons that can be made to other conferences, such as BIGSOUND in Brisbane, or SXSW Sydney. Though their respective focuses are larger, broader, and more all-encompassing than what ARIA Innovator is attempting to do, the fact remains that another conference on the schedule may be seen as a competitor to the already-established names. 

Herd, however, is adamant that there’s no sense of competition at play in ARIA Innovator’s launch.

“BIGSOUND is an incredible conference. SXSW Sydney obviously just happened, and we are very much about upskilling the music industry,” she explains. 

“It's a half-day conference and an Accelerate workshop at a different time of the year, so we think there's absolutely room for Innovator as well as everything else that's already happening. I also speak at BIGSOUND every year, so we're not about competing.

“We're about doing something that we think is a little bit different to what everybody's doing, but also being complementary,” she adds. ”You can have one day of conference, which is great. You can have a month of these sorts of things, but it wouldn't really be enough in terms of upskilling and development.”

Ultimately, ARIA Innovator aims to be a healthy addition to the Australian music industry, providing those with fruitful ideas the chance to be heard, to make a difference, and to ultimately upskill themselves to become key players in the local industry.

“We have such an entrepreneurial, innovative industry here that we just want to give people the tools to be able to really thrive,” Herd explains. 

“There are some big challenges that we're facing at the moment, and our hope is that the Innovator conference, the Accelerate workshop, and then the other things that we're going to do under the Innovator program will contribute to that really important upskilling and skills development side of where the industry needs to be, in addition to other really important things such as audience building and export.

“We feel like it's part of our responsibility as a key industry body in music,” she adds. “I love it when you go to a conference or a speech, and you walk away just buzzing with ideas and inspiration and excitement, and that's absolutely what our vision is for Innovator.”