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EDM community launches new trade organisation

By | Published on Tuesday 29 January 2013

AEM

Well, if there’s one thing the music industry needs, it’s definitely another trade body. I mean, at last count we were down to 24 here in the UK.

Although for a brief moment on Sunday morning in Cannes it did feel like we should abolish them all, and instead form an orderly queue behind the mighty Martin Mills, our compassionate and impassioned yet forceful leader, as he delivered a call to arms in the form of his Billboard Icon Award acceptance speech.

But then someone pointed out that Martin had a record company to run and didn’t have time to single-handedly fight the dark forces of the digital world (aka Google), so that plan had to be abandoned. But worry not, we can still rely on AA-ABO-AFO-AIF-AIM-ASTA-BASCA-BPI-CPA-ERA-FAC-FMS-ISM-MIA-MMF-MPA-MPG-MU-NAA-PPL-PRS-PSA-STAR-UK Music to fight our various corners.

Or perhaps not if you happen to be working in that recently expansive suburb of Pop City called EDM, because the dance community – presumably reckoning their interests aren’t fully represented by the aforementioned 24 music industry organisations (and their counterparts worldwide) – yesterday launched The Association For Electronic Music. And it’ll be an interesting grouping, bringing together as it does agents, promoters, retailers, labels and managers, operating at both the corporate and grass roots end of the market, united by their genre specialism.

The founding board of advisors for the new “global advocacy and lobbying group” includes Beatport’s Matthew Adell, Cream/Live Nation’s James Barton, Insomniac’s Carlos Correal, Positiva’s Jason Ellis, Little Empire Music’s Stephanie LaFera, WME’s David Levy, CAA’s Maria May, Big Beat’s Liz Miller, AM Only’s Paul Morris, Ultra/Sony’s Patrick Moxey, Armada Music’s Maykel Piron, ID&T’s Duncan Stutterheim, ATM Artists’ Amy Thomson, IBZ Entertainment’s Danny Whittle, the Windish Agency’s Tom Windish and John Truelove. Meanwhile legendary producer Nile Rodgers, currently working with Daft Punk, will serve as the first AFEM Ambassador.

The new organisation is being coordinated by manager Ben Turner, who has already been busy uniting the EDM community for a few years now via his International Music Summit in Ibiza, and entertainment lawyer Kurosh Nasseri, who has specialised in the electronic music genre for two decades. With a global focus, the new body will have offices in the US and UK at launch.

Commenting on the new organisation, and their motivation to set it up, Nasseri told CMU: “This is an historic day, the launch of the first international trade body representing a single genre since the Country Music Association began in 1958. Our motivation is wholly positive – to ensure electronic music gets the recognition and status it deserves. It is time for the many companies and individuals involved in our business to speak with a unified voice to represent the genre and to address the issues. And that is the mission of the Association For Electronic Music.



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