The Business of Live Music

Well, as promised, here is both the powerpoint presentation and the associated discussion for the talk I done earlier this month at Edinburgh University. This is basically a very brief overview of a 14000 word report I have recently done for The Welsh Music Foundation, due for official release in the next few weeks.

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Live Music Industry Research Update

Two months without a single post – then 2 in two days – how is that for predictability?? For those who are interested in live music, I am chairing the final two seminars for the Welsh Music Foundation next week in Aberystwyth and Swansea – the details can be found here. SWN Promoter John Rostron will also be doing a workshop at both events – so the sessions are well worth a visit. If you can’t make the sessions to contribute to the research, there is still time to fill in the online questionnaires. The English version can be be found here, and the Welsh version here. If anyone has any thoughts about the live music industry in Wales or would like to contribute to the research in any way – just get in touch with me.

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Live Music in Wales Research Project

I have just completed an online questionnaire that is the first stage of a research project examining the live sector of the Welsh Music Industry. If you are involved in the Welsh sector in any way, I would really appreciate 15 mins of your time to complete the survey. I am interested in responses from as many stakeholders as possible (musicians, promoters, managers, venues, PA hire, etc, etc), so I would appreciate you passing this link on to anyone who you think could contribute. If you are active in the live sector outside of Wales and feel the questions resonate, I would appreciate any thoughts via Facebook/email etc.

The url is https://www.survey.glam.ac.uk/livemusicwales/

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PhD Studentship Available in Live Music

I have been contacted to publicise an excellent opportunity for someone after a funded PhD into the live music industry in Bristol. If anyone is interested, contact me in the first instance – and I will pass details on. Details below

PhD Studentships

UWE is offering a part-time PhD Studentship in Popular Music and Everyday Life as part of the Bristol Live Independent Music Archive Project (BLIMA).

The Studentship comprises an annual bursary of £3,000 plus tuition fees paid for up to five years.

About BLIMA

BLIMA has been set up to compile an archive of the city of Bristol’s live independent music scene, from 1950 to the present. The archive is to be an invaluable resource for researchers and historians of popular culture, music, and everyday life. It contains primary materials connected to live events held at venues through the city. Contributions could involve such activities as conducting interviews, organising research events, collecting and collating archival material.

Applications

Applications are invited from candidates who wish to conduct research in one or more of the following areas:

• Live performance and locality
• Music as everyday experience
• Identity and hybridity
• Genre and independence in music

For more info, click here.

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What am I listening to: Sampled Vocals

This post was originally going to be about The Books, but it got me thinking about my love for listening to music with sampled vocals. By disembodying the vocal/voice, I think the meaning of voice samples (and also ‘Found Sounds’) can be ironically accentuated, or alternatively changed (A great example of Post Modernism). So….. Instead placing links to just The Books, I thought I would mention a few other artists that have interested me with their sampling activities.

Robert Ashley Despite being in his 70′s now, to my mind he is a pioneer of using vocal sounds out of context. Listen to his Opera Robert Ashley – Celestial Excursions

Another under represented composer in this style is guitarist Scot Johnson, who somehow mixes samples with jazz rock and art music influences. Start off by listening to this Scott Johnson – John Somebody

I have already mentioned the Books. Listen to this Spotify Playlist The Books

Vicky Bennett’s ‘People Like Us‘ are really worth a listen. I  placed a post about People Like Us a while back regarding the copyright issues they face when sampling, and how a Creative Commons licence would help circumnavigate some of the issues that restrict creativity. Although not on Spotify, in true Creative Commons style, Vicky has placed all of her music for download here.

Finally, no account of vocal sampling would be complete without mentioning Steve Reich. Start off by listening to Ensemble Modern – Steve Reich: Different Trains

Finally, and not that I am comparing myself in any way to the great artists above, but here are a  couple of my experiments with vocal sampling. The first was written as a commission for dancer Gabriela Daris, and the 2nd in an attempt to combine jazz rock with vocal sampling.

Prodigal Son

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What Am I Listening To: Brand X

Having mentioned Beady Belle in a previous post, I thought it would make sense to go through some of the music I like in alphabetical order. This band represent one of my earliest experiences of realising that music could be complex and interesting. In my opinion they are one of the least appreciated ‘jazz rock’ bands to emerge from the 1970′s, so here is my miniscule contribution encouraging more people to listen to them. In addition to  their guitarist John Goodsall (A hero of mine as a 15 year old), they featured a Jaco influenced bassist Percy Jones (or did he influence Jaco??) and wait for it – Phil Collins on drums (on some albums). In short, if you like guitar led Jazz Rock – listen to this Spotify link.

F,inally, here is a You Tube link of an incarnation of the band playing in 1997

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More live music under threat

Brighton venue The Freebutt has announced that it will no longer be able to put on live music after it was ordered to reduce the cut-off level on its volume limiter by the local council.

As previously reported, The Freebutt was served with a noise abatement notice in February this year after the council received just one complaint from a neighbouring resident. Various steps were taken to remedy the issue, though the venue, the council and audio consultants brought in on either side found it hard to properly diagnose and monitor the problem because the complainant refused them all access to their property.

Apparently this situation changed earlier this month, when audio consultants were finally allowed access to the complainant’s home. They found that there were, indeed, still sound leakage issues, and the venue’s owners estimate that it will cost twenty grand to address them – twenty grand they don’t have. The result is that the council is now strictly enforcing its noise order, basically making it impossible for Freebutt gigs to go ahead.

To read the rest of this post click here

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The Newport Live Music Scene: how can it regain vibrancy?

I attended a fascinating event in Newport yesterday organised by The Welsh Music Foundation. Its focus attempted to consider reasons behind why a once ‘legendary’ music scene, was now struggling to find an audience. In short, how can ‘vibrancy’ be brought back to the Newport music scene? This issue is probably best highlighted by the closure of TJ’s – a venue that once hosted numerous international artists such as those highlighted here.  When listening to the debate yesterday the first thing that struck me is that someone needs to write a book about the musical history of this city. This should not be an academic book, but an histography of the rise (and fall) of music in Newport. This may be part of a larger ‘ live music in south Wales’ publication, so if anyone has any ideas – get in touch. (See note below)

Some of the Key themes discussed during the meeting are outlined below. These are areas that I will explore further during the research project I am currently working on in conjunction with The Welsh Music Foundation into the live music sector in Wales, so for the moment there are more questions than answers.

1. Musician/promoter relationships with the local council obviously need to be considered, and it will be interesting to see if this is the case in all areas of Wales. For example the Live Music Toolkit currently been developed by the Welsh Music Foundation in conjunction with Cardiff Council is a good model to open up communication between the live sector and local councils. Could this be rolled out to other regions?
2. There was a perception that promoters and artists were working hard, but there was a general apathy toward live music by audiences. It was proposed that the development of the new Art College in Newport is one factor that could assist this issue. comments……
3. There was a consensus that venues need to develop a trust relationship with national promoters like the model displayed at TJ’s. How can this be done?
4. There was a feeling that the introduction of some ‘name bands’  gigging in  the area would propagate interest w ithlocal audiences and inspire young bands. How can this be done? Is it the case?
5. The issue of local bands playing in Cardiff could be compromising the grass roots gig scene in Newport. How can local bands be encouraged to perform in Newport also?
6. Could Newport develop an event similar to Cardiff’s ‘SWN’ festival, and if so would it assist some of the problems outlined above?
7. Should Newport continue to work on its own individual identity, or would it make more sense to work with Cardiff and other areas on a South Wales scene? If the latter is true – is it possible?
8. Would more people involved in promoting  gigs improve the situation, or does it simply require an individual to take control of the city and begin aggressively promoting live music?
9. How can Newport take advantage of the forthcoming Ryder Cup? It was mentioned at the meeting that local councils may be more sympathetic during this time period.
10. Good backline equipment was mentioned as a key factor to ensure the quality of live performances are of a professional standard. How can this be implemented?
11. Would having another ‘big’ venue be a good starting point, or would it make more sense to focus on grass routes music activity?
12. It was suggested that many people are simply too ‘scared’ go to gigs in Newport. Is this really the case, and if so how can this perception be solved?
13. Is there a way that training provision can assist any of these problems?

There are obviously many more questions to consider, but in the meantime I would be interested in any comments anyone has about any of these points, whether you are from Wales or not.

Note: Since writing this blog, Andy Barding got in touch informing me that there are two books currently being written on the Newport Music Scene. He also corrected me about Nivarna’s engagement with the venue – they never played there!  I quote Andy below – and appologise for my ignorance!!

“There are two books being written about the Newport music scene. One is by me, to be called ‘Sleepless in the New Seattle’. It will be an oral history of the years 1974-2010. From Strummer to TJ’s in the Square, basically. The other is by Johnny Perkins and is about his personal involvement in the city’s music scene during the punk/New Wave years”.

There is an article by Andy on the Newport scene here. There is also an excellent video  on the Newport music scene here Finally – there is another video below

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New Music Listened To Recently

I have been too busy to write any blog posts for the last few weeks, but thought I would share some of the music i have been listening to lately. I am discovering most of this via Spotify, and am finding that linking it with facebook is a great way to share what you listen to with other people. Anyway, here is a synopsis of some of the  music I would highly recommend. I have linked them as Spotify files for those of you who have it. If you are interested in linking in to other playlists I have, send me a facebook friend request.

Paul

Beady Belle

The Matthew Herbert Big Band – There’s Me And There’s You

Hindi Zahra – Handmade (.)

Olafur Arnalds

Porcupine Tree – The Incident

Robert Ashley – Celestial Excursions

Arve Henriksen

Lars Horntveth

Jaga Jazzist

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DEVELOPMENT OF A FOUNDATION DEGREE IN MUSIC RETAIL MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN A UNIVERSITY AND ROLAND UK

Two posts in one day – a record for me. Here is a paper I had published this month regarding my research into music foundation degrees. It is an extensive paper, and can be read by clicking this link.

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