Megan Brownlow On Being Part Of ARIA Innovator: “I’m Not A Music Person, I’m A Music Appreciator”

Working in the music industry is a tough gig, especially as a beginner and mid to upper-level industry worker equipped with an undeniable eagerness to learn more, but without the resources to get there. The cost of learning more, getting your foot in the door and upskilling to a professional standard is something that often leaves budding industry workers out of pocket. As a result, ARIA has organised the ARIA Innovator Conference in early 2025, supported by Sound NSW, to combat this.

Drawing on the expertise of industry experts like President of the Recording Academy (GRAMMY) Panos Panay, SVP Global Insight at Universal Music Gabi Lopes and entrepreneur coach Dr Nici Sweeney, ARIA Innovator aims to provide music industry workers with practical skills and tools to help them excel in the evergrowing, complex music market. With a conference and industry mixer open to all music industry workers on day one, and an Accelerate workshop helmed by Sound NSW consultant Megan Brownlow on day two, attendees will leave the program with heightened skills around leadership, strategy and personal development, and potentially go on to implement their newfound skills in a way that’ll sustain Australia’s music landscape in the years to come.

ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd said the conference is a “game changer” for artists and industry workers keen on the opportunity to manifest their ideas into reality.

“The conference and Accelerate workshop under ARIA Innovator are new and wholly unique opportunities to engage our industry in active thought leadership and future-facing skills development,” she said.

“It is no secret that the complexity of our industry is growing exponentially, and on a daily basis. We want to ensure our artists and music professionals will not only survive but will thrive in this environment. This conference will be a game-changer for artists and professionals seeking inspiration and practical skills to turn bold ideas into market-leading breakthroughs.

We spoke with Accelerate workshop host Megan Brownlow about how the conference can impact the future of Australia’s music industry and what attendees can expect from the program.

Tell me about the ARIA Innovator Conference and, in your view, the kind of impact a conference like this can have on the music industry and those within it.

That's a great "big picture" question. The music industry in Australia has really punched above its weight, but the people who work in it haven't had the same opportunities for professional development and learning that other sectors get. So this is an opportunity to build your chops in a number of different areas. Day One of Innovator is a conference with global speakers who are the absolute best in their field, who have deep experience in what's working and what the future holds and how to market and innovate, all in the context of music. It's going to be just a treat to have that learning opportunity for the Australian music industry. 

The people that ARIA have called in, like the president of Grammys, it's all going to be really inspiring. Day Two is a targeted learning workshop. If you pay to go to something like this, it costs about $8,000 to $10,000. So, you come along with a problem that you want solved or an idea you want to workshop, and it'll be very interactive. We'll work through a series of exercises where you will essentially work on the thing that you bring in but with some tools and some frameworks that I will teach you on the day. So at the end of that workshop, each participant will walk away with a personalised action plan. And then about a month after the workshop, each participant who's won a place will have a one-on-one with me and we'll find out how they're going with their action plan. So there's sort of follow-up coaching.

How do you hope a conference like this and workshops like this will shape the future of Australia's music industry?

It's really targeted to those with mid to upper-level experience–people who have deep experience in their field but might be underdeveloped in some other areas. Sometimes, you miss out on being developed in other areas like strategy, partnering, marketing, and value proposition. All of these things can be taught and so once you learn those things, then you basically are unstoppable. It'll elevate the music industry. So there's a sort of a level of preparedness to meet the challenges of globalization, of new technologies, of disruption, all of the big picture, macro conditions that the music industry is facing over the next few years.

I feel like a lot of people, whether in the music industry or not, go overseas to fulfil their career over there. Do you feel like something like this conference will allow them to see the opportunities within their own home country, and champion Australia as a hub of strength when it comes to its music industry?

Yes, however, I would also argue that we operate in a global music industry and that all successful Australian artists are global artists. If you are operating in Australia, you're also operating globally, and you're sort of a global citizen who can seamlessly move between our home environment and our international environment.

Definitely. You're bringing to the conference and the workshop a wide span of experience with your work for Screen Australia and Sound NSW. How does it feel to be able to jump on board with ARIA and contribute to something that's very important for those within the music industry sector?

It's just a dream. It's an absolute privilege to work with such clever, passionate, talented people. I'm not a music person, I'm a music appreciator. My domain expertise is strategy, marketing, digital, business, all of that. That's where I'm coming from. And so to work with the ARIA team, to work with Australian musicians and to be part of what I know will be a successful program of upskilling is just fantastic.

Obviously, there's some time until the conference does roll around, but applications have now closed. What is the scope of ideas that you’ve seen coming in from applicants? What are you excited or most looking forward to when the time comes around for the conference?

So some themes are coming through. A lot of applicants' ideas have to do with partnering and collaboration, which is really important because we will touch on that in the workshop. The other theme that's coming through is the desire to be true to Australian authentic roots. Australianness is our uniqueness, and we want to learn how to market that and leverage that and take that to the world. And then the third theme would be ideas around operating in this new environment that's hyper-digital, hyper-global and driven often by social media. They're probably the big three, I'd say, that are coming through. There's some really quality thinking already at the early stages that we'll be able to hone into actionable plans and outcomes.

Find out more about ARIA Innovator here.