Production Music Conference Set for Fall Canceled Due to Coronavirus

By Jazz Tangcay

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The Production Music Conference set for fall has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Production Music Association announced Thursday. The annual confab for the global production music community was set to take place Oct. 5 but will now wait it out till fall 2021.

The show will go on for the conferences’s Mark Awards, however, which will become online-only this year. Music supervisor John Houlihan will emcee the virtual event in what is being characterized as a new and innovative format, in lieu of a live event.

As a result of how the pandemic continues to create economic challenges for musicians, composers and songwriters, the PMA said that a percentage of submission fees for the Mark Awards, which will open for entry in May, will be donated to COVID-19 relief.

The association also launched the new PMA Academy, a new webinar series focusing on topics of interest to the production music community. The online sessions will be held regularly beginning April 28.

“We will continue to bring together the production music community in whatever forms are possible during these challenging times,” PMA executive director Morgan McKnight said in a statement. “Although we are of course saddened to make this decision, it is our responsibility to do what we can to limit the spread of the virus and protect the health and safety of our members. The PMA believes these changes and initiatives will help keep our industry, and those who are a part of it, healthy and connected.”

The PMA Academy’s first webinar, titled “Surviving the Pandemic: Resources Available to the Production Music Community,” will discuss the CARES Act, MusiCares, Sweet Relief and other resources available to production music composers and publishers during this time. Panelists include Jacqueline Charlesworth (partner at Alter, Kendrick & Baron), Michelle Lewis of SONA and Allie Shaw (board member of Sweet Relief), with Abby North of North Music Group as moderator.