The Music Show seminars kick off this morning

The Music Show 2012 seminars and panel discussions got underway at 10.30 this morning, fittingly, with the future of the industry.

Hot Press' Roisin Dwyer led a panel entitled 'So You Want To Write About Music?', specifically tailored to the students in attendance. Dwyer led a discussion with Ronan McGreevy of The Irish Times, Nick Kelly of the Irish Independent, Shilpa Ganatra of The Irish Star and HP's own writer-at-large Olaf Tyaransen. On the agenda was whether a degree in journalism is truly important (Olaf telling all: "I was expelled from school, three days before the Leaving Cert!"), ways into the industry, the art of the interview and how to approach album and live reviews.

McGreevy recommended higher education, as it allows you "time to think" and talked about the importance of multimedia, while Nick Kelly spoke of his beginnings in the business and how he is "indebted to Hot Press."

A question about memorable interviews led Mr. Tyaransen to tell the fascinating tale of how his interview with Courtney Love and her admitting to a fling with Kate Moss made newspapers around the world.

In terms of final tips?

Shilpa feels it's all about "perseverance", Nick assured all that "the doors are open", Olaf recommended sending publications finished pieces and Ronan saw "multi-skilling" as the future.

With the discussion closed, we were soon welcoming the next group of panelists for the 'Opportunities In Music Education' at 11am. Jackie Hayden welcomed speakers from Ballyfermot Rock School, Dun Laoghaire College Of Further Education, BIMM Dublin and Limerick Institute Of Technology to talk about courses you can take to prepare for a career in music. Pete Holidai of the Ballyfermot Rock School talked about his first two students - Mundy and Damien Dempsey - as well as his time in the legendary Radiators From Space, a band that were quite "inventive" with their marketing (Holidai recalling shouting from a stage "We're No. 1 in Holland!" to large cheers, when, in fact, the band hadn't even been released there._

An entertaining and informative start, next up at noon is the launch of The Artists' Charter, which should be a big a big moment this weekend.