Interview: John O'Donnell

The MSA Judge - John O'Donnell, Music Director of MySchoolAct

After a career in music journalism, with Rolling Stone magazine and Juice magazine, John O'Donnell joined Sony Music in 1994 and started the internationally successful Murmur label (home to Silverchair, Something For Kate, Jebediah etc). In 2002, John joined EMI and later that year became CEO of EMI Music Australia/NZ, working closely with Missy Higgins, Empire of the Sun, Silverchair, Operator Please, Kasey Chambers and others. John left EMI in late 2008 to start his own music consulting business and has been working with the team at MSA since its inception.

MSA: Why do you think the MSA competition is a good path to take for young artists?
JO'D: I think MySchoolAct is a well designed and well thought-out competition that encourages high school students with musical talent to enter and provides a mechanism for their school, their friends and the family to all play a role in supporting them. Obviously the prize of a recording contract or a publishing contract is very appealing. Our plan as MSA grows is to provide more and more resources and value to those who participate and help educate them about the many creative avenues available to them in the music industry. The acts who succeed in MSA will be those with obvious musical and performance talent, but also those who are effective at marketing, promoting and presenting themselves and this in many ways mirrors the real world.

MSA: Is it becoming tougher in today’s music climate for emerging acts to succeed?
JO'D: I think it's always been tough. I don't necessarily think it's getting tougher. There are more and more avenues to the consumer these days - in the past, artists and record companies relied almost exclusively on the power of radio to expose music (with magazines and video shows and networks also playing a role). These days, radio is still a huge and powerful way to communicate your music to fans/consumers, but now with the internet and platforms like Myspace, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter, Youtube etc, with the growing profile of cable TV and with the emergence and power of iTunes there are more ways than ever to get your music exposed. But getting your music exposed doesn't mean you've made it... It is still important to push yourselves to improve your songs, your performance presence and to build a strong team of supporters/workers around you so that you can take your talent as far as it can go.

MSA: What’s your main are of expertise that you’ll be bringing to the judging panel?
JO'D: I used to be an A&R guy, signing new artists and over-seeing their recording and marketing. And then for many years I was the CEO of a major record company. So I think what I will bring to the judging panel is the ability to see talent (even if it is raw and unpolished) and understand whether that artist/band has the ability to make a connection with a big audience.

MSA: What criteria will you be looking to judge the Final 5 acts on?
JO'D: I'll be looking for great performers, artists that blow you away live, but also those that have something original and unique about them - it could be their performance, their songs, their arrangements of existing songs. It's that point of difference and potential for greatness that I'll be looking for.

MSA: How long do you usually have to watch or listen to a band to know whether they have real potential?
JO'D: When I worked at record companies as either an A&R guy or as the boss, my time and focus was often stretched across a millions things. So it was hard to spend more than 5 minutes on a demo tape or CD that was in my intray or looking at an artist's Myspace page - if it didn't grab me immediately I often moved on. But if it did grab me then obviously I would spend a lot more time listening to it. When it came to seeing a band live it was often because I heard a demo or word-of-mouth about them that made them sound interesting. And if I went to a gig from a new band it normally meant that I'd see at least 30 minutes of their show and most often more. All of this means that you got to make sure that the music you are exposing on your website, Myspace page or on a demo tape is as strong as it can be and is a great representation of what you think are your strengths as an artist. Always put forward what you think are your best songs.

MSA: What should be the main priorities for emerging artists.
JO'D: The primary area that emerging artists need to focus on is improving their stagecraft and their songs (if they are writing original material). They need to feel comfortable in the business decisions being made around them (by the band itself or its manager) but they need to working hard on honing their skills as artists. That is what's going to get them noticed. There's a famous quote, which I think is attributed to Bob Dylan - someone asked him 'How do you get to play Carnegie Hall' and he "Practice, practice, practice." No great artist ever got to the top easily, they all worked incredibly hard to achieve success.

interviewjod

LEADER BOARD

This year MySchoolAct powered by Motorola gives your act the opportunity to win a chance to play at the Big Day Out 2012 in your nearest major city. Make sure you rally your friends & family to keep the votes coming to lock in your place on the Big Day Out 2012 line up!