AIM Music Industry Insights Australian Institute of Music

How do you overcome performance anxiety? We put together a panel of musicians, psychologists and educators to discuss their best advice to overcome an almost universal experience for performing musicians.

Jessie Lloyd is an Aboriginal Australian "Songkeeper," artist and social historian dedicated to honouring the music, sharing the stories and celebrating the culture of Aboriginal Australia and the Torres Strait Islander communities. Through her award-winning Mission Songs Project through to her latest, the Island Songs Project, she has introduced new audiences to Indigenous music and culture in groundbreaking new ways. 

There’s an art to becoming a successful performer playing regular gigs and making a sustainable living from playing music. We called upon AIM graduates Emily Hanks and Josephine Ison, both in-demand performers and booking agents, to share some of the “secret sauce” that has established them as musicians gigging regularly on the circuit. 

An accomplished and diverse group of women successfully navigating all areas of the music industry joined forces at AIM for a highly-charged and irreverent exploration of their achievements and the challenges they face in the industry today.
Speakers on the panel interview stage included women working in artist management, media, DJing, marketing, A&R, podcasting and making music. They also included musical artist Azure, one of the driving forces behind the "Beneath The Glass Ceiling” Instagram page and movement to expose unethical members of the industry and hold them to account. 
Speakers: 
Alexia Dobbin - Company Director, Alexia Dobbin Entertainment
Poppy Reid - Editor in Chief Brag Media (titles including Rolling Stone Australia and The Music Network)
Azure - Musical artist
Amy Jarma - Director of A&R for Production Club (Super Bowl, The Chainsmokers, Skrillex, Amazon, Intel, Riot Games, Beeple)
Jade Le Flay - DJ & host
Kailei Ginman - Marketing Manager AUNZ (Helix Records, Payday Records, Ultra Publishing)

How do you build a successful music career? AIM lecturers (all industry experts and accomplished musicians) from a cross-section of our music departments provide advice garnered from their years of experience on how to create a “portfolio career” – where you leverage your strongest skills and build competence in new areas to make money and sustain a career in music. 

Paul Saintilan is the author of a groundbreaking new book called "Musicians & Addiction: Research & Recovery Stories." We explore the two year journey to put it together, the myths it busts about creativity and substance abuse, his own experiences, the incredible work Support Act is doing to support musicians during the pandemic, and simple ways musicians can use sports science to improve their mental health and resilience.