Check out the full events guide, sign up for the CMST Newsletter to find out how to get involved and/or join us on Facebook.

From August 1 you will also be able to sign up for a CMST membership directly through this site. A membership grants you access to our 1-on-1 Mentor services, our CMST Sessions and soon to come a special package discount for touring artists and their baggage excess.

While the festival program will be a lot leaner than of years past, it will be more targeted and more of a celebration of Tassie music than ever before. Amplified will be held from August 17 to 21.

We are looking forward to championing Amplified and creating opportunities for our local music community to gain valuable exposure and to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of Tasmanian artists and art workers.

The passing of the Amplified baton from Arts Tasmania to CMST is a significant moment and acknowledges the committed work of our Board and Program Officer over the past 16 months to construct solid foundations for the organisation. We have taken a thorough approach to planning and coordinating our current core programs to ensure we can be in an effective position to deliver high quality services to the Tasmanian music community.

The addition of Amplified to our roster of programs is another step to securing the long term future of CMST and establishing an organised supportive infrastructure and voice for Tasmanian music.

We would like to congratulate the showcase grant recipients who will be organising an array of events to be held during Amplified.

Keep in touch by signing up to our email newsletter or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. We’ll be announcing more details regarding the Amplified program over the coming weeks.

See you during Amplified!

It has been an incredibly busy few months for CMST. We have been kicking some great goals of late, and some exciting news, which we will be able to share very shortly!

In the meantime, here a little recap on some of the things going on at CMST:

Our 1-on-1 advice and referral service where artists, bands and music workers can meet with our Program Officer Dane to discuss their projects, ideas or simply source information, has been a great success with regular interactions occurring each week. Please feel free to drop a line to Dane at programofficer@cmst.com.au.

Our monthly CMST Sessions, which focus on various topics of conversation with the occasional industry guest speaker, have received regular turn outs – our biggest thrill to date was in April when we hosted internationally acclaimed stalwart Ritchie Yorke – official biographer to Led Zeppelin, editor for Rolling Stone Magazine and so many stories to tell. It was a great night!

It is exciting and inspiring to see Tassie musicians seeking to educate themselves on the music industry and empower themselves to take hold of what they do with their music and where they strive to take it.

Our next big task is the launch of our touring network later this year, which will encourage and assist artists to perform all around our state. It is exciting times for CMST and Tasmanian music!

Dario Phillips
President

CMST offers free 1-on-1 sessions for Tasmanian bands to sit down, have a coffee and talk about where you’re at and where you’d like to go. Email programofficer@cmst.com.au to book a place with this service.

As of April 7 we will be rolling out the CMST services for 2010 including the fortnightly CMST Sessions beginning Tuesday April 13 in the Irish Murphy’s Function Room, Hobart at 6pm. Entry is free and everyone is invited.

CMST in conjunction with APRA is also hosting free music industry legal sessions 1-on-1 with Principal Lawyer from Media Arts Lawyers David Vodicka on Friday April 16. To book in for a spot email programofficer@cmst.com.au.

Also on Friday April 16, Con Kalamaris, Vic/Tas APRA representative, is offering free 1-on-1 advice sessions about royalties and copyright. To book email victas@apra.com.au.

It was a resounding success with the following feedback from the event coordinator:

Your recommendations for entertainment were excellent.

Amy [Kendall] … was very professional and delivered a beautiful performance. Enola Fall were exactly what was needed to get the room back on focus and propel us into the last section of the evening. I have had only excellent feedback on both performance pieces.

Please pass on our sincere thanks to all involved. The entire event was a resounding success.

Andrew Cameron-Smith, Wonderment Events