The 2017 Golden Melody Award & International Music Festival (GMA&F) organized by the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development (BAMID), Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be held on Wednesday 21st June, 2017 for a total of three days. The GMA International Forum invites industry professionals around the world to discuss global trends in the music industry on an annual basis. The 10 panels of the forum include topics ranging from exploring the artist & repertoire of pop music, crossover application for music intellectual property (IP), talent cultivation, and the Southeast Asian music industry market, to the blockchian of music industry, potentials for indie music in Asia, global development trend for electronic music, and innovative services in the industry. Through this series of talks, the bureau hopes to enkindle the innovative and developmental drive of the Taiwan music industry. According to BAMID, the Taiwan music industry is facing a structural change in recent years, gradually transforming from CD-based sales to one dominated by digital platform and associated services. Such change has forced businesses to take on more diverse challenges. Taking into account the influence exerted by both technological development and the diversification of media channels, this year's forum will focus on exploring future direction, and the developmental trends in different aspects of the music industry. The opening panel entitled "The Past and Future of Artist and Repertoire" will explore how music planners face the ever-increasing complexity of their challenges and difficulties. The panel will be moderated by Roger Lee, founder of Forum Works Consulting Group. Speakers include Planning Director Derek Shih of HIM International Music Inc., producer for famous singers such as Yoga Lin and Hebe Tien, Vice President John Pantle of Agency for the Performing Arts (APA), who produced for Hatsune Miku and the pop electronic band Perfume, and Chairman & Director Yokichi Osato of Amuse, Inc. Osato, who was the manager of the Hong Kong rock band Beyond, stated that "The rapid development of internet and social media platform has made trans-regional interactions a lot easier, however the intimacy between the music and the audience is lost. I sincerely wish that through the dialogue between global music professionals enabled by the GMA International Forum, the music industry market can grow into a more vibrant and intimate one." The "Case Studies in Songwriting Camps Worldwide" panel , aimed at assisting the industry connecting with the global market while strengthening its root in the local market, will be moderated by Chen Chien-Chi, the music producer who won all three golden awards (the Golden Horse, Golden Bell, and Golden Melody awards). Panel speakers will include two-time winner of GMA's Best Single Producer - Music Director Wang Chi-ping of HIM Music, Co-founder of DWB Music Greig Watts, who set up a dedicated creative music camp for the Eurovision Song Contest, and Owner of SXSW Songs Mark Gartenberg. The speakers are encouraged to share their experience and views on talent cultivation in the music industry. Due to the rapid advances in the field of visualization technology, and its gradual application into multiple aspects of the music industry, cross-industrial cooperation seem to be the trend of the future. The panel entitled "Upgrading Your Music with Visual Arts" invite speakers to share successful case stories and their takes on future developments of the field. The speakers will include Billboard magazine's Asia Bureau Chief Rob Schwartz, Chief Technology Officer Mikio Inari of the RecoChoku company, who produced the Kyary Pamyu Pamyu 5-year anniversary concert alongside the virtual reality firm Vantage.tv, Creative Director Jesse Lee Stout of the Moment Factory, and Director Leo Liao, who brought home four Telly Awards with his music video Dust My Shoulders Off. hrough this cross-national and cross-industry sharing of experience facilitated by this year's GMA&F International Forum, the 10 issues raised could hope to provide the music industry with more innovative ideas for future development. For more information on the GMA&F, please visit the official website.