It was easy, it was cheap, go and do it!
I came across a great blog called Little Hits last night. Each week or so they post up a favourite track from often long forgotten records, the majority being from the punk and post punk era. As the site’s owners are based in the US it’s quite amazing how many obscure British punk and indie...
About Us: / Brands in Music: / DIY Music: / The kind of stuff citizensound does: / Unsigned Artists: / Venice Festival of Media:
Venice Festival of Media 2008: What inspired the DIY: Do or Die panel?
When I stood up to start the panel at Venice, I was looking for a way to immediately frame the topic so that the audience understood what they were about to sit through. So I mentioned a journey I took on the 137 bus in south London one day… There were five kids on the...
About Us: / Brands in Music: / DIY Music: / Music Marketing: / The kind of stuff citizensound does: / Venice Festival of Media:
Venice Festival of Media 2008 – DIY: Do or Die
Well, our panel at the venice Festival of Media 2008 went really well. The topic was a great one (if we say so ourselves), but what made the session were the great panellists and the audience. There is nothing worse for me than a panel that answers with Yes, No or Maybe. We all want...
DIY Music: / The kind of stuff citizensound does: / Uncategorized / Unsigned Artists: / Venice Festival of Media:
It’s official the DIY revoltion is here!
One minute we are on the stage at the Venice festival of media discussing the impact of a DIY revolution on the music business, and a few days later the Sunday Times Style magazine is running an article about the very same topic! And as if by serendipity, the article is about Manchester band the...
Brands in Music: / Brave Brands: / DIY Music: / The kind of stuff citizensound does: / Venice Festival of Media:
Venice Festival Of Media : Brands Do… Or Die!
The rise of DIY culture is not restricted to the music industry. Brands know that they have to earn their place in the consumer’s life. Improved insight on how to gain and build trust is ever more important. A full page advert that states how wonderful the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility policy is, will not...
Venice Festival Of Media : DIY and the music industry
The Music Industry is going through a time of repositioning, where record labels, concert promotors, music distributors, digital retailers and artist managers are vying for the position as the one-stop shop for their clients – the artists. CD sales are falling fast while people are paying inflated prices to see their favourite band live. Artists...
The One to Watch for 2008: Tawiah
I saw Tawiah at the Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards last week at Cargo in London. She completely blew me away. She has everything. A great band, well crafted songs, an amazing presence on stage, confidence unlimited (for a second performance no less!) and a voice that drifts from Carmun Lundy to reggae, back to Jill...
Who is to blame when it all goes wrong – artist or label?
Rereading those quotes from Rolling Stone, made me think of a recent article in the excellent Word magazine. In David Hepworth's "And Another Thing" column he attacked the musicians who look to blame someone else when their music doesn't sell. As Hepworth clearly points out "Those artists who used to think they could float on...
Brands in Music 3: Just do it
Ian Grenfell, founder of Silentway Management, was also on the panel that citizensound ran at In The City this year. Representing such artists as Simply Red, Ian has distanced the artist from a major record label, with the artist having greater control (and responsibility) for their future success and development. So, with a little glint...
Jazzie B at In The City – An example of a Music Brand or the epitome of community music?
Saint Jazzie of B was a highlight at In The City. He was interviewed by Lloyd Bradley (more in him later!) and talked about how Soul2Soul started out. Two things struck me whilst he was talking. Firstly, that Soul2Soul was very much music of the community – created, produced, refined and promoted by the community....
Daniel Miller at In The City – DIY Music is cyclical
A great Keynote Panel at In the City, with Daniel Miller, founder of Mute Records. He was asked for his views on the future of the record industry given the recent news about Radiohead asking their fans to pay what they wish for their music and Madonna doing a deal with Live Nation. For Daniel,...
DIY Music – So what kind of artist wants to go DIY?
At In The City, the DIY Music panel that Nick and I ran centred around young artists trying to break through, rather than the established artists that the press write about all the time. As a focus for the panel, we invited the talented young musician Rob McCulloch (apologies for the red eye look Rob,...