Clare Bowditch's fount of knowledge

CLARE Bowditch is about to pass on to those in need her experiences and expertise as a musician.

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TODAY I'd like everyone to raise their goblets of rock to the enterprising Clare Bowditch, who isn't content with being a singer, songwriter, actress and commentator on the nation's ills across a variety of platforms including ABC1's Q&A. Bowditch, ladies and gentlemen, is The Man.

The Melbourne performer has been out there on the front line liberating people with her music for the past 14 years. She has suffered for her art -- and now it's your turn, possibly.

Bowditch tells SD she is about to pass on to those in need her experiences and expertise as a musician. The Clare Bowditch School of Rock, to give it the title I just made up, is to be launched later this year as an online reference for up-and-coming musos; a map, if you will, that directs the aspirant pop star past all the potholes, traffic snarl-ups and military parades that can cause fear, anxiety and frustration on the road to success.

The Melbourne singer says she is eager to pass on her great knowledge, amassed from her years of observation and absorption in the tour bus, on stage, in the recording studio and in her lawyer's office. The online mentoring follows on from a music business course Bowditch conducted recently at a local community centre. "I did see this massive need for artists who don't yet know the skills to have a lifelong career in music," she says.

"So there's all this practical stuff that nobody talks about . . . how to write a press release that somebody might want to read." She adds that it's important for the modern-day troubadour to be aware of how the industry is evolving through the miracle of social networking and digital technology.

In the end, however, it's still about how good the songs are and how you put your music across. As the great Dewey Finn once said: "It's gonna be a really tough project; you're gonna have to use your head, your brain and your mind too."

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SPEAKING of Bowditch, who in recent weeks has worn another hat as a champion of music streaming, I'd like to thank all those who emailed in reference to the article on that topic in the Inquirer section of last weekend's paper. It brought a hail of comments, most of them positive and all of them informative.

The range of opinions expressed on this thorny topic underlined just how complex it is, particularly when it comes to the subject of how much artists deserve in royalties for allowing their music to be part of Spotify, Rdio, MOG and the many subscription services that are available in Australia. It's an ever-evolving story that I will come back to. In the meantime I'm off to compile my playlist of Scottish pop classics of the late 1980s.

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CONGRATULATIONS to John Butler, who this week was named the 39th most powerful person in the Australian music industry, one of three artists to feature in the top 50 compiled by the Australian Music Industry Directory. The other performers who made the list were Sia (20) and Hilltop Hoods (44).

Top spot went to veteran rock promoter and record company executive Michael Gudinski, whose son Matt, a rock promoter and record company executive, made No 32. Second were Splendour in the Grass promoters Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco, with promoter Michael Chugg in third.

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FINALLY, some words of comfort this weekend for my off-the-chain soul brother, my wizzle in the middle, my bro in the corridors of power, Craig Emerson. Dude, it could have been worse. I'm just not sure how.