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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

If I was an unsigned/indie artist and I had £2,000 to spend on my career, what would I spend it
Category: Music

According to Abba, money is a thing of hilarity if you are lucky enough to have plenty of it in the first place, but as the majority of artists I know are yet to have written enough über hits to fill a musical and then some on top; it appears to be more of a thing of worry then joviality.

Here at Sentric Music we've distributed a lot of money to a lot of artists and quite often when I inform an artist of the amount coming to them I usually add the question "So what plans have you got for this cash?" within the email as I'm genuinely intrigued to know where it's going to be spent.

So I thought this week I'd pick a figure (£2,000) and propose some ways in which it could be spent to help you out.

A few justifications before I begin.

Firstly; why £2,000? There are a good few of our artists who have received more than £2,000 from us since joining Sentric Music so I don't believe it's an unattainable figure to achieve. Also, I've mentioned several times before that if you're seriously wanting to make a career from your music then you have to realise it's an investment. If there are four of you then £500 each isn't too big of an ask really is it? If you're a singer songwriter then just go put £15 on red 16 on the Roulette table at your nearest casino and you'll be fine.

Secondly; every artist's situation is unique. Hopefully at least one of the areas mentioned within this post may make you consider a potential avenue for your cash.

Thirdly; money is highly more effective when used within conjunction with a strategy (a point that @Mr_Trick feels very strongly about). It's all very well having a couple of grand in your pocket, but if you randomly piss it up a proverbial wall without a plan to accompany it then it'll be far less useful then if you did. Read here for advice on how to apply basic business theory to your music.

Ok then, let us begin (I asked a few friends their thoughts as well).

Equipment - Who do you want to sound like? Muse wouldn't sound like Muse if they didn't have the futuristic gear they do and The White Stripes wouldn't sound like they do if they didn't have all the vintage gear behind them; both of which cost a lot of cash. If you want to sound like The Wombats however you'd probably end up with £1,750 spare after kitting yourselves out.
Never rush a purchase; do your research online firstly. Do you really need a new guitar? Or would an effects pedal give you the sound you're looking for at a fraction of the price? Once you've narrowed down your search then go and annoy the staff at various music shops to the point of insanity by trying out every alternative and most importantly; don't be intimidated by that one guy that every guitar shop has who is in his mid thirties and is insanely good at 'masturbating the fret board' and who makes your ropey rendition of the solo from Night Train by Guns 'N' Roses sound as awful as it truly is. They may be able to compete with the guys on the G3 tour, but they've never set foot on a stage in their life so you win. Fact.

Recording - I like to think it's pretty much essential to have at least 3 tracks recorded to a high level of quality good enough to be played on the radio if the opportunity occurs. These tracks can be then used for a lot of things; giving them away for email addresses for your mailing list, content for websites/MySpace etc, you could put them up for sale on iTunes if need be (although I don't think it's worth releasing anything digitally until you've got a decent fanbase going). A friend of mine who is an A&R for a major label suggests "Find a really local engineer/producer and spend a little bit of money working on a couple of tunes. If they're on the same page as you and you're happy with the sound and direction they're taking you in, then spend some more money and do some more tracks. If not, find someone else". A wise point there; don't commit to spending too much money until you're happy with the engineer/producer.

Pressing - You could get a hell of a lot of CD's pressed for various reasons; selling, sending out, frisbees, mirrors for guinea pigs etc, or you could get a few vinyl pressed to sell to your hardcore fanbase. If you are going to get some vinyl pressed then don't go crazy with the amount, get enough pressed to satisfy the demand then when they sell out you can tell everyone on your website that 'YOU'VE SOLD OUT!!!' and therefore must be really good so when the next single gets pressed other fans who missed out may be more eager to click and order therefore increasing your sales. It's not technically lying per se; it's just not telling everyone how many you had to sell to actually sell out.

PR - As Amy Woodhouse of Creative Cultures rightly says: "If you are creating a buzz and you've got a small tour lined up and/or are recording of a few songs, investing in some PR can help to alert the industry to a new band on the scene with potential. Don't go mad with this, you aren't Pete Doherty just yet, but a few well placed calls and emails may help to secure you some column space both online and offline - and the power of the media shouldn't be underestimated. There are a lot of small music PR companies who can help you with this without breaking the bank." It's very hard to get decent media exposure unless you have contacts within the media outlets themselves so a good PR person can be worth their weight in gold, but they can also charge their weight in gold as well. Before committing to any PR work always be sure to ask what campaigns the company has worked on in the past and do a bit of research into how well it worked for the other clients. A good PR company should have stats to back up any campaigns they have so be sure to be filled in with any analytics available to you: data is valuable. Read here for more info on analytics and how you can apply them yourself for free.

Transport - We all need to get around now don't we? You can get a second hand white van for under a grand these days which allows the rest of your budget to be swallowed by the other costs that come with owning a vehicle. Gigging outside of your local city is pretty much essential but don't aim too far; try and conquer an area bigger than your city but less than 'the north' or 'the south' I.E. the north-west or the midlands etc.

Tour - If you're already lucky enough to have transport sorted you could organise a small tour of the UK, or if you're feeling adventurous and are incredibly frugal; the EU. Sentric artist 'Baddies' have a bucketload of European festivals lined up due to some clever and strategic gigging in Holland. With help from Music Glue they played a few dates in Holland a couple of months before the music industry conference Eurosonic, at these gigs they collected email addresses and distributed free MP3's and whatnot in order to create a fanbase. Then when they returned for the Eurosonic conference they invited loads of booking agents to their gig who then witnessed loads of Dutch people dancing like loons and singing along to a band who don't even use the same currency as them. Booking agents: Impressed. Baddies: summer of European fun now lined up.

Radio Plugger - Radio plugging is a tricky art; they can cost you a lot of money with absolutely no guarantee of return, but then when they do get it right it could end up being the best money you've ever spent. When you start receiving high profile airplay, not only do you gain the exposure to the listenership, you also earn performance royalties which you could put against the initial cost of the plugger. Be aware though; radio plugging is extremely competitive and you're up against the big boys within the industry.

Lessons - Have you got the technical guitar skills of John Smith or Ian Britt? Do you have an audience silencing voice like Andrew Metcalfe or Liam Frost? Can you drum to the ability of Suren De Saram? If not, maybe you need to tone your talent somewhat. Being outstanding at what you do will always get you attention, if you've ever seen John Smith play winter live then you'll know what I mean (and if you haven't then watch this video and prepare to be agog)

Branding - I've used branding as an umbrella term here as it could include the services of a graphic designer, a photographer, a stylist, some new clothes, a drum skin etc. Branding yourself is nothing new and is something I'm quite the advocate of, even if it's as simple as something as a colour, a shape, a 'look' etc. Get a logo, get some good pictures (where YOU'RE NOT stood leaning against a brick wall, Out From Animals and Everything Everything had some great photo's, check them out), make sure your website/MySpace/Twitter etc is all aesthetically similar to help build and maintain the brand within your fanbases conscious.

Event - Why not throw a massive party? You could dress up an industry showcase as a single launch or just a 'normal' gig if you wanted to be a bit sneaky about it. Once you've convinced some important industry people to come down to your gig bribe your fans, friends and family with free booze so they all go mental when you come on stage making you seem like the next Arctic Monkeys to the sober, and a tad confused, industry types at the back.

Web Presence - A domain name won't cost you more than twenty quid, but if you want a high, high, high quality website then expect to pay a lot of cash. But you don't need a high, high, high quality website. So don't bother.

Music - Another tip from the A&R gentlemen from before that initially failed to cross my mind: "If I was in a band I'd probably spend a bit of money on buying music and getting as many influences and ideas as possible, although no with Spotify this is an expense saved." If you're in a group then make each member compile a mix CD (or Spotify playlist) of their favourite music, swap them and swot up on each other's influences and remember, if the bass player loves Journey then you're inclusion of that rare Radiohead B-side just might be what he needs to help him gel with the rest of you.

Video - When most people see a professional looking video they expect that the artist in question has some financial backing behind them (more so than a couple of grand) so this is a good way to get people to grab people's attention. 'New Franchise' by Grammatics and 'Dorothy Millette' by Screaming Mimi are two very good examples of music videos that didn't cost too much to make but look brilliant. Caroline Bottomly from Radar Music Videos suggested that she'd spend the money on a tour whilst filming everything and then commissioning a music video from the subsequent footage. She went into so much depth that I'll link to her full response at the end of the blog.

Live (as in life) - Gerd Leonhard argued "I'd pay myself to start blogging, sharing photos on flickr, setting up my video channels on Youtube, launch a Twitter channel, do Facebook etc --- build my audience. Getting engaged is what costs time which is £££ these days!" Time is indeed money so if you could justify leaving your job/girlfriend/boyfriend/children behind and use the money raised to live off whilst you spend 24/7 Tweeting things like "follow my band... LOLZ!" then go for it. Jokes aside though, I know artists who have done just this and used their savings to spend a good few months focusing on their music and nothing else and in the circumstances I know of it has usually paid off in some form or another. You can set yourself targets; "Within two months I want to have achieved, X amount of followers on Twitter, have 3 new songs recorded, have made 5 new contacts within the radio industry, have one of my tracks played at least once on BBC 6Music" etc.

A Sim Card – This obviously won’t cost you much, if anything at all, but in the responses I received from my blogosphere friends Tom Robinson (6Music DJ and new music advocate) noted “I would also buy a cheap PAYG mobile phone & sim card to receive calls for for my "manager". Either you or a friend can field these; many business people prefer not to deal with the artist direct.” – An interesting musing there to take on board.

Holiday - or you can sod it all off and go on your jollies.

Have a gander here for suggestions from Andrew Dubber (New Music Strategies), Tom Robinson (6Music DJ), Amy Woodhouse (Creative Cultures), the A&R gentleman, Caroline Bottomley (Radar Music Videos) and Gerd Leonhard (Media Futurist). - Click on names for Twitter links.

What I've been listening to this week: Liam Frost and Skeletons

What I've been reading this week: the musings of David Mitchell.

Stay tuned

sP

Follow me on Twitter @sentricmusic

........ ..

Here at Sentric Music we've distributed a lot of money to a lot of artists and quite often when I inform an artist of the amount coming to them I usually add the question "So what plans have you got for this cash?" within the email as I'm genuinely intrigued to know where it's going to be spent.

So I thought this week I'd pick a random figure (£2,000) and propose some ways in which it could be spent to help you out.

A few justifications before I begin.

Firstly; why £2,000? There are a good few of our artists who have received more than £2,000 from us since joining Sentric Music so I don't believe it's an unattainable figure to achieve. Also, I've mentioned several times before that if you're seriously wanting to make a career from your music then you have to realise it's an investment. If there are four of you then £500 each isn't too big of an ask really is it? If you're a singer songwriter then just go put £15 on red 16 on the Roulette table at your nearest casino and you'll be fine.

Secondly; every artist's situation is unique. Hopefully at least one of the areas mentioned within this post may make you consider a potential avenue for your cash.

Thirdly; money is highly more effective when used within conjunction with a strategy (a point that @Mr_Trick feels very strongly about). It's all very well having a couple of grand in your pocket but if you randomly piss it up a proverbial wall without a plan to accompany it then it'll be far less useful then if you did. Read here for advice on how to apply basic business theory to your music.

Ok then, let us begin (I asked a few friends their thoughts as well).

Equipment - Who do you want to sound like? Muse wouldn't sound like Muse if they didn't have the futuristic gear they do and The White Stripes wouldn't sound like they do if they didn't have all the vintage gear behind them; both of which cost a lot of cash. If you want to sound like The Wombats however you'd probably end up with £1,750 spare after kitting yourselves out.

Never rush a purchase; do your research online firstly. Do you really need a new guitar? Or would an effects pedal give you the sound you're looking for at a fraction of the price? Once you've narrowed down your search then go and annoy the staff at various music shops to the point of insanity by trying out every alternative and most importantly; don't be intimidated by that one guy that every guitar shop has who is in his mid thirties and is insanely good at 'masturbating the fret board' and who makes your ropey rendition of the solo from Night Train by Guns 'N' Roses sound as awful as it truly is. They may be able to compete with the guys on the G3 tour, but they've never set foot on a stage in their life so you win. Fact.

Recording - I like to think it's pretty much essential to have at least 3 tracks recorded to a high level of quality good enough to be played on the radio if the opportunity occurs. These tracks can be then used for a lot of things; giving them away for email addresses for your mailing list, content for websites/MySpace etc, you could put them up for sale on iTunes if need be (although I don't think it's worth releasing anything digitally until you've got a decent fanbase going). A friend of mine who is an A&R for a major label suggests "Find a really local engineer/producer and spend a little bit of money working on a couple of tunes. If they're on the same page as you and you're happy with the sound and direction they're taking you in, then spend some more money and do some more tracks. If not, find someone else". A wise point there; don't commit to spending too much money until you're happy with the engineer/producer.

Pressing - You could get a hell of a lot of CD's pressed for various reasons; selling, sending out, frisbees, mirrors for guinea pigs etc, or you could get a few vinyl pressed to sell to your hardcore fanbase. If you are going to get some vinyl pressed then don't go crazy with the amount, get enough pressed to satisfy the demand then when they sell out you can tell everyone on your website that 'YOU'VE SOLD OUT!!!' and therefore must be really good so when the next single gets pressed other fans who missed out may be more eager to click and order therefore increasing your sales. It's not technically lying per se; it's just not telling everyone how many you had to sell to actually sell out.

PR - As Amy Woodhouse of Creative Cultures rightly says: "if you are creating a buzz and you've got a small tour lined up and/or are recording of a few songs, investing in some PR can help to alert the industry to a new band on the scene with potential. Don't go mad with this, you aren't Pete Doherty just yet, but a few well placed calls and emails may help to secure you some column space both online and offline - and the power of the media shouldn't be underestimated. There are a lot of small music PR companies who can help you with this without breaking the bank." It's very hard to get decent media exposure unless you have contacts within the media outlets themselves so a good PR person can be worth their weight in gold, but they can also charge their weight in gold as well. Before committing to any PR work always be sure to ask what campaigns the company has worked on in the past and do a bit of research into how well it worked for the other clients. A good PR company should have stats to back up any campaigns they have so be sure to be filled in with any analytics available to you: data is valuable. Read here for more info on analytics and how you can apply them yourself for free.

Transport - We all need to get around now don't we? You can get a second hand white van for under a grand these days which allows the rest of your budget to be swallowed by the other costs that come with owning a vehicle. Gigging outside of your local city is pretty much essential but don't aim too far; try and conquer an area bigger than your city but less than 'the north' or 'the south' I.E. the north-west or the midlands etc.

Tour - If you're already lucky enough to have transport sorted you could organise a small tour of the UK, or if you're feeling adventurous and are incredibly frugal; the EU. Sentric artist 'Baddies' have a bucketload of European festivals lined up due to some clever and strategic gigging in Holland. With help from Music Glue they played a few dates in Holland a couple of months before the music industry conference Future Sonic, at these gigs they collected email addresses and distributed free MP3's and whatnot in order to create a fanbase. Then when they returned for the Future Sonic conference they invited loads of booking agents to their gig who then witnessed loads of Dutch people dancing like loons and singing along to a band who don't even use the same currency as them. Booking agents: Impressed. Baddies: summer of European fun now lined up.

Radio Plugger - Radio plugging is a tricky art; they can cost you a lot of money with absolutely no guarantee of return, but then when they do get it right it could end up being the best money you've ever spent. When you start receiving high profile airplay, not only do you gain the exposure to the listenership, you also earn performance royalties which you could put against the initial cost of the plugger. Be aware though; radio plugging is extremely competitive and you're up against the big boys within the industry.

Lessons - Have you got the technical guitar skills of John Smith or Ian Britt? Do you have an audience silencing voice like Andrew Metcalfe or Liam Frost? Can you drum to the ability of Suren De Saram? If not, maybe you need to tone your talent somewhat. Being outstanding at what you do will always get you attention, if you've ever seen John Smith play winter live then you'll know what I mean (and if you haven't then watch this video and prepare to be agog)

Branding - I've used branding as an umbrella term here as it could include the services of a graphic designer, a photographer, a stylist, some new clothes, a drum skin etc. Branding yourself is nothing new and is something I'm quite the advocate of, even if it's as simple as something as a colour, a shape, a 'look' etc. Get a logo, get some good pictures (where YOU'RE NOT stood leaning against a brick wall, Out From Animals and Everything Everything had some great photo's, check them out), make sure your website/MySpace/Twitter etc is all aesthetically similar to help build and maintain the brand within your fanbases conscious.

Event - Why not throw a massive party? You could dress up an industry showcase as a single launch or just a 'normal' gig if you wanted to be a bit sneaky about it. Once you've convinced some important industry people to come down to your gig bribe your fans, friends and family with free booze so they all go mental when you come on stage making you seem like the next Arctic Monkeys to the sober, and a tad confused, industry types at the back.

Web Presence - A domain name won't cost you more than twenty quid, but if you want a high, high, high quality website then expect to pay a lot of cans. But you don't need a high, high, high quality website. So don't bother.

Music - Another tip from the A&R gentlemen from before that initially failed to cross my mind: "If I was in a band I'd probably spend a bit of money on buying music and getting as many influences and ideas as possible, although no with Spotify this is an expense saved." If you're in a group then make each member compile a mix CD (or Spotify playlist) of their favourite music, swap them and swot up on each other's influences and remember, if the bass player loves Journey then you're inclusion of that rare Radiohead B-side just might be what he needs to help him gel with the rest of you.

Video - When most people see a professional looking video they expect that the artist in question has some financial backing behind them (more so than a couple of grand) so this is a good way to get people to grab people's attention. 'New Franchise' by Grammatics and 'Dorothy Millette' by Screaming Mimi are two very good examples of music videos that didn't cost too much to make but look brilliant. Caroline Bottomly from Radar Music Videos suggested that she'd spend the money on a tour whilst filming everything and then commissioning a music video from the subsequent footage. She went into so much depth that I'll link to her full response at the end of the blog.

Live (as in life) - Gerd Leonhard argued "I'd pay myself to start blogging, sharing photos on flickr, setting up my video channels on Youtube, launch a Twitter channel, do Facebook etc --- build my audience. Getting engaged is what costs time which is £££ these days!" Time is indeed money so if you could justify leaving your job/girlfriend/boyfriend/children behind and use the money raised to live off whilst you spend 24/7 Tweeting things like "follow my band... LOLZ!" then go for it. Jokes aside though, I know artists who have done just this and used their savings to spend a good few months focusing on their music and nothing else and in the circumstances I know of it has usually paid off in some form or another. You can set yourself targets; "Within two months I want to have achieved, X amount of followers on Twitter, have 3 new songs recorded, have made 5 new contacts within the radio industry, have one of my tracks played at least once on BBC 6Music" etc.

A Sim Card – This obviously won’t cost you much, if anything at all, but in the responses I received from my blogosphere friends Tom Robinson (6Music DJ and new music advocate) noted “I would also buy a cheap PAYG mobile phone & sim card to receive calls for for my "manager". Either you or a friend can field these; many business people prefer not to deal with the artist direct.” – An interesting musing there to take on board.

Holiday - or you can sod it all off and go on your jollies.

Have a gander here for suggestions from Andrew Dubber (New Music Strategies), Tom Robinson (6Music DJ), Amy Woodhouse (Creative Cultures), the A&R gentleman, Caroline Bottomley (Radar Music Videos) and Gerd Leonhard (Media Futurist).

What I've been listening to this week: Liam Frost and

What I've been reading this week: the musings of David Mitchell.

Stay tuned

Stumble It!

10:39

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Thursday, May 28, 2009

Liverpool Sound City 2009
Current mood:

tired
Category: Music

(To see this blog somewhere a lot prettier then go to www.sentric.wordpress.com)

As you’re no doubt all aware last week was the second Liverpool SoundCity festival and I was in attendance for quite a bit of it so I thought I’d let you in on my shenanigans…

As we were an official Twitter partner of the festival I was instructed to arrive at the Beatles themed Hard Days Night hotel early on Tuesday morning for my rendezvous with ‘the tech guys’ to discuss ‘how this Twitter malarkey works’ which took all of thirty seconds. I do feel for these so called ‘tech guys’ at times, especially at conferences like this where they sit huddled away in the corner making sure everything works and never referred to by their first name. As I was Twittering away all through the conference I was sat next to them throughout and not once did I hear them say “have you turned it off and turned it on again?” so it was nice to dispel that myth.

The panels at LSC really took a step up compared to last year with the speakers being both vastly experienced and rather knowledgeable within their respective fields of knowledge. I’d argue they were potentially a bit ‘too big’ to fit in with the ethos of Liverpool SoundCity at times but I did learn a fair few things over the two days:

-          Nic Harcourt believes there isn’t any decent music radio in LA. After hearing this I contemplated telling him about ‘Rock FM’ and that he hasn’t got anything to moan about. Or my favourite radio station ever: ‘Riviera Radio’ which can be found in Monaco and seemingly only plays the Pet Shop Boys 24 hours a day. I’ll never forget the ident “Riviera Radio; where traffic… JAMS”. Listen here.
-          Mr Harcourt believes the ‘OC Effect’ isn’t as powerful as much as it was around 4 years ago as it had become more saturated. I think I’d agree with this. A friend of mine owns every single Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack released and my better half has a few OC soundtracks to her name as well. As these were the two shows which are seen to have rejuvenated the power music can play within a show and at the same time successfully launch artists careers by pushing them under the noses of potential fans the soundtracks have shifted millions of units. Nowadays more and more shows are utilising new and unreleased music to good effect but as the choice is now greater there is no longer one or two flagship shows to chose from.
-          Nic also believes that radio is more important to an artists career here within the UK than it is in the US. I’d agree again here as the US has no real national station like we do here in the guise of BBC Radio 1 and 2. If you’re A-listed on BBC Radio 1 then there is a very good chance that you’re probably going to chart the week your single is released
-          Jonathan Shalit believes that “Young consumers are the most powerful influence on the music industry”.
-          The panel entitled “The future of the music industry” agreed that Radio 1 is the biggest tastemaker within the UK. I do agree that BBC Radio 1 is rather important and if I was an indie artist with a few grand to spend on promoting myself I’d probably throw it towards a plugger but that doesn’t mean you can’t have success without their backing. Cliff Richard being a prime example of that – that geezer releases a track every Christmas and usually scores at least a top 20 with it without Zane Lowe shouting over the top of it or Tim Westwood giving him ‘mad props’ (which is something I would love to hear). Perez Hilton also got an honourable mention as a tastemaker within the pop world.
-          Different professionals prefer different media. The sync panel pretty much agreed that they prefer receiving music via MP3/download links whereas A&R would rather receive a CD. Bear that in mind before you go committing to getting hundreds of discs pressed which will end up being nothing more than landfill.
-         The sync panel agreed that UK music has certain kudos to it that other countries music doesn’t. The panel was made up of various Americans and a solitary German who were all very complimentary about our music scene. Here at Sentric we’ve had a fair few placements for our artists on US TV as of late and I believe that the fact we’re British has helped us significantly in that market.
-          The decision to ‘go’ with a track is a shared one between the creative and the budget holder in theory. But the German representative from TWBA stated rather staunchly that he was in charge of the cash and therefore it was his decision. Quite recently we were a gnat’s crotchet away from securing an US advert for an international company which would have been worth upwards of £12,000 to the artist, but just as the deal was about to be signed off the creative changed their mind which ruined our weekend somewhat. After we put the Lambrini back on ice we suggested we may be able to clear the track for a bit cheaper if needed but they assured us it was a creative decision, not a fiscal one so that may give you an idea into who really is in control.
-          The ‘art’ of A&R is grossly misunderstood according to those who do it for a living. There is definitely an air of truth to this as I come across many people who assume A&R scouts just find artists, sign them to the label and then jog on afterwards to find the next big thing all over again. Whereas in reality a truly good A&R person acts as a voice in-between the artist they signed and the label they signed to. Thus why you hear constant horror stories about artists who sign with a label only for the A&R person to leave/get fired/OD a couple of weeks later and they then get lost in a sea of artists with no marketing budget or tour support. (Read ‘Ask the A&R‘)
-          According to Rob Swerdlow (the Kooks manager) a good record label should have two types of A&R person; one who signs artists for trends and one who signs artists for longevity. A rather good point here which I’d assume is already in practice at certain labels within the industry, wheter the A&R person in question knows what they are to their boss is a different question though and if they do know they’re employed to sign trending artists then lets hope they don’t use that in their sales pitch; “Yeah, you should definitely sign with us! Why? Because you sound just like that Little Boots bird so I reckon we could shift a hundred thousand units with you before dropping you before the second album”.
-          According to Phil Saxe all the best music lawyers are in London. I have no idea if this is true or not but my favourite music lawyer is indeed in London. Is it wrong to have a ‘favourite’ music lawyer?! That’s a niche drunken pub chat right there; ‘Top 5 Music Lawyers… Go!’ I don’t think I have five, but I would as well as my favourite I’d also include the one I interviewed for some uni work I did once. He was nice.
-          Gary Calamar (music supervisor and all round lovely guy) says you should expect to work for free within the music industry if you want to eventually make a career from it. Pretty obvious stuff but always worth reiterating.
-         In the US Warner will not sign a band without taking the publishing with it. Amazing little fact that. God help the artist who signs that deal.
-          Universal will only make a publishing offer once a band has proven they can generate income. Another very interesting fact which proves majors aren’t willing to take may risks anymore which opens up opportunities for smaller indies to grab bands on their way up. Hurray for entrepreneurialism eh?
-          Music education within the national curriculum needs a bloody good looking at. When I was at school it was all recorders, keyboards and stumbling horrifically through various traditional songs. Not once did we learn about the actual business of music and what the concept of copyright was. The panel argued that if kids were taught about copyright at a younger age then they may respect it more and be less inclined to steal it which is an interesting angle which I might just agree with. They also praised Fergal Sharkey for his continuing work within the industry to raise awareness regarding this are.
-          Don’t approach agents, let them approach you. There is no point sending your music out to agents, once you’ve reached a level where you’re regularly pulling crowds and making enough ‘industry noise’ they’ll come find you and offer you something.
-          “They (major labels) just need to die”. A quote from the festival director Dave Pichilingi. A potential epitaph maybe?

So that was the panels! Now for the gigs.

Casio Kids – Had high hopes for these after several people informed me that I ‘just needed’ to check them out and alas, they were vastly underwhelming. After several G&T’s I thought I’d come up with the perfect comparison: “like Friendly Fires but castrated” but now in the light of day I’m not too sure.
Toyko Pinsalocks – Easily one of the highlights of the festival. Three Japanese ladies doing candyfloss pop with quality bass lines and floaty synths. Lovely.
Bicycle Thieves – Along with Sound Of Guns these guys are the current Liverpudlian tip and their set didn’t disappoint. They sound a bit like Queens of the Stone Age. And I really like Queens of the Stone Age. So I quite like them.
Black Lips – Oh dear me these were awful. Treat them as you would a Mexican pig; avoid at all costs.
Eugene McGuinness and The Lizards – I do prefer him without the Lizards if I’m honest but still a very talented young man.
Lee Broderick – If you like pop then you’ll like Lee Broderick, it really is that simple. His scouse manager somehow managed to majestically blag a hotel room performance which was seen by some of the sync agents attending the conference who were very impressed. A fantastic example of how a good manager can make all the difference at times.
Minion TV – it was the first time I’d seen these guys perform since Sentric Music secured them a Lexus advert and I’m rather glad to say they can pull off their rather epically massive sound live.
A Cup of Tea – Another one of my highlights of the week played a tragically under attended show in above the once legendary Parr Street Studios. Someone once described them to me as sounding “like Four Tet after they’ve raved to hard” which is a pretty good description.
White Lies – I could only stay for three songs and luckily for me they played two singles during that brief stint! I do think these guys have some great songs on their debut album and they can indeed pull it off live, but it’ll be interesting to know what the follow up album will sound like.
Soft Toy Emergency – A lot of buzz around these guys at the moment thanks to the whole Tings Tings success of 2008 and they’re also managed by the guys who look after Elbow so the combination of those two things could be promising. Enjoyable set, but for me they’re far more interesting when they calm down a bit and make their songs a bit less frantic.
Dan Black – I really enjoyed DB’s set despite him clearly being a bit dishartnened by the lack of crowd at his Little Boots afterparty set. The two singles shone out the most with ‘Yours’ being the definite highlight of the set. I was a little bit suspicious of the fact his voice may have been autotuned though, can anyone confirm/deny this?
Post War Years – If you’re yet to catch these guys live yet then do so immediately. Their live show is very strong and the album sounds even better when you listen to it again the morning after.
Ed Zealous – These guys were ace. Apparently one of them gave up being a professional football to be their drummer. You have to appreciate that utter madness/passion.

I strayed away from Liverpool SoundCity on the Saturday night as I discovered two of my favourite bands were sharing the stage over in Manchester which was an opportunity not to be missed:

Grammatics – If you read the blog often you’ll know how I feel about these guys; they’re just bloody brilliant. The crowd were a tad inpatient as the lager flowed down and they wanted to singalong with their favourite Geordies, but any misplaced attention was well and truly stamped out when they finished on the rather epic ‘Relentless Fours’ (Spotify link). Brilliant.
Maximo Park – The new album is slowly growing on me (almost painfully slowly – if it was anyone else I’d have given up by now, but I owe it to them to give it more time) and the tracks genuinely work better live then on record. I won’t lie though, it’s the oldies that make me smile/sing/dance/jump etc in ways that a lot of other bands can’t. Paul Smith’s lyrics at times verge on genius and the atmosphere was immensely joyous. Also brilliant.

Well there you go; my week in at Liverpool SoundCity. There are several other anecdotes that didn’t make the cut so if you see me buy me a drink and I’ll tell all.

What I’m listening to this week: Tokyo Pinsalocks and Doll & The Kicks

What I’m reading this week: An Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry.

Stay tuned.

Sentric on Twitter

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Friday, April 17, 2009

9 Twitter Tips for Artists
Current mood:

happy
Category: Music

(NOTE TO MYSPACE READERS - If you got to www.sentric.wordpress.com it looks a whole lot prettier!)
You’ve heard me mention Twitter in
the last few posts and it’s been lovely to see a good few artists
joining the micro-blogging revolution and following me accordingly.
Recently I’ve had a couple of artists ask what they can do to increase
followers and therefore push traffic to their sites/Myspaces. So as
ever, I looked into those puppy dog eyes and I just couldn’t bring
myself to deny you my mediocre-at-best advice. Here are some tips…
(Please note that for hardened Twitter users some of these points
may seem a tad obvious so if they do then just shut up and move on to
the next point. I love you.)
1) Choose a short name
There is no point having a massive Twitter name as straight away
that restricts what people can say to you in replies and therefore may
put them off conversing with you which is what Twitter is all about
(for me anyway). Remember that your followers have to put their concise
witticisms into an already restricting 140 characters so there is no
need to confine them further by having a username along the lines of
@genericindiebandnameunitedkindgomonlineROFL. Take Sentric Music artist
‘The Second Hand Marching Band’ – they rather sensibly went for @shmb or Tim and Sam’s The Tim and Sam Band with Tim and Sam (which is 39 characters by itself); they’re known on Twitter as @timandsam. Short is sweet.
2) Tell people
Sounds like quite a simple one but it’s quite surprising the amount
of artists that are on Twitter but don’t tell their fans. Anywhere you
have web presence; MySpace, Bebo, Facebook, mailouts, blogs, email
signatures etc put a cheeky link to your Twitter page to encourage
people to follow you.
3) Don’t be too self indulgent
I won’t follow you if every tweet is about your music, even if I’m a
massive fan of what you do. It’s quite boring. Set yourself a nice
little ratio; I..’d suggest around 4:1, so for every tweet about your
music you tweet four other things unrelated to your artistic endeavours
that could be about anything whatsoever. The joy of Twitter is so
people can get to know you and your many, many foibles and twittering
constantly about how you “just can’t get that middle 8th right” on the
new song you’re writing isn’t really going to interest anyone.
4) Talk to people
Someone who just tweets self indulgent sentences thinking they’re
some form of 21st century Western haiku making machine is going to
struggle to raise followers. Talking to people encourages them to
follow you and to retweet you which is one of the best ways to increase
followers. Try it now, start something with @sentricmusic and lets have a chat eh?
5) Retweet often
If you read a tweet that either makes you go “Ha!” or “Hm!” (which
is the ‘I just learnt something new me’ noise that I’ve mentioned
before in previous posts) then retweet it so a) the people who follow
you who don’t follow the original tweeter get to make the same noise
and b) the original tweeter sees you’ve retweeted him/her and may
follow you in return or engage in conversation.
6) Utilise the free Twitter widgets and platforms
Get yourself to Twitter..’s download page and go giddy. Get
the widget and put it on your MySpace/website so the whole world knows
what you’re up to. Also, don’t bother with the Twitter web interface;
it’s slow and not very pretty. There are many Twitter platforms
available and I..’d personally recommend Tweetdeck. It’s quick,
easy to use and great for setting up various filters so you can put all
of your followers into various categories i.e. ‘Industry’, ‘Friends’,
‘Fans’ etc thus to keep the OCD side of your personality happy.
7) Know what you’re doing
Remember the following:
- If you write a standard Tweet then all of your followers see it.

- If you start a tweet with someone’s username (I.E. @sentricmusic)
then the person you replied to will see it, regardless of if they
follow you or not, and also everyone who follows both you and the
person you’ve replied to will see it.

- If you want to talk to someone without anyone else seeing it then use the Direct Message function.
Learn that and you’ll be fine.
8 ) People unfollowing you isn’t a band thing
Ever hit that refresh button and your followers have gone from 75 to
74?! Don’t panic my good friend, this isn’t a bad thing. People
regularly cull followers if their tweet streams get too messy or quite
simply you may have just offended someone with that tweet you made
about Iraq and Palestine needing to ‘just chill out and relax a bit’.
People will come and go so don’t take it personally. Saying that, if
your followers drop by about 50% and the other 50% are still only there
because they missed the tweet then you probably have done something
pretty bad.
9) Aim high now and again
Sentric Music artist Alex Highton (@alexhighton) recently got ‘props’ from Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk
- rather suspect American actor who is pretty much now only famous
thanks to being married to Demi Moore) who has over a million followers
and humble Mr Highton’s MySpace received a lovely surge in traffic.
Granted this may be a bit of a one off but why not chuck the odd
celebrity a reply in hopes they pick up on your music.

The day Stephen Fry tweets me (@stephenfry) I just may delete my Twitter account as that is the no doubt unreachable zenith I’m aiming for.
Right then, I reckon those nine points should help you on your way to a healthy Tweet life.
I’ll just finish on a few people that you should be following:
@jonathandeamer – Clever bloke who is quite funny when he puts his mind to it

@mr_trick – Regularly tweets about music industry news

@seaninsound – Main guy behind ‘Drowned In Sound’

@dubber – Clever bloke who runs this very useful website

@popjustice – Good source of LOL’s

@sentricmusic – Obviously

@mychemtoilet – Music blog
Thoughts?
What I’m listening to this week: Stay With Me (Baby) by Lorraine Ellison, the EPIC ‘Dance Like A White Boy’ by Master Shortie and Drowned In Sounds first quarter playlist on Spotify (Click here to listen).
What I’m reading this week: Not really ‘reading’ per se but more looking at See Mike Draw
Stay tuned
sP
Stumble It!

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Friday, March 27, 2009

The ten essential Sentric posts you should know about…
Category: Music

The Sentric Music blog has increased in readership quite a bit since
I started penning my grammatically suspect ramblings a couple of years
back and thanks to this there may be a whole host of educational
goodness that you may be missing out on. So this post’s purpose is to
hopefully bring to light any posts that may have slipped your fickle
21st century concentration spans.
Now for those really regular readers who don’t miss a post
I can only apologise as you may have just come across with a feeling of
being cheated; like when you turn on your favourite American sitcom
only to find it’s a clip show, but alas, you can use this post to tell
others about the blog and therefore you’ll have someone to talk to
about it other than your internal monologue who, despite putting up a
good argument at first, always appears to agree with you by the end of
your debate.
So using a mixture of hits and positive feedback from both artists
and industry alike, here are the ten essential Sentric Music blog posts
for you to get your senses around:
1) The Top 8 Things Unsigned/Independent Artists Do Wrong
The post that has received the highest amount of traffic and had
proven to be the most viral with artists from as far away as New
Zealand and Canada getting in touch to comment about my arguments. You
may also notice that through these ten posts I also link to some other
posts within these mentioned posts for which I can only apologise for
being so eager to get you all to read my blatherings. I still stand by
all eight points I mention in this post despite a couple of them being
ripped to shreds by a few artists but I feel I should add a little
extra to each post entitled…
With the beauty of hindsight
– there would be a few more things I’d obviously include that weren’t
about when I first wrote the post, Twitter being the main one. Rather
foolishly I’d also add a ninth point regarding where artists can get
money to help fund their work via people like us at Sentric Music,
although a point like that is included in post number two:
2) If I was an unsigned artist in 2009 I would…
A post which is similar to the one above but a bit more focused on
achievable goals within a 12 month period. They laughed when I said I
could tell the unsigned and independent artists of the world about
Search Engine Optimisation, but I proved them wrong! I even tell people
to look at some old Sentric Music posts which is what I’m doing here
isn’t it? Mmm, will people tell me I’ve jumped the shark? Please do
remember people that I do often blog on topics suggested by the readers
so if there is something you think I should delve into then please get
in touch and let me know.
With the beauty of hindsight
– I should have included something about industry showcase gigs: South
By South West, In The City, Liverpool Sound City, The Great Escape etc.
You need to pick the ones you feel best suited for and, if indeed
you’re ready at all, go about researching how the artists get picked
and how you can better your chances of attaining a slot. That said, the
next post argues that said industry showcases could actually do you
more harm than good:
3) Ask the A&R
I received a lot of comments from artists who had their eyes opened
somewhat by this blog which was the main reason I set about creating
it. It’s remarkably surprising how many artists see the finishing line
to be an offer from a major label when today’s industry can offer so
many alternatives. I was chuffed with the answers I received from the
A&R guys who didn’t hold back with their honesty and gave some
answers that even surprised me at times.
With the beauty of hindsight –
I’d have liked to have asked another two or three A&R people their
thoughts as well but unfortunately they were unable to give me the
answers in time. Also it could be a good idea to do this post again but
from the perspective of A&R guys at indie labels rather than majors?
4) How to apply basic business management theory to your music
This post never received the love I felt it deserved which may just
be the geeky side of me coming out. Studying some form of business from
school through to university meant I constantly had to churn these
things out and apply them to various things and it was when having a
debate in the office about the validity of them (“you never use them in
real life; what’s the point in learning them?” etc) that I thought
about applying them to an artist’s perspective. It would be interesting
to discover how many artists out there have actually sat down and done
a PEST/SWOT analysis after reading this blog and if any good did come
of it, but hopefully it’ll have at least made a few people think
outside the box in regards to what they have at their disposal.
With the beauty of hindsight
– I probably wouldn’t have included the drummer joke in the second
paragraph as I received a complaint about that. From a drummer of
course.
5) 8 Tips on how to make the most out of your mailing list
A pretty much ‘does as it says on the tin’ post which should be read
by any artist who emails their fans no matter how sparsely. It’s
borderline gobsmacking how many ‘email etiquette’ rules are strewn to
one side by artists who email hundreds of people all in the ‘CC’ column
informing me of uninteresting news about something I don’t care about
as I never asked to be on their mailing list in the first place but
they just stole my email from the ‘CC’ column of another idiot who made
the same mistake the week previous. Grrr.
With the beauty of hindsight
– I’d have somehow gotten in touch with Gordon Brown to introduce some
sort of law which means ALL artists have to read this post or a post of
a similar ilk as it’s common enough sense really and once you’ve read
it once it should stick. It’s not rocket science; it’s email.
6) Webber you know it or not
One of my favourite posts due to the inherent geekiness of it.
Arguably one more for artists managers than artists themselves, but
anyone with a touch of web savviness should be able to stumble their
way around it to utilise all the free web tools mentioned within the
post. I don’t think I can put into words just how impressed I was with
Google Analytics when we first added it to the Sentric Music website;
if you don’ use it on your own website then get on it A.S.A.P. If raw
data makes you as happy as I (granted, it’s a bit of a niche fetish)
then this will make you one jolly bunny.
With the beauty of hindsight – not much to say here. Apart from Twitter again I suppose but you know about that by now right?
7) Press release me, let me go
Press releases are a tricky thing to get right and this is at no
means a ‘be all and end all’ guide on how to write them; it’s just my
personal opinion. I’ve no doubt there are people who do press releases
for a living who may read that post and spit proverbial feathers over
the advice that’s given, but so far it’s received decent feedback and
is actually the second highest viewed post.
With the beauty of hindsight
– I would probably argue that unless you have something to flog, ie. a
new album/EP, then it’s probably not worth doing a press release
whatsoever. When I receive a demo all I really need to know is any
future gig dates coming up so I can catch them live if I enjoy the CD
and maybe a photograph so I get an idea of what they look like.
Eight) Gig + etiquette = getiquette
A post that was pretty much therapeutic for me as the artist who got
in touch to compliment the blog was one of the worst I’ve ever had the
displeasure to work with. I’m now out of the promoting game and if I’m
honest I don’t miss it one bit, don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it at the
time and I learnt quite a lot of things during but it’s not something
I’d ever like to get back into. I can only imagine at every level of
gig promotion; from 100 capacity venues to Wembley Stadiums, you’re
going to come across the same problems of egos and arseholes. Again,
it’s worth me pointing out that I worked with some bloody lovely
artists as well and I made some genuine friends, but if you are an
artist, do have a gander at this and if at any point you realise you’ve
been a bit of a numpty to a promoter in the past then drop them a
cheeky MySpace message and let them know you’re aware of your
shortcomings. It’s endearing to hear.
With the beauty of hindsight –
I would also add to the list ‘do your bit; share your kit’. If a
promoter asks you to share some of your kit then please don’t look at
them as if they’ve just asked you to donate a kidney.
9) Money Money Money
This post has some interesting responses from artists: some agreed
wholeheartedly and others felt that I was being unfair with my
comments. The fact of the matter is: if you are an artist then you need
to be prepared to invest in yourself at the beginning of your career at
an absolute minimum. It’s all obviously up to each individual artist
how much they believe they should spend, be it the bare minimum to get
them to gigs and back and cover equipment costs to spending thousands
of pounds on posh studio time, merchandise, a mini bus for touring etc.
Of course there are companies like SENTRIC MUSIC that can help you earn
a few bob on your way.
With the beauty of hindsight
– I would argue that merchandise isn’t the best way to make cash as an
unsigned/independent artist but ensuring you’re on top of your various
royalty income streams is of upmost importance to make sure you’re not
missing out on any money that is rightly yours. Again, not to sound
like I’m plugging but that is exactly what Sentric Music is here for
and this leads us rather nicely too…
10) The blog that justifies what I do
I’ve blogged it before and I’ll blog it again: ignorance towards
performance royalties within the UK is dangerously rife. You are owed
money EVERY time your music is played in public: gigs, radio airplay,
TV airplay, discos, clubs, restaurants and bars, discos, gyms etc. It
may be pence or it may be pounds but at the end of the day is cash that
is owed to you.
With the beauty of hindsight
– The PRS have since dropped their £100 membership fee to join their
service so it’s now free but at the same time I should point out that
using Sentric’s service still has several benefits that arguably
outweigh joining independently; back-dating claims (whereas when you
join you can only claim from your membership start date), we do all the
admin for you (which, I assure you, is worth the 20% by itself alone),
we put your music forward for TV exposure and international advertising
campaigns, we can knock your music up onto iTunes and we’re here for
any music industry advice you need in general. Hurray!
So there you go, please fire this around to whoever you feel would
benefit from it and if you have any suggestions for future topics then
don’t hesitate to get in touch.
What I’m listening to this week; Journey, Pet Shop Boys, Baddies and Post War Years.
What I’m reading this week; mainly verbs
Stay tuned
sP

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Thursday, March 12, 2009

PRS vs Google
Current mood:

aggravated
Category: Music

So I thought I'd dip my toes into this as a couple of Sentric artists have asked for my humble musings on the matter and as that’s what this blog is all about (to serve you good people) let's crack on shall we?

So you probably will have seen in the press/blogosphere/twittersphere that YouTube (who are owned by Google) have removed all official music video content from the site due to a dispute they’re having with PRS For Music who are asking for more cash off them to pay the writers and composers of said music.

Cue outrage.

Now there are arguments for both sides of this disagreement (although for me there are more valid ones for a certain side than the other) but throughout my web trawling I’ve come across some dubious at best statements that scream ignorance and have come out of pure ill education.

There is a brilliant Mitchell & Webb radio sketch where they’re presenting a spoof current affairs show asking the good folk of Britain what they ‘reckon’, an excerpt of which goes like;

“You may not know anything about the issue, but I bet you reckon something. So why not tell us what you reckon. Let us enjoy the full majesty of your uninformed ad hoc reckon, by going to bbc.co.uk… clicking on ‘what I reckon’ and then simply beating on the keyboard with your fists or head.”

Now I’m not usually one to back down from a debate but if I’m ignorant about a certain subject I tend to stay out of making my opinions public or at the very least prefix it with some kind of ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ statement which relinquishes any future vituperation that may have been directed towards me. I’ve been asked by a few people to make comments on things before for websites and newspapers which I’ve had to politely decline simply due to the fact I don’t know a thing about them. The best of which was when I was asked to contribute to a debate in the Liverpool Echo where the central question was “Do you think bail is granted too easily in this country?” Why on earth ask me that?! I’m a music publisher so therefore my knowledge regarding the UK judicial system is pretty thin on the ground.

Anyhoo, my take on this is that Google are going to have the ‘reckoners’ of this country back them in their slagging off the PRS as they just aren’t too clued up with what’s happening.

I’ve no doubt there will be people educated within this are who will be on Google’s side and that is more than fine, healthy if anything, but there will be a whole cacophony of contributors who’ll be siding with Google/Youtube because (as my rather brilliant colleague summed up) “people have an emotional link with YouTube; it has funny clips on it”.

Google are brilliant. Pretty much everything they do simply ‘works’, they’re consumer focused and have revolutionised several sectors of the new media industry. They also offer a lovely bunch of free tools that can be utilised by savvy unsigned/independent artists which I wrote a post about in the past. Click here to read Web-er You Know It Or Not and educate yourself into becoming an efficient artist. Despite my fondness for Google I would have to argue they’ve been a tad ‘arsey’ with their approach to this whole situation. So much so I just contemplated using the word ‘conflict’ rather than situation in the previous sentence when really it should have never escalated past a simple ‘discussion’.

Here are some bits and bobs you should probably know:

Google’s PRS license expired in December 2008 and the two parties have been in talks to renew
Streams of premium music video content have risen nearly 300% (up from 75million to almost 300million a quarter)
Despite this rather significant rise, Google want to pay the PRS 50% less than they did previously despite their music usage suggesting they’re significantly underpaying
At no time did the PRS instruct Google to withdraw the content from the site, this was Google’s own doing

I’m hoping that for those unaware of those facts previously will have read them and made a ‘hm!’ noise thanks to the knowledge just bestowed upon them. (on a side note, the ‘hm!’ noise I talk about is one of my favourites in the world as it means I’ve just learnt something interesting. I must make said noise several times throughout the average episode of QI).

It’s borderline lunacy for Google to expect to pay half what they were paying previously despite usage increasing 300%. Isn’t it? And then to withdraw all the content is just playing dirty as there was no need to whilst discussions were taking place. It was done to bring light to the situation and to make the PRS look like money grabbers to therefore make the ‘reckoners’ of the UK dislike the PRS even more than they already do.

We all know the PRS doesn’t do to well when it comes to its public perception; we read stories about how they’re demanding money from small businesses or they’ll fine them and sometimes they don’t help themselves. But this isn’t Joe Blogg’s Mechanics, this is Youtube, a company Google purchased for $1.65 billion. Surely if they’re using the content then they should pay for it? Let's not forget that Google made $5.7billion in the quarter of last year. Share the wealth eh?

Another problem is that the ‘reckoners’ think that Coldplay, Robbie Williams and Kate Nash don’t need any extra money from Google as they’re no doubt rolling around in pools of cash already. Fair enough point, but how about the other artists trying to make a living from music who aren’t celebrities? Beth Orton spoke out in favour of the PRS the other day on the BBC 6Music website. The female singer-songwriter is testament to the fact that artists rely on the royalties from their music to live:

"It’s been lovely for me because I’ve had the last two years to just concentrate on my little girl.

"That’s been from working really hard for 10 years and then being able to live off the back of what I’ve done when those little royalty cheques come in."

Now I don’t read Heat magazine but I’m guessing Beth doesn’t grace their front cover as often as Leona Lewis does. And how about artists even more grass roots then Beth Orton? A certain Sentric Music artist had their video streamed 38,175 times during a quarter last year and would you like to take a stab in the dark of the royalties they received from that? A whopping £2.62. An average Premier League attendance watches your video and you barely get enough for a pint of lager in return.

So there you go; I hope this blog has helped a good few of you make up your mind about the Google vs PRS situation and if you hear any ‘reckoners’ chatting otherwise then please send them to this post to hopefully educate them somewhat.

On a related note another artist's asked me about the best way to go about commissioning a music video and unfortunately I’m pretty inexperienced in that area so rather than reckoning something I'd rather send you over to the lovely Caroline Bottomley at Radar Music Videos who are pretty clued up about that sort of thing.

What I’m listening to this week; some cheeky Florence and the Machine demos I was lucky enough to acquire (there are a couple of belters; the album could be potentially brilliant) and Everything Everything.

What I’m reading this week: Charlie Brookers column. A constant source of Lol’ing.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter.

Stay tuned.

sP

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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

6 things to improve your chances of getting your music synched…
Current mood:

happy
Category: Music

....................

Music synchronisation has long been something artists have had an inherent
interest in due to the obvious rewards it offers, mainly the combination of
both exposure and cash. Lovely.

It also has a history of successfully breaking artists into the mainstream, if
it wasn’t for Levis I would have never discovered Babylon Zoo’s
"Spaceman" and the consequences of that aren’t even worth
contemplating.

So how do you get your music on the new iPod advert? Or in the Eastenders caff
whilst two people have a miserable conversation about their miserable lives? Or
on the new Paris Hilton show where she chooses an idiot from a line of idiots
to be her new idiotic best friend? (Little in joke for the newsletter readers
there – email info@sentricmusic.com if you want to be added to it or click here
to read the last one).

Well read on my friend and hopefully the following advice will help you on your
merry way.....

First of all let me just break down some of the lingo I’ll be chucking
hither and tither during this post:....

Synch (synchronisation) – The act of putting music on top of visuals
(TV, Movies, Games, Films, Websites etc) or other audio (Radio adverts etc).

Creatives – The people who work for advertising agencies/production
companies who have "the vision" of what they want their final product
to look like.

The Client – the brand/company which the product (advert, TV programme,
website etc) is being made for and who the creatives are working for

Music Supervisors – the people that look for the track after they’ve
been given their direction by the creatives....

1) Find people who know what they’re doing and let them worry about
it.....

Unless the Creatives have your track in mind already and they’re knocking on
your door with a briefcase full of cash in one hand and a contract in the other
then getting your music under their noses is not the easiest thing to do. So
much so that it’s peoples full time jobs to get chummy with music supervisors
in order to get the music they’re representing on their radar.

Your best option is to find a synch agent or service (like Sentric Music of
course) who’ll be pushing your music on your behalf as they’re the people
who’ll be wining and dining the music supervisors whilst slipping them a cheeky
sampler CD in-between the fish and soup courses.....

Music Supervisor - “Delightful Haddock that”

Synch Agent - “Indeed”

Music Supervisor - “What’s the soup again? Winter Vegetable Melody? I
must say it’s awfully nice of you to take me out like this”

Synch Agent – “No worries! Just thought it’d be nice to catch up, and
the soup is Leek and Potato I believe... Talking about Leek and Potato soup
have you heard this new track we’re representing by (insert Welsh band's name
here)?”....

As you can see it’s a fine art that shouldn’t be sniffed at.....

DON’T PAY UPFRONT for a service like this. There are a few companies out
there that will ask for cash in exchange for submitting your music for
advertising campaigns and what not but I'd personally avoid these like the
plague. Go for either a publishing service that will push your music for free
(like us), wait until a synch
agent approaches you due to their love of your music and ask to represent you
or wait for a traditional publishing deal to come along. If either of the
latter two do happen make sure you seek legal advice before signing anything
and remember: copyright is king so always lease and never look to sign over
your copyright for an extended period of time.....

2) Know who owns your rights and make sure they get on with one
another.....

In the majority of cases the core readership of this blog will own the
copyright to both the master recordings and the songs themselves. If this is
the case then you have nothing to worry about as once you’ve given the OK to
whoever is pushing your music for synch then no more permission needs to be
sought after.

If you have a label you need to make sure they know that there is a publisher
pushing your material for synchronisation as permission for the master rights
is also essential before any use can be confirmed. With the contacts we have in
America who have placed some of Sentric Music’s artists tunes on programs on
VH1 and MTV they’ve always requested music that is ‘pre cleared on both sides’
which to put in laymans terms means that they can use it without having to get
permission from both us and the master rights holders first. This is due to the
hasty turnaround deadlines the TV industry works to and also because of the
time difference between us and our Atlantic neighbours.

We have strong relationships with many record labels and once we’ve been given
permission by both themselves and the artists to begin pushing the material
then we go and do what we do best and in the majority of cases there is little
problem. However there is one label in particular who haven’t been the best
(they’re a major, no surprises there) and therefore we’re unable to push the
artist's music for synch, which is a pity as the album is bloody well
marvellous!....

3) Always record instrumental versions of your music.....

Having an instrumental version of your material handy is always a brilliant
thing to have and usually doesn’t take up much of your precious studio time
(just take off the vocals, level it a bit and bounce it down so I’ve been
informed – although my experience of sound technology is limited to me
recording myself playing the intro to Plug In Baby on a second hand acoustic
guitar through a mini disc player when I was a teenager... I could have been
Timbaland).

If a creative really likes your track it’s very common for them to request an
instrumental version as well so when they’re cutting up the music to fit the
video they can work their magic. So have one available, and let whoever is
pushing your music know!....

4) Be patient.....

Over any one advert there may be a whole gallimaufry (which is ‘loads’ to a
normal person) of music supervisors searching and submitting music to earn
their percentage so competition is fierce. You may be up against thousands of
other songs so it’s going to be rare that your track is the perfect one for the
placement. Or even if it is perfect the client might not want to use it anyway
and go for something else that they want which may be for various reasons:
helping out a friend at a record label, they think the other track will be a
better match for their brand, or they might just be an idiot.

We recently submitted some music for a particular advert which worked extremely
well and the creatives also agreed, but for a reasons only beknowst to her, the
client wanted to use M People. Having to explain why M People are no longer
culturally relevant in a world full of HD TV’s and Twitter isn’t the easiest
thing to do without sounding downright patronising and we’re currently waiting
back to hear her response.

I've known certain music supervisors who were in their jobs for years until
they landed their first synch deal and this isn’t due to them being bad at
their job or having a narrow musical knowledge, far from it, it can just
genuinely take that long for something to pay off so just chill out and enjoy
life in the interim ok?....

5) Demos aren’t good enough....

If you get to the stage where you’re submitting music for briefs then don’t
bother sending in a demo version of your new song that you’re convinced
"is going to break you" because firstly it’s not and secondly as soon
as the music supervisor hears the opening four seconds and realises the
production quality is poor then it’ll be deleted, never to be heard again. Here
at Sentric Music we sometimes have to listen to hundreds of tracks with the
purpose of whittling them down to an acceptable number to send to the client
and if the production quality is poor then we simply can’t submit it.....

6) Apply self censorship....

Be sure to read the brief and to listen to any reference tracks mentioned by
the creatives/music supervisors. If they say they’re looking for something that
is both energetic and sounds like "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead then
don’t send something in that is purely energetic, but sounds nothing like Lenny
and Co.

I know it’s exciting to imagine your music on an advert for a multinational
brand and I know it’s exciting to consider that a placement on a worldwide
advert could be worth upwards of £100k but if your music doesn’t fit the brief
then simply don’t submit it.

If you submit something that doesn’t match you’re going to piss off the music
supervisor who will then be less inclined to listen to anything you also send
in the future.

If you haven’t already got it then check out Spotify; it’s a music
streaming service that is ad-funded in a similar vein to We7 and has a great
catalogue of music behind it. In pretty much every brief that we send out there
will be a couple of ‘reference tracks’ and Spotify often has these available to
listen to which should give you an idea what the creatives are looking for.
Once you have downloaded Spotify then click here to listen to a
cheeky playlist we knocked together here in the Sentric office!....

So there you go - six tips to help you get your music synched.....

I know I’ve mentioned Sentric a couple of times in this post already and I
often stress that this blog is purely for advice and not for marketing but on
this occasion I feel it is relevant so bear with me as I do a bit of
plugging.......

If you sign up to Sentric Music then
you’ll automatically be added onto our briefing distribution list where you’ll
receive regular requests for music of various genres. We have been successful
in placing music on nationwide TV advertising campaigns, we regularly have
music placed on TV programmes (with Hollyoaks being a repeat customer) and we
have a number of companies within the States pushing our music for synch. As
ever it’s free to join up and if you go to the About Us page on our
website you’ll find testimonies from some of our hundreds of users. Right,
marketing done.....

What I’m listening to this week: Bombay Bicycle Club, The Jane Bradfords and And
So I Watch You From Afar....

What I’m reading this week: Catch
22 by Joesph Heller and Smalltown America’s blog....

Stay tuned....

sP....

.. ..

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Monday, February 09, 2009

Ask the A&R...
Current mood:

working
Category: Music

Afternoon all...

Regular readers will be aware that a few posts ago I asked you to send me in any questions you’ve ever wanted to ask the A&R of the major label world as I had three plucky volunteers who were willing to bare all (albeit anonymously) to help you in your quest to make a living from music.

Two major label A&R Scouts and one Publishing major A&R scout were kind enough to take part so thank you to the gentlemen in question who I’ve no doubt shall glance at this post when it’s uploaded.

I offered the scouts anonymity as I wanted their answers to be as honest as possible. A few of their statements may well and truly annoy the core readership of this blog, but alas poor Yoric, sometimes the truth hurts and the sooner you can take their advice on board the sooner you might be living that ever more elusive dream of yours: a house in Beverley Hills, the signature Gibson Les Paul, the on/off relationship with a miscellaneous girl group member and of course, a whole melange of crippling addictions.

So here are the questions, followed by the answers and a couple of humble musings from myself. (Please note, very little editing has been applied to their answers; just the odd spelling and grammatical bits and bobs)

Numbers: 1 = Major Label A&R, 2 = Major Publisher A&R, 3= Major Label A&R, 4 = Me.

•   What do you look for in a demo?

1.   This is an interesting question. Most of the demos I get are ones I've asked the artist to send; therefore at least I already like something about the act. In terms of unsolicited material, in all honesty it's very rare that it will even reach us, and if it does it will most probably go un-listened. A large percentage of my week is taken up listening to things I've found through reliable sources around the country, therefore 'getting in' with good people in your local area is much more valuable than sending a s**t load of jiffy bags to record labels!

2.   Something exceptional, or with the potential to be exceptional. When you're signing an artist you want them to be exceptional in every way or have the potential to be, but a demo could be a great vocal, song or sound. From that point you can then see a gig or meet them to see what else they've got.

3.   Big fat hooks. Songs are the only thing that really matter. Without commercial songs, then there's no reason for a major label to get involved.

4.   Some interesting answers here – our first chap took a different angle to the question than I initially intended but never the less gave some extremely good advice. How often have you sent demos to labels (either Indie of Major), publishers (again, Indie or Major), management companies, booking agents, promoters etc to never receive a reply in return? If you sent out a hundred; how many replies would you perceive as a ‘success’? 10? 5? 1?! I'd argue that every single one of them CD’s should have been given to someone who actually wanted to listen to them. Fans at shows, friends on myspace, followers on Twitter etc. Tips fly around the industry daily and 99% of the time they originate from a grassroots level; studio workers, local promoters, local music bloggers/press etc. Be bloody nice to these people as they’re the ones in contact with A&R and they’re the ones most likely to give you a nod the next time they’re asked for a tip.

The second answer is to be expected: of course they’re looking for something exceptional as no one is going to take a punt on something average. I pretty much guarantee that every artist reading this will have commented (either aloud or in their thoughts) on an artist in the charts; “How did they get signed? My music’s much better!” and although that may be true in certain aspects, have another look at the artist you’ve just criticised because they have something about their music which has spurned someone to throw cash at them. When you can start seeing something exceptional in every popular artist then you can begin to look at your music in a far more objective manner.

The third answer is rather honest; if you can’t imagine your music on Radio 1 or Radio 2’s playlist then arguably a major isn’t for you. They want hits and a niche act isn’t going to sell hundreds of thousands of units.

•   Does the quality of my recording matter?

1.   A shit recording is a shit recording, but at the end of the day if it's a good song it will shine through. The quality of the recording shouldn't really matter, although a better recording would be preferred (though I wouldn't say essential). More developed ideas and a detailed look at the 'production' would also be nice. Arrangement is always something to look at I.E 8 minute tunes are a bit of a turn off... unless it's f*****' mint!

2.   It obviously needs to show you off as best as possible. at the very least the song and quality of voice, but if the demo isn't of a great quality production wise you'd hope the artist has an idea on the production and sound of the album they want to make.

3.   On the whole it should be the best it can be. The best you can make it with the resources available to you. You want to make a good impression. Of course if it’s a production led project than it’s more important than for an indie band for example.

4.   Ergo – it doesn’t really matter that much. They’re looking for ideas, for structure and for potential. If they like your songs they’ll find you, watch you live and if they’re impressed by that probably have a chat with you about production and various other things.

•   Do you still want CD demos or are MP3s better?

1.   Both have advantages and disadvantages, I'm indifferent really. An MP3 is better for ease, although it can clog up your inbox resulting in it either bouncing back or getting deleted to free up space. A simple MySpace link is sometimes better than both!

2.   Any - Mp3s, CDs, MySpace links.

3.   CD’s addressed to me. MP3s just sent at random to me clog my inbox. 4.   In my experience most A&R aren’t fussed about how they come across music. As MP3’s can by quite space heavy then a link to a site where they can download a song may be a good idea as well as a link to where they can stream it. If they love the track they’ll no doubt get in touch for a copy.

•   Is it true that you guys won’t listen to a track if it hasn’t got your attention after 30 seconds?

1.   I wouldn't say it's entirely true, but you can usually tell after about 30 seconds where a song is showing any promise, or whether it's gonna stay along those 'steaming pile of s**t' lines...

2.   No, but there's only so many hours in the day so if there's nothing exciting in the first 30 seconds of a song then you might ask questions about arrangement.

3.   Try and think of a great pop song that didn't get your attention within 30 seconds. You're ultimately trying to get people to buy your music; A&R guys are just trying to put themselves in the shoes of the public. If it does nothing within 30 seconds, what impression is it going to make coming out of a radio in the background of someone's morning, or behind someone's conversation?

4.   I think it’s pretty safe to say I'd save the lengthy intros for the album.

•   How much do trends effect your decision in signing artists?

1.   You do have to keep in mind what is commercial, and what is right for the market place, but once you start looking to jump on a trend is when you've already missed it... New, innovative and interesting bands/artists/music is always much more inspiring for me!

2.   You need to be aware of what trends media are focused on but a genuinely incredible artist will work regardless of what trends are occurring.

3.   Probably more than most A&R guys will admit to, but then again artists with a 'current' sound have been the cornerstone of major label signings since the industry began. It’s just the way fashion dictates commerce of any kind. I’m not going to sign someone who sounds like Louis Prima today, but in 1955 it would have been a decent decision.

4.   I partly agree with the statement number 1 gives regarding “once you start looking to jump on a trend is when you’ve already missed it” but that sounds like an A&R man who wants to be the forefront of a movement. Four years ago it would have been lovely to sign the Arctic Monkeys, but someone still signed Little Man Tate afterwards. Copycat artists are abundant in the industry and are to be expected whenever a truly inspiring band is broken (I should say that although I refer to these acts as ‘copycat’ I’m not accusing them of plagiarism in the slightest as often they may have been around longer than the act that breaks the genre, it’s just the term that is used). Answer number three is honest and rightly so; trends do indeed dictate commerce and the music business is just that – a business.

•   Do artists ever get signed from sending in demo’s? Or will the A&R always find the artist via their own means?

1.   I can't say that this has never happened, but it would be very, very, very rare for this to happen now. I'd always prefer to find something by my own means, although if we didn't get any demos sent into the office we probably wouldn't have anything to laugh about!

2.   It does happen occasionally, but usually it's via your own means.

3.   I believe that talent bubbles up and rises to the surface wherever it exists. Whether it’s a music teacher, or a booker at the local pub, or a mate etc there tends to be someone who can pass on the word of a good artist. Steve Winwood was a 15 year old in Birmingham when he began in Spencer Davis Group, but word started to get out about this kid with an amazing voice and people started taking notice. The likelihood that a great artist is first heard by an A&R guy from a demo tape before they've already passed in front of some other 3rd party is slim, so while it’s not unfeasible that someone could be signed from a unsolicited demo its far more productive for me to be in touch with someone who can aggregate artists in early development, whether that's a regional scout, promoter, music college rep, or just a punter commenting on a blogs.

4.   All three answers echo my comments on the first question, it’s the people within your local music scene that are the ones you should be buying beers for. Are you that group who never Kit Shares? That guitarist who never brings his own amp because it’s ‘vintage’? That 4 piece who never do any gig promotion ‘because that’s the promoter’s job’? Then welcome to mediocrity my friends. Just play nice eh?

•   How important are playing industry showcases like In The City and The Great Escape?

1.   I would say they're becoming less and less important. The Great Escape is different; I feel it's much more geared and aimed towards the punter rather than A&R. In The City for example, has now become a festival for the buzz bands rather than an opportunity to discover great new bands. I won't advise people to play them, even if you are great and unknown; you're a very small fish in what is generally a massive pool of utter shit! Don’t ever pay to play a slot at a festival like this!!! The demise in festivals like this is only a result in the way the industry is moving. Bands are generally being discovered a lot earlier!

2.   It's not essential to play them by any means but If you're an exceptional artist, ready to get signed and with a bit of buzz (whether industry, media or from live gigs) then they can be a great opportunity. But if you're not ready and play a bad gig it can be a bit of a setback. I think Great Escape is good for overseas bands who have usually spent more time developing/gigging and get to play a few shows to labels and media.

3.   They're a good opportunity for A&R to tick a large number of acts off in a short space of time and catch up with each other. In terms of finding brand new things they're not great. Playing them can be a great way to get in front of a large crowd of industry; but that can be both a blessing and a curse.

4.   Mixed feelings towards industry showcases then – the one bit of advice you should take for gospel is in answer one; NEVER pay for a slot. It’s ridiculous they even get away with it in my opinion. Another good bit of advice can be found in answer two; if you’re not ready then don’t accept a slot. I know it’s exciting and all that but a bad gig can set you back a number of years rather than refusing one year, getting a hell of a lot tighter and then playing the next year where you’ll actually turn heads.

•   Do you feel your job is becoming slowly redundant due to changing technology and whatnot?

1.   I hope not... I don't think so. I'd like to think they'll always be a need for people to A&R records. A good A&R person is just as valuable as any artists! And in a very crude sense provide quality control to the music that is put out there. Then again it depends what technology you mean?

2.   I hope not! People still want to hear great music, technology has changed the industry but if you're doing your job well it's more the distribution and way the public discover music that's changed. I think there's still a need for people who can help support and develop artists.

3.   If there's money still to be made out of music, people will still want to invest in it, and while they do there will always be a role for the talent scout and developer of talent.

4.   I'd suggest answer three sums this up rather fantastically and answer two I agree with in terms of its more then way people discover music that has been affected by new technology.

•   If you were an artist; would you sign to a major label?

1.   Depending on the artist, and what we'd be looking to achieve, Yes! It also would depend on which major label... Someone else in the industry once said to me "A lot of A&R people are very apologetic about being/working at major labels. They should just think “f**k it, we're the biggest label in the world, and we can do this, this and this for you..." It's true, major labels might not be able to provide the same sense of delicacy to a release that a twee indie can, but they can still break records for fun if the raw product is there! And with the right A&R could easily release 'indie' records eg Fleet Foxes. They’re just not really geared towards doing the hard, slog/ground work that leads to low level sales.

2.   If it's the right people involved and they share the artist’s vision then major labels can still be very effective.

3.   No one spends money chasing a success like a major record company. If you think you are an artist with true mainstream potential, then I don't think there is a better place to be. If you're niche, then stick to a friendlier deal at an indie.

4.   All fair answers here in my opinion. Depending on genre, market, if you ‘get on’ with the people who would be shifting your material and various other variables then there is no ‘right or wrong’ in terms of if you should be go with an indie or a major, or indeed go it alone.

•   Have there been any immediate effects on you due to the current economic climate?

1.   Not really. It just makes finding good, new stuff all the more important.

2.   Not yet, but I'm sure it'll impact in the next 12months 3.   Sales are down, so our remit has been squeezed a bit. A left field act that might have sold 100k in the UK at the start of the millennium and wiped its own face financially is now selling a fraction of that and not worth being in business with. Majors naturally have to look more at the mainstream, which I think will ultimately lead to us missing out more and more on the freak one off act that starts leftfield and moves mainstream to smash.

4.   One says no, one says not yet and one says yes. There is nothing like consistency eh? From my experience the old recession appears to be taking its toll on advances and majors being less keen on taking a punt on new acts. They’d rather hold on for that extra six months till the band proves itself by attaining a stronger fanbase and then pay them a bigger advance. Granted they’re narrowing the risk but they’re also potentially missing out on those leftfield acts that answer three mentions that when they go huge, they make most money on.

•   Any other general advice?

1.   Be in a band because you love playing in a band with your mates, not to be famous. If you get focused on the end goal you can easily lose sight on what's important, and that is writing great songs! If this get's lost you'll just turn into a bitter c**t!

2.   The most important thing is the songs and quality of the artist. After that it's about surrounding yourself with a team of good people that you trust, working hard and getting a bit of luck along the way.

3.   Work hard on the music, everything else is peripheral.

4.   I’ve lost count the number of blogs I’ve posted which after numerous thousands of words of advice end with “but all that doesn’t really matter as long as you write good songs”. This blog, and indeed all the other bits of advice I’ve written throughout the years are only to help get you noticed amongst the sea of other artists out there: Write, write and write some more. And once you’ve done that practice, practice and practice some more. Then maybe write a bit more after that. But be sure to practice what you’ve written. You get the idea.

So the three main bits of advice to be taken from this?

i)   Concur your home town – it’s the locals that will tell the A&R about your music so make sure you play your local area (and I don’t just mean your village/city, I mean an area like ‘The North West’) often, be nice and treat everyone with respect regardless if they’re a muppet or if they support your rival football team. It goes a long way.

ii)   Supply to demand – Anyone who you think of sending an unsolicited demo to probably doesn’t want it so distribute your music to those who actually do until those you originally wanted to hear it come to you.

iii)   Do it for the music – As someone-that-a-Google-search-couldn’t-find rightly said; “if you want to be famous, kill a celebrity”. Write music because you love music. Sounds almost insultingly simple to say but it’s good to remind ourselves of the basics now and again...

What I’m listening to this week: Paraffin Oil Shop (the outro to ‘Stabs’ is ace) and Doll & The Kicks

What I’m reading This Week: Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (not the Peep Show guy, the author)

Stay tuned

sP

Stumble It!

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Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Brit Award Predictions 2009 (for those who care)
Current mood:

bored
Category: Music

So did you see the big news yesterday? One humble figure stood in front of an awaiting audience who were experiencing a whole concoction of emotions due to the pure expectation weighted on the words to be spoken with such passion and vigour from the now voice of a generation.

Yes, Fearne Cotton announced the Brit Awards nominations last night on a day where everything was overshadowed by the inauguration of our transatlantic neighbours’ 44th president Barack Obama. Now the Brits have suffered over the past few years (the awards, not the people), but surely a bit more foresight could have been used to not announce these nominations on the same day as one of the most important events in modern history?

This time last year I put on my Nostradamus hat and predicted “I reckon by this time next year we won’t care about the Brits anymore”. Thoughts? Personally I don’t think I’m going to care about them again until I’m either invited or directly responsible for one of the artists up for one of them.

Does that make me a hypocrite?

Ah well, c’est la vie and all that.

British Female Solo Artist
Adele
Beth Rowley
Duffy
Estelle
MIA

Who I Want To Win – Adele – 2008 was the year of the female in the music industry and 2009 looks set to follow suit (but with added synth) with La Roux, Little Boots, Lady GaGa etc all topping ‘ones to watch lists’ everywhere on the web. I’ve gone for Adele for this one as although Estelle no doubt had THE track with ‘American Boy’ Adele’s album was stronger throughout. There is also something about her ‘miserable cow’ demeanour that I quite like for some unknown reason; probably because it makes people like Steve Jones squirm when he’s interviewing her. She’s also rather good live which helps; watch this live version of Hometown Glory and hopefully you’ll agree with me.

Who I Think Will Win – Adele – She came from the school with the same name as the awards. How can she not win? Duffy’s face annoys me, MIA is only in there thanks to ‘Paper Planes’ and I’m not entirely sure who Beth Rowley is to be honest. I bet that last sentence annoyed so many people. God bless the internet.

British Male Solo Artist
Ian Brown
James Morrison
Paul Weller
The Streets
Will Young

Who I Want To Win - I really don’t care – I looked at that list of people for a good few minutes and the only thing I thought was “Leave Right Now and All Time Love are cracking tracks” but they came out years ago and I don’t think the point of the Brits is to award artists on former glory (bar the ‘Outstanding Contribution’ award of course). Is there really no one else who released anything better last year? Wiley? Dizzee Rascal? Can I say Tony Christie again? I think I’ve mentioned him on the last 4 blogs running…

Who I Think Will Win – Paul Weller – He released an record with too many tracks on it and called it a concept album; they’ll probably call him a genius for it.

British Group
Coldplay
Elbow
Girls Aloud
Radiohead
Take That

Who I Want To Win – Elbow – Regular readers of the Sentric blog will be aware that 2008 was the year of Elbow for myself and if this category didn’t include their Manchester mates Take That I’d suggest they’d have walked away with this award to add to their now rather full mantelpiece. A tenacious bunch who are evidently are in this industry thanks to their sheer passion for music. I’d imagine if it all went tits up for them and they lost all their fans and backing they’d still play at their local boozer just for the love of playing. How many artists could you say about that these days?

Who I Think Will Win – Take That – And deservedly too might I add. Gary Barlow is a song writing genius (let us pretend Britannia High doesn’t exist eh?) and tracks such as ‘The Greatest Day’ confirms this hyperbole. They’re potentially the ultimate polished pop act: squeaky clean yet a bit cheeky, they make music the whole family can sing along to, they even advertise Marks and Spencer and make it look like the greatest shop in the world. Robbie Williams will try to barge in to their success at some point this year and I think they’d do right to tell him to jog on.

British Single
Adele - ‘Chasing Pavements’
Alexandra Burke - ‘Hallelujah’
Coldplay - ‘Viva La Vida’
Dizzee Rascal - ‘Dance Wiv Me’
Duffy - ‘Mercy’
Estelle feat Kanye West - ‘American Boy’
Girls Aloud - ‘The Promise’
Leona Lewis - ‘Better In Time’
Scouting For Girls - ‘Heartbeat’
X Factor Finalists - ‘Hero’

Who I Want To Win – Estelle – This was a tossup between Estelle and Coldplay for me but I believe it’ll be the former that sticks within my conscious until my dying days on this earth. Not much to say about this track other than its pure catchiness. Brilliant.

Who I Think Will Win – Estelle – It’s simply the stand out track within that list. I don’t swear on this blog as it’s unprofessional, but Scouting For Girls? Best British Single? Utter nonsense. Alexandra Burke ruined one of the greatest songs of all time by introducing a key change and a choir, I don’t even want to imagine the scene if X Factor win the award (tears and hugs mainly, lots of tears and lots of hugs), The Promise is a good track but nowhere near the Girls best, Duffy = spade face, Dance With Me is strong and deserves a nomination, Chasing Pavements is good but she can be happy with her best female award and Leona Lewis can win a Brit award when she develops a personality.

British Album
Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends
Duffy - Rockferry
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Radiohead - In Rainbows
The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing

Who I Want To Win – Elbow – Please read here and here for my thoughts on this breathtakingly good album.

Who I Think Will Win – Coldplay – I’m a passive Coldplay fan at best and I don’t believe that this is their strongest work, but they deserve recognition for what they’re doing for the British music industry around the world, especially in the states. They still sell shedloads over there and that deserves a shiny award in anyone’s book right? We Started Nothing is a cracking pop album but has little longevity, In Rainbows is good but suffers from people branding it pretentious and Duffy can’t dance.

British Breakthrough Act
Adele
Duffy
The Last Shadow Puppets
Scouting For Girls
The Ting Tings

Who I Want To Win – The Ting Tings – When I first heard ‘That’s Not My Name’ I never thought it would be a number one single within 12 months but their rise within the industry was quicker than Usain Bolt with a dicky tummy. Some of the tracks on We Started Nothing are so catchy they could make cadavers tap their feet and being able to raise the dead deserves a Brit award in my book.

Who I Think Will Win – Duffy – You can’t ignore Duffy. Seriously. I consciously tried once and within 3 hours was in a Northern Soul club beggin’ strangers for mercy.

British Live Act
Coldplay
Elbow
Iron Maiden
Scouting For Girls
The Verve

Who I Want To Win – Elbow – Again, please the previous Elbow link for why they deserve this.

Who I Think Will Win – Coldplay – I witnessed all the above live last year bar Iron Maiden so it would be unfair for me to comment on them, but I can only presume they’re a very strong live act due to how long they’ve been around for. The Verve did put on a strong set at V Festival but unfortunately for them they followed Kings of Leon who blew them out of the water. Coldplay were very good at the Liverpool Arena apart from Chris Martin’s shoes and I can only imagine Scouting For Girls are in there as some form of sick joke. THEY’RE REALLY BAD.

International Male Solo Artist
Beck
Neil Diamond
Jay-Z
Kanye West
Seasick Steve

Who I Want To Win – Jay Z – After all the tripe that was spouted by various people regarding his Glasto headline slot he produced one of the highlights of the weekend to silence his ill-informed critics. He’s one of, if not the, best in his genre and continues to produce great music. No wonder he gets to play with Beyoncé.

Who I Think Will Win – Jay Z – It’ll be tight between him and Kanye but I’d imagine Jay will pip him to the post. Kanye West’s latest album received mixed reviews with criticisms of it being to electronic and his ramblings in the press have gone from being brilliantly cocky to annoyingly arrogant. Seasick Steve is a bit of a marketing enigma; he’s enjoyable enough but the cynic inside me thinks quite a few of his ‘fans’ only like to him add a bit of eclecticism to their record collections. Neil had a good year with a strong performance at Glasto but I think he’ll be overlooked for youth and I’m not bothered about Beck anymore; he was rubbish at Wireless and he’s a scientologist.

International Female Solo Artist
Beyoncé
Gabriella Cilmi
Katy Perry
Pink
Santogold

Who I Want To Win – Beyoncé – For my sins I had to watch a good chunk of the last series of X Factor (I assure you it wasn’t by choice) and on the final week when the last contestants were duetting with some pop A-Listers (and Boyzone) Beyoncé proved just how much of a cut above she is to Alexandra Burke, who according to the democracy of the X Factor, is one of the best this country has. She sang with ease and her voiced dwarfed Burke’s. Granted she has a good decade or so’s worth of practice and coaching on her side so I won’t judge Burke too harshly for another 10 years. One thing I should mention though is that her song ‘If I Were A Boy’ is just ridiculously sexist. She’s well fit though innit.

Who I Think Will Win – Katy Perry – I wasn’t fooled by ‘I Kissed A Girl’ but she did win me over with ‘Hot And Cold’ and her latest offering is pretty good as well. Catchy songs coupled with a stunningly beautiful face and constant column inches pretty much guarantees her this award.

International Group
AC/DC
Fleet Foxes
The Killers
Kings Of Leon
MGMT

Who I Want To Win – Kings Of Leon – as with Elbow you can go here and here to read why I want this family affair to walk away with this gong.

Who I Think Will Win – Kings Of Leon - The year they went from every indie kids favourite band to ever indie kids dads favourite band should win them this award. They’re stadium rock whilst retaining the coolness that acts such as U2 and gradually The Foo Fighters have lost/are losing. AC/DC were one of the best bands ever, someone rather brilliantly said to me the other day ‘The Emperor has no clothes’ in reference to the Fleet Foxes which I agree with, The Killers latest offering is substandard and MGMT were overhyped to the point of absurdity in the blogosphere.

International album
AC/DC - Black Ice
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
The Killers - Day & Age
Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

Who I Want To Win – Kings Of Leon – Not as good as ‘Because of the Times’ but still bloody good.

Who I Think Will Win – Kings Of Leon - Who created this list at the Brits? Are they aware they’ve just made a Carbon Copy of best international group? KoL again here for pretty much for all the reasons above.

So there you go. Will I be right? Do you think I’m wrong? Could the whole event be cancelled and no one actually notice? Methinkso…

What I’m listening to this week: Delphic and White Lies (the album’s not too sharp but ‘Death’ is a very strong song).

What I’m reading this week: Everyone who I’m following on Twitter.

Stay tuned

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Thursday, January 08, 2009

If I was an unsigned/independent artist in 2009, I would (in no particular order)…
Current mood:

optimistic
Category: Music

Twitter

If you're unaware of Twitter then allow me to inform you that 2009 will be the year of Tweeting and all things Twitteriffic. Twitter is a social network/micro blogging site which allows you to send and read messages of up to 140 characters in length (the same size as a standard SMS Text Message). Sound brief? That's the whole point; you 'Tweet' to tease per se. "Did you see this article on how the Ting Ting's are coping with the economic recession? (Insert mini link here)" for example.

I had a personal Twitter in the summer of last year after a friend informed me that it was 'the future' and by the end of the working day I was already awfully bored by it, but now I can proudly introduce the Sentric Music Twitter! www.twitter.com/sentricmusic we'll be using this to comment on music industry related malarkey so be sure to 'follow us'.

Barack Obama Tweeted his way through the last election and Stephen Fry often informs us of his daily musings but this post here informs you of the 10 Twitters you should follow if you have an interest within the music industry. You should also have a gander at these articles; Gerd Leonhard's "So now you're on Twitter – so what should you do next?", The Guardian's "Making the most of Twitter", About.com's "How to use Twitter for music promotion" and Mashables "The top 10 reasons why I will not follow you in return on Twitter". After you've read all of them you should be a Tweeting machine!

If my word isn't proof enough for you I even noticed that Twitter was 'Hot' in the hot or not column of Glamour magazine last month and we all know they're at the forefront of young professional female based technology.

Have a play with SEO

Now granted this is a rather technical one for all the geeks out there so if you fancy yourself as 'web savvy' then this is something to have a look into. SEO stands for 'Search Engine Optimisation' which in laymans terms simply means "If I type my artist name into Google, will I be at the top of the results?". This is rather useful for those out there who may have a common name that is easily lost in the ether, for example my favourite folk artist 'John Smith'; the man who possesses the most common name in Great Britain appears 6th when you search for him on Google but with a bit of SEO then he may very well appear higher. Want to listen to Liverpudlian electronic duo and Sentric's favourites 'A Cup Of Tea'? A search on Googles proves unsuccessful for the first 15 pages of results.

Read this by the ever brilliant Google and you'll be way on your way…

Focus on making money from areas other than selling my music

As it stands the majority of artists reading this blog will be way off making a living from their art - such is life and the industry we work in - but there are a few areas that can help subsidise you through this downturn.

Performance Royalties- Sentric Music can obviously collect all your performance royalties for you, if its £40 or £4,000 its still money that's yours so why not collect it? (Further Reading: The Blog That Justifies What I Do)
Club nights- Quite a few artists of note started putting on gig nights in their home cities in order to earn a few bob (Kaiser Chiefs are probably the best example) but I do ask one thing of you, if you are going to do this then please do a good job! The last thing this country needs is more useless promoters. (Further reading: Where is Everyone? – The 'art' of gig promotion)
Merchandise – Nothing groundbreaking here but it's unbelievable how lazy artists can be in terms of merchandise. Think outside the box. The world doesn't need another name on a shirt (unless the name is emblazoned as an amazing looking logo of sorts) so be entrepreneurial; buy things that are cheap and add value to them somehow. I'm still waiting for someone to buy these in bulk and flog them with their name pre-loaded into them. Kids would go mental over them I reckon.
Library Music – Have you got decent quality recordings of old songs you don't use/care for hanging around? Get in touch with a library music company and potentially earn money for nothing. An artist informed me "my mate makes over 10grand per year of 35 instrumental tracks and he doesn't have to lift a finger to push them. I like them apples".

(Further reading: Money, Money, Money)

Gig like hell

Simple one but the more you gig the more your music is heard, the better you get and the more you're talked about. Discuss with the rest of your group (or your imaginary friend if you're a solo artist) how often you're willing to gig. Twice a week? A fortnight? A month? And start booking as many as possible in your region. Try to avoid playing the same city more than once a month though or people will get bored.

Practice like hell

Simple yet again but the more you practice the better you get.

Write constantly

When 'us industry types' go and see an artist we're always keen to know how long the artist in question has been going for as there is a kind of music line graph in our head ranging from conception to death. This graph changes for each genre and artist type (I.E. solo or group) but click here for an example of an acoustic singer/songwriter (pinch of salt please).

The more you write the better your art will be (of course there are always exceptions to this rule but in the majority of cases practice really does make perfect).

Keep up to date with the industry I was part of

The internet is a wealth of information and knowledge and most of it won't cost you a penny which is nice during this economic climate. (On a side note: remember when none of this money malarkey mattered? I was spending some time with my 2 year old niece recently and she was delirious with joy over a stickerbook. Amazing scenes. She probably thinks Credit Crunch is some form of biscuit treat. To quote Russell Howard "We're all just a brief sneeze in time" – words to remember the next time you're feeling the strain in your wallet, or just stressed about anything really).

Anyhow; coolfer, DiS, Gigwise, New Music Strategies, No Rock and Roll Fun, the twitter people mentioned above and of course the Sentric Music blog should be enough to keep you in the loop. Get used to using RSS feeds as well and it'll save you no end of time.

Brand myself

This could be as simple as a colour/random object or as complicated as you'd like it to be, but is well worth implementing to your image. Using consistent branding and font styles to all your artwork/websites etc help continuity and also make you look more polished, but as before with the merchandise, think outside the box. Envy and Other Sins always set out their stage so it looks like my Nan's hallway of sorts with rugs and hat stands and now every time I see a hat stand (which granted isn't that often but that's why it works in my opinion) I think of them. Extremely subtle yet effective at the same time.

Know who my fans are

Constantly get compared to a couple of well known artists? Well aim for their fans as chances are they've more chance of liking your music then others. Using tools like Last.fm, iTunes Genius or Amazon's 'people who bought this also bought' feature can help you define the market you're aiming for to give you a better chance of successful exposure.

You should also make the effort to engage with fans, responding to Myspace messages, emails, tweets, staying after gigs if any of them want to have a drink with you etc. Just be nice, it genuinely helps.

Utilise free tools

Mailing lists, analytical tools, blogging platforms, social networks etc They're there, they're free, they're useful and they're all mentioned in this blog so read it and take heed.

Revisit some of the old Sentric Music blogs…

The blog has been going for a while now and inbetween the jovial posts about festivals and conferences there has been some decent advice (not my words!) speckled about here and there so spend a little time clicking on the links within this post and scrolling about to refresh that festively jaded memory. A couple of choice posts include:

SWOT's & PEST's – applying business management theory to your music
Press Release Me, Let Me Go – how to write press releases

I apologise if some of this was obvious, just call it revision if it was.

What I'm listening to this week – Grammatics debut album (lovely) and La Roux

What I'm reading this week – A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

Stay tuned

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Wednesday, December 24, 2008

One of those ‘end of year’ posts which everyone seems to be doing which includes all my ‘best m
Current mood:

nostalgic
Category: Music

If my life was a bottle of wine (and they do indeed have quite the impact on my being as it stands so it's only fair I use them in this simile) then 2008 will be remembered as a vintage year for various reasons (can you get vintage Blue Nun?). Without coming across as schizophrenic my family life, work life, love life, social life and any other lives that I lead have all been rather enjoyable these last twelve months for various reasons and they've had quite the sound track to accompany them.

So I'm going to have a look at my favourite things from the past three hundred odd days…

Song of 2008

One Day Like This – Elbow

This was a toss up between Manchester's Elbow and Deep South dwellers Kings of Leon's and their track Sex on Fire but ultimately this will be the song that will put a smile on my face for potentially the rest of my humble time on this earth. As mentioned in this post back in the summer I was never an Elbow fan until I caved into recommendations from friends, fellow music bloggers and music industry press alike and acquired 'The Seldom Seen Kid'. After a few listens I fell in love with the album (I purposely mention the 'few' listens as it wasn't an instantly obvious great album and it took a good several spins to convert me from the cynic to the now fan who'll dedicate a good few paragraphs of this post to the band) and this was the track that stood out as brilliantly beautiful, or should that be beautifully brilliant?

Anyhow; gorgeous strings, gorgeous lyrics, gorgeous sing-a-long ending and two gorgeous renditions at Liverpool Uni and The Latitude festival means this song wins the much coveted kudos inducing title of sP's song of 2008*

(*This title is nor coveted or kudos inducing)

Runners Up

Sex on Fire – Kings of Leon

The first time I heard this record I was in the car with a friend of mine who works in A&R and we were driving down to V festival where the Kings were to be playing the following day. He made a rather good point:

Him: "Imagine being the guy who signed these"
Me: "Yeah he's done alright hasn't he? Made some decent cash no doubt"
Him: "No, as in imagine waiting to hear the demo's of this next album. You'd just be thinking "how the hell can they top that?" [Because of the Times – KoL's third and arguably best album] but then they come in with this tune and you think "…" [at this point he either swore or just left a dramatic silence for me to contemplate that role play in my head, I can't remember so I'll let you decide]"
Me: "Good point. I might mention that in the blog"

Louise – Tony Christie

I was lucky enough to be meeting someone at Yellow Arch Studios in my hometown of Sheffield where Mr Christie was recording his superb 'Made In Sheffield' album when the man himself popped in to pay 20p for a cup of tea he made himself earlier on. I couldn't believe it. I looked at the studio employee square in the eye; "you charge TONY CHRISTIE for cups of tea?! He's a local legend!" you should also bear in mind this happened even before I heard the album he was recording and I had no idea about the genius happening in the next room. If this had taken place after hearing the LP I may have very well just head butted the studio employee and given Tony his 20p back.

I've digressed again haven't I? Apologies; this is a re-working of the Human League 1984 single and it's simply beautiful. I've bought it for my nan as a present and I genuinely can't wait to hear her thoughts on it.

Time To Pretend – MGMT

People have gone utter nuts over MGMT this year and you may have seen they have been topping poles of this ilk all over the place for both this track and the album Oracular Spectacular, but for me they're completely overhyped. When you think something is good and good alone yet you have a whole gallimaufry of people telling you it's utterly superb it always leaves you a bit disillusioned in my opinion which is quite the contradictory thing for me to say as I'm well aware I can rightly be accused of hyperbole in this post alone, but after seeing a rather underwhelming performance by them when they supported Radiohead in Manchester they were forever deemed into the "Meh, they're alright" department of my musical taste.
Despite saying that I've always enjoyed this track due to its insanely catchy hook and fantastic lyrics about the clichéd rock star life. Now dance.

Untouched – The Veronica's

Someone rather dear to me came back after travelling around Australia for a month, CD in hand and massive grin on face informing me that I just had to listen to this track and how right she was. This is pop at its utter most joyous: dual female vocals, huge synth strings, distorted chunky guitar and lyrics about sex. Now dance even more.

American Boy - Estelle

I've heard this track hundreds of times now (mainly thanks to my flatmate) and I'm still not bored of it. That's the true sign of a quality pop record.

Sequestered In Memphis - The Hold Steady

Any song that contains the lyric "In bar light, she looked alright, in day light, she looked desperate" deserves recognition.

Carolina Drama - The Raconteurs

Jack White has quite the knack of telling stories through his songs and this is probably the best example I can think of. A dark sordid tale of murder which also includes a lovely sing-a-long "La la la la" bit at the end.

Honourable mentions

The Thirst – Sail Away
Grammatics – Shadow Committee
Sound of Guns - The Architects
XX Teens – Darlin'
The Subways – Girls and Boys
Florence and the Machine – Kiss With A Fist
Tom Jones - If He Should Ever Leave You
Two Door Cinema Club - Undercover Martyn
Mystery Jets – Two Doors Down
Riff Raff – Cross My Heart

Album of 2008

Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid

A bit of me didn't want to put this down as my record of the year as I didn't want to the post to become so Elbow centric so I won't mention too much about it as you've heard it all before. The one thing that gets me are his lyrics; "You are the only thing in any room you're ever in" (Starlings), "We kiss like we invented it" (Mirror ball) and "I've been working on a cocktail called Grounds For Divorce" (Grounds for Divorce) are just three examples Guy Garvey's blatant talent. Andi over at gigreviewsandnews.com wrote this fantastic paragraph about his song writing and delivery which sums it up it better than I ever could:

"[about his lyrics] Familiar without being clichéd, tight but not trite, they sit well on the page and simply fly in the songs. It helps that Guy Garvey's voice is suffused with a smoky wistfulness, enabling him to avoid the cheap bombast or faux-snarl of so many of his contemporaries. Listening to him whisper "Darling, is this love?" packs more emotional heft than a million Chris Martins could ever hope to wail into an echoing stadium."

I would love to say that's enough of Elbow but they are going to receive one final mention!

Runners Up

Only By The Night – Kings of Leon

A brilliant album that didn't win not only because The Seldom Seen Kid is superior but because I honestly believe it could have been an even better album. When KoL announced they were to release Only By The Night a brief 19 months after their incredible third album Because of the Times I was honestly left pondering why. They'd gained a rather large and loyal fanbase due to BotT (especially in Blighty) so why rush? Take some time off, have a beer (or not), let the songs write themselves etc but alas, Caleb and Co were insistent in feeding us more audible pleasure. The album starts of brilliantly with the first four tracks standing out above all others and although the rest of the album is very strong, I can't help having an inkling in the back of my tiny mind that with a bit more time it could have been stronger. Let's hope they take some time out before the difficult fifth eh?

Tony Christie – Made In Sheffield

What do you do when you're fanbase is slowly but surely dying and any that will be left within the next five years have about as much chance of purchasing and working an iPod as I do writing a cover story for the Rolling Stone? You ask a hometown buddy who is incredibly respected by artists and industry alike to help you out. Richard Hawley then suggests a concept album (two words that usually make me as excited as the prospect of Christmas dinner with Hard-Fi) performing songs that have solely been written by songwriters hailing from the Steel City of Sheffield. The result is a brilliant album that's sure to attract a new breed and generation of fans thanks to its inclusion of songs by Alex Turner, Jarvis Cocker and the man Richard Hawley himself. The other highlight of the album being Christie's version of Pulp's rather epic 'Born To Cry' which is a dark ditty that showcases his rather fantastic and evidently timeless singing voice.

The Raconteurs - Consolers for the Lonely

The Raconteurs first LP passed me by somewhat so the announcement of their follow up release hadn't got me giddy in the slightest, but after hearing the debut single which borrows the albums title I decided to investigate deeper and for my troubles I found an album full of rather fantastic songs. The only negative I'd say of this album is that it is a tad too long and a couple of tracks could have easily been culled in order to keep the listeners attention.

The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing

A great pop album that deserves recognition if only for its downright catchiness. That's Not My Name, Fruit Machine and Be The One are all so radio friendly it makes Jo Whiley actually appear to know what she's talking about.

Dan Le Sac VS Scroobius Pip - Angles

A quality little album that I expected a little bit more from if I'm honest (as you can read here) but even so there are a couple of blinders on this album which secures its inclusion in this list. 'Beat That My Heart Skips' is utterly brilliant and the albums finale 'Waiting for the Beat to Kick in' should be in every decent persons MP3 library.

Gigs of the year

Elbow @ Latitude Festival & Liverpool Uni

Last mention. Honest. Bloody superb live.

Kings of Leon @ V Festival, Liverpool Arena & Wembley Arena

As above. Last mention. Equally as superb live.

Bruce Springsteen @ Old Trafford

Expect nothing short of a three hour musical extravaganza when you witness Bruce 'The Boss' Springsteen live and also expect nothing less than a masterclass in live performance. Bruce and the E Street Band were easily one of my gigging highlights of the year and apart from the inexcusable exclusion of Thunder Road they transformed the predominantly middle aged crowd into a pack of predominantly middle aged people who were a bit pissed and really enjoying themselves. May not sound too impressive but when you've been to a Def Leppard gig and observed the majority of the crowd remain anchored to their seat for the whole performance you realise it's not as easy as it looks. Bruce is rumoured to be playing Glasto in 09 which would be a stroke of genius from Eavis and one which may very well get me to the festival myself.

The Raconteurs @ Liverpool Academy

I was lucky enough to witness one of the only two non-festival dates the Raconteurs performed in the UK this year and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. There is a great dynamism between Jack White and Brendan Benson which comes across on stage far more obviously than on record. The live show is more bluesy, brash and cacophonic than when played through your humble MP3 player with elongated guitar solos, mid song breaks and the odd cover being thrown in here and there. Jack White is also effortlessly cool on stage and a surprisingly accomplished guitar virtuoso, oozing rhythm and blues with apparent ease. It'll be interesting to discover if the Raconteurs will produce a third LP… I bloody well hope so.

Kids In Glass Houses @ Liverpool Acadamy

It's rare that I feel old as I still like to think of myself as quite the whippersnapper, but there are a few things guaranteed to make me feel so; realising that people born in 1990 can now legally drink, the office work experience kid not knowing what Challenge Annika was and attending a Kids in Glass Houses gig. I never knew foetuses could dance in such a way! In all fairness it was the youth that made this gig so enjoyable, that coupled with the group's impressive repertoire of radio friendly tunes. If you like a good bit of powerpop then check out their album 'Smart Casual'; it didn't get the recognition it deserved when it was released earlier in the year.

Muse @ V Festival

Had to fit these in really didn't I?! The first time I'd witnessed them since their Wembley shows and as expected they didn't disappoint whatsoever. Hopefully they'll be releasing new material in the new year with rumours doing that rounds that they might scrap the traditional LP format and just release a series of mini EP's instead. Lets hope not.

Florence and the Machine @ Leeds Festival

Being tipped as one of next year's big thing FatM were easily one of the highlights of my festival attending season this year with a cracking set at the Leeds festival. A natural performer with a cracking voice she holds the crowd's attention effortlessly and the rousing rendition of Kiss with a Fist was enough to lift anyone's spirits despite the fact they hadn't showered for nearly 4 days.

Rage Against The Machine @ Rock IM Park & Leeds Festival

I had waited a long time to see these guys and it was truly worth it. SO many songs. SO many riffs. SO many angry political rants. SO many pogo-worthy moments. SO many happy people in one place. SO good. I can now put a big tick next to 'see Killing In The Name Of be performed live' on my 'to do list of life'.

Sound of Guns @ Zanzibar

Those who've attended the Zanzibar in Liverpool will well be aware of two things; firstly stay away from the draft lagers and stick to cans and secondly when it's full it makes for a cracking little music venue. Sound of Guns had the placed packed for a hometown gig which saw the lads secure their 'ones to watch in 09′ status for me.

Journey @ Manchester Apollo

Walk into my family home and sing the immortal opening lyric "Just a small town girl…" And you'll receive in return a wall of out-of-key, semi falsetto noise that although maybe a tad harsh on the ears is delivered with both vigour and enthusiasm. I was informed by my father that they were a simply essential band to see live so I did. And they were. Currently with a tiny Pilipino gent who looks extremely out of place but has potentially the finest rock voice I've ever heard on lead vocal the American old schoolers played a hit fuelled set to such a high standard that I'll now openly call myself a fan rather than just enjoying them as a guilty pleasure.

Honourable mentions

Grammatics @ Manchester Academy
Queens of the Stone Age @ Rock IM Park & Leeds Festival
Incubus @ Rock IM Park
Does It Offend You? Yeah @ Liverpool Academy
Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip @ Liverpool Academy
Foo Fighters @ Manchester City Stadium
Detroit Social Club @ Camden Barfly
Coldplay @ Liverpool Arena
Maximo Park @ V Festival
Clipe Sexo Amador @ Bumper
Quartershade @ Metropolitan

So there you go. Busy year.

What I'm listening to this week: The 'best of 08′ playlist I made whilst writing this.

What I'm reading this week: Found

And other 'best of 08′ lists:

Drowned In Sound, Ear Farm, Gorilla vs Bear, The Music Slut and Pitchfork

Stay tuned

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Tuesday, December 09, 2008

The 6 common arguments why CD’s are needed and why they’re wrong
Current mood:

optimistic
Category: Music

Let us all have a game of empathy shall we? Close your eyes and pretend that you’re Simon Douglas; CEO of a company with a rather “eh?” name that has just purchased the entertainment retail division of one of the world’s most recognisable brands. Despite Virgin Megastores losing £82 million in 2006 and an estimated £50 million in 2007 you state to the press that you believe “there is still very much a place on an increasingly homogenised high street for an independent entertainment specialist that puts customers, product, service and personality at the top of the agenda.”

Then the world’s economy goes tits up (and that is an official scientific term) but you think “hey, Christmas is around the corner, everyone will be spending more money than they actually have due to the ridiculous debt culture in this country so everything will be fine”.

Then your supplier goes into administration so you have to stop taking online orders during your busiest trading time of the year.

In the words of blogging/webby/techy geeks everywhere: EPIC FAIL.

Leaving the role play to one side, this week was especially bad for the world of tangible goods as both EUK and Pinnacle Entertainment went into administration affecting both sides of the music industry spectrum from plucky little indie labels to gargantuan pop lotharios and Marks & Spencer whores Take That.

This is big news for the music industry and could result in some interesting outcomes. Will it be the year of the MP3 gift? Will Grandparents around the country be buying their kids kids iTunes vouchers rather than HMV vouchers? Will Zavvi make it to Christmas 2009? Will Gary Barlow have to pretend to be married to that stunning woman who inexplicably only wears underwear 24 hours a day again in another M&S advert in order to make up the shortfall in album sales he’s missed out on?

To give you some scale on how big this is: EUK boasts on its website that it distributes over a quarter of the entire UK music and video market and it turns over around one and a half billion pounds a year (although you should always live by the business mantra “Turnover for vanity, profit for sanity”) and supplies such big guns as Tesco, Morrisons and WH Smith.

Pinnacle on the other hand was the distribution daddy of the UK’s independent music scene and its closure will affect over 400 labels including Rough Trade and One Little Indian. AIM (the Association of Independent Music) has stepped in to ‘have a word’ and according to Music Week the industry is ‘rallying to help those caught up’.

This news coupled with Billboard reporting that vinyl sales have decreased up to 60% really does reflect the sorry state that tangible music sales are currently in.

As this is at the same time that Amazon roles out its MP3 store in the UK offering DRM Free brand new releases from just £3 (three quid?!) the question that I’d like to put forward to you humble readers is just why would you buy a CD anymore?

I thought I’d ask JD who loves music and technology in equal measures the reasons he believes people would still buy tangible goods (you can follow him here on tumblr, blog and twitter; he’s rather clever you know):

Audio Quality – Amazon comes at twice the quality that iTunes delivers, yet still not as high as 7digital it should be noted and the majority of the market still listen to their MP3 players with the stereotypically sub standard headphones they receive with their MP3 players anyhow so I’d suggest that argument is pretty redundant.

Having something to hold and whatnot – fair enough if the difference in price is £2 between £7.99 on iTunes or £9.99 on play.com but if you can now buy the same album for £3 then is a bit of plastic, a pretty picture and some self indulgent sleeve notes thanking their god, parents, witch doctor, cat, homeopath, geography teacher, the music of Jim Morrison and their soon-to-be-parted other half really worth £6?

Helping out the artist so they can make more music in the future – buy a t-shirt, they’ll get more money from it. Next.

Can’t lose your music when your Hard Drive decides to die – 7digital and play.com offer a ‘Digital Locker’ where once you’ve purchased the track you can re-download it as many times as your little heart wishes.

Shows your personality when people visit your house and see your record collection – I would agree with this if people were honest, but they’re not and will only have a select few albums on show. I’ve known people to do this and I’d guess it happens quite regularly. Next time you go around someones flat look behind the Sgt Peppers, Clash, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jeff Buckley, Cure, Bon Ivor, Fleet Foxes and Smiths albums to find their limited edition CD single of Cleopatra’s infamous Jackson 5 cover of ABC with free postcards of the band. Anyway, just look at their last.fm profile first and that’ll give you everything you need to know. Anyway, soon enough we won’t even need to talk to each other anymore, especially if these things become popular. It’ll be; meet, nod, touch ‘USB Personality Generalisers’, go home, read new person’s info, judge them and never speak to them again.

One word: Artwork – again, now redundant as you can now download that when you download the album. Yes it’s not the same but you’re still looking at the same thing aren’t you? Granted seeing this painting on the computer doesn’t compare to seeing it in real life. Yeah that’s right, sP has been to the Tate and doesn’t just sit reading music industry news whilst creating various schemes on how to simultaneously end the careers of Hard Fi (who have been worryingly quiet for months now, too quiet) and Steve Jones at the same time. (I’m thinking framing Jones for attempted murder on Hard Fi’s Bass player; et voila). But we’re not talking about Picasso here are we? Just the Kings of Leon’s heads mixed with a massive eagle.

The death of tangible music has been written about a lot yet in the 2008 but this is a fairly big hurdle for the industry to jump and although I’m confident it will majestically leap over it so it can die a slow sorry death like most things in this industry do, I’d begin to teach your technologically inept friends how to use 7digital or Amazon sooner rather than later.

In other music industry news I have to mention the announcement made today by the Mail on Sunday regarding its intention to start a record label. Oh yes, you heard right: The Mail on Sunday is starting a record label rather brilliantly called Mail On Sunday Sounds. I envisage that the creatively bereft name they’ve given their label is somehow going to reflect their choice in artists to release and I just hope to whatever power that be that they restrain from doing a deal with someone whose music I enjoy.

And finally a couple of notes on the gigs I’ve attended recently:

Sound of Guns: Beginning to cause a bit of a fuss now around Liverpool and if you catch them live you’d know why. Two standout tracks in The Architects and Alcatraz (available on iTunes now) so expect quality songs beginning with ‘B’ soon.

Coldplay: usually all seating gigs at arenas are for kids or grannies but as Chris Martin and co appeal to everyone from foetuses to cadavers they also filled up the still shiny Liverpool Echo Arena with foldaway chairs which thankfully were not used by the crowd throughout the duration of the set. Now I’m a passive Coldplay fan at best and although I have all the albums, aside from their singles I’ve never really given them the attention they arguably deserve. Still; they’re a very strong live act and if you can ignore their dress sense, the fact that Martin is dangerously uncool and their utterly inexcusable exclusion of ‘Shiver’ from their set then all in all you’re going to enjoy yourself.

Kings of Leon: what a difference a day makes eh? The following night and the same venue is filled up with a very different crowd, some of which mistook the gig for a pint throwing competition. Regular readers will remember me running our of superlatives when describing KoL’s set at both V this year and Leeds last year and I can only say they pulled it off again. The rawness and emotion of the entire set was capable of inducing grown men cry salty Nashville influenced tears and the singalong crowd pleasers of ‘On Call’, ‘Sex On Fire’ and ‘Use Somebody’ were moments to treasure. They have more gigs planned in the UK – Beg, borrow or steal your way in.

What I’m listening to this week – The Human League and Middleman

What I’m reading this week – Pies and Prejudice by Stuart Maconie

Stay tuned

sP

Currently listening:
Greatest Hits
By Human League
Release date: 1995-10-30

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Thursday, November 27, 2008

NMMTV - No More Music TV - 26/11/08
Category: Music

Firstly, apologies for the delay in blogging this week but I do have a rather genuine excuse; I was on holiday. Alas now I'm back and raring to go and I thought this week we'd have a gander into music on TV in this day and age. Firstly, lets have a glance into the trainwreck that is Top of the Pops…

Top of the Pops was cancelled.

Ting Tings said they wanted to play it (don't we all?)

Then Simon Cowell wanted to take it to ITV

Then the BBC thought "oooh, if Cowell wants it then there must be something in it" and decided to bring it back for two festive specials.

So now we can all sit down after eating far too much in honour of the birth of Christ (because he went mental for turkey and roast tatties) and watch various pop acts belt out their biggest hits of the year whilst Fearne and Reggie have terrible banter in-between. Lovely.

I personally miss TOTP as it used to be one of my weekly highlights back in my youth and even though there was a good chance I'd only like one or two songs featured it was a brilliant way to keep abreast of the UK's current popular music squeezes. There was nothing finer than watching a one hit wonder who knew for a fact that this was their one and only time to grace the BBC studios, belt out their pointless 3 minute ditty with such vigour and passion because they knew that for every cheeky glance into the camera there would be a cheer in some distant local pub where they originally hail from. "Oh look! There she is! It's Michelle on Top of the Pops!!! Quick! Turn it up!"

As Popjustice rightly point out; there must be a demand for it as for the last couple of weeks ITV have staged a music themed programme showcasing some of the country's finest pop talent (although there was no Tony Christie in sight, tut tut) so there must be someone out there who wants to watch something within this ethos. The best ITV has ever achieved in music TV was when the brilliant SM:TV became the perfectly entertaining CD:UK on a Saturday morning with Cat Deeley holding the reigns.

On a side note; whatever happened to Saturday morning kids TV? SM:TV was potentially one of the best things on the idiot box when it was on. If you can watch this and not laugh then I don't want to know you.

Channel 4 have had a go recently with 'Transmission' and the simply awful 'Green Room' which was just a dire format for a music TV show. Who thought of that?

"I know let's put cameras in the green room and let the artists mingle to see what they get up to when we're not watching."

"But will they not 'act up' in order to appear wacky, fun, interesting and different which will just come across as contrived and poor viewing material? I have it on good authority that all Leona Lewis wants to do before going on stage is read Grazia magazine and have a Mint Chocolate Kit Kat; not make small talk with two ex-Hollyoaks actors who inexplicably still get asked to be on these kind of programmes."

"Maybe; but Nokia are giving us shed loads of cash."

"Ah."

Transmission was enjoyable enough but always on at ludicrous o'clock and the producers felt it necessary to intertwine performances with interviews of the artists to make it more of a magazine format. There is no need for that in my opinion; I can read interviews elsewhere which will be more in-depth and not have some Welsh pillock try to make funnies with the guests as he'll be inevitably trying to get into their knickers afterwards. Interviews can be entertaining enough when the guest themselves have a rich history within the industry, not when they're Scouting For Girls.

Cue Later with Jools Holland; yes, he has interviews but with usually effortlessly interesting people who viewers and other artists can take something from. For me, LWJH is only one of two current music programmes that get it right. There is a broad range of music that spans various genres and the artists want to play the show due to its inherent kudos. There has been no other music show that has resulted in me discovering as much new music as LWJH (take this brilliant rendition of Nick Cave's 'God is in the House' by Camille O'Sullivan for example).

The other show that I'm quite fond of is Live From Abby Road which features some rather good acts (and The Kooks) showcasing a couple of songs in the world's most famous studios. The artists talk about their music but without an interviewer and it genuinely makes the viewer feel that they've had an insight into what goes on behind the scenes of their favourite artists. Click here for a couple of noteworthy performances from Elbow and Muse.

At some point this millennium MTV stopped playing music videos anymore and instead starting showing programmes about absolutely nothing what so ever. The Hills? Just what is the point? I do get quite excited when I visit the parents and I get to watch MTV2 four an hour or two so I can catch up with what's happening there but for me music TV is slowly but surely becoming a dead medium. I'd choose a live music show over watching music videos any day of the week and with YouTube and music-focused video sites such as Muzu TV where you don't have to sit through half an hour of guff to see something you want then it can only be a matter of years till we start seeing stations shut down.

Muzu TV is well worth checking out by the way if you have video content at your disposal.

So what do you think then? Bring back TOTP I say. Its needed for our children and our children's children.

Glad we sorted that out.

Time for your input readers!

In a blog in the not too distant future I'm going to pose some questions to some real life A&R people and maybe a couple of other industry professionals to give you guys a look into the murky minds of the music industry. So this is your chance to ask that question that has always been burning in your mind but never been answered thus far: Want to know how to get an A&R man to your gig? Do A&R for major labels believe their employers have a future in this industry? What do they look for in a demo? If you have any questions then either comment on this blog or get in touch in that way you lot always seem to do.

What I'm listening to this week: Tony Christie (with his brilliant new album 'Made In Sheffield' – go and download 'Louise' and 'Born To Cry', they're both superb), and in preparation for Friday Envy and Other Sins and Married To The Sea.

What I'm reading this week: The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart (AKA George Cockcroft) – I considered 'living by the die' for all of ten minutes the other day; far too exciting of a prospect for little old me.

Stay tuned

sP

Currently listening:
Made in Sheffield
By Tony Christie
Release date: 2008-11-18

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Saturday, November 01, 2008

The Blog That Justifies What I Do… 31/10/2008
Current mood:

excited
Category: Music

Usually I just link to the story that is the inspiration for the blog but this week I'm going to include a cheeky paragraph so you all know what I'm harping on about. Take it away aunty Beeb:

UK songwriters' income from CD sales is expected to fall by 15% this year, and will be beaten by concert performances, industry estimates suggest.
The sum generated by physical albums will be about £131m, down from £152m, the MCPS-PRS Alliance has predicted.
But royalties from concerts and music aired in public is expected to be £143m - the first time it has beaten CDs since discs became widely available.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7684409.stm

Now this is rather big news that will no doubt go unnoticed by a whole host of musicians who all have an inherent interest in what it means whether they know it or not. Your performance royalty income streams are now worth more than your CD sales (and in the majority of unsigned/independent artists cases; your digital sales as well which is what I'll focus on in this blog).

Ignorance towards performance royalties, what they are, how much they're worth and how artists can get their hands on them is borderline ludicrous. It's even more absurd when you now consider the sheer worth of the money being generated and available for artists to get their hands on.

As a rule of thumb; performance royalties are generated every time music is played in public. Income streams include; radio airplay, TV exposure, live performances (of any size), karaoke bars, clubs, cafes, shops, restaurants, gyms, youtube, jukeboxes, pubs, online streaming and many more. So if your music has ever fallen into any of the above categories then you are entitled to performance royalties. Cold hard cash. Simple.

And we're talking about decent sums of money here if you're an artist who gigs regularly or receives the odd Radio 1 airplay here and there.

Some choice figures here:

BBC Radio 1 - up to £18 per minute
BBC Radio 2 - up to £18 per minute
BBC 6 Music - up to £3 per minute
XFM London - up to £15 per minute
Channel 4 - Sentric artists have previously received upwards of £250 per play
BBC 1 - Sentric artists have previously received upwards of £145 per play
Small Venues - anything up to £4 -£6 per gig (that can be backdated up to twelve months in the past)
Barfly - Sentric artists have previously received upwards of £19 per gig
Carling Academies - Sentric artists have previously received upwards of £32 per gig
Shepherds Bush Empire (as an example of a mid-scale venue) - Sentric artists have previously received upwards of £392 per gig

Compare those to the fact that an artist receives 41p per download sold in iTunes (after iTunes and an aggregators cut) then you begin to see the real value in performance royalties. For a 3 minute song on 6Music you could be looking at £9 which is the equivalent of around 22 downloads of your single.

Chris Brown was at number 40 in the charts this week (week ending 43) thanks to shifting 4,658 downloads of his instantly forgettable 'Superhuman' song. If he'd have distributed that though an aggregator who only took a 15% cut (like Sentric Music for example) of digital sales income then he'd have pocketed £1909.78 (but as he's on Sony BMG a good few people will have got a cut of that before he gets his hands on any cash).

If that song is 3 minutes long then he'll pocket £54 per BBC Radio 1 play and therefore only needs 36 plays to earn more than he made from over four and a half thousand sales. Considering the fact that if you're a regular on BBC Radio 1 then you can pretty much guarantee that you'll also be a regular on every other pop station in the country and again you being to realise the potential cash that is out there.

Here at Sentric we've had artists owed over a thousand pounds from BBC Radio 1 airplay alone, artists owed over a grand for one performance on a second stage at a Liverpudlian festival (the Knowsley Hall festival) and artists owed over five hundred quid for a year's worth of gigs in small venues.

We even had one band who although primarily played classic rock covers, performed one song that was original material and for that one song we collect them £270 for a year's worth of gigs. For one song!

Now regular readers of the blog will know that I do not use this as a marketing tool. The primary purpose of this blog is to educate and entertain unsigned and independent artists in the music business to help them gain a competitive advantage and in this case I believe I'm sticking to that ethos when I say you should seriously consider signing up to Sentric Music.

You can join the PRS/MCPS directly at the cost of £100 per writer member whereas if you go through Sentric Music you don't have to pay a thing. Rather than charging you a sign up fee we take a 20% administrative cut of the royalties you generate. You could argue that it's not worth the 20% fee that we take but there are plenty of added bonuses you get on top including us doing all the administration involved (which can be seen as rather laborious, just read this Case Study from goFASTER>> as an example), the chance to get your music on TV (we've earned our artists thousands of pounds from Hollyoaks placements alone), the chance to get your music on nationwide advertisements (like this one we placed for Carlis Star featured on our home page) and digital distribution to iTunes.

Also, with Sentric Music you can claim for live performances from up to twelve months in the past whereas if you join yourself you can only claim from the date you join.

In fact we have a good few Sentric users who are PRS/MCPS members as well but they still use our service as with our expertise in claiming royalties they still receive more money after our 20% cut than they would have done previously.

But if you choose to join the PRS/MCPS directly then that's more than fine and I'll still talk to you. They're bloody lovely people doing a cracking job and they're well and truly high up on my Christmas card list.

So if you're even half thinking about signing up to Sentric then just stop pondering and start doing. And if you know of any artists then forward this blog to them and earn them some cash!

Ok, done. Apologies for the advertisement.

What I'm listening to this week: the brilliant Two Door Cinema Club and The Verdict.

What I'm Reading This Week: Stephen Fry in America

Stay tuned

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