The Christchurch Music Society

The Christchurch Music Society trust was formed in 1996 to bring together different cultures for combined entertainment and education on youth issues. The main purpose of our organisation is to encourage youth involvement in contemporary, original music and cultural events in Christchurch.

We aim to bring together different cultures for combined entertainment and education on youth issues that are held in safe, alcohol/drug-free environments. To keep ideas fresh and to stay up with the trends of the different sectors catered for, we are continually reviewing our approach to youth events in Canterbury. We have seen a general move away from the traditional "band gig" which was appropriate when we started.

The Christchurch Music Society is primarily involved with arts projects with strong cultural focus which are used as a medium to facilitate youth development. Music is the perfect medium to attract young people together and share in the celebration of being young.

We aim to involve young people in the organisational structure of Massive (the trading name of CMS), assisting in event set up, from original concepts through to running the events. In a few cases they have organised events solely, with support from the committee. The process of being involved in an event with a positive vibe aimed at their peers is very rewarding. Our objective is to support young people in skill development and creative pursuits. They are the best people to run events for their age group.

Winter Soulstice, Summer Soulstice and two Equinox dance events are subsidised by the society to widen our audience and make it affordable. They are planned to break even, so if profits are made, they are used to off-set the free events. These events attract a wide audience age group, and parents have seen that they are well run and feel confident in letting their teenagers attend.

We are always looking at self sufficiency, however an ongoing problem is finding corporate partners that are interested in the youth market. Generally there is a reluctance to spend marketing budgets away from traditional mediums, especially television, as it is easier to spend money on advertising that portray images of events the type of which we organise, than to actually support youth initiatives. For free events to continue, there will always need to be some subsidy from organisations like Lottery Youth (great supporters of the CMS).

The Christchurch Music Society will continue to challenge the status quo to promote youth culture...

MUSIC IS THE CATALYST