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Music Industry Mentoring Edge


2020-06-19

Box Hill Institute and City of Melbourne have teamed up to develop a new mentorship program for start-up music businesses and emerging industry professionals called Music Industry Mentoring Edge (MIME).

MIME is the first of its kind in Australia, a unique and innovative mentoring program designed to support career progression, knowledge and connections for emerging to mid-level career music industry professionals in Melbourne and surrounding areas.

The inaugural MIME program will deliver bespoke support to start-up businesses and industry professionals through a dedicated program of workshops, master-classes and one-on-one extended mentorship. It will be backed by Box Hill Institute’s New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS) funded by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment in an industry-first program, tailored specifically to support music businesses.

Box Hill Institute’s Head of Music, Ben Wiesner said, “This first of its kind program is a fantastic opportunity to support emerging music industry professionals with mentoring and potential financial support while developing their careers “

Confirmed speakers for the program include self-managed and major label artist and songwriter Olympia, Ariel Blum, (Producer & Artist), Merida Sussex (Tremorverse Records, Stolen Recordings, Merlin Network), Wenona Lok (Asia Pop Fest and Imagikai), Peter Luscombe (Musical Director RockWiz and Musician) and Nathan Bird (Artist, Birdz).  All successful business owners in their own right, the speakers represent a wide variety of positions across the music industry and show exemplary standards, work ethics and innovative global outlooks. The speakers look forward to sharing these insights with the NEIS applicants. 

Chair of the City of Melbourne Arts, Culture and Heritage portfolio, Councillor Rohan Leppert, said council was excited to partner with Box Hill Institute to deliver this new unique mentoring program to develop Melbourne’s talented local music industry.

“Melbourne’s diverse music scene is world-renowned,” Cr Leppert said.

 “It’s important that we continue to foster the growth of our local music industry and entrepreneurs. Through the City of Melbourne Music Plan, our investment in MIME will open a new set of opportunities for local music businesses to grow and make their mark on Australia and the world” he said.

Eligible candidates of the MIME program will be offered free, music-specific business training and mentor support for up to 12-months, culminating in the develop a personalised Business Plan that demonstrates the viability of their business concept as part of the NEIS program. The Business Plan can then be used to grant access for eligible participants to NEIS’ New Business Assistance, a Commonwealth funded financial assistance scheme offering support to business start-ups, for up to 39 weeks. This will be delivered through a 5-day workshop series, followed by a 5-week mentoring program through online platform Mentorloop, which will act as a connection platform for MIME participants to enable networking, collaboration and knowledge sharing. The platform will also allow program managers to monitor individual progress and evaluate the overall program’s success.

For more information and apply for MIME here.

Music Industry Mentoring Edge (MIME) Key Dates

Expressions of interests open from 17 June to 2 July 2020

All participants will be required to be available between 8-15 July 2020

Wednesday 8 July: Keynote + Panel + Q&A
Keynote: Olympia (self-managed artist)
Panel: Olympia, Ariel Blum, Merida Sussex, Peter Luscombe, Wenona Lok, Nathan Bird (Birdz)

Workshops
Thursday 9 July: NEIS Program Workshops
Monday 13 July: NEIS Program/developing your business strategy
Tuesday 14 July: NEIS Program/developing your business strategy
Wednesday 15 July: NEIS Program/developing your business strategy
Monday 20 July - Monday 31 August: Mentorloop

City of Melbourne website: www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/music  
Information on the NEIS Program: www.employment.gov.au/who-can-participate-new-business-assistance-neis