The MOST team took part in a week-long training organised for 20 Management Training program participants from all over the Balkans. Among them were singers, singer-songwriters, organisers and bookers from clubs, professionals working at labels and people starting their own music-related company. Our partner, Password Production hosted the event – they were exceptionally friendly and masters of hospitality. They made sure to welcome us with a traditional Macedonian dinner – which legendarily last for hours and hours, and now we can confirm that they indeed do.

We were happy to take part in expertly organised training sessions by various professionals: Nikola Jovanovic from Virgin Records gave us specific tips for promoting one’s album through PR and digital distribution techniques, and tricks for performing in stressful situations, too.
Christine Semba took on the duty to introduce WOMEX and the world of showcase festivals; in turn, our Hangvető team (Sára Venczel, Klára Nagy, Balázs Weyer, Szilvia Bellay) taught young managers communication strategies, real life project management skills and lastly, how to make an impactful pitch if you are at a loud bar with at least two drinks in you. The most determined participants could even try themselves on the spot after learning the basics.

Balázs Weyer shared his personal approach to buying music for festivals, while Rok Kosir (R.O.K. booking & management) and Chris Eckman from Glitterbeat Records both talked about solving problems with different stakeholders of the music industry and label management. Login Kočiški, founder of Password Production, our host, gave an exceptionally energising presentation: he shared his personal story about how he built up Password and Taksirat Festival and why he decided to join the team of the Serbian Eurovision contender Konstrukta in 2022.

With this newfound confidence for the final exercise, the participants were able to throw themselves into strategic planning tasks: hopefully, they enjoyed it just as much as we did.

We just arrived home to the Budapest headquarter of MOST, but the team already misses Skopje. As far as our experiences go, we can say that the participants became a real community who were able to network and share knowledge effectively. We hope to see more and more of you in the industry! But until then – keep an open eye for the open calls coming soon, and let’s meet at PIN MUSIC Conference & Showcase in November.