A lesson in music with Dean Ormston

Growing up with a love of music, Dean Ormston knew he wanted to work in the industry. Completing a Bachelor of Education in Secondary Music combined his passion and love of working with children. The degree, split between CCAE and the Canberra School of Music, gave him the opportunity to study with influential lecturers including renowned Australian musicians and composers Larry Sitsky, Gery Scott and the brilliant late Geoffrey Tozer.

"I always loved music, but never really saw myself as a musician. I studied piano privately, but didn't study music formally at high school. Even so, the music teacher encouraged me to consider a career in music education and I was fortunately successful in my audition."

After graduation Dean took a position as a high school music teacher for 4 years at Ginninderra High School.

“It was a brilliant school, with one of the largest elective band programs in the country, over 200 students in concert and jazz bands, rehearsing and performing largely out of school hours.”

Following a stint teaching in London, Dean headed back to Australia to study marketing at university. He started a role as the Licensing Representative for APRA AMCOS, the job only supposed to last while he sorted out his future plans. Fast forward 21 years and 5 different positions, Dean is now the Head of Member Services Group. The role umbrellas around 130 people in teams that look after a variety of areas in the company, including managing its members (all 90,000 of them), the distribution of royalties, the communications and events teams, music exports, domestic live music and government relations.

Our work in advocating the rights of songwriters and composers means we interact with all levels of government and external stakeholders as diverse as the hospitality sector and digital music service providers – there’s never a dull moment!

While the music industry has changed significantly over the last 20 years with a dramatic shift away from physical record sales, Dean believes that music streaming has had a huge impact on the sector. In the financial year of 2015/16, APRA AMCOS royalties’ collections from streaming services were up 140% on year, with the growth expected to continue as more users access streaming services.

“The music industry is never static. It is a fast-paced industry that lead the digitisation of content, and seen the hard side of monetisation of that content. It’s incredibly rewarding to work for and represent songwriters and creators and it is an ongoing and worthy challenge convincing consumers that creators have rights.”

An advocator for fair laws that protect copyright owners, Dean says that it is crucial for the government to understand the economic, social and cultural values of the contemporary music industry.

“Over the past few years I’ve been very interested in the economic contribution of copyright and, more specifically the live music sector, to the wider Australian economy. It has become clear that while it’s important to advocate the cultural value of music, persuading politicians to act is often easier when armed with economic stats.”

To Dean the best thing about working for APRA AMCOS is ‘that it is a well-known and well-regarded organisation’. With the company turning 90 last year, it is a pool for creative-thinking and has allowed the implementation of a range of programs that support music creators.

Currently APRA AMCOS supports the music industry through their involvement with Sound Australia and Live Music Office, working hard to build awareness. They also run a number of programs to promote its members and the broader music industry, including the SongMakers Program aimed at school children.

This program give the next generation of hit makers a head start, we put Australia’s best songwriters and producers into classrooms to mentor high school students.

They also run events and panels throughout the year that provide professional development and assistance with the business of being a musician.