The NZ Music Indistry Commission's Warrant Of Fitness seminars hit Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch next week with a stellar lineup of speakers drawn from the international music industry. High flyers from different countries and specialist fields within the industry, our speakers comprise music supervisor and expat New Zealander Amine Ramer; former Capitol and Mute label boss Bruce Kirkland (another expat Kiwi); BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens; and Sean Adams, founder of UK music website www.drownedinsound.com.

Unfortunately New York-based artist manager Anna Jacobsen-Leong is no longer able to speak at the seminars due to urgent and unforeseen matters relating to her artists. Anna is as disappointed as we are that she can't make the trip down here, and we have had to make some minor changes to the programme to compensate for her absence.
A revised programme follows, with detailed information on individual session topics, and their dates, times, and locations. To guarantee a place at any of the sessions email

Wednesday 22 November – Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tamaki Auditorium

Session 1 – 10:30am : Assessment & Tune-up – Picking Acts & The Best Ways To Work With Them
What do people look for in an act? What are the key skills you need to engage the international music industry on their behalf? How do you identify and meet with the people you need to see? What are the actions you can take to best help (or hinder, on the other hand), an act’s chances to succeed? Our guests will give their top three tips.
With Amine Ramer, Bruce Kirkland

Session 2 – 1:00pm : Coat-Hanger Aerial - Radio Around The World
How do you go about getting your music broadcast on-air? What similarities or differences exist between radio markets in different territories? What are the best and worst ways to approach radio stations? How do you go about planning the most appropriate radio strategy?
With Huw Stephens, Bruce Kirkland

Session 3 – 2:45pm : Latest Model - New Trends In Music & Getting It Out There
How quickly do international musical trends move? What’s the life-cycle of a typical trend? Can temporary fashions in music be exploited, and how do you go about this? And most importantly, ‘what’s hot right now?’
With Huw Stephens, Sean Adams

Thursday 23 November – Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tamaki Auditorium

Session 1 – 10:30am : Planes, Trains, & Automobiles - Different Ways To Get Places
What are the ways in which a track can be used to promote an act? How lucrative are these additional revenue streams, and how much of a boost do they usually represent? How do you go about doing this for the first time? How do you leverage this further?
With Amine Ramer, Bruce Kirkland, Sean Adams

Session 2 – 1:00pm : Road User Charges - Tour Booking
How do you work out where to tour? What do you do to book the right gigs? Who do you want to come to the shows, and how do you get them there? What other things need to be planned? Are there people that can help with the tour, and how essential is their assistance?
With Sean Adams, and another speaker TBC

Session 3 – 2:45pm : Inside The Testing Station
A wrap-up session featuring final thoughts from all of our speakers, also taking a look at a few specific examples of acts and suggested strategies for working them successfully.
With Amine Ramer, Bruce Kirkland, Huw Stephens, Sean Adams

Friday 24 November – Wellington Art Gallery Auditorium

Session 1 – 10:30am : Assessment & Tune-up – Picking Acts And The Best Ways To Work With Them
What do people look for in an act? What are the key skills you need to engage the international music industry on their behalf? How do you identify and meet with the people you need to see? What are the actions you can take to best help (or hinder, on the other hand), an act’s chances to succeed? Our guests will give their top three tips.
With Amine Ramer, Bruce Kirkland

Session 2 – 1:00pm : Latest Model - New Trends In Music & Getting It Out There
How quickly do international musical trends move? What’s the life-cycle of a typical trend? Can temporary fashions in music be exploited, and how do you go about this? And most importantly, ‘what’s hot right now?’
With Huw Stephens, Sean Adams

Session 3 – 2:45pm : Inside The Testing Station
A wrap-up session featuring final thoughts from all of our speakers, also taking a look at a few specific examples of acts and suggested strategies for working them successfully.
With Amine Ramer, Bruce Kirkland, Huw Stephens, Sean Adams

Saturday 25 November – CPIT Jazz School, Christchurch

Session 1 – 10:30am : Assessment & Tune-up – Picking Acts And The Best Ways To Work With Them
What do people look for in an act? What are the key skills you need to engage the international music industry on their behalf? How do you identify and meet with the people you need to see? What are the actions you can take to best help (or hinder, on the other hand), an act’s chances to succeed? Our guests will give their top three tips.
With Amine Ramer, Bruce Kirkland

Session 2 – 1:00pm : Latest Model - New Trends In Music & Getting It Out There
How quickly do international musical trends move? What’s the life-cycle of a typical trend? Can temporary fashions in music be exploited, and how do you go about this? And most importantly, ‘what’s hot right now?’
With Huw Stephens, Sean Adams

Session 3 – 2:45pm : Inside The Testing Station
A wrap-up session featuring final thoughts from all of our speakers, also taking a look at a few specific examples of acts and suggested strategies for working them successfully.
With Amine Ramer, Bruce Kirkland, Huw Stephens, Sean Adams

[ http://www.nzmusic.org.nz ]