Jasper Donat, Co-Founder of Branded and President of Music Matters, on hosting the highly-anticipated Music Matters 2011 from 24-28th May for the first time in Asia, discusses with Radioandmusic.com the progress of Music Matters in 2011 and on bringing the digital entertainment and live entertainment under one roof, with two additional events– Digital Matters and Music Matters Live with HP.

Excerpts:

After five successful years of Music Matters in Hong Kong, Tell us why did you choose Singapore as the hosting country for Music Matters 2011?

Music Matters is the pioneer music industry event in the Asia Pacific region, and a leading forum for key players in the music industry to discuss and conduct the business of music. Singapore's exceptional infrastructure for international events and thriving entertainment scene will give us an opportunity to take Music Matters 2011 to the next level.

What are the new programming elements for Music Matters 2011?

Going from strength to strength, 2011 is a hallmark year with a new look, new location and new expanded programme for Music Matters. Over 1,000 attendees are expected from over 300 companies including 150 speakers, 40 bands, 38 sponsors, 64 media and industry partners to make the week a truly memorable meet up.

Leading online entertainment and music companies will discuss what's next for the digital music industry from the boardroom to the beat on the street  From industry heavyweights to the world's Youngest Professional Guitar Player, Music Matters 2011 will be the place to discuss the business of music in Asia.

Key new Music Matters programmes include:

â€?Opening keynote interview by  president & COO Luke Wood, Beats By Dr. Dre

�Beijing and Indonesia music industry spotlights

�An intimate one-on-one interview with Steve Lillywhite, renowned producer of U2, Jason Mraz, the Rolling Stones and more

�Grammy award winning artist, Imogen Heap, will be the keynote performing artist

�Interview and performance by Indonesian artist, Sandhy Sondoro

How many Indian Companies are a part of Music Matters 2011?

This year 15 Indian Companies will be a participating in Music Matters - ArtistAloud.com, Blue Frog Media Pvt. Limited, Broadcast Music Inc., Future Vision, Hungama, IGNIS Technologies, IndiaVibes, Mastmobile Media Pvt. Ltd, Only Much Louder Entertainment Pvt.Limited, Pink Katalyst Entertainment Pvt.Limited, Sargaswara Audio Lab, Shemaroo Entertainment Pvt. Limited, Spotlight Events & Entertainment Limited, Times Music, Viaccess.

This year Music Matters has added two new events, digital entertainment and Music Matter Live. Tell us about them?

To bring the digital entertainment and live entertainment under one roof, we created the entertainment trio of events – Digital Matters, Music Matters and Music Matters Live with HP.

Digital Matters is Asia's digerati  which will connect and shape the future of TV, online entertainment, social media, advertising, publishing and more.

This year Music Matters will have more performances by artist, interviews, more insight from global leaders, and number of networking opportunities to connect with the digital revolution.

Music Matters Live with HP features over 40 bands from 18 countries performing in 7 venues over 3 nights.

In which area of digital and online content would these new sessions focus on?

Digital Matters 2011 will showcase technology innovation, multi-screen viewing, online content monetization, social media and deeper consumer engagement  Founders, CEOs, global digital leaders and one "TV Anarchist" will share their insight into the online entertainment, publishing and commerce revolution.

Elaborate on your partnership with HP?

HP is the title sponsor of Music Matters Live with HP music festival, and will provide a keynote address at Digital Matters  HP is expanding the Beats Audio, an award-winning technology exclusive to HP that delivers studio-quality sound on a computer. Beats Audio is used by the world's leading artistes like Dr. Dre, Alicia Keys and JJ Lin .

Music Matters Live is the grand finale of the week featuring a dynamic line-up of over 40 international and Singaporean bands.

What initiatives are undertaken by Branded to support local musicians in Singapore?

We are helping local artists and local Indie music scene to grow, by donating US$50,000 worth of passes of Music Matters to Singapore musicians. We are supporting them to meet the industry elite and attend mentoring sessions to gain valuable career advice from successful music executives at the event.

Which Indian band will be performing in Music Matter Live with HP?

Rock band Pentagram from India will be performing among the 40 bands and artists across 18 countries at Music Matters Live with HP (Fronted by Vishal Dadlani,  guitarist Randolph Correia, drummer Shiraz Bhattacharya and bassist Papal Mane are the members of the band).

Music Matters has been raising funds for relief efforts in the past few years. How is Music Matter supporting the initiative this year?

Following the recent earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan, Music Matters 2011 is taking action to support Japanese people to rebuild their lives  Whilst in town, our festival artists will be challenged to re-record Coldplay's "Fix You" in only 36 hours before being released worldwide in aid of a number of Japanese charities as the grand finale to the event  The track will be unveiled at the conference finale, and will be released globally in aid of a number of charities.