What do grass-roots bands want from brands?
While at Unconvention last week I met up with Rich Dale, bass player in Befast based Escape Act. Rich has been invovled in the grass-roots music business in Northern Ireland for 15 year, and was one of the coordinators at Unconvention in Belfast. With brands increasingly playing in the DIY and unsigned arena Rich gave...
Martin Atkins on how to sustain a career in music
Martin Atkins, legendary drummer with Public Image Ltd., Ministry and Killing Joke was one of the speakers at Unconference. He shared some of thoughts on the DIY music business as well as some of the insights from his new book Tour:Smart, the ultimate guide to the business of touring. Martin took a few minutes of...
Success is…?
I attended my first Unconvention this weekend, a music conference for the grass roots music industry held in Salford, Manchester. The first panel session I attended at the event, Outside The Box, looked at what it was like for those musicians and labels who choose to operate outside of the mainstream of the music industry,...
Money for nothin, but the equity ain’t free
On Monday evening I went to First Monday, a music industry networking night run by Sybill Bell, who manages the rather excellent Post War Years. Much of the talk was not about doing label deals, but how to raise money for the artists to do it themselves. Recording and distribution seemed not to much of...
The soundtrack to your brand?
When we launched soundsearch, our bespoke music search and licensing facility, just over 12 months ago we wanted to deliver something different to the marketplace. We don’t have a fancy computerised system, but what we do have is over 40 years of music business experience and a huge collection and knowledge of music that can...
Gigging 2.0 – a band and fan partnership
With recorded music sales in decline, many artists are increasingly having to turn to the live arena to make their living. One manager of an internationally renowned singer told me that even after platinum album sales she was still making very little money from her record sales, making her increasingly reliant on a punishing touring...
citizensound speaks at CCP Lisbon
I was in Lisbon last week speaking at the 11th Festival of the Creative Club of Portugal. Fantastic venue. Thanks to Manuel Faria of Indigo and the CCP for inviting citizensound to speak. After Manuel kindly introduced me, I raised the importance of a clearly defined sonic identity for brands and public environments where people...
M.I.A sings loud…
…. “Sound of kuduro knocking at your door” in Buraka´s forthcoming album – Black Diamond. The music and video of the single – “Sound of Kuduro†features M.I.A. as a guest vocal, Puto Prata, Saborosa e Dj Znobia. Hold your breath, what you are about see is on its way! Buraka Som Sistema are coming...
Can you wegué?
The citizens are loving the new single from Lisbon´s Buraka Som Sistema – “Kalemba” – or as we like to say “Wegué Weguéâ€, it just makes us dance like crazy. If you see 4 people dancing around The Hospital club in the middle of a meeting, that´s us, trying to concentrate. “> BSS is a...
Matter of fact?
Going to a pre-launch party of a new London club should be by definition a must thing to do. A club created by the people behind Fabric…even more so. But after going to MATTER last night, the new club based at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, I am ready to change my mind. I come...
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The Feelings Mutual
Tennents have been a big supporter of live music for some time. Their T In The Park festival has been around since 1994, and has been a massive success for bands, fans and the brand alike. But with so many big branded festivals around (V, O2 Wireless, Carling…) how do you stand out in a...
Summer In The Cities
And then there were four! citizensound has been joined by a new recruit Mariana Duarte Silva, which not only means we can add Portuguese to the our portfolio of four spoken languages (English, French, Spanish and Geordie!), but we also have an experienced club promoter in our midst! Mariana, or the Madame to her friends,...