6issues

Hey guys, Will here, writing my weekly 6issues post in the midst...

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:15:14 +0100

Hey guys,

Will here, writing my weekly 6issues post in the midst of putting together my presentation of CIAM 10 so apologies if you find me aimlessly rambling about image rights somewhere in here - I’m on autopilot!

Earlier in the week I watched a BBC Two documentary on Facebook (check it out here), and it’s anticipated floatation on the stock market, where it will be valued at the enormous price of $100 Billion. Personally I think this is a ridiculous price, but Facebook had all the answers as to why this is the case, and I suppose if Instagram is worth $1 Billion already, Facebook must be worth a hell of a lot more.

Part of argument for the high valuation was the amount of time people spent daily on Facebook, and the amount of people that used the site.

I am no longer a member of Facebook community, and haven’t been for some time. I deactivated my account some time ago and flew over to twitter, where until recently I have found it to be a lot more fun and a lot more useful than Facebook ever was.

A lawyer in the documentary questioned the longevity of Facebook and how it could potentially crash in a similar way to Myspace. This is a belief of mine. I used to be a fan, but now see it as a superficial, snoopy invasion of privacy that is losing any kind of personal touch. For example - Facebook now wants you to put your organ donor status on your profile… Yeah, a bit too much.

This may seem like a little bit of an anti-Facebook rant, but I’m just curious as to whether people have a similar opinion, or are Facebook’s benefits still outweighing the negatives for you?

Laters,

Will.

You’ll all be happy to know that I’ll be posting two...

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:13:59 +0100

You’ll all be happy to know that I’ll be posting two articles today, think of it as a Double-Vodka Shardlow or a double-prescription of Craigacilin.

Whilst writing this post, I’m also constructing a Bill and Ben outfit for a friend’s 21st birthday this saturday, pictures to follow next week my friends.

So, my first topic today is the BFI’s 5 year plan that was anounced yesterday, to inject £237m into the British film industry spending a third on backing new films, digitising up to 15,000 from British back catalogue and equipping up to 1,000 new venues including village halls with digital projectors so such films can be shown nationwide, as well as promoting training in film skills and a chance for every school child to be taught in the film industry and how to access it.

Personally, it sounds like an incredible initiative, the British film industry is not only a crucial part to our economy, but an industry that has provided us with art that has changed the cultural landscape of our country. However, being a music industry follower, I can’t help but think… is the music industry too late in trying to work with a funding source like this?

The british film industry has a substantial amount of funding from the british government and the national lottery, which is obviously apparent in the £237m that is about to be injected into it, to help our nation’s film industry flourish. Granted, the music industry is heavily privately funded, yet if the film industry has the BFI, the music industry has the BPI, why is more not being done to inject cash from the BPI into the industry?

On the other hand, with the government trying to encourage a larger private sector and holding back on publicly funded industries, maybe popular music should stick to being a (mostly) self-sufficient model?

With many venues across England closing due to licensing restrictions and little being done to save them, I only hope focus can be made to incorporate the film industry model into the music industry. Independent labels struggle to sustain their businesses, similar to stores, though independent cinema can be funded through BFI and lottery funding.

Im still a fish in an ocean when it comes to my knowledge of the film industry, but it would be interesting for you film buffs out there to get involved and hear your views.

My next post will be this evening, keep your eyes pealed!

In a bit

Craig xx

Hello!! How’s it going!? Today is going to be quite a short...

Mon, 14 May 2012 17:18:12 +0100

Hello!!

How’s it going!?

Today is going to be quite a short one, due to CIAM work and a dinner I have to attend.

I decided to look at something different today, which I don’t normally cover but I know that some people are interested in.

I saw a debate on The Guardian site discussing public art and sculpture. The main question was, is there too much!?

I have noticed lately that a lot of public art is popping up around the country, but to be honest I really like it, brings a bit of creativity to a mundane walk etc.

I felt it was interesting to look at this issue and perhaps join the debate due to our course studying cultural policy. I have always and thought that the arts in general were something that people around the country wanted in their lives, especially for free!

However, with an Olympic sculpture being unveiled to a barrage of heckles and boos have the public had enough.

I feel that as arts managers we must know what the public wants!! Maybe there isn’t a desire for this art work anymore.

As Paul Weller put it “The public gets what the public wants”, a few of them are making it very clear that they don’t want this!

Thanks,

Sorry it was a quick one, (And no that is not what she said)

See you next week!

Joe

It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday! How’s it going?...

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:12:14 +0100

It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday!

How’s it going? Hope everyone’s had a good week!

This week I’m going to be talking to you about support slots at gigs. Recently I read a tweet by songwriter, musician and Guardian journalist Helienne Lindvall, about how an unnamed band had started charging smaller bands to support them on an upcoming tour.

The tweet read as follows:

“A management just told me that a big British pop act is demanding £40k for the privelege of opening for them on tour. 3 opening acts = £120k” @helienne

When I read this, maybe somewhat naively, I was amazed! The thought that an already huge act is able to charge such a massive amount of money just to support them could be seen as extortion, but then again, in an industry that is looking to establish new revenue streams all the time, maybe it’s just a very shrewd move.

First of all, I don’t know if I was just being naive by not recognising that this was already happening in the music industry, but I’m guessing that with someone like Lindvall making the effort to tweet about it, she also felt it was pretty big news.

On the one hand, for the bigger artist (whoever they may be) I think this is a pretty clever move. This band and their manager have clearly acknowledged their reputation as a popular live band and have seen it as an opportunity to make more money. Clever. In a time when recorded music income is falling year on year, it has been said for some time that artists and labels need to be establishing new ways to make money, and this seems to be one. After all, making £120k before you’ve even sold any tickets for a tour ain’t half bad!

However, I can see it from another angle, from that of those who are being charged these extortionate amounts. For a band trying to make their name, £40k is a huge price to pay to get some live gigs with a big band, and it could be seen as being a bit worrying that the bigger acts are just getting more financially powerful from these ventures, whilst making the smaller bands less financially powerful.

Like I said before, I’m sure this happens fairly regularly in the music industry, but it does worry me slightly that these bigger artists are taking money from their smaller counterparts just for a place on their tour. Despite this being a clever way of increasing revenue, it could change a band, artist and label’s perspective on what the support band is there for. If these kind of deals become the done thing, it is likely bidding wars will ensue, with making money being the primary objective, so whoever is willing to offer the most money, will get the support spot. Let’s hope this doesn’t mean the next Justin Bieber will be supporting the Rolling Stones in years to come all in the name of increased revenue, because if these kind of deals get out of hand, this may not be such an unrealistic thought.

Have a great weekend!

Tom x

@tmburrow

Yo guys, todays 6issue is brought to you by beef! We all...

Thu, 10 May 2012 12:19:29 +0100

Yo guys, todays 6issue is brought to you by beef!

We all love a good rap beef, jay z vs Nas, biggie vs Tupac, the world vs Ja Rule but one emerging rap star seems to be taking the beef too far.

Azealia Banks was tipped for big things since the start of the year with her name appearing frequently in all those annoying “Top 10” lists of what were supposed to be dying over in a few months time. I for one, was pretty impressed with Banks, as she was one of the few people who seemed to actually live up to the hype around her.

However, her first unnecessary rap beef was just around the corner with Banks becoming involved in bitter slagging match with rival female rapper Iggy Azeala for allegedly making racist comments against the rapper. A few tweets and some blog reports about the incident later and all was forgotten. Banks didn’t seem to learn her lesson as she again took to Twitter to openly criticise another female rapper, Kreayashawn.

Unfortunately, no one in Azealia’s management saw the warning signs and banned the star from her twitter account. It might have saved her from going on to blast her old management company for arranging tour dates without her permission just days after signing to a new company. She put the cherry on the cake this week by discussing details of a doomed collaboration between her and her so called role model, Lil Kim. Banks took a pop at the Brooklyn rapper for not writing her own material and gave details of an angry response from Lil Kim’s assistant.

Once again, the blogosphere has taken notice and Banks has been swiftly labeled as an arrogant brat who has over stayed her welcome on all those coveted top ten lists. We see stars ruin their careers all the time through Twitter, but this seems more serious as Banks continues openly ranting about everything around her when she’s still only standing on a basis of success from one track.

I for one hope she finds the thin line between defending yourself against rivals and becoming all out brat before its too late.

Should we judge Banks by her constant beefs?

Leave your comments below

Cheers guys!

Sara

yo chums hows it going? i got caught up in the biz of having our...

Mon, 07 May 2012 12:09:52 +0100

yo chums hows it going?

i got caught up in the biz of having our last ever lipa class (ever, ever) last week and forgot to do my post so this week youll get double posts from me to make up for it

so this week im gonna have a look at a new type of tweeting that could become more popular in the future that has been done for the first time ever by Red Bull.

For those that dont know Red Bull have had their oar in the musical river for a while now not only through live events but through their prestigious Red Bull Music Academy scheme. The scheme takes a selection of young producers, djs, musicians and creatives to a city for a few weeks to learn from the best in the city and form new collaborations with the other participants all finishing in big boozed up few days partying with some of the best DJs in the world. Doesn’t sound too bad.

Its also worth mentioning that some of the talent to have emerged from the scheme include Toddla T, Hudson Mohawke, Jackmaster, Lunice, Krystal Klear and more.

So its clear Red Bull have already got quite a reputation for their contribution to music but they plan to take this further with a new type of unique tweeting. They’ve invented what they call the “Red Bull Beat Suite” which will use sentiment analysis (whatever that is) to turn the tweet into a short piece of music. At the moment this is happening as a live event in Melbourne, Austrailia where you can actually live tweet the musicians and hear your tweet transformed into music in real time as its played back to you.

The musicians working on the tweets will be the Australian Youth Orchestra alongside producers Galapagoose, Scratch 22, DJ Perplex, Amin Payne, Ladi6 and Ryan Richie from The Raah Project.

It’s a pretty cool idea in my opinion, and one that could be replicated in other areas easily. It seems like an idea that could be further developed and who knows, maybe one day all our tweets will have music attached. There also seems to be potential for a complimentary app, could we see an instagram for music type app in the future to be used with twitter for example?

If you want to find out more for yourself, check out the live stream of the event at the link below to see how it all works. The live stream is on Saturday 12 May but will be on aussie time so double check your times.

http://beatsuite.redbull.com.au/

Hope you have a good week guys, see you thursday!

xxx

What’s happening people? Hope you’ve all had a great week! As...

Fri, 04 May 2012 16:42:43 +0100

What’s happening people?

Hope you’ve all had a great week!

As I’m sure a lot of you will know, Facebook bought social networking platform Instagram for $1billion a couple of weeks ago.

For anyone that doesn’t know, according to their website, Instagram is “A fast, beautiful and fun way to share your photos with friends and family. Snap a picture, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, then post to Instagram. Share to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr too – it’s as easy as pie. It’s photo sharing, reinvented.”

A number of artists have already started using Instagram as a platform for their creativity. The Vaccines, for example, created their video for “Wetsuit” by gathering fans photos from gigs and events the band were playing at, using the hashtag #vaccinesvideo on Twitter. Check out the video here:

Elbow also used their Twitter to start an Instagram contest for their fans. Based on titles of the bands songs, fans took pictures to represent that weeks song title, with the best pictures being added to the band’s website.

Social networking technology has allowed fans to connect with artists much more often, but I reckon Instagram opens a host of new opportunities. Digital marketing is vital in today’s industry, and by giving artists the opportunity to show fans what they’re up to, whilst being creative with different filters and effects on their smart phone, it’s getting them even closer to their fans. Also, the fact that it has integration to Facebook and Twitter is very important. Artists can share their photos on various platforms, pushing out to other audiences, not just those who are Instagram users.

Atlantic Records UK’s Marketing Director Jack Melhuish, sees Instagram as the most important visual platform for Plan B as “he does things in a very visual way.” Plan B’s new album Ill Manors is an audio accompaniment to the new film he’s produced, showing he is clearly an artist that sees visuals as being just as crucial as audio in today’s music industry.

I think Instagram is a great platform for this reason, with visual becoming key in today’s industry, and giving artists the opportunity to share visual creativity at the touch of a button on their phone is a great way to do this.

With huge acts like Justin Bieber joining the platform, and availability on Android as well as iPhone, there is no doubt that Instagram is a growing business… well you would have thought so considering Facebook were willing to shell out $1billion for it. The question is whether it can be prominent in music marketing in the coming years. The early signs suggest that it could be!

Leaaaaaaaave it yeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!! Having been in Barca over...

Wed, 02 May 2012 13:31:39 +0100

Leaaaaaaaave it yeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!

Having been in Barca over the weekend I am back to bring you your Wednesday 6issues post, LEAAAVE ITT. I can guarantee that you that this post will be DENCH. 2 2’s naaaa I am going to talk about Lethal Bizzle. LEAVE IT.

You’re probably wondering what the f*ck I am talking about. Whether you think you know or you don’t have a clue, check out the video below, it is absolutely unreal.

Hopefully by watching that you are now well clued up on Bizzle’s lingo. Let’s bring you up to speed. In 2002, Lethal Bizzle’s track “Oi!” reached number 7 on the UK chart and was number one on the UK Rap/R&B chart. Three years later, his track “Pow (Forward)” reached number 11 on the UK Chart, number 5 on the UK R&B chart and number one on the UK Dance Chart. Since then, Lethal Bizzle’s commercial chart positioning has gone severely downhill, with chart entry positions dropping to as low as 99.

However, this could all be about to change, due to some daft sayings, funny YouTube clips, incredible self marketing and an avid twitter following. Lethal Bizzle is rapidly becoming 2012‘s Social Media phenomenon.

Having amassed over 150,000 followers on twitter, Bizzle has set about causing controversy and making people laugh… He is relaunching his career in doing so, whilst making a nice bit of cash.

In an example below, Lethal Bizzle’s gives his take on the alleged Tulisa Constavolos sex tape.

As you can see from the videos, Lethal Bizzle pretty much uses his own language, which fans have really taken to. Off the back of this, he has set up www.staydench.com, where Bizzle sells t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies and more, emblazoned with his catchphrases. Bizzle boasts that he has sold over 20,000 t-shirts…

Bizzle’s cousin is Arsenal Football Emmanuel Frimpong, who holds a stake in Dench Clothing, and Arsenal players are often pictured in Dench wear. In December 2011, Bizzle cut a deal with Arsenal Football Club for his Dench clothing range to be available through their stores.

Not a bad little earner, hey?

As you can see, Bizzle is definitely reaping the benefits of Social Media, making a decent bit of cash from Merchandise alone, but what about the music?

As first video shows, he is set to release his “Leave It Yeah” remix into the UK Charts. A track dedicated to the catchphrases used by Bizzle and co. With the following he has created, could this send Bizzle back to the top of the charts?

I wouldn’t be surprised if this happened, especially with the fact that Emmanuel Frimpong not only stars on the video but also raps on the track, another great piece of marketing.

When looking into this in detail I realised how brilliantly Bizzle’s model is working… Would this approach work for your artists?

Hope you enjoyed reading. STAY DENCH.

Will.

Morning, Morning, Morning. Joe’s filled you in on a what...

Wed, 02 May 2012 13:28:45 +0100

Morning, Morning, Morning.

Joe’s filled you in on a what half of the 6issues lot have been up to last weekend, we didn’t bump into Messi though, but we did see Guardiola standing outside pretty confused.

Anyway, you’re probably wondering why I’m nudging in on Will Wednesday’s here, I’m going to tell you… a basic combination of the non-existent internet in my flat and at Uni just meant my editorial skills weren’t put to the test yesterday and readers, I do whole-heartedly apologise.

Last week, Sara touched on posthumous activities such as the Tupac hologram at Coachella and the release of Ray Charles’ recordings without his family’s permission. Questionable as these are for an artist, it’s never been looked upon in terms of those offstage and by that, I mean the people who have changed the world of music, just from being a music fan, such as a manager, a fan, a record executive or (in this case) a radio DJ.

John Peel is known to many as a key figure in the programming of modern-day radio. As well as having one of today’s most popular radio stations “6music”, created in the essence of his legacy, many publications on his life and countless releases of “the Peel sessions” of bands whom he promoted and nurtured to great success such as Joy Division, the Sex Pistols and the Smiths.

Today, the BBC in association with the Arts Council of England and John Peel’s estate, have released “The John Peel Centre for Creative Arts”. An online resource site containing John Peel’s entire record collection of over 25,000 vinyls, pictures from his personal photo collection, the entire Peel Sessions and a blog containing his famous quotes, shows and TV appearances. Based around an interactive tour of his home studio, in the words of Jay Z & Kanye West “That S*it Cray”.

So, as a posthumous tribute to John Peel, it could be seen as an invasion of his privacy, but the support for this project has been overwhelming. The site in it’s first 24 hours has received over 20,000 hits. I know Im always ending with a question at the end of these articles, so instead I’m just going to express my respect for this project, not only has this been done in good taste, but allows is legacy and a promotion for artists in this collection to be brought to the public eye again, acting as a great promotional as well as a contemplating platform.

Click the image above for the John Peel Archive

Cheers for the read

Craig x

Yo yo! How’s it going!? I am unbelievably chilled after a sick...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:54:15 +0100

Yo yo!

How’s it going!?

I am unbelievably chilled after a sick weekend in Barcelona!

Today I will discuss self-sufficiency in the music industry and the new funding platforms that artists now have available to them.

These are sites such as PledgeMusic, Kickstarter and Sellaband.

The funding sites allow artists to raise revenue to create albums or tour etc. by selling their products on the funding site, which can be a variety of things from having a meal with the artist to a promised album once it has been created. The sites also allow the fans to donate added money help fund the particular project.

I decided to look at this subject after reading an article stating the increase of artists using these platforms, however, I was surprised to read that the article argued that Liverpool artists were at the forefront of this self-sufficiency!

Miss Stylie, a Liverpool MC, and Esco Williams, who has been labelled as ‘the Liverpudlian Marvin Gaye’ are both using the self-financing sites. As well as larger, more established bands such as The Libertines.

Esco Williams has apparently already raised £5,000 to help fund the creation of his album.

In an interview with Miss Stylie’s manager, Andy Ng, he discussed his decision further to use the site “In this day and age, fans are the taste-makers. In the past, you signed with a label because they had distribution, radio pluggers, press teams, but that whole system is breaking down now. It’s a democracy, not a dictatorship any more.” (Topping, 2012).

The creative autonomy that the artist gets from using these sites and not signing to a record label is probably the biggest attraction. I think this is a great benefit for not only the artist who has a lot more freedom but also the fans who here a more authentic album.

I am a big fan of these platforms and would definitely recommend an artist to use them. When I was working at the artist management company for my placement we used the site with all of our artists to great success. The site enabled us to create and release two different artist’s EPs.

The punks started D.I.Y many years ago, is it on it’s way back??

Check out the sites and let me know what you think!

See you next week,

Joe

Yo Yo the kids, Will is back! I haven’t seen you all in 3 weeks,...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:28:00 +0100

Yo Yo the kids, Will is back!

I haven’t seen you all in 3 weeks, reasons being: I was ill 3 weeks ago yesterday (sad excuse) - then we had our two week hiatus for the dreaded disso, and yesterday I couldn’t come up with anything I thought would be of real value (or maybe I forgot), so I gave myself a day of thinking in order to come up with something class, and, I have.

Apologies to our regular readers for upsetting the rhythm - and to Miss Irvine for muscling in on the Thursday slot. But I, like John Terry, am human and make mistakes, and perhaps you can forgive me and read on.

Ok, so for those of you in Liverpool, you may well have seen giant puppets walking round last weekend. Yes, giant puppets. Royal De Luxe’s Sea Odyssey, an event to mark 100 years since the Titanic sank, saw a 30ft little girl and her playful dog, Xolo, travelling Liverpool’s streets. The story follows the girl in search of her 50ft diver Uncle who has a letter for her from her father, retrieved from the Titanic where he perished. The spectacular began on Friday morning when the mechanical figure awoke in Stanley Park in Liverpool and began the first leg of her journey.

Those people who saw Sea Odyssey have told me it was fantastic, and reviews across the web have also been brilliant. Personally, I wasn’t too interested in seeing the puppets, and was more concerned that my route into Liverpool one for Saturday night clobber was made more difficult. Hey, that’s just me.

But seriously… All I could find was positive feedback about the event, with Liverpool Daily Post exclaiming that it has “put Liverpool in a new league for events.” The Guardian gave it a 5 star rating, and many have boasted about what it has done and will do for Liverpool’s businesses. However, I then found this… In shocking scene soon after the start of a 23-mile route around the city, the Little Giant Girl stopped and appeared to “urinate” on the floor.

WHAT?!

I didn’t actually believe this at first either…

Thousands of spectators gasped as she squatted down and a geyser of water sprung from beneath her green skirt.

Weird ey…

Apparently this has caused some commotion, with people saying that act shows massive disrespect to the families of victims of the Titanic, especially the one who’s true story it is inspired by.

Leading Titanic tour guide Philip Coppell said: “I am absolutely appalled that they think it right to commemorate the loss of 1514 lives with images of a girl relieving herself in the street.”

And who can disagree? Personally I feel that this is really inappropriate and unnecessary, as it doesn’t add anything to the story. Surely such an emotionally tied and extravagant story doesn’t need someone “weeing” on the floor. Maybe you’re into that? But I think it’s far from cool. My argument is that surely as a manager you’d realise that this isn’t appropriate and intervene before commissioning it, or, ensure that this particular part in question was left out. Obviously there is no denying that this event was a massive success… However maybe it should have been looked at a little more carefully.

Maybe I’m missing the point? Let me know your views.

Thanks for reading,

Will.

Yo guys, had a wee two week break there while we finished off...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:27:53 +0100

Yo guys, had a wee two week break there while we finished off our dissertations and i also turned 21 yeooo bevvin in America!!

Anyway, in that time there was also the Californian festival, Coachella, often a star-studded event in itself. However, this year an extra special event made the festival hit headlines for unusual reasons.

If you don’t already know, it was a performing hologram of rapper, Tupac Shakur alongside hip-hop royalty such as Dr Dre, Eminem and Snoop Dogg. The hologram was pretty chilling to witness for me and that was only through YouTube. The video shows with searing clarity what Tupac would’ve really looked and most importantly sound like if he were to be alive and performing today. Tupac’s untimely death by drive-by shooting has never been solved and he has become a hip-hop icon even in death as he is idolised by fans for being cut short in his prime. Unsurprisingly, the life-like hologram has been a wide success and talk of touring the hologram as Tupac has begun to surface.

Since this success other names have been suggested for possible tours of deceased, yet successful artists including Elvis Presley, Freddie Mercury and even the very recently deceased Amy Winehouse. If this type of technology becomes available widely, could we see a wave of tours of holograms? Think of dead artists who still retain status even years after their death, surely all their fans would jump at the chance to see their idol? Artists like Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson or even the living Beatles performing with the hologram dead Beatles!

It seems like a definite money-making scheme if the technology is adaptable to different artists. It also seems to have the potential to widen and diversify the live market as well as possibly offering a much needed boost to the music industry with the collapse of physical sales.

Let us know what you guys think of the hologram, would you pay to see it?

Cheerrrss,

Sara

Ladies and Gentlemen, It’s been a while, hope...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:23:00 +0100

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It’s been a while, hope everyone’s had a great easter Sunday, good Friday and even better saturday. Little recap on the past two weeks; I left the seaside landscape of Liverpool, to pursue my family role of being the cat babysitter whilst they all went to France… I also saw the great Noah and the Whale in my hometown, which makes a change from Thick Lizzy which usually graces our Yorkshire presence.

This week, Im really using this as a discussion board and hoping you guys will get involved in expressing your views on this issue. Im writing my CIAM (contemporary Issues in Arts Management) presentation on the potential collapse of HMV and it’s repercussions on the recorded music industry.

To put you all in the loop, HMV’s currently experiencing it’s hardest 3 year period with a net debt of £175m and the closure of over 65 stores in the UK. Recently their weakness has shown in moving their main online warehouse from Guernsey to Birmingham as their tax avoidance has come to an end. Furthermore, their 2009 £45m purchase of live music, management, venue and promotions company MAMA Group is looking to be put back on the market with AEG Live looking likely to put a £65m bid on the subsidiary of HMV. With this, their ticketing service and many other assets such as stores and festival promotions companies all set to be sold to clear their pretty big overdraft.

Now, many have criticised HMV for their slowness on the uptake of online retail and competitors such as Amazon and major supermarkets using a loss-leader tactic to gain more customers and sales. Having worked for HMV since I was 16, I can agree with these views, having seen them at the height of their power in 2008 after Zavvi’s closure, to a struggling business model on the brink of closure themselves.

HMV seem to be playing a game of catch-up rather than setting a precedence for future retail. I personally feel that HMV originally being an iconic brand and label has somewhat been lost over the last 50 years and more needs to be done to cement their brand image and their cult following again.

Universal Chairman and CEO David Joseph has already said that HMV is “Vital for the UK music industry”, whereas many independent companies such as AIM have criticised HMV’s small range of music in it’s stores with prices failing to match their competitors, yet their prices still undercut the likes of independent record stores?

But what I really want to know, is what your views are on the matter. Do you shop at HMV regularly, if not, why? Can you pinpoint the reasons why they are struggling to regain their former market prominence?

Would be great to hear your opinions and might help me get a first in the presentation.

Cheers for reading,

Craig x

Hello! How’s it going? I’m back! I took a 2 week break due to...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:37:06 +0100

Hello! How’s it going?

I’m back! I took a 2 week break due to dissertation work but back now and ready to analyse some more issues!

This week’s topic is about credibility and whether artist’s need to keep it throughout their whole musical career.

In 1977 during The Queen’s Silver Jubilee, the punk band The Sex Pistols released the infamous single ‘God Save The Queen’. This could perhaps be one of the most controversial records in UK music history.

Not only were the lyrics considered controversial with lead singer Jonny Rotten stating that England ‘had no future’ and that The Queen’s ruling was a ‘fascist regime’, but also the cover of the single, which depicted a defaced picture of the Queen.

This record arguably changed a generation and was at the forefront of the punk movement of the 1970’s.

Universal last week confirmed many rumours and stated that the track will be re-released this year to coincide with The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. This has got a mixed response from Sex Pistols fans with many angry at the choice believing it to be a money-making ploy.

This has led to Jonny Rotten, lead singer of the band, distancing himself from the release and he released a statement reading: “I am proud of what The Sex Pistols achieved and always will be but this campaign totally undermines what The Sex Pistols stood for. This is not my campaign. I am pleased that the The Sex Pistols recordings are being put out there for a new generation however I wish for no part in the circus that is being built up around it.”

This made me think. As artists and artist managers, do we owe it to our original fans to stay credible and not tarnish the fans memories?

The Diamond Jubilee could obviously generate a lot of income for The Sex Pistols and Jonny Rotten, so should they not distance themselves and instead embrace the campaign?

I personally feel that Jonny Rotten is right to not embrace the campaign. The Sex Pistol’s fans in 1977 were their original fan base and who helped the band gain success. With the original fan base against the idea, I feel that their opinion should be respected.

What do you think? With the age of the band should they be happy for any money they get now?

Let me know.

Thanks for coming back for a read!

Joe

Alright everyone! How’s things? Happy Good Friday! If that’s...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:15:00 +0100

Alright everyone! How’s things?

Happy Good Friday! If that’s what you say today… I dunno.

Apologies for posting this at such a late hour today, but my MacBook charger decided it’s had enough of doing what it’s been put on this earth to do this morning. As a result, I’ve been traipsing round the lake district to find a new one, which on Good Friday is no easy task, let me tell you!

Anyway, today can be Good Friday even if you’re not religiously minded, but like me, you are a Kanye West fan. Let me explain…

After releasing a new track named ‘Thera Flu’ yesterday with DJ Khaled, Kanye is in a giving mood. Today saw his label, G.O.O.D Music, release new single ‘Mercy’, which features Big Sean, Pusha T, 2 Chainz and West himself. All of whom are signed to G.O.O.D Music’s roster. As a result, ‘Mercy’ is being released under the G.O.O.D Music name, rather than “Kanye West feat…”. See, G.O.O.D Friday! In more ways than one.

Listen to ‘Mercy’ and ‘Thera Flu’ here.

If reports are to be believed, ‘Mercy’ is the first single from the upcoming G.O.O.D Music album, which is to be released some time in the future. As a big admirer of West, I’m genuinely looking forward to this!

This is by no means the first time a record label has released a single or album. It is a trend that seems to be growing though, particularly in the Hip-Hop genre. For example, back in December 2009, Lil Wayne’s Young Money released ‘We Are Young Money’, an album featuring the majority of the label’s roster, four of whom had been recently signed. This, my friends, brings me to my point…

To me, both Yeezy (Kanye West) and Weezy (Lil Wayne) are using some damn good business acumen here, using their superstar status to promote both their labels and their artists. The way Hip-Hop is starting to use these releases as a promotional ploy is bloody great!

What Kanye West is doing with G.O.O.D Music, in the same way as Wayne is doing with Young Money, is basically saying to his fans, “these artists are on my label, this means I like them, you should too!” and I’m sure they do. If you’re a huge Kanye West fan, and he’s on a track with a new artist, or he’s saying that they’re great, the massive Kanye fans out there are going to follow suit. They’ll then wait anxiously until the day that said ‘unknown’ artist releases their first single and album, and go out and buy it. What a way to promote an artist at the beginning of their career ey?

I think the way that these major artists are using their status to promote younger musicians, who some fans wouldn’t even have to hear to say they were a ‘fan’, is brilliant. Where most artists need endless label backing and radio plugging to give them enough promotion to sell records; the Big Sean’s and Pusha T’s of this world just need good old Mr. West to get them featured on a track or bigging them up to get them to pretty much the same height of musical stardom, maybe higher? I certainly gave them both a listen because they were signed to G.O.O.D Music.

I think that one of the great things about Hip-Hop as a genre is that a lot of its big artists are entrepreneurs, always thinking about new ways to promote themselves and their work. Say what you want about Kanye, but he isn’t stupid, he knows exactly what he’s doing, and succeeding greatly in the process. After all, when he released ‘College Dropout’, his major selling point was that he was the man who produced ‘The Blueprint’ for Jay-Z. Again, getting a piggyback off a bigger artist than himself to gain publicity. Personally, I see no shame in that.

Like I said before, artists owning labels isn’t a new thing, but Hip-Hop seems to use opportunities like this in an exciting and entrepreneurial manner, and that, for me anyway, is something the music business in general can learn from.

Have a great Easter weekend. See you all next week!

Tom x

@tmburrow

You know what really grinds my gears? When I follow a band I...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:19:36 +0100

You know what really grinds my gears? When I follow a band I really like on Twitter, or “like” them on Facebook, only to find out that they have zero social media skills.

I debated with myself about whether or not to write today’s blog about musicians and social media, but I don’t see why not, it’s an increasingly popular method of communication for artists and fans, so it really should be used properly!

I have a few particular people in mind when writing this, but I won’t name and shame (well, I might), so I’m going to give YOU lucky people my top tips for using social media sites without grinding my gears.

1. Don’t just retweet EVERYTHING good that other people tweet about you. If I am really that bothered about what other people think of your band, I’ll search for that myself. Delivering it right to my timeline is not necessary. A few nice comments retweeted are fine, but you wouldn’t sit down the pub with your mates and repeat every compliment you’ve ever been given. Well, you might, but let me know so I know never to go to the pub with you.

2. Use social media platforms to be just that: Social. When a new band follows me, I don’t want to check their timeline to see that they’ve got 15 followers, are following 3000 and have 4000 tweets, all consisting of “@insertnameofrandomtwitteruserhere Hey! Plz Check out my band!”

I’ve just gone on twitter to find the most recent annoying example of that as I definitely was prepared to name and shame in this case, but it looks like the account in question has been suspended. So it’s not just me who gets pissed off with that then…

In my opinion, a good example of a band who use twitter to interact with their followers are @ThePrettyShapes. I’m not just being biased because within a day of following them, they called me beautiful, I understand they like to flatter their fans, but that was months ago and I still remember it. They’re obviously doing something right.

3. Don’t link your bands Twitter or Facebook with your personal accounts. Some updates might be relevant to both, but on the whole, its two separate audiences. Your friends might not care that you’ve just spent 12 hours in the studio, and likewise, your fans might not care what you’ve had for breakfast. One particular friend of mine, (who I really hope is reading this), for some mad reason, posts the same updates to his personal Facebook profile, his Facebook band page, his personal twitter account AND his bands twitter account. This means I basically have to ignore his shit updates four times. FOUR!

4. Make your biography clear and to the point. Twitter allows little room for rambling on and pretending to be witty in your bio. Although Facebook provides ample space for this, my advice would be that whatever is in your twitter bio is probably enough. If it includes your website and the relevant contact details, all you need is one sentence that sums up your band. I’m not saying you shouldn’t post your full bio on your Facebook page, but just make sure the necessary information is easily identified.

If you’re unsure what to include and what to leave out, check out what other bands have written! Start with @RemarksOfficial. Their bio tells me everything I need to know about who they are, what they do, and how I can contact them, in just a few lines.

5. Update your profile regularly. When looking for a bands Facebook page, I don’t want to click on their wall and see that they’ve not posted ANYTHING in the past 6 months. Quite the opposite of spamming their fans, their profile pages have virtual tumbleweeds blowing around them. Even if you’re not gigging, you can still keep fans updated on how you’re getting on with recording a new album, writing new songs etc. Have a look at The Thespians Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheThespians). When in the studio last month, I knew that’s where they were…

If you don’t think you’re gaining anything from being on a particular social network (*cough* MySpace *cough*), don’t just leave your profile unused, delete it. This one un-updated profile could be the first thing someone finds when looking for you, and it won’t give a great first impression.

So there we go, if you do all of these things, you just might be my new favourite band. If anyone has anything they’d like to add to this list, or anything they disagree with on the list, please do leave a comment. I love a good debate. It’s my thing.

As always, thanks for reading, have a fantastic Easter weekend!

Cheers

Aoifé x

@aoifeniblock

hey guys! hope everyone’s having a good easter! special...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 01:21:06 +0100

hey guys! hope everyone’s having a good easter! special shout outs to our third year crew all probably trying to figure out how to end their lives with a biro pen in JMU library, two weeks til hand in yeooo!

Anyway, some of you may be glad to hear i won’t be talking about DJs for once this week but instead I’m gonna have a look at yesterday’s Blackberry event which was unfortunately overshadowed by a stabbing.

Blackberry hasn’t had the easiest ride lately. I myself used to have a Blackberry and can testify that switching to my first ever Iphone from my affectionately named Shiteberry has made my life infinitely easier where technology is concerned. It seems I’m not alone as Blackberry have reported million pound losses and the introduction of the superior IPhone (sorry Will Cranny, but you know its better) isn’t their only problem. The collapse of the software system that supports the Blackberry Messenger service (BBM) left millions of users worldwide without messaging capabilities for days on end, sometimes weeks. Furthermore, they were slow to notify their users on the problem leaving many like me at the time, feeling not unlike a fat youngster trapped in the house with only fruit and vegetables for company. In short, desperate!

I ended my relationship with my crackberry as soon as possible after this incident and doubt i was the only one as recent announcements from the company claim they are focusing on the business sector for future developments after extensive losses.

Their attempt to publicise the brand and the only real redeeming feature of owning a Blackberry was unfortunately also tarnished when their BBM event featuring pop star Jessie J became over shadowed by the stabbing of a guest. The man in question was allegedly stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle but is fortunately in a stable condition in hospital. Stars at the event included rapper Wretch 32, the cast of TOWIE and the aforementioned Jessie J as well as presumably an assortment of people which the company were trying to impress with their oh-so-shite Blackberries (sorry again Will)

I think we should all carefully consider how to handle possible PR disasters such as this before we hold events of any kind. The event was obviously meant to be a positive boost for the brand but instead the headlines are filled with negative press even though it is unlikely Blackberry is at fault for such an unprecedented tragic incident. It also hasn’t helped matters that Jessie J who has thousands of twitter followers tweeted about the incident. There seems to be a lack of control in the PR department, but what really is the best way to go forward without acknowledging the real victim in this situation who could’ve potentially lost his life? Perhaps this terrible situation will help Blackberry to consider their future plans but for now I’m sure their hands are full with trying to tastefully detach themselves from being associated with an act of potentially fatal violence.

Do you think Blackberry have handled this situation appropriately or should they have acted differently to save the brand?

Tweet me at @Sarairvs or leave your comments below on how you think it should’ve been handled.

Thanks for reading!

xxx

HIYO! I know you’ve missed me, I’ve read the...

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:30:00 +0100

HIYO!

I know you’ve missed me, I’ve read the countless texts you’ve left on my phone. So how about, be happy for the next 5 minutes whilst you read this incredible piece of literature.

I’m back in York this week, for my step dad’s 50th birthday (happy birthday John Bernstein!), I managed to get tickets for the Leeds game on saturday, him, my step brother and I all went to the game. I got his name in the program and a shout-out for him at half time, with his picture on the big screen (I know, it’s incredible). Then…we lost 0-2, nice one.

Onwards and upwards, last night, whilst driving to get ginger, black bean sauce and chicken stock from Sainsburys (guess the dish I was cooking), I tuned into Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show to hear an interview with Elton John. Now, I knew he wasn’t releasing any new material and definitely not anouncing a retirement, so what the hell’s he doing on Zane Lowe’s show?

Well, after Elton’s management company “Rocket” took Australian dance duo “Pnau” under their wing, Elton has anounced a collaboration album with the duo… but not in your typical manner.

Basically, Elton has allowed Pnau the rights to his back catalogue of songs that were never released, to rework in whichever way they want. Then release the songs in a new collaboration album. You can here the new single “Good Morning To The Night” below:

Elton explained to Zane Lowe, that he’s loved dance music since the explosion of British house in the 80s and 90s. However, later stated that he “wouldn’t know where to start” when writing a dance album of his own. Being a huge fan (and work partner) of Pnau, Elton saw it as a great opportunity for both parties to create a new album, reviving work of Elton’s that wouldn’t see the public otherwise and for his material to finally be constructed in a dance format.

Now, personally Im a big fan of Elton and Pnau, plus after hearing the song, my initial skepticism was totally turned. The song sounds great and you can hear the rustic recording of songs when Elton was in his prime and his songwriting incredibly soulful.

Could this set a precedence for future collaborations? we’ve seen Jamie XX rework a new studio recording of the late Gil Scot Heron and countless tracks in the modern day, using samples to recreate their own songs. But I’ve never really seen this done for such a high caliber artist like Elton John.

Let’s think this in the context of an ageing artist, could this be the ticket you need to revive your career? or make your music accessible to a more-contemporary audience?

I’m personally looking forward to this release, so far (from what I’ve heard) this has been done in good taste and if someone was to rework “McCartney II”, I’d be interested to hear it, I’m sure Sir Paul would as well.

Let’s hear your views people, it’s what we love.

Lot’s of love and I’ll speak to you all next week

Craig x

Ay up! How’s it going!? All is good, it’s the Easter...

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 22:10:47 +0100

Ay up! How’s it going!?

All is good, it’s the Easter holidays!!

This week I read an interesting article, asking the question whether ‘Have we fallen out of love with the British music festival?’

Reading the article and the ever-growing list of British festival casualties, I started to think that we might have fallen out of love with them. However, I am hope that I am proved wrong.

The British were at the forefront of the creation of music festivals in the 60’s, with the Isle Of Wight Festival and Glastonbury’s early line-ups going down in music history, as well as some of their recent line-ups!

Many festivals have decided to take a year out this year so that they can come back stronger next year. Glastonbury took a year out, which was pre-planned, however Michael Eavis did state that he was worried about the future of the festival. He claimed that the times were tough due to a crowded market place and lack of demand.

It must be stated that there are various British music festivals that are still doing well, these mainly being the obvious ones, Leeds and Reading, Bestival, V Festival etc.

I think there are various reasons for the decline in ticket sales at festivals. I do agree with Michael Eavis that the crowded market will be a problem for the festivals, however, I do think that there still is a high demand for festivals.

I think that one of the problems that festivals face is the lack of large headliners. These are now few and far between, which is one of the reasons we have seen so many bands reunite for large sums of money. The new bands that are capable of headlining large festivals have headlined recently therefore I think that consumers don’t feel the need to attend again anytime soon.

I’m a big festival fan, however, the reason that I have not already booked a ticket for any festivals this summer is due to the line-ups and also the type of audience that festivals are now attracting. I was very interested in attending Lattitude, however, after seeing the type of audience that attends the festival, which is quite a lot of families, I was put off!

What do you think is the reason why festivals in Britain are struggling? People going abroad for festivals? No headliners? Or just people aren’t interested!?

Let me know, I’d love to hear what you think is the problem.

Thanks, see you on Monday!

Joe

What’s happening people? Hope you’ve all had a great...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:39:23 +0100

What’s happening people? Hope you’ve all had a great week in the sun!

So this week I’m going to talk to you about a subject I’m pretty familiar with at the moment, Spotify. I know we’ve had posts about this in the past from Aoife, but it’s a major part of the music industry at the moment, so why the hell not?

I read an article yesterday that The Black Keys, a bloody great band, are the second most likely artist to be pirated of all the artists playing at Coachella this year. Now you might ask what significance this has. Well The Black Keys have got an infamously hostile relationship with Spotify after they witheld their latest album, ‘El Camino’, from streaming services at the end of last year.

The band’s beef with Spotify comes because they don’t reckon it is financially rewarding to the artists that are being streamed. However, now that music analysis company ‘Musicmetric’ have conducted this study, it might make the band think again.

The band’s drummer Patrick Curen said, “I like to make money. If it was fair to the artist we would be involved in it”. I can sympathise with Curen’s view, Spotify is paying a lot less to artists than if they were selling on iTunes or another platform, but this is the modern day industry, and complaining about something that is inevitably here to stay isn’t really getting anyone anywhere. Surely it would be better for the band and their management to come up with a creative way of making the ad-based/subscription model work for them.

The Black Keys are in a beneficial position on this front though, as they’re a popular band that can afford, for the time being, to swerve the free consumption services. However, for smaller bands who want to be heard, they don’t have this luxury. Dan Auerbach, the band’s guitarist/vocalist is with me on this one. He says “it’s a cool thing to have if you’re in a new band and you want to be heard. But if you are a bigger band that’s already known and you rely on record sales for a living, then it’s really no place to be”.

I’m writing about Spotify for my dissertation, and I still dont’t know where I stand on this one. I think the fact that The Black Keys are so highly pirated, has surely got something to do with them not being on Spotify, but are they bothered? I suppose it comes down to the whole principle of whether you want your music to be a free commodity or not, which The Black Keys clearly don’t. The issue I have with the whole thing is that the smaller bands that Auerbach is referring to are the ones that could really do with the money, but I suppose they need the promotion as well.

I suppose my point is just that it’s hard to say whether Spotify is beneficial or not financially, but it’s easy to see both sides of the coin. What do you think?

Have a great weekend.

Tom