In the first of a series of NZ Music Month Q&As with the people behind the music magic, we hear from Richard Setford, music manager for both Digital Rights Management NZ and Amplifier.co.nz.

Richard talks about his role, digital distribution and the challenges and opportunities in the music industry. "Change is certainly in the air."

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What do you do - paint a picture of your typical day.

I generally split the day in two.  Morning is Amplifier time.  I clear the inbox and answer customer mail, mostly to do with sales on the site or shipping.  I load up any new music and create pages for artists if needed.  If they have uploaded their own material I check the audio quality and make it live on the site.  Then I like to stretch and get a cup of tea after which the DRM (Digital Rights Management NZ) afternoon begins.  That basically entails sending artist’s music to iTunes worldwide and other stores around NZ and Australia.  I prepare the data and audio files that get sent to the stores.

Why is your work an important part of the music industry?

Amplifier is simply a great place for a band to have a profile on the net, where they can sell their music or offer it for free.  If you’re just starting out and are at a loose end we can act as a jumping off point – of course we also extend out to encompass big selling bands.  But I’ve always thought the best thing about the site, apart from being 100% kiwi, is our impartiality.  If you have absolutely zero profile in NZ and you send us a track, you’ll get it featured on the homepage and be mentioned in one of our weekly newsletters.  DRM is one of the few NZ independent digital aggregators working to get artist’s music out there.  Changes to the New Zealand Top 40 have seen digital sales finally included in both the album and singles charts, so with the decline of physical retail, it’s essential that an artist can get their stuff on to iTunes and other online retailers, if you’re not supported by a major, it becomes tricky – we exist to bridge the gap.

How and when did you get into it?

I started at Amplifier part time, around 2004, doing some basic cataloguing stuff.  My in was then band manager Stephen O’Hoy, who had been there for 6 months or so.  Part time only became full time a year ago.  DRMNZ was born around 2007, they blindfolded me and spun my office chair around.  When I stopped spinning I was working two jobs.

How has your role evolved since then?

Shipping the orders was a huge part of my day but now we out source all that to the good folk at Rhythmethod.  A lot of people don’t realise there are only two people working out of the office (Amplifier Dungeons).  We have an editor and some off site helpers who more or less run the news, mail outs and social networking side, but basically it’s Stephen and myself running the shop.  These days I mainly deal directly with artists who want their music on the store plus I do a little general maintenance.   DRM is a bout 80% of my work.

What advice would you give to others pursuing it as a career?

If you’re a musician like me you need to be able to dictate your hours.  I think it’s important to keep the industry at arms length and not get roped into any political stuff.  Scraps and grudges can last forever in such a small country.  Be nice kids.  Lastly I try to maintain the illusion that this is NOT my job – that seems to help.

What does a band/artist need to have sorted before approaching you?

Some recorded material.  Artwork.  An image and a bio.  We welcome walk ups, but feel free to email if you’re the shy type.

What are the rewards and challenges of your job?

In no particular order.  Meeting and talking with artists and hearing something new that people haven’t cottoned on to yet.  Making life that bit easier for creative types who can’t handle the details.  Trying to fit in with artist’s release schedules.  Running out of bandwidth.  Free drinks.

What are the current challenges and opportunities in the industry - NZ and international?

Change is certainly in the air.   The ‘old model’ music industry seems to be shrinking while the actual amount of music and creativity is stronger than ever.  There’s re-structuring happening and an awful lot of people are looking for work at the moment.  You can see a fierce focus on being independent.  It’s exciting that an unknown artist can now compete with a major label act – and that means matching them for sales as well as attention.   But the internet is jammed so finding a space for yourself and standing out is still one of the hardest things to do.  If you’re committed and true to yourself you never know, you just might become a youtube sensation, whipping homophobic America into a forum frenzy.  Just look at Disasteradio.

What’s your favourite project so far in your career?

Every year Amplifier becomes the backend for the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards judging process.  We upload all the nominees to a private area of the site where the judges can listen and choose their potential Tui winners.  One year I had to go over to the Red Bull Studios to upload it all and spent 2 days listening to Coco Solid and Robin Hannibal record their Parallel Dance Ensemble album – bonus!

Who do you work closely with?

I share the office with Amplifier and DRM business manager Stephen “with a P.H.” O’Hoy.  We’re at each others throats all day, hogging the stereo, hiding pens and scissors.  Oh the fun we have.

Do you play music, or what are your musical influences?

I am involved in three bands at the moment: Bannerman, Batucada Sound Machine and The Brood.

What’s the future of music? What’s the future of your role?

No one can know the future silly.

What’s your big idea for 2011?

Form a band that doesn’t start with the letter ‘B’.

Amplifier
 
Amplifier.co.nz is wholly New Zealand owned and operated and came online in 1999.  Not some large organisation but a collection of people who are supporters of New Zealand music and a meeting place for music fans and musicians. They operate with New Zealand artists in a spirit of partnership and our aim is to help spread New Zealand music around the world.  Amplifier retails downloads in MP3 format as well as selling CDs, vinyl, books, tickets and artist merchandise.  The site ads more than 1000 new subscribers a month to the weekly Amplifier newsletters and currently has more than 26,000 subscribers.  They currently carry a sales catalogue that includes content from over 2000 kiwi artists. 
 
DRMNZ
 
Digital Rights Management NZ Ltd is a new branch of one of Amplifier.co.nz.  Drawing on nearly a decade of experience DRMNZ has opened up a world of digital opportunity to independent New Zealand record labels and artists.  They offer a digital aggregation service that places independent New Zealand music on several of the world’s largest digital download retail stores.  Currently they have exclusive relationships with Vodafone NZ for VMusic and MusicStation, digirama, Telecom NZ and non exclusive relationships with iTunes worldwide and of course Amplifier.co.nz.  Also through their exclusive partnership with Vidzone UK they now can get NZ music out to mobile network stores worldwide.  They've celebrated NZ #1 singles with Tiki Taane and P-Money as well as top 40 placements for Patea Maori Club, The Exiles, Opshop and Fat Freddy’s Drop.   All of these chart placements were achieved purely through digital sales with Tiki’s Always on My Mind and Opshop’s One Day gaining Platinum certification and P-Money’s Everything going gold.  Dozens of albums distributed digitally by DRM NZ have also hit the NZ top 40 including releases by Shapeshifter, Rhombus, Ladi6, The Black Seeds and Pacific Heights amongst others.  Continuing their dedication to New Zealand’s rich musical history they also distribute catalogue from the likes of Billy T. James, Jonny Devlin, Midge Marsden, The Yandall Sisters, Prince Tui Teka, Darcy Clay, HLAH.