Posted by Mat on Wed, 15th October 2008 6:01pm
I spend a lot of time travelling on trains and I have a set routine which I go through in order to make the time pass, if not more productively, then at least pass without boredom. Here are the things I do on a train -
Settle in my seat and scope out what kind of talent is sitting around me. Preferably there will be some totty across the table to me, but I can also work with unnatural angles and glimpse of body/ head/leg. It’s all fine, as long as there is something to work with and not a deranged tramp or screaming child in the midst. Next step is to catch selected talents eye then spend the rest of the journey surreptitiously checking each other out, while I imagine various fantasies and encounters.
I ALWAYS have a paper with me. Not to read, as news is quite boring, but to do crosswords, word puzzles, Sudoku etc. How many papers I buy depends on the journey but for a quick hop across to Manchester I can now finish 4 crosswords, Sudoku and word puzzle. It leaves nothing for the return journey, but you can always buy another paper.
Once the crosswords are done and the fantasies with the stranger are exhausted its time for general day dreaming. Currently facebook statuses occupy my mind a lot. I think them up and list them in my notebook for future usage. They are all very witty; you will have probably pissed yourself at some point to one of them, yes.
Another favourite day dream is to rehearse and rehash conversations in my head. These can be with staff, venue managers, agents and potential/made up future/past affairs/dates/girlfriends. I generally get what I want you see, and this is because I analyse and rehearse everything I say. Am not particularly good at reading people off the cuff, but because I have already worked out what I am going to say, based on past evidence, I can generally convince you that I am right.
Anyway, other than that there are also a lot of business thoughts floating round. Numbers, figures, money, cash flow. Not interesting to you, but of definite interest to our finance director.
Anyway, what do you do on the train? And don’t be boring and say read or watch a film. More interesting is sitting there doing nothing, with absolutely no thoughts running through your head. That would be an interesting alternative.
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Posted by Mat on Thu, 5th June 2008 7:49pm
As I mentioned in the beginning of my editorial this week I have noticed a number of small and some not so small venues closing in the last couple of weeks, plus a number of festivals cancelling due to lack of ticket sales. Now some festivals that don’t have the huge marketing budget of a corporation, and venues that are ran by one man and his loyal team will always be first in line for a kicking when it comes to lean periods. And let’s face it; if it’s not a full blown recession we are in, then it is still affecting consumer luxury spending.
But is it more than just the cyclical nature of the economy catching a few unwary entrepreneurs out? Brighton Barfly shut this week – a chain that is now part of a PLC merging the fast expanding Barfly group with the remains of Meanfiddler venues that were not sold off to Clear Channel; so one would suppose that they would have financial analysts in place to account for down turns in spending. Roadkill in Liverpool – although not part of a massive chain –was owned by the same people who own Satans Hollow in Manchester and the burgeoning brand of Fab Cafes across the North. Blissfield’s is a small family run festival, but they have business nouse and have been running the festival for a number of years – they are no naive newcomers.
So has the credit crunch caught all these people out? I don’t think so – it has hardly been a secret that the banks were going to tighten their belts, and squeeze the lender hard. It has been on the cards to the public for the last six months and to those in the know for the last 18 months.
So was the live music business all rosy before these warnings and eventual public response? Well according to the standard industry policy line it’s the best it has ever been. Ticket sales were rising, the number of performances rising, the number of venues opening rising. There was a real interest in live music again. Great.
Never mind that record sales are plummeting. Records are dead, long live live performance. So, pressure is exerted. Artists are demanding higher fee’s to sub the lower record sales, major labels set up all encompassing deals as they move into the live sphere acting as an acts management, live agent, merchandiser… surely it won’t be long before they begin to act as promoter?
Don’t get me wrong. I am not just pointing fingers at big fat cat corporations. Artists now joyfully embrace the internet generation by giving away their hard earned recordings for free – “we’ll make it back on live fee’s and merchandise” is the mantra they chant as they gleefully watch the downloads ebbing off into the ether world.
Yes well that is conducive on enough people, who downloaded your music for nothing, ‘choosing’ to see you play in an age when choice is unlimited and where ticket prices are rising (but not at the same rate as inflation no no no). Where smoking bans mean you can’t comfortably watch a band you ‘may’ be interested in seeing, and after paying your weekly luxury money for tickets, you have enough left over for half a pint of over priced lager.
Big established bands giving their music away for free or on a trust basis. Yes they have the audience willing to spend higher ticket money’s on seeing them play live to compensate for free downloads but the new band, who have slaved over their first album, worked 60 hour weeks to pay for the studio time, juggled several jobs to go on tour a couple of times a year to play half empty venues for £50 and a packet of crisps, they are the ones who will suffer. Traditionally a band goes through all this with the knowledge that they may be able to earn it back and make a living for themselves after all this hardship when their music starts to sell. Not any more. How can they compete with Coldplay giving away their latest album? Who would buy their unknown effort when they are getting everything for free; and if this becomes the norm then a time will come when eyebrows will be raised at the mere suggesting of having to pay for your music.
Don’t forget tomorrow’s stadium fillers are today’s toilet tour band.
So what is my point? Leave off us in the live business; we are not a crux for the entire industry. Publishing and syncopation is so go and harass them haha ;)
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Posted by Ant Standring on Fri, 25th April 2008 6:46pm
If you’re looking for strings for whatever it is you play, if your looking for generous discount as I so often find myself doing, if you like the idea of getting free stuff, Advantage Musical Instruments Ltd is the place…click this [link] and check ‘em out!
Next day delivery, up to 50% discounts and not a single dissatisfied customer…what more do you want? Free stuff RIGHT? How’s this for a quote from (me!) one of their customers… “After placing an order I received an invitation to (constructively) comment on their site and to get free strings for doing it. Those strings were in my hands the very next day”.
The customer service is immediately responsive to any query you might have too. Being something of a dumbass who doesn’t know my elbow from a G-string, I naturally sought guidance with my purchase. Issues of time, effort or condescending ridicule thankfully never so much raised their eyebrows, let alone their heads. Their attentive and considerate input throughout is reassuring to say the least.
I was impressed to the point of getting in touch with a company spokesperson, so as to get an insight into their good selves.
I asked about their Adagio strings - "With not one single unhappy customer in years of selling we're happy we've found the best string product for musicians!” "We used to stock many different brands of strings, but with so many players moving over to Adagio in the UK were becoming specialists. As far as strings go, it’s true they're quite expensive, but due to the number of our customers we can offer special half price discounts compared to high street music stores. At our prices, the professional quality Adagio's are similarly priced to the lesser brands."
I asked them about there service - "We love to help our fellow musicians, being musicians ourselves we've used literally every musical product on the market over the past 20 years so if there’s anything you want to ask, fire us an email to this [mail]" TARGET="_blank">link]".
I asked them about their success – “All of the above of course but also, why should anyone trek all the way into town for a set of strings when they can get whatever they need delivered to the door by the next day for almost half price?"
Fair enough!
Being all bent outta shape as us Brits commonly are after long arduous years spent suppressing all our complaints, gripes and anguish that so often stem from having to suffer disappointing service, low quality goods and substandard, expectation killing calamity, I thought I should share this little ray of hope with y’all. We all deserve some justice!
Advantage Musical Instruments Ltd kick ass…FACT!!! It’s not so much what they do but the way that they do it. Sure, their tried and tested product is exemplary and should scare any and all of the all too blasé outfits out there who treat their customers like some kinda free time eating disease.
It does feel kinda refreshing to big something up for a change instead of dragging it down where it perhaps rightly belongs. Right, I’m done!
Ant Standring - Music journalist and Cro-Magnon guitarist!
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Posted by Chris Walker on Tue, 8th April 2008 1:34pm
I know, I know. You already know.
Getting anywhere as a musician, promoter, event organiser, composer, journalist, A&R etc etc is almost impossible. The opportunities are few and far between, no one wants to employ anyone, and when they do, they want to employ their friends or family members.
You know, the ones who have no interest in music, and are doing it for 'work experience' while the rest of us would literally sacrifice animals and small children for such an opportunity.
I myself am in such a dire situation. For 6 months I have trying to do anything in music. As a musician, actually playing and creating the music seems like an obvious choice, but it is by far the hardest path. Then there's setting up gigs for other musicians to play at. Which I enjoy, but unfortunately gaining any remuneration is impossible, and I feel guilty taking money when bands are so often underpaid. I enjoy writing (that's why I'm here) but again getting paid is difficult. But all of this does count towards experience for later roles.
Thankfully there are many other ways in which we as music industry wannabes can get involved. Music is starting to be considered more important at a grass-roots level in smaller communities. Agencies are being created within county councils, theatre and music schools are popping up here and there, and getting involved with these types of organisation is great CV fodder for that dream job at Sony BMG or Warner Bros.
And of course, sites like this also give journalists a chance to prove themselves, and sites like mySpace are giving musicians a fighting chance at getting that ever elusive record deal.
So if you ever feel down about being an unemployed music aficionado, think about the less obvious musical opportunities available to you, and maybe, just maybe, those opportunities will get you the ultimate chance and all encompassing musical stardom.
Getting paid for what you love is damn hard.
[I know the picture has nothing to do with this, but its damn amusing, no?]
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Posted by Chris Walker on Tue, 8th April 2008 1:34pm
I know, I know. You already know.
Getting anywhere as a musician, promoter, event organiser, composer, journalist, A&R etc etc is almost impossible. The opportunities are few and far between, no one wants to employ anyone, and when they do, they want to employ their friends or family members.
You know, the ones who have no interest in music, and are doing it for 'work experience' while the rest of us would literally sacrifice animals and small children for such an opportunity.
I myself am in such a dire situation. For 6 months I have trying to do anything in music. As a musician, actually playing and creating the music seems like an obvious choice, but it is by far the hardest path. Then there's setting up gigs for other musicians to play at. Which I enjoy, but unfortunately gaining any remuneration is impossible, and I feel guilty taking money when bands are so often underpaid. I enjoy writing (that's why I'm here) but again getting paid is difficult. But all of this does count towards experience for later roles.
Thankfully there are many other ways in which we as music industry wannabes can get involved. Music is starting to be considered more important at a grass-roots level in smaller communities. Agencies are being created within county councils, theatre and music schools are popping up here and there, and getting involved with these types of organisation is great CV fodder for that dream job at Sony BMG or Warner Bros.
And of course, sites like this also give journalists a chance to prove themselves, and sites like mySpace are giving musicians a fighting chance at getting that ever elusive record deal.
So if you ever feel down about being an unemployed music aficionado, think about the less obvious musical opportunities available to you, and maybe, just maybe, those opportunities will get you the ultimate chance and all encompassing musical stardom.
Getting paid for what you love is damn hard.
[I know the picture has nothing to do with this, but its damn amusing, no?]
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