As we head into 2024, CMU recently sat down with the bosses of many of the music industry’s trade organisations to talk about their work, the key challenges faced by their members, and what to expect in the year ahead. Today, Matt Cartmell, CEO of Music Technology UK, a new organisation for the UK music tech community.
You are a new organisation - why was Music Technology UK formed last year?
We launched Music Technology UK in November 2023 with a clear-cut mission: to cement the UK's status as a global frontrunner in music tech innovation.
Despite the UK music industry's acclaim, the brilliance of its tech pioneers hasn’t quite achieved its share of the limelight. That's exactly what we're here to change, by working with our partners in the music industry.
Two months down the line we’ve brought in over 40 founding members and have launched a comprehensive member consultation to hone in on the five issues that we’ll be building hard-working workstreams around in the year to come: the music tech ecosystem; industry partnerships; talent; investment; and public policy.
What are key challenges for your members?
While our consultation is not yet complete, we can reveal some initial insights.
Investment remains the top issue for our members. They want the opportunity to meet and learn from investors; but on the flipside of that, they want us to present the music tech sector as a highly investible proposition by educating investors about how the sector works and the opportunities within.
When it comes to engagement with the broader music tech ecosystem, our members are seeking opportunities to build innovative models of engagement with labels, digital service providers and artists.
This is something we’ll be exploring in the year ahead by bringing associate members from across the industry into the conversation. And in terms of the industry partnership piece, members have pointed out that the primary targets are, perhaps unsurprisingly, record labels and music publishers.
On the talent point, music tech firms are looking for help to bring diverse talent into the industry, removing the barriers that restrict passion and enthusiasm for a career in music technology.
They want to be able to provide meaningful internships, and they want to take part in careers days and other forms of institutional engagement.
Finally, when it comes to public policy, opportunities for government funding remain of paramount importance.
What will be among the next steps you take as you grow the organisation?
Through all of this we’re clear that we’ll achieve so much more if we bring other communities in.
That’s the other membership bodies, the rightsholders, recording artists and songwriters, management companies, investors. Not forgetting the funding organisations, incubators and accelerators.
They all have a place around our table as associate members.