heute:pop:blog.  

This year I have again submitted an idea for a talk at SXSW and the public voting process has now started. This time I have decided not to submit a panel idea like in previous years but I want to try something different: Ben Perreau and I will debate on the influence of Public Broadcasters on digital music innovation and its positive and negative effects, you can find the whole description below.

As always we appreciate your votes in the SXSW PanelPicker and feel free to leave comments about what we should cover in our debate.

This is the idea we suggested:

Public media & digital music innovation: a debate

This debate will consider digital innovation in an environment with public broadcasters. Jonas Woost (Executive producer for Radio 3 at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) will defend their role and Ben Perreau (Director of digital content at Global Radio / previously an entrepreneur) will consider the negative effects.

Public broadcasters have long played a vital role in media, not only by providing citizens with independent information but also through universal entertainment. Publicly-funded organizations like CBC and NPR have tirelessly championed new music, supported artists that struggle to find audiences on commercial outlets and helped provide a test-bed for innovation. On the other hand public broadcasters, free from the constraints of commerce, have strayed into areas where private enterprise might. As a result, countless innovations from the likes of startups and commercial businesses may never have come to light. To what extent does this inhibit plurality and the economies of places where public broadcasters operate?

Questions answered

• Should/shouldn’t public broadcasters develop digital music products such as streaming services, social music etc?
• How do public broadcasters compete with digital music services from commercial providers?
• With the difficulty in finding investment for digital music services should public broadcasters consider investing in this sector?
• With VCs and advertising clients looking for a quick return when dealing with digital music services, do public broadcasters and their ‘long view’ provide a useful alternative?
• How can public broadcasters continue to support niche or emerging music in a digital context that might not find exposure on commercial outlets?

It’s been about two and a half months since I joined CBC Radio 3 as the Executive Producer and meant to write a few words about it for a while. I’m now slowly settling in at the Canadian institution that is the CBC and it’s taking longer than expected: working for a large organization is an unfamiliar territory for me, in the past I’ve always worked for small to mid-sized companies. And even though Last.fm was part of the huge CBS family for the last two years I worked there I always felt that I was working for a start-up in East London.

When I had my interviews I was repeatedly reminded that the Radio 3 team was a unique group within the CBC and often acted independently from the rest of the corporation. To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure I’d believed this as it’s one of those things you say to someone you would like to hire. However, once I met the team I realized that they hadn’t oversold: the Radio 3 team very much feels like a start-up within the CBC so I instantly felt comfortable with the environment I joined.

The fact that I’m working part-time and therefore can continue to work on my other projects (such as the transmission events) made me quickly realize that I joined the right organization.

The projects that I’m working on at Radio 3 are exactly the way I like them: challenging, unique and based around digital music. I’m mainly focused on a secret digital music project but am also helping to run the CBC Radio 3 station overall – wherever I can add value. The guys are already doing such a great job and the last thing I want to do it to jump into areas that are working well and then mess them up…

Working for a Public Broadcaster in the digital space made me think a lot about what the CBC’s role should be within digital music. I feel that a trusted voice like the CBC has a lot to add in a space that’s constantly growing but I’m keen to do something that’s different and not imitate existing ideas. I want to add value to the digital music ecosystem and Public Broadcasters with their unique funding model can do this differently  than organizations that are relying on income from advertisers and/or subscribers. More on that later, as dig in deeper to the world of the CBC.