Musicians in Conversation Helvetiarockt

In this episode Natalia speaks with Aline Bianchi who is the founder and Product Manager of Norma Music! We talk about royalties, copyright, licensing and synchronisation and Aline also gives advice to artists planning a release. We talk about setting up her company Norma Music and discuss some of the unique challenges of working in the Swiss Music Industry.



About Aline Bianchi



Aline is one of the two Co-founders of Norma Music, an artist and label services company based in Ticino serving and collaborating with independent musicians within Switzerland.



Her music experience lies within marketing, manufacturing, distribution and royalties. Prior to that she studied hospitality management in Lausanne. She has always worked in the indie world, starting with leading indie distributor PIAS in London in 2014 where she gained insights into the “scary” world of copyright by reporting Continental Europe royalties for PIAS’s distributed labels such as Ninja Tune, City Slang, Full Time Hoppy and Sub Pop.



In 2016 she left PIAS and moved to a much less analytical role: Marketing for indie Label Distiller. There she ran all campaigns alongside the department’s head and personally managed the production process of physical releases, took care of digital & d2c distribution, coordinated the creation of marketing and creative assets for campaigns with collaboration of external creatives, UK radio and the in-house press team.



She strongly believes in originality, creativity and risk-taking. For me, the best part about working with independent artists is being able to create something personal and unique to them, while being able to make decisions together. Technology and the evolution of the music business model today allows for artists to be more in control and build trusted teams around them that can help them grow and connect with the industry without giving away any rights.



She relocated back from the UK and founded Norma Music in 2021 together with her partner. It has been operating officially since early 2022.





Audience Questions



If you have a question for the musicians in conversation, simply send a DM to Helvetiarockt on insta!

In this episode Natalia speaks with Helvetiarockt beatmaking coach, Cégiu. She is a musician, producer and composer and also managing director of Music Box Entertainment, co-manager of Other Music Lucerne and board member of SONART.  We discuss capturing insect sounds in field recordings, starting your own company as a musician and the importance of social security. Cégiu also gives advice for people wanting to begin activism.



About Cégiu



Cégiu (Céline-Giulia Voser) is the managing director and owner of musicbox entertainment gmbh. She is also involved in the concerns of Lucerne's musicians as co-director of Other Music Lucerne, a networking and promotion centre for Lucerne musicians, is a board member of SONART – the Swiss association for musicians - and is currently setting up the Ableton FINTA user group in Switzerland. She works as a mentor for Pop-Büro Stuttgart and Ableton among others, for the latter at the School of Popular Art in Berlin.

Cégiu is a musician, composer and producer. She performs and releases music in various formations and leads workshops such as "Beatmaking/Producing" as part of Helvetiarockt Music Lab. She is also a solo artist and has released three albums, "Cégiu's Skinny Souls" (2016), "Restless Roots" (2019) and "Glowing Goodbyes" (2021). 





Glossary of terms mentioned



DAW - Digital Audio Workstation. A software program for making music: recording, editing, mixing, and manipulating sound.





Audience Questions



If you have a question for the musicians in conversation, simply send a DM to Helvetiarockt on insta!

In this episode Natalia speaks with Agent, Artist Manager and Artistic Director of Le Port Franc in Sion, Nadia Mitic.  We discuss how the skills she learned as a teacher, helps in her music career today, the importance of building relationships and networking in the music industry.  Nadia also gives practical advice to people wanting to work in the music industry and to artists and bands, when it comes to planning a release and building a career.
About Nadia Mitic
After a short stint as a teacher, followed by a master's degree in geography, Nadia Mitic has dedicated herself to contemporary music since 2009. She has been an artist agent for 10 years, founder and partner of the Swiss booking agency Glad We Met, artist manager in actual music and press officer for various Swiss and foreign artists. Since 2020, Nadia Mitic is also a programmer at the Port Franc in Sion. With more than 10 years of experience and a solid network in Switzerland and abroad, she regularly shares her experience and professional knowledge during trainings, expertise or round tables for the FCMA (The Fondation CMA is the most important institution in French-speaking Switzerland for advice, networking and further education courses for musicians in French-speaking Switzerland), the CAS in management in the fields of actual music, the HEMU (Haute École de Musique), the SAE Institute, the EJMA-VS, Culture Valais or the city of Neuchatel.
Audience Questions
If you have a question for the musicians in conversation, simply send a DM to Helvetiarockt on insta!

In this episode Natalia speaks with Evita Koné who is a Singer, Rapper, Songwriter and Teacher.  We discuss how to find your unique voice and sound as an artist, the importance of collectives and communities to your growth, and the reason why she performs.  Stay tuned to hear Evita teaching Nat how to freestyle with a fun back to back!



About Evita Koné



She won SwissLiveTalents best “urban hip-hop groove reggae” artist and the Montreux Jazz Festival rising talent prize in 2022.



A singer who raps or a rapper who sings, Evita Koné is an American-Swiss-Chadian songwriter, composer and performer actively involved in the Geneva neosoul-hip-hop-r'n'b music scene, particularly with her group Captains of The Imagination and the Herd Culture Kids collective.



After studying in the UK and USA, Evita released her debut EP “Break” in May 2022, produced by the wizardly Swiss Music Prize laureate Christophe Calpini (STADE, Erik Truffaz, OY).



Evita, among the new talents of the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival since last autumn, has already trodden the stages of Cully Jazz, JVAL, Les Créatives, Thelonica festivals, not to mention local stages such as the Epicentre, Usine or the legendary Chat Noir.







TRACK 1: Moment / composer: Christophe Calpini / lyricist: Evelyn Haettenschwiller / 006454 086 40 / T- 311421408-9





TRACK 2: Shoot Your Shot / composer: Christophe Calpini / lyricist: Evelyn Haettenschwiller / 006454 088 36 / T-311421829-6





Evita's influences





Audience Questions



If you have a question for the musicians in conversation, simply send a DM to Helvetiarockt on insta!

In this episode Natalia speaks with CEO at Irascible Music & Irascible Records, Fabienne Schmuki.  We discuss the relationship between artist and label, when to invest in physical copies of your music and Fabienne shares how she was able to overcome self doubt to take on the role of CEO of Irascible. We also discuss why labels might see less FINTA folk in leadership roles and we ask what can be done to improve this.



About Fabienne Schmuki



Initially building her career in music journalism, Fabienne started working as a PR agent for Irascible Music in 2009. Since 2015, she’s co-directing the company which is operating as an independent distributor, a promotion agency and a record label out of Zurich and Lausanne, Switzerland. Additionally, she’s a founding & board member of Switzerland’s independent label association IndieSuisse and a member of the producer’s board at Swissperform. Fabienne has two children and lives in Zurich with her family. Privately, she loves music in most forms and shapes – preferably live!





Audience Questions



If you have a question for the musicians in conversation, simply send a DM to Helvetiarockt on insta!

In this episode Natalia talks with Jennifer Jans who is an Arts Manager, Promoter and Musician.  We discuss the difference between programming and booking, how to develop the skill of programming bands/artists and learning from failure.  We also get into the perspective of artists by talking about how and when to contact bookers.



About Jennifer Jans



Jennifer Jans is firmly rooted in the national and international music scene through her many years of experience and her professional activities. As a qualified cultural manager and committed musician, she has a large network throughout Switzerland. At audiopool gmbh she was able to gain years of experience in the field of event technology, and as an assistant in the PR & Booking department of Kuppel Basel in the event and live department.



Since 2012 she has been in charge of the event series "Mitten In Der Woche", a meeting place for the music scene in Basel, which takes place every two months. She was responsible for programming at the BScene Clubfestival from 2012- 2016 and the president of the association from 2013-2017. From 2015 to 2019 Jennifer was director of the Lucerne music festival B-Sides and since 2015 she has been the project manager of their networking and exchange platform SAY HI! In 2021, she also took over the co-programming of the festival. Since 2019, she has been responsible for the Demotape Clinic at the Swiss network festival m4music. Since 2022 she has been co-responsible for the programming of the Label Suisse Festival in Lausanne.



In addition to her work as a musician with her band BLEU ROI, her other activities include projects, such as the mediation programme Soundkomplizen, which she launched in 2015 together with the Kaserne Basel or working as a coach for Helvetiarockt Music Lab.







Audience Questions



If you have a question for the musicians in conversation, simply send a DM to Helvetiarockt on insta!