TUNING IN TO MUSIC CREATIVITY

NATURAL talent can’t be faked in the music industry or in business.

A support organisation called Music Hub aims to help those interested in both music and business hone their skills and succeed through the formation of ‘creative clusters’.

Two new ‘micro firms’ have emerged as a direct result of the Music Hub, which is backed by Southern Cross University (SCU) and Connecting Southern Gold Coast.

A social networking style website, which connects Music Hub members through a series of evolving diagrams, has also been launched.

SCU PhD candidate Ben Farr-Wharton (pictured) is researching the Music Hub and how creative clusters emerge.

“The music industry is chaotic and not ruled linearly, it is ruled by networks,” says Farr-Wharton.

“If you have a dream to make it big, you have to connect with the right people and the Music Hub is facilitating this to good effect.”

The Music Hub has organised about 15 events since it was formed 18 months ago.

Farr-Wharton says he can already see the difference in the level of musical activity in and around Coolangatta at weekends.

“We have found there is increased activity as a direct result of the Music Hub,” he says.

“I visited every hotel in Coolangatta on a Sunday last year and did the same thing 12 months later. There are more local acts on stage and they are getting paid more money than before.”

Farr-Wharton says Music Hub is fast growing beyond music into other facets of the industry.

“We originally started out with a small number of musicians and venues but that has grown now to include other artists, web developers and graphic designers,” he says.

The technology has connectivity functions Farr-Wharton says will have applications for other music business areas.

“The theory is that it takes about 10 years for a cluster to become sustainable, but cutting-edge network research suggests that this time can be reduced through increasing collaboration between cluster members,’’ he says.

“We are applying and testing this network research through the Music Hub,” he says.

Farr-Wharton hopes the Music Hub can provide a model that could be replicated in any region where there was a creative need for it. Preliminary work is already underway to create Music Hubs in Vanuatu and in Slovenia following enquiries from udding
artists in those countries.

Professor Kerry Brown, who is director of the Research Centre for Tourism, Leisure and Work at SCU, says: “The Music Hub’s interactive website delivers a practical tool for those involved in the music industry to build their networks.”