Music Matters wants the world to listen in

Organizers of Asia's largest music industry conference are covering all the bases when it comes to getting their audience involved - both internationally and locally.

The fifth edition of Music Matters runs at Hong Kong's Grand Hyatt hotel May 26-28 and the event's official website (http:// http://www.musicmatters.asia/) will provide a Twitter feed to everything that is going on while SingTel - the massive Singapore-based, Asia-wide telecommunications provider - will offer footage of performances and showcases via its AMPed website http://www.singtelamped.com) once the event is all over.

And for those coming to Hong Kong for the event - and for any music lovers in general who are in town next week - a "Music Matters LIVE with H&M'' festival will be held at venues all over the city, gathering together 36 international and local acts.

Joining the likes of Canada's DO, DD/MM/YYYY and Jully Black will be Hong Kong's Shotgun Politics, Malaysia's Pesawat and Australia's Drawn From Bees - and a full lineup of gigs can be found at http:// www.musicmatters.asia/live.

Organizers have also announced that the CEO of music and multimedia firm Apple Corps (not to be mistaken with the computer company), Jeff Jones, will join the event as a guest speaker. Among other projects, Jones has been responsible for extending the Beatles brand into such mediums as a video game ( Beatles: Rock Band) and the new Beatles.com website.

Music Matters bills itself as the only such event in Asia to "encourage positivity, innovation, collaboration and transparency within the music industry.''

More than 300 international music companies have signed on for the forum, with more than 70 speakers covering topics from the Chinese music scene to advances in download technologies.

Multi-Grammy winner Jason Mraz will close the show and will address the seminar on his own experiences in the music industry.

MS