Five Things We Learned from the Music Panel at Summer in the City 2018

Were you able to catch this year’s music panel at Summer in the City? If you missed it, fret not! We’ve captured the best sound bytes from a fair few of YouTube’s top musical talent right here.

Lead by Helena MacCormack, the Music Panel featured dodie, Leslie Wai, Carrie Hope Fletcher, and Reece Bibby and Blake Richardson of New Hope Club. After soaking in their wisdom on topics like soothing pre-show nerves and producing your own content, here are the top five things we took away from the panel…

1. YouTube is a prime platform for musicians

A majority of the panellists say they chose YouTube as a platform for its easy accessibility. For Reece Bibby and Blake Richardson of New Hope Club, it was about the ability to give music to their fans quickly. “If you write a song and want to put it up on Spotify, it takes a long time for that whole process to work,” explained Blake Richardson. “YouTube was a no-brainer,” added Leslie Wai, who cited the readily accessible audience as a reason why he joined.

2. However, being tied to YouTube is a double-edged sword

As a relatively new platform, YouTube still baffles some industry higher-ups who operate in more traditional media. Carrie found that it was harder to blend musical theater, “a very traditional medium”, with online video. Dodie has also found that producers were surprised at her talent after previously underestimating her as a YouTube creator.

3. Talent will speak for itself

“Putting music on YouTube is very different from other YouTube content, like vloggers,” explained Blake. Reece Bibby agreed, adding that “music can speak for itself” and that, in this case, the platform shouldn’t influence someone’s opinion.

4. Live performances feel completely different

From preparation to practice, performing live in front of an audience can feel like a different experience entirely. Carrie feels most comfortable taking on a character or different persona during her live performances. “If I don’t have a script, costume, set, or lyrics, I melt,” she said. “I’ll do what I call ‘parking and barking’. I will park myself, and I will bark these songs at you, and then I will leave.”

5. YouTube allows for more creative autonomy

With higher production value comes more and more team members, but YouTube’s grassroots-style authenticity allows creators to have complete control over the content they put out. For dodie, creating higher production value material means “giving your songs to other people and allowing them to have a lot of creative input”, an idea that she’s not entirely comfortable with. Sitting in her bedroom and filming feels much more “her”.

Photos by Rebecca Need-Menear.