Waves Vienna Conference 2012: Music in Poland

As part of the Waves Vienna Festival & Conference, three consecutive panels were held on the music business in Poland. Experts from the fields of new media, marketing and the music scene not only discussed about possible ways to open the market for the “West”, but also about its status quo.

The socialist past was a recurrent theme during the talks. Due to the censorship, a strong underground scene evolved and is especially evident with the example of music piracy. In the early 1990s, with the fall of the Iron Curtain as a new start for the former Eastern countries, the market boomed with self-taped cassettes.

It ensured that the Poles did not only know how to make censored music accessible for each other, but also even today know how to escape paying fees with illegal means of file sharing. According to Paula Bialski (Musician Paula i Karol/CN PL), this may be on the one hand due to the common practice of free concerts in the 1990s and on the other hand, music files, mainly legal downloads, having no significance for music listeners. In short, why pay for something that has no physical “body”?

But not only the black market developed. Jarek Szubrycht (T-Mobile Music/PL) especially emphasized the variety of musical genres and the significantly associated segmentation of the market. A variety of genres in a country with nearly 40 million inhabitants is not unusual, but according to Malgorzata Halber (Journalist/PL), Polish music fans are distinguished through their “special interests” and the loyalty to a certain genre. Rock, Metal, Hip Hop and a form of “Schlager”, called “Disco Polo”, are especially popular, but do not count as the Polish mainstream. These extreme contrasts define the musical taste in a country that can only call about five mainstream musicians their “own”.

In order to understand this genre diversity, you have to take the Polish independent labels into consideration. These are created by the coalition of similar sounding bands that perform in certain clubs. This is how Michal Hajduk (Adam Mickiewicz Institut/PL) explains the fact that many bands of different categories know nothing about each other, and in this sense do not have respective networks.

On top of that, there is seldom the chance that new music gets to the recipient, because when it comes to the indie genre neither radio stations nor magazines  are bestowed with longevity. More and more bookers and labels have experienced that their proteges are competing in Polish talent shows, not only to win, but to present themselves in prime time television and to collect a few “likes”.

Even if the upper observations may be referred to as rather pessimistic, the Polish market has developed its own way to keep everything running. Nick Hobbs (Charmenko/UK) makes an interesting breakdown of funding possibilities. Besides the classic commercial promotion through sponsorship, there is strong support from various communities who have discovered the potential of cultural activities. There is also a hybrid version, which not only includes a mixture of different cultural activities such as music, dance and film, but also a mixture of sponsorship and community funds.

To open the market successfully, work has to be done on the distribution and promotion for musicians. Especially the naturalness of paying for culture has to be anchored into the recipient. That can be a difficult task because of the long tradition of the black market and also turning away from old habits is always a tricky thing. However, in the course of the discussion and at the end of an intense afternoon, it was clear to all the experts that the Polish music market not only has potential, but is already on the right track.

Panel 1 – Music of Poland
Speakers: Michal Hajduk (Adam-Mickiewicz-Institut/PL), Malgorzata Halber (Journalist/PL) and Jarek Szubrycht (T-Mobile Music/PL). Host: Martin Riedl

Panel 2  – The Polish Music Market
Speakers: Krzysztof Bialkowski (Expert on music marketing in the independent field/PL), Paula Bialski (Musician/CN/PL), Michal Brzozowski (1500m²/Roxy FM/PL) and Arek Marczynski (Antena Kryzku/PL). Host: Martin Riedl

Panel 3 – How to Enter the Polish Market?
Nick Hobbs (Charmenko/UK), Magdalena Jensen (European Music Fair/PL/US), Elke Kuhlen (2Bild/D), Mat Schulz (Unsound/PL) and Ian Smith (Frusion/UK/AT)