NORTHERN ECHOES
Mining for new music
FAN FUNDING
Getting a slice of the pie
Members Music Magazine Issue 47 Members Music Magazine March 2013 Issue 45 September 2012
OMD
A history of modern
DIGITAL DECODED
The future’s here
laura sly & mvula robbie From grassroots to Green Garden Jamaica’s other golden duo
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FEATURES 14
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14 digital music
Digital revenues turn a corner
MEMO As we prepared to go to print, more than 170 British songwriters and artists were packing their bags and setting off for Texas. Their destination? The 26th annual South by South West showcase in Austin. Of those 170, nearly two dozen have been funded to attend by British Music Abroad and PRS for Music Foundation. Between them, they will perform literally hundreds of gigs to audiences including some of the world’s most influential names in music. As usual, we bring you news from the front line via M online. We’ve also caught up with some of those who have made the 10,000 mile round trip: some of them feature in this issue and others are interviewed online. Although we are just three months into 2013, UK songwriters have already made their mark across the pond and are set to take the British invasion up a notch this year. Adele, Paul Epworth, Mumford & Sons and Ellie Goulding are all making their mark in pop while Calvin Harris is spearheading the European dance music incursion. He’s enjoyed unprecedented success in the Billboard
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charts and is reaching a whole new level in his DJ career with a run of huge shows in party capital Las Vegas. Find out more about our new dance music initiative on page 8.
Pop's new poster girl
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A most musical city
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You’ll find loads of interesting members featured in this issue, all with their own story to tell. From Laura Mvula to Mark Moore, Andy McLuskey to Sarah Class – we hope you enjoy them. Keep an eye out for our business feature too, which gives you the lowdown on royalties in the digital age.
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Andy McLuskey talks to M
REGULARS 4 members and music
Lastly — a big thank you to everyone who took part in the recent membership survey. We had an overwhelming response and are extremely pleased to hear that so many of you really value M. The survey also revealed that more and more of you are visiting M online and are enjoying what you see. So if you haven’t already, take a peek online and get involved!
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Write in: magazine@ prsformusic.com Tweet: @m_ magazinePRS www.m-magazine.co.uk
Members Music Magazine Issue 47 March 2013
EDITORIAL
PRODUCTION
Editor Paul Nichols
Production & Design Carl English
Associate Editor Anita Awbi Staff Writer Jim Ottewill
OMD
A history of modern
DIGITAL DECODED
The future’s here
scan this code for quick access to m online
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laura mvula
Business Editor Barney Hooper
From grassroots to Green Garden
M47 Cover.indd 1
cover: laura mvula
08/03/2013 11:51:50
Membership Adviser Myles Keller
PRS for Music, 29-33 Berners Street, London W1T 3AB T 020 7580 5544 E magazine@prsformusic.com W www.prsformusic.com The printing of M Magazine is managed on behalf of PRS for Music by Cyan Group Ltd, Twickenham. www.cyan-group.com
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Rosie Blanchard, Olivia Chapman, KaKei Cheng, Jon Duncan, Laura Driffield, Eileen Fitches, David Kim, Jules Parker, Cerian Squire, Sarah Thirtle
ISSN 0309-0019© PRS for Music 2013. All rights reserved. The views expressed in M are not necessarily those of PRS for Music, nor of the editorial team. PRS for Music accepts no responsibility for the views expressed by contributors to M, nor for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations, nor for errors in contributed articles or advertisements. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. M is printed on paper manufactured using chlorine-free pulps and the raw materials are from fully managed and sustainable forests.
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new members 1. mausi While British summers often never arrive, Newcastle band Mausi are doing their utmost to keep their memory alive with an upbeat sound mixing electronics with guitars. Fronted by Italian brother and sister duo Thomas and Daisy Finetto, and joined by friends Ben Brown and Benjamin Huntrods, Mausi began making music while studying at Newcastle University. An ambitious a cappella version of Imogen Heap’s Hide and Seek at their first gig sealed the foursome’s resolve to be a band and saw them hide away to work on sharpening the dance floor hooks bristling amid their arsenal of songs. Last summer’s sol was the first to be unveiled and ended up being championed on the BBC Radio 1 Introducing playlist and attracting more than 200,000 YouTube views. Follow up Move is out soon. www.wearemausi.com
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2. mt wolf Mt Wolf are proof that names can be deceiving. You’re more likely to find this south London quartet sonically shimmering with their dreamy marriage of electronics and acoustics than howling at the moon. But, despite this misnomer, last year’s well received debut EP Lifesize Ghosts perfectly captures their ‘dreamfolk’ tagged sound. The release has seen their music compared to the likes of James Blake, Four Tet and Sigur Rós, while singer Kate Sproule’s vocal stylings have been likened to that of sensual pop eccentric Björk. The band have also spent the last 18 months showing off their dance moves via an eclectic line-up of DJs and live bands at their monthly Wolf Club night. Second release, the Hypolight EP, and summer festival appearances, are in the pipeline. www.mtwolf.co.uk
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Don’t let their poor spelling put you off. What London-based, Australian bred band Splashh lack in grammatical ability, they more than make up for with their fiery take on stripped back rock n’ roll. Taking their name from a Hackney water park (and throwing in an additional letter to avoid any legal repercussions), the foursome have forged a more contemporary take on nineties grunge pop. A relentless
schedule of touring, recording and partying has seen them lug their amps far beyond the trendy east London postcode they call home, while their heartfelt, youthful exuberance is best heard on last year’s debut single All I Wanna Do. 2013 promises even more chaotic, sweat-filled gigs, both in the UK and beyond, and their debut album. www.splashh.co.uk
4. story books Sittingbourne, Kent may not be immediately associated with rock n’ roll but five-piece indie act Story Books are doing their best to change that. Led by Kristofer Harris, frontman, songwriter and producer, the band have won over numerous tastemakers including John Kennedy and Huw Stephens with their emotive take on indie rock. Early songs Peregrine and All Those Arrows were picked up by the radio presenters and playlisted by BBC Radio 1 Introducing. The band garnered several prestigious live slots including supporting Bloc Party’s sold-out show at London’s Koko and playing festivals like Rockness and Lounge on the Farm. In March, they journeyed to South by South West (SXSW), having received support from PRS for Music Foundation. Catch them at The Great Escape and Dot-ToDot festivals in May and look out for their first EP in April. www.StoryBooksBand.com
5. elliott randall What have Carly Simon, Ramsey Lewis, Frankie Valli and Steely Dan got in common? All four feature on the lengthy list of acts and singersongwriters to have had their sound enhanced by Elliott Randall. The guitarist may be best known for his playing on Steely Dan’s Reelin’ in the Years and Fame (the motion picture) but he’s also enjoyed a successful solo career with the release of albums HeartStrings and last year’s Virtual Memory. Elliott is adept at keeping countless musical plates spinning — he continues to play as a studio hand for hire, work as a multimedia consultant and compose music for television, radio and cinema ads. He also divides his guitar skills between regular recording and live stints with London-based band Posse and New York act Randall’s Rangers. www.elliott-randall.com
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members & music
new talent awards season more for thelead mantelpiece… Although we are only a few months into 2013, we’ve already seen some of the music industry’s most prestigious songwriting award ceremonies come and go, including the BRITs and Grammys. Congratulations to all PRS for Music members who either won or were nominated for an award. A special mention goes to Adele and Paul Epworth for achieving a hat-trick by scooping gongs at the BRITs, Grammys and Oscars.
Grammy Awards Mumford & Sons and Adele were among the British songwriters to win at this year’s Grammy Awards. The folk rock band picked up prizes for Best Album with their second full length record Babel while also taking the prize for Best Long Form Music Video for Big Easy Express. Meanwhile Adele was awarded the Best Pop Solo Performance for Set Fire To The Rain.
JM ENTERNATIONAL / GETTY / JIM CALLAGHAN
Music + Sound Awards David Arnold and Michael Price were the big winners at this year’s Music + Sound Awards. They received the PRS for Music Award for Best Composition in a Television Programme for their work on the second series of Sherlock.
BRIT Awards Emeli Sandé and singer-songwriter Ben Howard both triumphed at this year’s BRIT Awards, winning two prizes each. Emeli received the gongs for Best Solo Female Artist and Best British Album for Our Version of Events. Newcomer Ben Howard also received two prizes for Best Breakthrough Artist and Best Solo Male.
Clockwise from top left: Mumford & Sons; Adele and Paul Epworth; Emile Sandé, Ben Howard, Michael Price.
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brits abroad
Main image: Luke Sital-Singh
Twenty-one acts were supported to appear at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) music conference as part of the PRS for Music Foundation’s British Music Abroad initiative. Guitarist Luke Sital-Singh said: ‘Getting the opportunity to perform at such an important festival as SXSW is one thing, but having help with some funding to get over there is quite another.’
prs for music goes talent spotting Emerging acts Nadine Shah, Bluebottle Veins, Little Night Terrors and Tanika play at the next PRS for Music Almost Famous showcase this March. The regular events have been introducing the very best in new talent to a live audience of music fans and industry insiders for five years.
Adam Kane, from rock band Cave Painting, said: ‘We would not have been able to make the trip without this support… it’s a great chance for us and we intend to grab it with both hands.’ Visit www. prsformusicfoundation.com for more.
Nadine Shah
Cave Painting
£500k new talent fund The PRS for Music Foundation’s Music Industry Talent Development Fund will offer new artists up to £500,000 worth of funding over the next two years.
In April, the Foundation will announce the 20 projects and composers, musicians and creators involved in its New Music Biennial initiative.
Grants of up to £15,000 will be available for emerging and mid-career artists to realise their recording, writing, performing and touring ambitions.
The UK-wide commissioning programme will offer grants of up to £20,000 each for projects aimed at creating and performing world-class and innovative new music.
The fund, which the Foundation is delivering on behalf of The Arts Council, is the first of its kind in the UK and is to be officially launched at The Great Escape music conference in May.
Percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, BBC Radio 6 Music’s Cerys Matthews and Gillian Moore, the Southbank Centre’s Head of Classical Music, are among the experts on the panel helping select the projects.
Vanessa Reed, Chief Executive of PRS for Music Foundation, said: ‘As the UK’s leading funder of new music and the songwriters who create it, we’re proud to be delivering and contributing to this crucial talent development fund.’
Nadine Shah is a fast emerging songwriter who owes her haunting musical styles to the likes of Bat for Lashes and Nick Cave as much to her upbringing by the North Sea. She is joined by Welsh four-piece Bluebottle Veins, who are intent on bringing back some colour to the cheeks of rock n’ roll. Their raucous blues noise has already garnered plenty of praise, most notably from Louder than War’s John Robb. Meanwhile, Little Night Terrors are Leicesterbased brothers Andrew and James Stone who, together with Dan Holyoak, write songs they describe as ‘pure pop dynamite’. To date, they’ve toured with the likes of The Vaccines and fellow emerging artists, 1975. South Londoner Tanika rounds up the evening’s bill with her sassy streetwise pop. Her mix of beats and rhymes has already seen her work with the likes of Sneakbo, Zebra Katz and MNEK while her debut single, Bad For You, is due to drop this April. DJ support on the night comes from Bill Ryder-Jones, solo artist and ex-guitarist with The Coral. Over the last few years Almost Famous has built up a reputation for showcasing an eclectic mix of upcoming talent. Previous performers have included Luke Sital-Singh, The TenFiveSixty, James Jay Picton, Mercury Prize-winning Speech Debelle, Kill It Kid, Jamie N Commons and Bobby Long, whose music is included in the hit vampire flick Twilight.
Dame Evelyn Glennie
m47_march 2013_7
money & business working together to amplify dance music
hmv crisis unfolds
PRS for Music has launched Amplify, a new electronic music initiative aimed at dance music writers. The project has been set up to urge these writers and their publishers to ensure their music is properly registered with the organisation so they can earn the correct royalties. PRS for Music statistics reveal that dance music writers are less likely to join the organisation and register their works than their guitarwielding counterparts. Figures showed that while electronic music programming made up 15 percent of broadcast hours on BBC Radio 1 in 2011, it has been impossible to pay royalties to writers for more than half of these works due to incomplete track information reported.
Mark Lawrence, Director of Membership and Rights at PRS for Music, said: ‘I was converted to dance music in 1989 when I walked into the Zap Club in Brighton and was hit by the sound of Voodoo Ray by A Guy called Gerald. This is a vital community, making a significant contribution to all creative industries. ‘Its sound features heavily in television, advertising and film, alongside a long established but fast growing live sector. It is essential electronic music writers, producers and publishers are properly supported by joining PRS for Music, registering their songs and earning from their music.’
Mark Knight is one of the many electronic music writers, producers and DJs supporting Amplify
Amplify features industry figures such as publisher John Truelove (Truelove Music and producer of You Got the Love), Anglo Management and Hospital Records. DJ and dance music producer Graeme Park said of the initiative: ‘On TV, radio, at clubs and festivals: electronic music is a way of life. It is great that PRS for Music recognises that writers should be paid for their work – just like everyone else. More dance music producers and writers should be getting the credit they deserve.’ The group is working with DJ technology specialists to find ways to report set lists automatically from clubs, radio and live performances. It will also collaborate with music rights societies around the world to ensure dance music royalties are efficiently collected and distributed. Meanwhile, Ben Turner, co-founder of the Ibiza International Music Summit and Kurosh Nasseri, an entertainment lawyer specialising in dance music, unveiled a brand new Association for Electronic Music at the midem music conference in January. The new body brings together various artists, DJs, managers, labels, promoters and publishers with the main goal of protecting the assets of the dance music industry. Nile Rodgers, legendary disco songwriter and producer from Chic, has been appointed as ambassador for the project while Turner and Nasseri will act as coordinators.
Go online to find out more about Amplify
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Rodgers said: ‘I am honoured to be invited to be an ambassador of the newly formed Association for Electronic Music. Dance music is life changing and life enhancing; it’s a way of life for millions around the world. I am delighted to see the industry pulling together to represent its interests.’
Beleaguered music and entertainment retailer HMV could survive despite going into administration earlier this year. Although 103 high street shops are expected to close imminently, HMV’s administrators are in talks with investment firm Hilco, with a potential bail-out plan on the table. Hilco acquired HMV’s secured debts from Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group in January and it has been widely reported that Hilco are proposing to keep 130 stores as part of a £50m bid submitted to administrator Deloitte. HMV, which has debts of £170m, called in the administrator at the start of 2013 following poor Christmas sales. It had faced intense competition from online retailers, digital downloads and supermarkets in recent years, which has weakened its position. However, the retailer was able to sign trading agreements with the majority of its suppliers, ensuring new stock is still on sale in its stores, despite the crisis. The new agreements mean that consumers can still purchase major film, music and game releases from its stores.. Andy Hind, Head of Recorded Media at PRS for Music, told M: ‘Shipments to HMV contribute around 30 percent of physical retail mechanical royalty revenues to PRS for Music. Consequently we have been watching the fortunes of the retailer very closely over the last 18 months as we recognise the importance of HMV in the marketplace. ‘HMV continues to be a strong brand and we remain hopeful that it will continue, even if in a more streamlined form. It is the last significant specialist music chain on the high street and everyone in the wider music business values its position.’ Hilco bought HMV Canada in 2011 and has since built relationships with several distributors in the UK. It is understood that another company may also be interested in acquiring the retailer but not information has been released.
news
ec initiative nurtures online royalty revenue European commissioner Michel Barnier (pictured right) has spearheaded a new industry-wide initiative to encourage growth in online European music revenues. The so-called Licences for Europe project was launched at the beginning of February to facilitate dialogue between all industry stakeholders, from songwriters, collecting societies and media groups to internet platforms, online service operators and consumers. Together, they will find short term, practical and operational answers to build a better pan-European digital infrastructure by the end of the year. Barnier believes that industry collaboration is absolutely crucial to this process. Speaking at the midem conference earlier this year, he said: ‘The vision of Europe can’t be constructed in an office in Brussels; it has to be built brick by brick out in the field.’
The initiative will complement the long term aims of the ongoing Collective Rights Management (CRM) Directive, which is expected to be delivered in 2014 and put into practice across all member states by 2015. The CRM Directive is intended to provide a framework to ensure all collective rights management organisations operating in Europe meet minimum standards of transparency and governance. It also promotes multi-territorial licensing that meets robust standards. This should enable commercial users — including music service providers, television channels and video-on-demand service providers — to secure multi-territory licences and have greater access to all European music repertoires. PRS for Music has played a key role in ensuring the CRM Directive’s objectives are met by providing members with transparent reporting structures, accurately matching music usage
digital boosts global sales Rising digital music sales and expansion into new international markets are driving the global music industry towards recovery, a new report has claimed. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) annual Digital Music Report, global revenues for the music industry increased by an estimated 0.3 percent to reach $16.5bn (£10.8bn) in 2012. These figures make for the first year of growth since 1999. However, critics have pointed out that 2012’s IFPI figures do not indicate an actual increase on 1999’s figures. Instead, recorded music sales have shrunk by 40 percent since the turn of the millennium, from $27.8bn in 1999 to $16.5bn in 2012, and that is before adjustments for inflation. What the IFPI report does find is that digital revenues increased for the second consecutive year in 2012, with a nine percent rise via growth in all major revenue streams such as downloads and subscription services. Digital now accounts for 34 percent of all global music industry revenues. The report also shows that the digital music business is rapidly expanding into new territories. In 2011, major international and download subscription services were present in 23 markets compared with 100 plus today.
against copyright works and making multiterritory licences available. The organisation is currently working with other collecting societies to establish a pan-European copyright hub and fund a Global Repertoire Database (GRD), both of which are proceeding through design phases. Improved transparency across the EU will deliver more revenue at greater speed from all the collecting societies managing rights on the society’s behalf across Europe.
prs for music 2012 results Royalty income collected for members by PRS for Music in 2012 is set to be announced in early April with signs pointing to another positive year. Collections from broadcasters, online services, international societies, recorded media and general licensing will be audited and fully approved by the board in March.
Frances Moore, Chief Executive of IFPI, said: ‘It is hard to remember a year for the recording industry that has begun with such a palpable buzz in the air. These are hard-won successes for an industry that has innovated, battled and transformed itself over a decade. ‘They show how the music industry has adapted to the internet world, learned how to meet the needs of consumers and monetised the digital marketplace.’ Further figures from the report show that download sales increased by 12 percent during 2012. Downloads now make up 70 percent of total digital music revenues.
Licensing of new digital services throughout 2012 and the growth of streaming providers such as Spotify and Deezer could potentially boost online revenues again for members. Continued efforts to ensure businesses using music are properly licensed will also be reflected. However, the society acknowledges that 2012 was a difficult year for the UK economy generally with businesses that use music closing and the well publicised difficulties of retailer HMV. Full results will be revealed in the next issue of M and online at www.m-magazine.co.uk
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money & business licensing and copyright
PRS for Music is playing a key role in helping Dr Ros Lynch, a senior civil servant from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, deliver the industry-wide copyright recommendations first outlined in Richard Hooper’s Copyright Works report of 2012. The society is actively involved in several of the work streams that have come about from the report’s recommendations, including a Copyright Hub and joint licensing solutions. The hub’s aim is to bring together copyright information and licensing, creating a single portal for small users and businesses to get all the copyright guidance they need. The first phase of the website, which will focus on information about the licences required, is slated for launch in July. Other workstreams include improving joint licensing solutions specifically for music, focusing on the activity of PRS for Music and PPL. Another will assess digital licensing and is being led by UK Music. Meanwhile, the education work stream will focus on the simplification of licensing for schools and colleges, with data quality and improvements to image licensing making up the final two streams. A steering group will report on progress to government in September 2013.
welsh songwriters tribunal
Eos, the group representing Welsh-language songwriters and composers, is set to meet the BBC in a copyright tribunal to agree a new rate for the use of its members’ musical repertoire. The move follows the failure of both sides to reach agreement over the value paid to Welsh-language music played across BBC networks. Some of PRS for Music’s Welsh-language songwriters left the organisation at the end of 2012 to form Eos, with the intention of negotiating a higher rate for Welshlanguage music specifically with UK broadcasters. The Eos songwriters and composers remain members of PRS for Music for all other exploitation of their rights, including public performance and online use. While preparation for the copyright tribunal commences, an interim agreement has been reached between Eos and the BBC, and a process of mediation will take place. The interim deal allows the corporation to use Eos repertoire again on stations such as Radio Cymru. The Welsh-language radio station had previously scaled back its music output, replacing Welsh with English and other repertoire, in the absence of a proper deal. Rhodri Talfan Davies, Head of BBC Wales, said: ‘Our focus is now on reaching a permanent agreement which is fair to Welsh language musicians and the licence fee payer. It is reassuring that we can now continue these discussions knowing that the dispute is no longer affecting Radio Cymru’s output.’ For updates visit http://bbc.in/X5zBwH
In related news, the international Global Repertoire Database (GRD) project has now entered the requirements and design phase. The GRD will eventually provide a single view of a musical work’s ownership details, which is correct in real time. The future site of the GRD will be decided in the coming weeks with PRS for Music and other stakeholders making the case for a London location. A full business plan, including the technological architecture, will be defined later this year, while the GRD is due to launch in 2015. In all, nearly 30 companies, represented by almost 100 individuals, are directly involved in the work worldwide. PRS for Music Chief Executive Robert Ashcroft commented: ‘The GRD is the building block for the future success of the legal online music market. PRS for Music has supported the project from the outset and we are committed to making the initiative work for the benefit of rightsholders and rights users globally.’
music makeover winners Pub landlord Lucie Fuller, who runs The Burnaby Arms in Bedfordshire, has won the 2012 Music Makeover competition and received £5,000 to help improve the venue’s live music offering. She will be presented with a gold disc on 21 March at a ceremony to unveil the new music equipment she’s purchased. The competition, now in its third year, was organised by PRS for Music and attracted a record number of entries from around the UK. The standard was so high that the society decided to award The Brunel Arms in Pontyclun, Wales, a discretionary ‘highly commended’ accolade and £2,500 towards helping them realise their live music ambitions. See www.m-magazine.co.uk
news
news in brief PRS AGM: The 2013 PRS Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on the afternoon of Thursday 13 June. Exact timings and venue details will be confirmed over the coming months on www.prsformusic.com/2013PRSAGM. A ballot will be held shortly to select new Directors for the PRS Board. Five writer and three publisher positions will be available for election to the board this year. For information about the ballot, see www.prsformusic.com/ directorsballot. Maurice Samuel is the new Chief Economist at PRS for Music. Samuel was most recently an economist with British Telecom and has worked for a variety of public and private sector organisations including HM Treasury, the Office of Fair Trading and the London Stock Exchange. PRS for Music was one of the first organisations in the music industry to appoint an economist. The economic insight research produced by the society is crucial in providing evidence to government on the role of copyright and collecting societies and has helped the business understand the many markets it operates in. Parlophone assets: Warner Music Group (WMG) said it would encourage independent labels to buy, license or distribute a significant chunk of the Parlophone repertoire it recently acquired. The agreement aims to help smaller labels grow their market share. European indie trade bodies IMPALA and Merlin said they would be involved in overseeing the deals. It is thought WMG will offer up to 33 percent of its Parlophone assets. BASCA selects new chairman: Simon Darlow has been appointed the new Chairman of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA). Darlow, who is also Deputy Chairman (writer) on the PRS Board, will take over from Sarah Rodgers. Shazam boom: Shazam, the online music identification app, now has more than 300m users worldwide. According to the company, it has seen triple-digit growth in the number of downloads of the iPad version of its app, particularly for use as a companion device to watching TV. MPA CEO to step down: Stephen Navin, Chief Executive of the Music Publishers’ Association (MPA) is to step down from the post in June. Navin, who has been in the role for seven years, has accepted an offer to read History at Oxford University. He will give up the position after the MPA Annual General Meeting.
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comment & debate
live music: time for a line in the sand? Stan McLeod, Chief Executive, BandWagon Last month The Bull and Gate in Kentish Town, north London, announced it would become the latest iconic music venue to close its doors to the public. Over three decades the pub has hosted gigs by thousands of upcoming acts, some of which have gone on to enjoy great success, including Coldplay, PJ Harvey, Blur, Pulp and Muse. As a live music fan first and foremost, I am always extremely disappointed to see fantastic venues shut down and we’ve certainly lost some iconic names lately; the Astoria and Luminaire in London, plus The Independent in Sunderland, spring to mind. With all these closures it’s easy to surmise that live music is failing.
GETTY
While the picture may be highly detailed as circumstances vary wildly in different locations, it is fair to say that the live circuit is under a very particular pressure in the UK. There isn’t a lot of government support for the creative industries in general, and live music is a fairly unregulated space in terms of working conditions and business practice - often to the detriment of artists. In many other European countries, particularly in Scandinavia, there is some formal subsidy or support available to artists, which helps them sustain themselves if they want to go out on tour. And in continental Europe, even support acts at tiny venues can expect to be paid by the venue or promoter for their performance. Not so in the UK. Journalist John Harris recently asked the question in The Guardian, ‘Can Britain’s toilet circuit scene survive?’ He made the point that many venues are struggling under the burden of rising business rates and a lack of support, both from local communities and 12_march 2013_m47
the government. While I think it’s a shame that the scene is referred to as the ‘toilet circuit’, I recognise these places receive no funding yet do a fantastic job in supporting a wealth of independent talent in their career progression. If these venues didn’t struggle to exist on a daily basis, the live grassroots music scene wouldn’t survive at all. These venues should be supported, subsidised and celebrated as the backbone of the live music industry. I believe the wider music industry should do more to prop up the grassroots live circuit. Prosperous larger venues could be doing deals with the smaller ones and subsidising them; after all, the next artist that plays Brixton Academy has probably played first at a great local venue like The Windmill. If larger venues did more to recognise the important role smaller establishments play as ‘feeder venues’, they would in turn be securing their own futures. How else will the next crop of artists develop and be able to sell 2,000+ tickets per show? Live agents, larger labels and specialist initiatives could also set up their own funding to support independent musicians. The infrastructure and knowledge sharing aspect needs to improve too. When I worked as a promoter I saw a lot of positives across the industry, but I also noticed things that weren’t working. For instance, it’s pretty tough for artists to organise their own tours at grassroots level and there is little infrastructure in place to support them. If you don’t know the right venues and promoters outside of your hometown and you can’t afford to employ a tour manager, it may be a stab in the dark — and a costly one at that. Rough estimates from industry insiders suggest a fourperson band that takes to the road for a five-date tour can be out of pocket by at least a thousand pounds. Also, there is a lack of transparency in terms of the relationship between the promoters and venues, and then the promoters and artists. Often from the promoters’ side, the artists might not turn up on time or bring the right equipment, and they might not promote the show like they should. From the artists’ side there is that endemic pay-to-play culture at grassroots level but they don’t know what to do to combat it.
Together as an industry, I believe we can make the grassroots live sector a thriving business in the UK and one to be proud of Promoters that sign up to use our platform have to agree to three community pledges which are based on being anti-pay-to-play. We are in harmony with the Musicians Union’s Fair Pay Guide on this. Its campaign aims to raise awareness of fair pay issues for professional musicians and discourage cases where musicians are expected to work for free. What we’re saying at BandWagon is that, although we see some instances where playing a free gig can really help an artist, there should be transparency in the business to allow the artist to make an informed decision. Promoters we partner with need to provide payment details, covering whether their events are paid, expenses-only or non-paid, so artists can decide in advance if they want to play or not. It’s going to be a long battle, but by drawing that line in the sand we’re at least making a stance. And if we get others to support us we can make it easier for artists starting out to know that the opportunities presented to them are ethical and genuine. Together as an industry, I believe we can make the grassroots live sector a thriving business in the UK and one to be proud of. Stan is a former music promoter who, together with band manager Maria Hayden, created BandWagon in 2011. The online platform connects more than 500 music promoters with 5,000 live acts and DJs. It encourages transparency from both promoters and bands to facilitate and manage gig bookings for both sides. Clients include festivals Secret Garden Party and Go North.
forum
House of Love signed copies were made available as part of a Cherry Red reissue package
fans still getting physical with music Adam Velasco, Managing Director, Cherry Red
You can’t move in the music industr y without hearing people herald the demise of physical product. And, while laments to the ‘death of CDs and vinyl LPs’ certainly don’t constitute breaking news anymore, these headlines have come to define an industr y in flux. Here at Cherry Red, it’s a very different story. Business as usual for us involves producing lots of records; on average we release around 40 to 50 physical albums a month across our 20 active labels. Sure, we’ve evolved over the years since Iain McNay first formed the company in the height of punk 35 years ago. We no longer break new acts, and only five percent of our releases are new studio albums. Catalogue may be the bulk of our output, but our business is thriving in the face of the negative headlines.
No one can deny the music industry is a different beast than it was even five years ago, but for us it’s very much about choices
We’ve come to learn that it ’s not all about breaking acts and hitting the top 10. Fifteen years ago we were finding it extremely tough to launch new acts — the prohibitive costs and inherent risks weren’t sustainable. By that point we owned a great stock of master recordings and looked to license as much catalogue as we could from other labels and artists themselves. Over the years, we have built up solid contacts — especially with the majors. They increasingly license us to release catalogues because they are producing less physical product themselves. It’s imperative we work with artists to tap into their fan bases. In this day and age, it ’s never been easier to get to people. We use social media and work off our mailing lists; we encourage as many people as possible to sign up. We also offer our own mail order service so we see when someone has bought a certain artist and we recommend related releases to them. No one can deny the music industry is a different beast than it was even five years ago, but for us it’s very much about choices. Many people want to download music but there is still a vast swathe of people who want to buy physical product. We are aware that we probably deal with an older fan base; most people who buy our records are 30 plus. But luckily, they still feel that music has a price and are willing to pay for music. They like their albums in a physical format, they appreciate the art aspect, they still like reading sleeve notes and they like having CDs and vinyl on their walls. From where we’re standing, physical is still very much in demand. America, Japan, Germany, Benelux and the UK make up our five biggest territories and our physical sales went up last year in all of those countries. Music fans and collectors like limited edition releases with signed copies, exclusive prints, postcards, books or other memorabilia — it’s got to be good value and special. It’s very sad to see HMV go but it was hardly a shock. I hope they can come back in some form
and keep as many shops as possible open. It’d be terrible not to have any entertainment stores on the high street. But the majority of our sales were online already — we’ve noticed a very dramatic change over the years. People are buying through Amazon or us directly. Inevitably, physical sales will go down, I’m not sitting here saying they won’t, but for a number of years I fully believe there will still be a worthwhile business on the physical side. Maybe Cherry Red will be the last one standing? But if people still want to buy physical copies of their favourite music, we’ll do our best to provide it for them. Adam Velasco is Managing Director of west London-based independent record company Cherry Red. He joined in 1992 as an office junior and now oversees more than 20 imprints, managing a monthly release schedule of 40-plus albums. Cherry Red started life as a press company in 1971 but sealed its fate as a record label when, in 1978, owner and founder Iain McNay released the first single by punk band The Tights. The company went on to champion a clutch of underground bands from the era, including The Runaways and Destroy All Monsters. By the time the eighties arrived, the label had diversified into post-punk, new wave and more to become one of the key indie labels of the era. It issued a budget compilation in late 1982 called Pillows & Prayers, which was an instant success and stayed atop the UK indie chart for 19 weeks. The now-hallowed LP featured tracks by Tracey Thorn, Ben Watt, Felt and the Monochrome Set. This year Cherry Red, now home to more than 20 specialist imprints, celebrates its 35th anniversary. Bosses are planning a big party in June followed by some very special reissues and possibly a new edition of Pillows & Prayers.
m47_march 2013_13
DIGITAL Helienne Lindvall takes stock of the digital landscape to discover how 2013 could be a watershed year for the industry.
JOHN WRIGHT
UNLESS YOU’VE BEEN LIVING IN A CAVE FOR the past decade you can’t have escaped the sweeping digitisation of music; its pitfalls and triumphs have split the industry in half and razed traditional business models to the ground. And, while it’s fair to say digital progress has been mired in controversy, it would be churlish to deny its potential for creators.
Main image: Devlin 14_MARCH 2013_M47
Cast your mind back to when Apple first launched the iTunes music store in 2003 — it was just about the only legal digital music outlet out there. Its competitors were cavalier websites and unlicensed file-sharing services such as Napster and Soulseek. Back then, the digital landscape was such an unknown quantity, hostile and unwieldy, that the music business eyed it with suspicion. Fast forward a decade and, although perceptions of digital have radically changed, iTunes is still, by far, the biggest legal music download service in the world. It currently sells 15,000 downloads per minute — that’s 21.6 million songs a day. To put that into context, in 2013 iTunes sells more songs in 12 hours than it did in its first five months of existence.
This January, a track by UK producer and PRS for Music member Chase Buch became the 25 billionth download sold through the store. That same month PRS for Music’s Chief Executive Robert Ashcroft told midem delegates: ‘Apple is now making more in profit than the recorded music industry ever made in revenue. I would like to think that the music industry contributed a little bit of that value to Apple, so my question is, have we handled that well in this transition? I would say not. So far, Apple has fared much better than the industry has.’ But, he added, all this could change with the rampant growth of streaming. It’s clear that iTunes isn’t the only digital music shop on the block anymore, even though it still provides the biggest chunk of a songwriter’s digital revenue stream in both the UK and US. There are now hundreds of legal download and music streaming services worldwide, including 7Digital, Spotify, Deezer, Beatport and eMusic. In 2011 about £40m of the total £630m that PRS for Music collected — including broadcast, public performance and international revenue — came from digital, which represented a third of all record sales.
digital
In Sweden, the birth country of the on-demand streaming service Spotify, streaming revenue has even surpassed download revenue, with over 10 percent of the population subscribing to a music streaming service. Spotify founder Daniel Ek has said that his company is projected to pay artists, labels, publishers and other rightsholders $500m in 2013. Online royalties: the small print As almost all digital music services have differently structured licensing deals, songwriters’ royalty statements have become longer and more complex. This complexity within the digital space has proved a huge challenge for collecting societies. Consider that in 2007 PRS for Music processed 15 million music usages in total. By 2012 that figure had grown to a whopping 124 billion usages. ‘Think about it,’ exclaims Ashcroft. ‘Every Spotify stream, every Deezer stream, every WE7 stream, YouTube stream... the services just notify the stream of the song, PRS for Music has to divide it up. It’s massive! We’ve had to invest an awful lot in back office systems.’
Over the last three years, the society’s back office has been under increasing pressure to adapt. Creating the Global Repertoire Database (GRD), enabling a single, authoritative international song repository, will help, says Ashcroft. The society has been working hard to adapt the GRD, alongside increasing cooperation and partnerships with international societies. These actions will undoubtedly help streamline operations and help make sure that royalties flow to songwriters more efficiently and accurately. These, however, are multimillion-pound investments and take years to implement due to the number of records that are in existence and the complexity of doing the operations.
Pull quote
Robert Ashcroft
I would like to think that the music industry contributed a little bit of that value to Apple M47_MARCH 2013_15
Right: iTunes new format Below: Jane Dyball
If there’s a rising tide it lifts all the boats ‘For example, in the online world, here in the UK, 75 percent of a download is deemed to be mechanical and 25 percent is performance. The reverse is true for a pure streaming service and others are 50/50. And other countries have different splits,’ explains Ashcroft. The fact that some publishers have withdrawn their repertoire from societies to negotiate deals on a pan-European basis has added to the complexity. Digital pennies and pounds Around eight to 10 percent of the retail price of a CD goes to the publishers and songwriters. For a digital download they can expect up to 10p per track. The share writers get of revenue is, generally, slightly higher in streaming than in downloads, says Ashcroft, who expects streaming to become a decent source of revenue for songwriters and composers in the near future. It’s been reported that of the £10 Spotify collects monthly per subscriber, £6 goes to the owner of the recordings, £1 to the owner of the publishing copyright, and Spotify keeps £3. Though Ashcroft is prevented from revealing exact numbers due to the non disclosure agreements that cover most deals, he says that if you deduct VAT off the subscription charge these figures are ‘not a million miles out’.
APPLE INC.
‘I would like to see the split in rights look much more like radio, because there we have a 50/50 split,’ Ashcroft continues. ‘I don’t really understand why the record labels have gone into it with splits that are predicated on the cost of manufacturing, returns and breakage and all the rest of it. That’s something we have to address in the future.’
Meanwhile Jane Dyball, Senior Vice President of International Legal and Business Affairs for Warner/ Chappell – and a PRS Board member - says that getting a percentage of ‘the revenue pie’ is not always the best option. ‘I want to get the best value for our writers — if you just ask for a percentage of what someone else is getting there’s a danger you could sit on your laurels.’ Ashcroft is unable to discuss details of the society’s YouTube deal . He says that at the time the previous deal was negotiated, music wasn’t as big a component of the video streaming site as it is now. Now you can choose genres and create playlists on their music app. ‘It’s beginning to look very similar to a Spotify,’ he concludes. ‘I have no objection if they have a different business model, but it’s very clear to me that they’re now running a fully fledged music service and they have to pay on a fair basis — or else we’re putting other people out of business.’ Driving up the value of music In her role at Warner/Chappell, Jane Dyball is one of the first people digital entrepreneurs will have to meet with before launching a new music service. ‘It’s what I love the most about my job,’ she says. There are two criteria that have to be met for her to get on board. ‘I love music, so first of all I want to know if I’d like to use their service,’ she explains. ‘We usually ask for a Beta version to try it out for ourselves. And then I look at if they’ve figured out a way of making money — if they’ve got a proper business model. There is a sweet spot between commerce and art, and it can be a difficult one for a new service to hit.’ Dyball says she and her colleagues guide new services to a point where they have a workable business model. ‘Where services have been established without one it’s difficult to change the world overnight, so we have to do it step by step, moving the needle slowly… If you’re able to increase the rates then it’s good for everyone — if there’s a rising tide it lifts all the boats.’ Fans go digital The advent of iTunes meant music fans no longer had to buy whole albums to get access to a few tracks, as they can now cherry pick songs. This has had both positive
digital
and negative effects for songwriters. There is a possibility of a ‘long tail effect’, as fans are no longer dependent on what records their local record store stock. Instead almost all music in the world is available right there at their fingertips. Yet, so far, online music consumption tends to still largely reflect what’s being played on the radio. This means it’s currently even more important for songwriters ‘to get the single’, whereas previously an album track could still accumulate quite a bit of revenue. Ashcroft believes, however, that we’ll see an evolution in user interface, which will give people access to discovery they previously didn’t have. The best way to do it is via human curation, which is not as easy as it may appear, as it’s difficult to know which aspect of a song the listener liked — it may have been contextual, that he or she liked the song at a particular moment.
licensing than it was when iTunes launched a decade ago. ‘There is no doubt the industry has undergone momentous change,’ agrees Ashcroft. ‘And many are now predicting that streaming will return the music business to overall growth in 2013 — in fact, we’ve already seen positive signs in the Scandinavia and the US. So, while we may not be back to the glory days of the CD, it looks like we are finally turning a significant corner in terms of digital revenues.’
Left: A track by UK producer and PRS for Music member Chase Buch became the 25 billionth download sold through iTunes.
There is a huge appetite for music and information about music,’ chimes Dyball. ‘This in turn can drive revenue and growth.’ There’s no doubt the digital revolution has brought huge changes for songwriters. And, as streaming and download services continue to gather pace, 2013 could be the year that this upward trajectory converts into decent returns for music creators and their publishers. However fruitful the year shapes up to be, one thing is for certain: the music industry is lither, more efficient and open to
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M47_MARCH 2013_17
Main image: Laura Mvula
PROFILE profile
MUSICAL MAGPIE Anita Awbi spends time with Laura Mvula to uncover her songwriting sparkle. ‘Ally bally, ally bally bee, sitting on your mammy’s knee,’ coos Laura Mvula, before descending into a fit of giggles. We’re sitting in a stark corner of her manager’s north London office one chilly afternoon and laughter is bouncing from glass to concrete and back again. In between the giggles Laura is reciting the 19th century Scottish song Coulter’s Candy, the first lullaby she ever heard. ‘Oh no, I can never remember how the second verse goes! But my mum would sing it to me and I was really moved by it,’ she says. ‘I think my song Can’t Live With the World is subconsciously my Ally Bally because I was so obsessed with that melody right up until I was about nine or 10.’ That’s Laura all over. She’s a musical magpie. She doesn’t hop from genre to genre; she steals and treasures musical moments, using them to embellish her own songwriting. As a result, her debut album delivers a striking blend of invention and simplicity. It’s high in the fun stakes too. Frivolous arrangements for timpani and tubular bells — offset by found sounds and featherweight melodies — make for an alluring pop record. And, although it’s only just hit the shops, Sing to the Moon promises to be one of the year’s landmark releases. Much fuss has already been made of fledging Laura’s soulful harmonies and bracing compositions. The Birmingham-born singer-songwriter is emerging as the charts still buckle under the success of Adele, Emeli Sandé and Lana del Rey. So it didn’t take long for last year’s early murmurs of greatness to explode into full-on media hype as 2013 dawned. Nominations for the prestigious BBC Sound of 2013 poll and BRITs Critics’ Choice Award made sure of that. But she’s not so bothered about the hullabaloo: ‘I’ve been brought up in an environment that really isn’t aware of the pop accolades,’ she says. So, while critics clamour over each other to name drop increasingly unlikely musical reference points, it seems that Laura remains ambivalent. To some, her melodies are reminiscent of The Beach Boys, to others she’s a modern day Nina Simone or Billie Holiday. Grandiose claims, then. ‘The new Nina Simone? Give me a break!’ Cue more laughter. ‘I think I can understand why it’s natural to reach for reference points, but I’m fast learning that everyone’s reference points are very different. All these comparisons can be far-fetched and a bit silly, but I suppose sometimes I’m quite flattered by it.’
M47_MARCH 2013_19
Even though I was trying really hard, I’m not a Gil Scott or an Erykah Badu In person she remains modest and coy, but her album is anything but reined in. Sing to the Moon reveals that Laura is as comfortable digesting choral baroque music as she is the rhymes of Erykah Badu or the timeless pop of Amy Winehouse. And, if genre-hopping is nothing new, she brings a fluid musical language that is way beyond the contemporary. Her strength lies in her ability to elevate elementary melodies into complex five-part harmonies. Her musical dialect carries echoes of her upbringing, her on-off relationship with pop and her broad classical training at the Birmingham Conservatoire. ‘I’m attracted by anything simplistic. I’ve always enjoyed bringing really simple elements together to make something that’s bigger or more interesting. I’m just into things that circle round and round. It’s how my brain works,’ she explains humbly. Our conversation flows like Laura’s music as she skips from one ‘life-changing’ experience to another, ending up in everdecreasing circles of influence and inspiration. Her memories are constructed from a series of musical flash points. Childhood is underlined by sibling harmonies, teenage years by the competition of school orchestras and an adoration of neo-soul girl group Eternal, while university is a coming-of-age tale. Instead of feeling out of her depth, Laura seemed to come into her own at the Birmingham Conservatoire, where she studied for four years under renowned composer Joe Cutler. Her natural songwriting ability springs from a restless curiosity to learn and a simple play-and-reward culture encouraged by her parents. Twenty-six year old Laura first began to experiment with music as a very small child. She would boss her younger siblings into practising three-part harmonies she’d constructed for them while doing the washing up ‘to make the time pass quicker and the chores more fun’. ‘My brother and sister were my best friends growing up, which is a bit sad really!’ Laura giggles again. ‘It was partly due to the way my parents brought us up I suppose. We were encouraged to entertain each other and music was the easiest way to do that. As soon as we could play instruments, that’s what we did for fun.’ Predictably, she wasn’t the only Mvula sibling to take to music. Her brother James went on to do a Masters at the Royal Academy on cello and her sister Dionne is studying music at the University of West London. ‘The family I grew up in was an extremely secure unit and very important. I genuinely felt loved and expressing yourself through music was just normal to us.’ Laura went on to build all her friendship groups around music; after-school orchestras, church choirs, lunchtimes in the playground reciting pop songs with her classmates. But it was the Birmingham Music Service that offered her the biggest outlet. Laura went right through the system from start to finish, learning instruments including piano and violin, seizing every opportunity she could. It has shaped her career so far and its eclectic influence is audible in the threads that bind her debut record together. She should be the poster girl for music education and funding, I tell her.
profile
Top: Birmingham Schools’ Jazz Ensemble with Birmingham Schools’ Gospel Choir at Music For Youth Schools’ Prom at the Royal Albert Hall Centre: Sing To The Moon Bottom: Black Voices
‘Without things like that I might not have had the confidence to put things together for myself. It all matters, it’s all connected,’ she explains. ‘I’m always looking back and thinking about the amazing opportunities I’ve been given.’ The nurturing continued apace throughout university where she finally found her voice and began laying down the groundwork for a solo career. Her old teenage ties to the Birmingham female choral group Black Voices helped bolster her confidence and gave her an outlet for early compositions. In 2011 she secured funding through PRS for Music Foundation’s Women Make Music project, which commissioned her to write Jazz Suite for the group. But when university ended and Judyshouse, the neo-soul group she’d formed, disbanded 18 months later, Laura found herself at a loose end for the first time in her life. She’d become frustrated by the realisation that she wasn’t the soul singer that she wanted to be. By now she’d done plenty of gigs with Black Voices and recalls feeling squashed from the experience of trying to keep up with ‘real’ singers. ‘For me it was an immense experience. But letting go was really useful, you know, accepting that I’m not this or that. Even though I was trying really hard I’m not a Gil Scott or an Erykah Badu, I’m not a gospel artist… All the while I had a growing feeling about the kind of emotions I wanted to put into the music.’ Her parents divorced around that same time so she used music as an outlet. The words came easy and she trained herself to improvise on the piano, letting melodies come and go at her fingertips. She started to build on these early constructs, before teaming up with producer Steve Brown who helped her realise the record she wanted to make.
‘I started to build on the things that were at first unfamiliar to me, to try to make them sound familiar. For me that became exciting and it became a method,’ she says. ‘It’s hard to explain — I think there are so many strands that I miss out when I talk about what got me here now. I think I am a product of the nurturing I’ve received my whole musical life and I’ve been showered with opportunities you just wouldn’t believe.’ So where does Laura see it all going from here? ‘I hope that I’ll continue to develop and conquer some of my musical insecurities, of which I have very many,’ she confides. ‘I think being compared to all these great people before me doesn’t really help. I’m just trying to do this me thing and figure it all out.’ Laura Mvula is published by Universal Music Publishing. Her debut album Sing to the Moon is out now.
For full interview and accompanying playlist
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M47_MARCH 2013_21
A city becomes fashionable and inevitably that is going to pass. It doesn’t mean interesting things are going to stop happening
Main image: John Parish
regional
BRISTOL CREAM Jim Ottewill investigates Bristol’s music scene to uncover the source of the city’s creative pulse. ‘SOMEONE ONCE SAID a crest for Bristol could feature two fingers pointing towards London. It’s a place that doesn’t care that much about what other people think,’ says Phil Johnson, author of trip-hop book Straight Outta Bristol and co-curator at live music venue St George’s.
This activity all points to a city whose scene is evolving faster than ever before. A 2010 PRS for Music survey supports this, claiming Bristol was the UK’s most musical city with more songwriters per capita originating from the city than any other place.
Sure enough, if you slice Bristol’s music scene in half you’ll find a fierce spirit of independence running right through it. There’s an open minded approach to collaboration and a tight network of artists and musicians all keen to give each other a helping hand.
So how did Bristol get here? Back in the nineties, Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky released critically and commercially acclaimed trip-hop albums. Drum ‘n’ bass, spearheaded by Roni Size and his Reprazent crew, gained the city yet more column inches. And then a period of relative quiet?
Chris Farrell, owner of the local Idle Hands independent label and record shop, agrees. ‘There is a really healthy culture of exchange between Bristol musicians. Everyone is glad to see other people do well. It’s very supportive as a city.’ Scene stalwarts would argue that this isn’t anything new - indeed it’s been ongoing since those much lauded trip-hop days - only now it seems the media are paying attention again. Dance music artists Julio Bashmore, Eats Everything and Joker have helped give Bristol’s beats an international profile while outside the clubs, a diverse programme of live music and artistic events hosted by the likes of Qu Junktions, St George’s and the Louisiana is keeping creativity buzzing.
John Parish, a Bristol resident, musician, film composer and PJ Harvey collaborator, disagrees. He says these zeitgeist moments always occur when the musical rhythms of a city beat in time with the media’s glare. ‘Many cities, whether they’re Sheffield or Seattle, have a moment where there’s a large amount of interest. A city becomes fashionable and inevitably that is going to pass. It doesn’t mean interesting things are going to stop happening.’ Senior citizens John’s musical career, as well as those of Massive Attack and Portishead’s Geoff Barrow, show that artists can still creatively evolve whether the spotlight is on them or not. Massive Attack will appear at this year’s Manchester
M47_MARCH 2013_23
Since forming in 2006, his organisation has done much to galvanise the scene, attracting more than 600 members and providing a business backbone for creators. The BMF is currently working with Seth Jackson, Director of PIAS Media, and Infectious Records’ Korda Marshall to develop Music South West, an Exeter-based organisation that will enhance the region’s musical networks. Last year Matt, along with John Parish and one time Reprazent member Krust, led Teenage Rampage, an initiative giving young musicians the opportunity to perform at the Olympic Park during London 2012. Both the BMF and Music South West initiatives aim to attract the music industry to Bristol too. Meanwhile, the arrival of new management and booking agency Futureboogie has done much to further the city’s reputation as a hub for new music, with Quantic, Bonobo and dance act Waifs and Strays all on its roster. Co-founder Steve Nickolls says: ‘Here there are more avenues for music to emerge than in the past — good labels, venues and record shops are all helping. There are a lot of cities which have great music but don’t necessarily have the infrastructure or network to put it out.’
The thread running through local music makers is more than just a sound – it’s an attitude Above: Eats Everything
International Festival collaborating on a new audiovisual project dubbed ‘a collective hallucination’ with acclaimed filmmaker Adam Curtis. Meanwhile Geoff continues to run his own Invada imprint and release new music as BEAK>. Both he and John will appear at the Bristol Filmic event this spring, with the latter performing a collection of his film compositions. Geoff is performing Drokk, a collaboration with soundtrack composer Ben Salisbury inspired by 2000AD’s Judge Dredd comic strip. As yet, there’s no sign of either’s well of musical innovation running dry. St George’s Phil Johnson explains: ‘That generation has continued to produce work which has expanded beyond those first pop albums and looked towards more personal ambitions. Those who were the young kids on the block 20 years ago are now the senior citizens of the local scene.’ The infrastructure The continued engagement of artists who are both local and internationally renowned is a key ingredient in the city’s musical personality. Matt Booth at Bristol Music Foundation (BMF) says this is typical of the city’s loyal musical community: ‘The whole scene in Bristol is very tight here. Everyone knows everyone else. But this is an environment where people are close together both geographically and artistically.’
A recent event called Adhesive at Colston Hall perfectly encapsulates this collaborative spirit. Organised by solo artist and Reprazent singer Jay Wilcox, it featured a drum ‘n’ bass band performing alongside an orchestra and gospel choir, and attracted an audience of 1,000. Jay explains why it worked so well in Bristol: ‘Because of the pace of London — it’s very competitive — certain producers only work with certain people. The music doesn’t have a lot of time to grow or progress. Here, we’re making music as if we’re just making it for fun.’ Generation bass DJs and producers Julio Bashmore and Eats Everything are both fixtures at parties across the UK. One of the biggest is Bristol’s Motion, a cavernous rave which packs dancers in week after week. It highlights how the popularity of club music in the city has never been higher. Eats Everything, aka Dan Pearce, is particularly enthused about the scene, explaining that while 10 or 15 years ago it seemed like the city was all about Roni Size, the buzz is building around new talent these days. And, while the media gaze is back on Bristol, he predicts more local talent is set to emerge. Upcoming artist Joe Cowton, who records as Kowton, works behind the counter of the Idle Hands music shop. He’s part of a new wave of electronic artists thriving in the wake of dubstep with his futuristic house and techno. ‘It’s a very supportive environment,’ he says. ‘There’s not a lot of egos out there and the more established figures are always pushing the younger ones through. It’s a very positive system.’ The live scene While Bristol’s music scene is Louisiana, The host established
clubs couldn’t be busier, the city’s live also flourishing with venues like the Croft and Thekla taking it in turns to and emerging talent night after night.
Conar Dodds, from Metropolis Music, says: ‘There are about ten times as many live music venues in the city compared with 20 years ago. Established acts play The Academy and Colston Hall but there are plenty of cool club and bar venues. The competition makes it difficult
regional
There is a really healthy culture of exchange between Bristol music creators for local promoters but for the audience it means there is plenty of choice.’ Sarah Class (see page 33), an Emmy and BRIT nominated classical composer based in Bristol, is also excited by live music in the city. ‘St George’s is the hub of everything jazz,’ she says. ‘There are so many bands and ensembles that play there. There’s a massive jazz scene with incredibly talented players performing that should be up there with the jazz greats. It’s thriving with more bars and venues opening up all the time.’ Meanwhile, experimental initiative Qu Junktions brings a more leftfield music agenda to the city and is also flourishing. Its organisers receive support from PRS for Music Foundation to stage increasingly popular musical events around the city. Chris Williams, partner at Qu Junktions, explains that there is a growing number of promoters looking to use new musical spaces, allowing venues like The Croft and St George’s to prosper. Back to front Stephen Barnes, co-Manager of the Bristol Exchange of Arts & Music and artist management business Upshot, believes that the future looks bright for Bristol, explaining how it has come to terms with its trip-hop and drum ‘n’ bass past. He says the city has moved forward due to its unique networks and collaborations, and its thirst for artistic adventure. And, while the ‘Bristol Sound’ and soundsystem culture will always be in the city’s musical blood, Bristol’s strength is far greater than the sum of its parts. The thread running through local music makers, from Massive Attack to John Parish to newer acts like Kowton, is more than just a sound - it’s an attitude. ‘If Portishead, Tricky and Massive Attack did anything for Bristol, it was to instil a pioneering and challenging spirit into the music being made, whatever the genre,’ he concludes.
Top: Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury Above: Jay Wilcox’s Adhesive Left: St. George’s, Bristol
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M47_MARCH 2013_25
TOM OXLEY
ENGLISH ELECTRIC Synth pioneer Andy McLuskey talks to Anita Awbi about the murky world of chart domination and explains why the time is right for an OMD renaissance‌
OVERSEAS profile
Main image: Andy McLuskey (right) and Paul Humphreys
Prolific pop songwriter Andy McLuskey doesn’t seem to rate musicianship all that highly: ‘For every really great song that is written there are tens of thousands of people that can perform it,’ he surmises. ‘It might offend your readers, but it’s the way I see it. I’ve never wanted to be a great musician. What’s the point? It doesn’t mean you can write good songs.’ Andy, now 53, has all the bravado of a precocious young talent, brazen and refreshingly honest. It’s a trait that has governed his musical career and helped shape an important era in British pop. Together with Paul Humphreys, Andy was responsible for a clutch of decade-defining moments as eighties experimental group OMD. Their soaring synth lines and elusive choruses were an instant hit when they first emerged from Liverpool in 1978, putting them in good stead for the epoch of electronic pop. As Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, later OMD, they sold more than 40 million records worldwide — not bad for a band that originally got together to emulate Kraftwerk. ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark was only invented as a band with a stupid name to do one gig!’ chuckles Andy. ‘That was it. We just wanted to say we’d played on stage once. No one was more surprised than us when what we thought was experimental music — and all our friends thought was shit — turned out to be big fat pop hits. Perhaps, largely unconsciously, what we’d done is distil out of Kraftwerk, Roxy Music and David Bowie a sort of catchy British electric pop thing. It was instinctive.’
Instinctive, unconscious, whatever; Factory Records impresario Tony Wilson saw their pop credentials a mile off. In 1979 he invited them to play at his Manchester club following an earlier warm-up stint for Joy Division at a Liverpool venue. Soon after, he released their stark debut single, Electricity. Andy remembers: ‘After a week of being badgered by his first wife, Tony turned round to us and said, “Actually, you two are the future of pop music — would you like to make a record with us?” And we said, “Yes, we’d love to make a record. But fuck off, we’re not pop!”’ Despite Andy’s insistence on their outsider credentials, OMD’s chart-busting 1981 album Architecture and Morality yielded three top five singles — Souvenir, Joan of Arc and Maid of Orleans — and brought them the international acclaim they still benefit from to this day. Tellingly, after they progressed to major label Dindisc (Virgin Records imprint), OMD’s new A&Rs challenged the band to define themselves — ‘Do you want to be ABBA or Stockhausen?’ To which Andy infuriatingly replied, ‘Both’. Career suicide was to follow. Two years after Architecture and Morality, Andy and Paul delivered Dazzle Ships, a challenging record rich in Cold War allegory, radio wave samples and experimental synth solos. Overnight they reportedly lost three million fans. Unlike its predecessor, the album carried no obvious singles and swapped addictive synth lines for an awkward musique concrète aesthetic. M47_MARCH 2013_27
SongLink The leading tipsheet for songwriters and music publishers, established in 1993 and still going strong. Every month we publish great leads detailing artists, labels, managers and producers worldwide who need songs or co-writers. Covers all styles of music including pop, rock, dance, R&B, country, MOR, jazz crossover, folk, blues etc. Leads sent by e-mail every month with interim updates. “Easily the best service of its type in the world” - Ed Chalfin, Magic Fire Music, New York City.
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profile
Read the extended interview and hear Andy’s playlist
m-magazine.co.uk
Far feft: OMD in 1980 Left: The xx Below: English Electric is out 8 April
Today, it stands up as an interesting relic from a peculiar moment in pop history, while critics and fans declare it their best work so far. ‘Funnily enough, Dazzle Ships is not my biggest regret. Looking back over our catalogue, I think we made our sharpest and most poignant music when we chose not to give a damn about record sales. It was when we were running around trying to sell records and touring America for nine months on end and exhausting ourselves, we found we would go back to a well of ideas that was dry because we hadn’t had the chance to fill it up again,’ Andy says.
GETTY / JAMES MEDINA
They returned to a more commercial sound for subsequent albums, supplementing their line-up until the band split in 1988 with the departure of Paul. During the nineties Andy continued to write as OMD until ‘raising his head up in 1996 to realise that Britpop had taken over the charts and synth-pop was well and truly out’. He set about realising his pop ambitions by forming girl group Atomic Kitten and, together with songwriter and producer Stuart Kershaw, penned their number one hit Whole Again. It was during this time that he first caught sight of pop’s murkier underbelly. ‘I learned what an absolutely shitty industry the recorded music business is!’ he exclaims. How these poor artists were completely used as fodder. Myself and Stuart treated those girls like our daughters. We had a sense of obligation to them. ‘Celine Dion and Britney Spears both wanted Whole Again, but we said no because it was Atomic Kitten’s song and we wanted them to have the hit around the world. And boy did we feel stupid six months later when we had our contract torn up.’
It’s almost as though we had to hear other people’s work to get a clear handle on our own Full of hindsight and yearning to play live again, Paul and Andy reunited in 2008. The album History of Modern followed two years later. Now as they prepare for the release of their 12th studio album English Electric, they seem remarkably reinvigorated and ready to push on; with a CV like theirs, anyone would think they’re primed for sanctification. But despite their cavalier attitude and solid pop nouse, time hasn’t always been as kind to Andy and Paul as some of their hallowed peers. It’s hard to fathom why.
Andy has recently covered two songs by The xx, and makes no secret of the effect their stark minimalism has had on him. He also looks to Robyn, Glasvegas and glitch artist Atom TM for inspiration. ‘I make a point of searching for things and I have discovered a lot of very interesting new music,’ he says. ‘It’s almost as though we had to hear other people’s work to get a clear handle on our own. To some degree we’ve learned from the fact that younger bands with their quiet confidence are prepared to strip things down.
Other early synth-pop pioneers such as Human League, Depeche Mode and Brian Eno went on to build everlasting stadium careers or were endowed with endless cool. Meanwhile, the fortunes of OMD have gently ebbed and flowed. Looking back, it’s clear to see that their dramatic bursts of success have been matched by quiet lulls of inactivity and meandering creativity. Until fairly recently, serious cult status and widespread reverence seemed to elude them. Perhaps with the imminent release of English Electric, it’s time for a reappraisal?
‘We know we can’t change the world anymore. Aged 22 I realised that, despite having sold millions of singles and albums, the outcome hadn’t been as I’d intended. Oh fuck, what are we going to do now, I thought. We spent the next 30 years trying to work out the answer to that one!’ After a few listens of English Electric, it becomes obvious they are still enjoying working on that riddle.
It is an instantly recognisable OMD album, straight and solid in concept and simple in execution. Arrangements are pared down and every single noise counts as the duo concentrate on filtering their sound into its purest form. It reverberates with the ease of their first couple of albums, and you can hear references to their divisive record Dazzle Ships in there too. It’s clear that Andy and Paul have spent some time revisiting their previous output, deciphering their strengths and combining them with 21st century influences. M47_MARCH 2013_29
Whether you are just receiving your first royalty cheque or you’ve been writing music for years, BASCA can support your career! We are the UK’s independent association representing music writers in all genres, from songwriting, through to media, contemporary classical and jazz. Our members include Sir Paul McCartney, Dizzee Rascal, Michael Nyman, Gary Barlow, David Arnold, Sir Elton John, Imogen Heap, Howard Goodall, John Powell, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Kate Bush, Chris Martin, and many more.
BASCA campaigns in the UK, Europe and throughout the world on behalf of all members. BASCA member events offer access to industry professionals and an invaluable opportunity to network with contemporaries. Held within the members’ section of the BASCA website, professional resources available include advice sheets, sample contracts and agreements. The professional services BASCA offers include an online collaboration service, a legal service, tax helpline and a digital record label.
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song writing
i wrote that
VINCENT SANNIER
Mark Moore and S’Express went to number one with their debut single Theme From S’Express back in 1988. Twentyfive years later, Mark recalls how the enduring song helped bring dance music into the mainstream. Find out more about Amplify - our dance music initiative
m-magazine.co.uk
Back in the late eighties I was a London DJ playing at places like Philip Salon’s Mudd Club and the Pyramid night at Heaven. It was a mixed crowd. Straight people would go to these places because they could dress up and wouldn’t get any hassle. The scene spilled out of postpunk and the new romantics and I was playing an eclectic mix of records. Detroit techno and Chicago house mixed with new wave electronic stuff like Yellow, Soft Cell and New Order. People like myself, Danny Rampling, Paul Oakenfold, Mike Pickering and Graeme Park were all playing as part of this bubbling underground, especially at the Shoom club. At the same time I started working for Rhythm King Records. I’d advise them on whether to put a record out and helped them have hits with Taffy’s I Love My Radio and tunes from Baby Ford, Renegade Soundwave, Beatmasters and the Cookie Crew. In return I asked Rhythm King if they could put me in a studio as I had ideas for a record. Back then you needed to be in a studio to make a record. You couldn’t do it on a laptop. They hooked me up with Pascal Gabriel to help me in the studio. I’d got all these ideas I had for samples on a cassette tape and gave it to Rhythm King. They didn’t really understand it. I told Pascal my ideas and we got to work on a mixture of samples and melodies we made up ourselves. These ideas became Theme from S’Express. I’d always wanted to make music but I’d never seen myself as a musician. I was sucked in through DJing and hip-hop and became fascinated
by sampling - taking snippets of existing records to make a backing track then layering music over the top of it. I had that hip-hop ethos and influence but thought I could reinterpret it with a twist and use disco records rather than the funk records used by hip-hop artists. The idea of taking a slice of music and looping it and being a musical pirate was really appealing, especially to my sense of non-musicianship. Theme from S’Express was made from a number of samples. The main one which loops over and over is Rose Royce’s Is It Love You’re After. It was a disco 12-inch which I loved and always played in clubs. We looped the beginning over and over and I made up the bassline myself. I always joke with Pascal about who made up the bassline but I always tell him, ‘It was me dammit!’ The single was released in March 1988, just as this underground scene was on the brink of going overground. Many people say that Theme from S’Express helped kick start it and put the scene on the map. We had the acid house explosion and the ‘Second Summer of Love’ pretty much as our song got to number one. But it was more of a zeitgeist thing than any good planning on our part. I didn’t think anyone else would get it and it would just be a record I’d play in the clubs when DJing. Before that most people hated house music. The vast majority of people weren’t clued up about it. But at the same time, there was Tim Simenon working as Bomb the Bass and his record Beat Dis had done really well and got to number two. We were good friends, both DJed in the same clubs and pretty much grew up together as teenagers. Because of his success, some people tipped my record to be the next hit on Rhythm King. It was very odd, that sort of expectancy from people.
I didn’t think anyone else would get it and it would just be a record I’d play in the clubs when DJing As a result, the label asked me to make it sound a bit less crazy. They thought it sounded too crazy for Radio 1 so we were asked to do a seven-inch edit and make it sound nicer. They insisted on it. So Pascal and I went to the studio and purposefully did the worst seven-inch mix you could ever hope to hear. We took it in to the label but they admitted defeat and said: ‘You guys win’. The record went to number one. I’m so glad I stuck to my guns. Theme from S'Express Written by: Mark Moore, Pascal Gabriel and Miles Gregory UK publishers: Kobalt, Warner/Chappell, Sony/ATV m47_march 2013_31
sound effect the first music i remember hearing was…
The song I wish I’d written is…
I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now by Harry Nilsson. Harry Nilsson was one of John Lennon’s best mates, had an incredible voice, lived very hedonistically and made an album of old standards called A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night. This song was a big favourite at home as a kid.
Midnight Cowboy by John Barry. I’m transported as soon as those first harmonica notes come in. It’s simple, beautiful and has a melody which takes you to a new place.
The first record I ever bought was…
Go online to hear some of Neil’s selections m-magazine.co.uk
The Nightfly by Donald Fagen. I bought this when I was in my first band. We had a paraplegic drummer who used to make a bass drum noise through a tube and amp. It was one of the most incredible things I’d ever seen. I’d sit in the back of his modified Ford Cortina and he’d play me records. This was one of them.
The last great record I listened to was… Neil Cowley is the leader of the Neil Cowley Trio. His group recently won UK Jazz Artist of the Year at the inaugural Jazz FM Awards. He played piano on Adele’s best-selling 21 album and is the PRS for Music Foundationsupported musician in residence at DerryLondonderry as part of the UK City of Culture 2013. He will perform a new piece of music written with musicians from across local communities as part of the residency. www.neilcowleytrio.com
32_march 2013_m47
Song for Abba Tribute Record by Let’s Wrestle. Let’s Wrestle are a London indie band who remind me of early Pixies. It’s got all this energy, angst, anger and poetry to it. I’m pleased to see these qualities still exist in new bands.
The song that I know all the words to is… Moving the River by Prefab Sprout. I never listen to lyrics, probably because I’m an instrumentalist. I listen to melodies, chords and harmonies but Paddy McAloon’s lyrics get me every time. This is pure pop artistry.
The song that makes me want to dance is… Lips by Micachu and the Shapes. She’s a phenomenal new artist who represents everything good about new British music. She’s really young, off the wall yet largely ignored. My kids love it. It’s always played at parties as our musical statues tune.
The song that makes me cry is… I Can Let Go Now by Michael Macdonald. I loved listening to Tony Blackburn’s show on Radio London in the late eighties and Michael Macdonald would turn up there. It was at a time when I learnt about love and loss and this summed it up. When the orchestra comes in, you just drop to your knees. It’s beautiful.
The song I want played at my funeral is… Let’s Go Round Again by The Average White Band. I don’t believe in an after-life but I do believe that my life has been a really big laugh. It started with soul bands which sounded a bit like The Average White Band so saying Let’s Go Round Again would be a perfectly apt way to go.
making music
sixty seconds Emmy-nominated composer and singer-songwriter Sarah Class brings an astonishing scope of talent and experience to every TV and film score she works on. Sarah’s love of all music — from improv jazz to classical and choral - has led her to write diverse soundtracks that reflect the power of some of the BBC’s greatest natural history series, including Africa, Madagascar and Blue Planet. We caught up with her just as Africa was finishing its run on BBC One. How did you get into scoring for TV? I sent a CD to someone at the BBC Natural History Unit. I’d look at these wildlife programmes when I was young and think, ‘Oh I could do the music to those’. I think I was very naïve! I didn’t get any composing work for a long time, but the guy I sent the CD to gave me a production assistant job. He played me some music from an established composer so I could listen to my competition and I was really overawed by it. Now I think the samples were probably dreadful! I kept hassling all the producers I met to see if they would take me on as a composer and eventually I got my foot in the door with a Natural World programme about whales in South America.
BBC
Why were you attracted to natural history programmes? I would always get swept away by the emotions in the programmes. I’m very into nature and wildlife and my dad was a biologist. I grew up on a nature reserve so I’d wander round the woods classifying things in a really nerdy childlike way. Natural history just seemed to gel for me. You don’t realise at that age you need equipment, you need to
establish your sound and you need to hassle so many people. I sent out 200 CDs to people and got rejected so many times because they don’t know you. People need to trust you. It’s really tough but I knew I could do it, so I kept trying. It took a long time just to get noticed. How do you go about composing for such visually striking programmes? Well, some directors like you to get involved from the very beginning. Personally, I like to see the programme then forget about it because I know its going to change — the music, the shots, everything. If you write from the very beginning you end up doing your job so many times that it ’s disheartening. I like to sit with the director on the final cut. I like to do the whole programme first and then present it. I’ll go back if there are any adjustments that need doing. It’s worked out really well so far. I haven’t had to do that many changes. Any time I’ve had to go back is usually because the director didn’t really know what they wanted. We normally end up going back to my original idea after a very long and winding road…
Did that happen on the Africa series? Yes — on the turtle sequence. We changed it about six times and I found that my music was totally chopped about because the effects were so loud. They wanted this big dramatic music all over the footage of the baby turtles going down to the sea and getting picked off by every predator going. I think one of my earlier iterations was better and I had to go back to that and re-do it again. My heart was sinking and I was sinking. People have written to me to say they really love the turtle sequence but I can’t look at another turtle ever again! Another memorable scene from the series featured a baby elephant. How did you compose for that? It was a very long sequence — six minutes in total. You have to be subtle — you can’t approach it in any other way. It was such a beautiful and sad scene. There was a lot of silence in it. But I’m happy with silence, sometimes you really need it. There were also a lot of effects over it. A lot of directors don’t realise this, but if the music is allowed to take over it can take you right into the story. I kept it very emotionally subdued; I didn’t want to over-egg the pudding. I had a lot of high
strings and solo violin. It had a desolate feel to it and it was so sad when the baby elephant dies. I hope I got it just right. How about the battling giraffe scene? There was some vocal on the guide music and I love vocals. I really wanted to bring harmonies and lush melodies in – I’m a singer songwriter too. The rising string and arpeggiated passage lent itself to the slow motion dance of the two giraffes. It was quite a treacherous sequence with the two of them beating each other. I wanted it to be beautiful and compelling. Because the footage was slow motion I had more scope to really give it my all. The hit points were very important in that sequence. I always make sure the timings are really spot on because it highlights the dramatic tension. It’s very easy to just do big heavy drums in fight sequences but I wanted something beautiful. Having said that, I had an elephant sequence later and I just went hell for leather on the drums and that just felt right. To read the full interview with Sarah go online
m-magazine.co.uk
m47_march 2013_33
picture this
making music
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Former Melody Maker journalist Chris Welch remembers the explosive impact Queen made on the seventies rock scene. Queen received a PRS for Music Heritage Award at Union Hall, Imperial College London, on 5 March 2013. Brian May and Roger Taylor were awarded the plaque by PRS Chairman Guy Fletcher to commemorate the site of their first London gig on 18 July 1970. Check out our exclusive video at m-magazine.co.uk
PHOTO: DOUGLAS PUDDIFOOT © QUEEN PRODUCTIONS LTD.
Read our exclusive interview with Brian May m-magazine.co.uk
When Freddie Mercury and Brian May shared a stage together, sparks flew back in the golden age of rock. There were other electrifying singer/ guitarist soul mates, notably Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, not to mention David Bowie and Mick Ronson. But when Queen began their race to the top, Mercury and May were a charismatic combo, as this rare photo of the duo in action vividly recalls.
This led to a severe misreading of their intentions in the early days. Queen, now hailed as one of the world’s most legendary bands, were originally derided as a manufactured group. Their efforts at writing original songs were dismissed out of hand. But Queen rapidly won over audiences and proved their critics wrong, as I discovered when I saw them in action during their first headlining UK tour in November 1974.
You only have to look at the mass of hair and intense facial expressions to be reminded once more of Brian’s sweet toned harmonising guitar and Freddie’s full blooded vocals as they launched into magical songs like Killer Queen and Bohemian Rhapsody.
My baptism of Queen fire came at the Liverpool Empire. It remains one of the most exciting concerts burned into my memory banks. Hundreds of hysterical fans packed into the glitzy old theatre were yelling even before the show began. Finally the spotlights glared as Freddie Mercury bounded on stage clad in white, pouting and posing like a demonic pantomime dame and shouting: ‘Queen is back. What do you think of that?’
But Queen were always a joint effort, with Roger Taylor on drums and John Deacon on bass playing vital roles. Indeed, they were all very clever chaps. Freddie had a degree in graphic art, Roger studied dentistry, John had a degree in electronics and Brian was an expert astronomer. No wonder some rock critics found themselves baffled and daunted by the overpowering presence and impact of a group so intellectually challenging and vastly superior to the average pub rock blues outfit. 34_march 2013_m47
The roar of approval showed just what audiences thought. And when May and Mercury began to rock out in perfect harmony, the magic was palpable. Early the next morning after the show, I talked to Freddie in his hotel lounge. Quietly determined, he was peeved at misconceptions about himself and the group. His demeanour was impressive, even when suffering from a champagne hangover.
‘People think I’m an ogre. Some girls hissed at me on the street here and said “You devil”. They think I am really nasty. But that’s only me on stage. Off stage, I’m certainly not an ogre.’ The band’s third album Sheer Heart Attack had been poorly reviewed and he sadly added: ‘There has been some criticism and constructive criticism has been good for us. But to be frank I’m not that keen on the British music press and they’ve been pretty unfair to us. I feel that journalists have been under a misconception about us and we’ve been called a supermarket hype.’ But in 1973 America was already beckoning and Queen were taking the first steps along the road to world domination. Then, after Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975, they became so successful they no longer had to care about reviews, good or bad. Audiences and fans around the world proclaimed their genius and long after Freddie’s sad death aged 45 in 1991, they still do. We now think of Freddie as the ultimate rock god, bestriding the stage and bellowing ‘We are the champions’. But I like to remember him as the witty, amusing man who sat chatting in that dusty, empty hotel room and patiently answering my questions about Queen. ‘Do we row? Oh my dear, we’re the bitchiest band on earth. You’ll have to spend a couple of days with us. We’re at each other’s throats!'
“Make Money with Your Music No Matter Where You Live” Martin Haene – TAXI Member
M
y name is Martin Haene, and since I was a kid, I dreamed of earning my living with my music. Sound familiar? I live in Switzerland, so I thought it was nearly impossible. After all, who wants to hear music from a guy with a home studio who lives 5,920 miles away from Hollywood, in a country the size of West Virginia?
What Didn’t Work…
I tried sending out hundreds of unsolicited CDs, but it was expensive and unproductive. Just like you, I needed a “vehicle” for my music.
What Did Work!
I discovered TAXI in 2006 and quickly understood the value of having a well-connected U.S. based company “filter” my music and get it to the right people. I thought the people on the receiving end would be much more likely to listen to well-targeted music from a trusted source, rather than the hundreds of unfiltered songs they get every day.
The number of my Film and TV placements has increased dramatically since joining TAXI: In just 2 ½ years, my music has been used in international TV Shows like Lincoln Heights (ABC Family), Stylista (CW Network), Degrassi (CTV) as well as feature films like Graduation (Independent) and Bring it on – Fight to the Finish (Universal). I’ve also licensed four of my tracks for a Sony/BMG, Latin Music CD that was released internationally.
Your Music as Your Retirement Fund
Having also signed deals with several top publishers through TAXI, I have little doubt those will turn into an ever-increasing number
of Film & TV placements down the road. I’m beginning to see how my music could easily become my retirement fund. How many musicians can make that claim? You can if your music is top notch and you use your TAXI membership well.
More Than Just Great Contacts
TAXI is also the perfect way to learn what the market needs and how to produce it. Every member gets two free tickets to TAXI’s annual convention, the Road Rally. It’s such a great learning and networking experience that it’s more than worth the price of the plane ticket – even from Switzerland! I’ve also made friends, contacts, and met co-writers by becoming part of TAXI’s online community. The possibilities are limitless if you take advantage of them. And the best part is, you can make money with your music no matter where you live. Where do you live and what are you waiting for? Call TAXI!
The World’s Leading Independent A&R Company
800-917-0406 www.taxi.com
Angel Recording studios
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Part of the de Wolfe Music group info@angelstudios.co.uk
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