Gudinskis Agree To Not Fight On Conference Panel

One of Australia's best known music industry executives, Michael Gudinski has admitted that he and son Matt Gudinski have agreed to not fight on stage during their joint keynote at this week's Face The Music conference.

The first time the Mushroom Group bosses will talk to audiences together in such a public way, Michael told theMusic.com.au that “I'm sure there will be some areas where Matt will disagree with me, I think that's a good thing that's been going on.

"He's been given a blank page really to take and to move and to really advance us in all kinds of new technology.”

Matt's increasing role in the company was highlighted earlier this year during the group's rebrand to mark its 40th anniversary. The 'blank page' Matt's been given is something he'll talk about at the Melbourne conference, Michael said.

“I'll certainly be very interested in what he has got to say and I'm certainly looking forward to it. We agreed not to try to have a bit of a spar in front of people, because we are capable of it, but people will just have to go along and see.”

Michael has long been the face of the Mushroom Group and has rarely shied away from the media, a trait that saw him voted as the most powerful person in the music industry last year and number two this year, while Matt has preferred to stay away from the limelight.

“I'm more than happy to talk about the past but I'm obviously more interested in the future,” said Michael. “It's a good opportunity for people to see the dynamic between us. He certainly brings a lot to the table that I don't, he's well down the track in a lot of restructuring and, certainly, getting involved with Future [Music] is something he's really involved with.

“He's very involved with the labels. I'll take some special projects I've been doing for a long, long time but I don't consider myself in A& R at all – finding the acts is very rare [for me]. I think the label has really solidified over the last few years so it'll be an interesting discussion.”

The father-son 'In Conversation' session will take place on the conference's first day, Friday 15 November, at the ANZ Pavilion. Tickets are available here.

See the full program here.