Before the Internet and CDs was the New Music Seminar, an industry gathering held every June in New York City in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. Think Winter Music Conference and South by Southwest, without a great beach and Tecate flowing in the streets. NMS was a chance for label types to gather and hobnob, and it also gave a litany of artists from every genre a chance to get noticed. NMS shut down in 1994 after a 15-year run, but one of the Seminar’s co-founders, Tom Silverman of Tommy Boy Records, tells Big Shot he’s going to relaunch the convention at NYU this summer.

Why did NMS end and what prompted you to restart NMS?
Tom Silverman: I left NMS in 92 to focus on Tommy Boy, and the last NMS was in 94. We are at a nexus in the music business where constants have been turned into variables. The way people consume music is changing rapidly and the creators approach their business of creation must reinvent itself. The future of the music business is finally clear, and it will be revealed in detail on July 21st.

How will the new NMS compare to the old one?
The NMS always served as a catalyst for change in the music business, and this will be the main similarity. My long-term goal will be to see the cream of the worlds talent rise freely and rapidly to the top. NYU is hosting us at the fabulous Skirball Center, a state-of-the- art theater off of Washington Square Park. We are working closely with Catherine Moore, Director of the Music Business Graduate Program at NYU Steinhardt School, to make this an enriching experience for everyone.

A lot has changed in the world since the last NMS. Given the state of
the economy and the contraction of the music business, how can the Seminar help/inform aspiring artists?
The interesting thing is that the economy will not effect the development of new artists in this new age. This event will show artists a whole new way to look at their careers, redefine success, and learn about methods and tools that they can start using right now to make their careers take off. Each delegate will be transformed by the end of the day.

What are some of your favorite memories of the first incarnation of NMS?
So many memories. The violent confrontations on the panels were the best theater and thus most memorable. Nona Hendryx calling Madonna slutty. The DJ and MC battle for world supremacy. Bill Graham yelling at a panelist from the floor till it looked like he was going to have a thrombo. Racial call outs on the rap panels. The fights, the drugs, the sex and the rock ‘n’ roll. You had to be there.