Wow, what an incredible week at CMW!  Paul Williams interviewing Nile Rodgers?  Check!  Ross Porter interviewing Quincy Jones? Check!  Jian Ghomeshi interviewing DeadMau5? CHECK!  Gary Vaynerchuk educating media folks about social media and pulling NO punches? Yup.  David Shing, The Digital Prophet?  He was there and he had some hard statistics to back up his views. And RTDS was there to cover as much as we could!

In The Fireside Chat, renowned musician, composer, arranger, and guitarist, Nile Rodgers, considered one of the most influential music producers in the history of popular music, sat down with legendary songwriter and performer Paul Williams. A hitmaker in every sense of the word, his career spans multiple decades shaping the style and works of some of the industry’s greats – from Madonna to Diana Ross, and David Bowie to Daft Punk. In a Q&A session – and accompanied by The Hitmaker (his trusty Fender Stratocaster) – the music legend discussed his illustrious calling and how “Get Lucky” has become the most significant song of his career. The effervescent and effusive Nile Rodgers dished on his incredible career with CHIC, the start of his music career, the trials and tribulations of working with others, and his incredible relationship with Bernard Edwards.

In a sit down, career retrospective, 27 time Grammy winner Quincy Jones, know as “Q” to all in the industry, chatted with Ross Porter at length about his stellar career, and producing the new LP from Nikki Yanofsky. He talked about having Steven Speilberg direct Q’s first movie; meeting Igor Stravinsky; working with Michael Jackson; Marlon Brando teaching Q’s child to act; and how Tupac almost became his son in law.  And Q took questions from the audience too!  An incredible chat that you just had to be there to experience, but I’m sure if you head over to YouTube you can find parts of the interview online.  Ok, we made it easy for you, check below for the YouTube interview, but next year you gotta promise to be there yourself and not wait for the vid, ‘k?!

The Radio Interactive Summit was an eye opener for radio and artists alike.  Everyone knows that AM/FM listening has been slowly declining, which means that artists have lost a good channel for exposure, as more and more listeners are connecting their smartphones to their cars, either through cables or BlueTooth.  But there is good news – 83% of people that drive STILL listen to AM/FM in the car, and the longer they drive the more likely they are to listen, and the number one reason they still listen is for the MUSIC.  So radio and DJs need to find creative ways to keep listeners tuned in during breaks from the music.  Finally, by 2020 likely all cars will offer connectivity to smart devices, so many more choices will be available at listeners fingertips.

David Shing talked about how much digital overload there is on a daily basis. On average, people receive 1900 media messages come in, as text, email, phone, social media, advertising, etc. Many important messages from friends and family are missed, but where does that leave radio and artists trying to get more attention?

Artists and radio need to get more people to advocate for your brand, get them to be fans and spread the work organically.  Ask fans and listeners to send selfie videos and pics, offer content that is contagious, stuff that people care about.

Gary Vaynerchuk talked about the various social media platforms, how they varied, how they were similar and that not all people need to be on all platforms.  His no holds barred opinions and choice use of f-bombs was refreshing and disarming at the same time.  I’m sure a lot of the attendees were taken aback by this approach, but he certainly knows what he’s talking about, and has stayed current with all platforms and how they can help artists and brands.

And, Deadmau5 was in the hau5 talking about his incredible career so far, #EDM, taking control of his career including subscription based services, DRM and more.  Artists need to check out the vid below…

Looking forward to CMW 2015!  For more info about CMW, head over to CMW.net