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Brave New World North by Northwest '99: The Conference BY ZACH DUNDAS zdundas@wweek.com They say rust never sleeps, and it's true enough. In these digital times, though, when we worry at least as much about the flood tide of information coursing through our world's invisible electric veins as we do about the corrosion slowly eating the Buick, it seems we need some new metaphor to express the thermodynamic facts of life. Binary code never sleeps? Hmm. Your iMac is watching you? Creepy. Killer apps do it 24 hours a day? Whatever. While we civilians muck around playing Pokemon and ogling Ricky Martin, the genius-moles of the New Economy are hard at work ensuring that the world we wake up in tomorrow won't be the same one we shut our eyes to tonight. In the last year or so, the e-tide hit the shores of popular music. Half a decade after books, newspapers and magazines faced up to a dot-commed future, the wildfire spread of the World Wide Web and a music file format called MP3 has left the music industry mired in a bog of questions. In an era when artists can market themselves electronically, where do the monster labels created by megacorporate mergers fit in? How will musicians get paid when any under-employed dorm rat can rip a song from a CD and send it around the digital world? What happens to record stores? What happens to CDs themselves? Most importantly, why is there a www.limpbizkit.com but no www.engelberthumperdinck.com? No group of people could answer all these riddles in a weekend--particularly when everyone's staying up until 2 am exploring the rock 'n' roll lifestyle--but North by Northwest's new emphasis on the emerging technologies remapping the music industry promises some headway. North by Northwest registrants--who've forked over $195 for the privilege--will crowd the Embassy Suites Hotel by day, digging speeches, meetings and panel discussions featuring some of the wired revolutionaries at the vanguard of music's new wave. High-powered types like Nicholas Butterworth, who just scored the sweet duty of leading MTV into the digital age as head of MTV-Interactive, are on deck. So are some of the scribes--a certain Portland music editor jumps to mind--struggling to keep up with the news. Some of the folks whose livelihoods hang in the balance, such as Portland record store owner Terry Currier and indie label impresario Christopher Cooper of Cavity Search Records, will be heard from as well. Meanwhile, a bazaar-style trade show (freebies, yo!) takes over a big cut of the Embassy's real estate to make sure some product moves and flesh gets pressed. Of course, by this time next year, Y2K could have us all growing potatoes in the front yard and listening to 78s, but for now the new day is dawning. The 1999 NXNW Conference sheds light on a world in which a mouse can roar. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published September 22, 1999

THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY (Life is complicated: everything is subject to change.) THURSDAY SEPT. 30 NOON Opening Remarks 1-2:15 PM Featured Speaker: Nicholas Butterworth, President, MTVi The online music industry, as seen by one of its most respected pioneers. Compression & Digital Delivery: An Introduction to New Media Technology An overview of the methods for sending and receiving music over the Internet. Publicity On and Offline How publicists are doing their jobs with and without the help of new media. 2:30-3:45 PM The Couch Tour: Are You Spinning Your Wheels? How musicians are bucking the economic hurdles to make no-budget touring pay off. Are Indie Labels Better Suited for the Future? Is the indie label a working model for success in the changing label landscape? 4:15-5:30 PM Demo Listening Session #1 Registrants get their music heard and critiqued by a panel of professionals. Digital Darwinism: The New Media Format Wars (co-presented by Webnoize) Battle lines are drawn. Will a standard emerge among competing music-delivery formats? FRIDAY OCT. 1 11AM-12:15 PM Lost In Space?: Leading Others To Your Music on the Internet Putting your music on the Web is no guarantee that anyone else will find it. Compress This: Your Legal Rights on the Net You remember copyrights, don't you? 12:45-2 PM Selling Yourself Cheap: How Do Artists Stand On Digital Distribution? Artists discuss the pros and cons of giving away songs on the Web. Web Site Demo Session Your band or music industry Web site is critiqued by a panel of experts. Webcasting Do's & Don'ts Learn how to handle this tricky technology in a successful manner. 2:30-3:45 PM Managing Mayhem: Tales From the Front Every manager tells a story; hear how they weather the storms. Who Signs the Checks: Can Commerce-Based Sites Provide Objective Coverage? With so many music-news organizations in the hands of owners who sell or distribute music, is it possible to offer unbiased coverage? Show Me the Money: Finding Income on the Internet At the end of the day, is there something to show for all this Internet activity? 4:15-5:30 PM Piracy or Promotion: How Does MP3 Affect Record Sales? All the fuss about MP3 really comes down to one question: Is it selling music? Demo Listening Session #2 Registrants get their music heard and critiqued by a panel of professionals. SATURDAY OCT. 2 11AM-12:15 PM What Are a New Artist's Retail Options? What choices does a new act have for selling its music in today's changing retail climate? New Toys: Beyond the Web You may think you've seen everything, but you haven't. Here's what's next. 12:45-2 PM A&R in the New Label Landscape A&R executives discuss whether rampant mergers and consolidations have altered the way artists interact with labels. 2:30-3:45 PM A Conversation with Michael Robertson The mp3.com CEO talks about the future of the music industry.