Monday, 20 June 2016

The bland assertions of a Culture Secretary aren't enough, nor is the quiet compliance of our commentators

I've written here about this recently but am returning to it because I am, frankly, stunned at the lack of insight being given by the music media to the effects of a Brexit vote on the UK music industry. Last week Music Week reported briefly that Culture Secretary John Wittingdale had deigned to recognise one of the UK's biggest export successes by asserting that 'British music will continue to go on thriving' no matter what the result of the vote on Thursday.

This is, quite palpably, rubbish. Talk to anyone at the coalface of the music industry and they will quickly draw up a list of the issues that a Leave vote will bring to light. In recent weeks I have talked to fellow managers, agents, record company bosses and promoters. All are concerned, none are sure of what the vote would mean should it go for Leave but all are adamant that it won't be good for us.

Chief amongst our worries is the effect on touring Europe. This doesn't just affect the bottom line of bands. Add in management, agents and record companies (all of whom now rely on pipeline income from a percentage share of live income from their signed artists) and we all find ourselves looking at more red tape, less harmonisation, less certainty. Whittingdale seemed (from the scant coverage available) to be of the opinion that Adele's global success seems to equate to an open world of opportunity for UK artists. Again, this is simply not the case.

I've already covered the significant and prohibitve costs of US touring in the previous post but music, almost uniquely amongst UK export industries, is far more wedded to Europe than any other area. Partly this is cost. The budget required to tour Europe is, outside of domestic touring, the lowest option available.

No visas are a massive part of that equation, tax deals add to the increase in bottom line, whether Holland's straighforward regime or the more complicated, but workable, systems that you encounter in Germany, France and elsewhere where you may end up seeing some of the fee return a year later in the shape of withholding tax depending on approach and form filling and other factors. But geography plays an obvious part. A ferry carrying your entire band and crew on one bus is a much more economically sound option than a clutch of flights, whether transatlantic or far far away to Japan or Australia.

We are not like manufacturing where the new markets of China and India are open to us fully. Cultural differences may be eroding but the symbiosis between mainland Europe and the UK in cultural terms has been developed over 1000 years (2000 if you want with the Roman Empire) of shared cultural experiences, music chief amongst those. In time China and India may become big markets for UK music, the green shoots are there (although Chinese visas especially are costly and hard to obtain) but if you want to talk about the markets that matter for profit, for most bands Europe is key.

A Leave vote will not mean an immediate European rejection of UK bands. However, loading of costs and uncertainty into visa regimes, whether in terms of bottom line fees or administration costs to obtain them, will dampen both the desire to book UK acts and also the profits that such touring can deliver back to UK acts and music businesses and, ultimately, to the UK exchequer in tax receipts, not to mention the benefits of the 'soft power' that UK bands deliver on the continent by their popularity and availability. Being outside collective agreement on copyright and intellectual property will excacerbate differences and income. As I have said before import and export tax will add to cost and bear in mind a LOT of UK vinyl is pressed outside of this country.

As a final thought, I recently talked to a prominent booking agent about the US experience for UK touring acts. Although anecdotal, he told me that he knew of three bands that had made a profit touring the USA last year. My experience and those of other industry contacts tallies with that. You tour Europe to grow fanbase and create profit. You spend money to grow fanbase everywhere else unless you are a mega band.

This is a far more complicated argument than one blog post from me can deliver in totality. Further, it requires some more information from the other side as to what they actually envisage being the situation post Brexit. Having searched for such information high and low I see nothing on which I can develop an alternative vision. This is an argument against the wider Leave campaign for me personally but the music industry and the music media really should be holding feet to fires of those arguing for Leave involved in our cultural life before the vote takes place. So far, they have failed. They have three days to rectify the issue.

Wednesday, 15 June 2016

The Politics of Insanity






As I write a flotilla of Brexit fishermen led by and MEP who failed to attend any of the EU fisheries council meetings of which he was a member is being confronted in The Thames by boats led by Sir Bob Geldof. Meanwhile, The Sun is leading with an invasion of European moths and a reading of the ongoing market slide that declares a Brexit share boost. To add to the sense of fin de siecle carnival Sir Philip Green is hectoring and bullying MPs for having the temerity to ask how he has collapsed a profitable pension scheme and left the public holding the baby.

All of these things are linked by the narcissism of all those involved delivering a hefty blow to the people of the country. The flotilla and counter flotilla do nothing to actually engage anyone with the facts and realities of the coming EU vote, The Sun's front page is a tissue of lies purpoting to be news, sold to the public via the demagoguery of its propreitor and his personal financial and political interests, Philip Green is purely interested in his personal bottom line and hang the consequences. Watching his performance I geneuinely believe that he thinks he has the absolute right to do whatever the fuck he wants.

The 70's sitcom nature of the flotilla is eerily presecient given the massive amount of support for Brexit coming from that generation of post war boomers that seemingly have the UK in their dead hand grip. Having lived through full employment in the 60s, the collapse of British industry in the 70s, given us Thatcherism in the 80s to deliver a death blow to half the country and then spent their salad days assiduously protecting their pensions and freebies in a blatant votes for favours swap that has made them an unassailable force at elections that demand special treatment, their final gift to the UK before they all succumb to dementia is to fuck it completely for those of us whose taxes pay for their priviledges.

It seems appropriate that a generation that sees no shame in selling out everyone else for themselves should be led by a gang of self interested showmen headed by Boris Johnson, a man who has reneged on every public statement he has made and yet somehow become a political force through buffoonery and obfuscation. If and when he achieves his ambition to lead what is left of the Tories I hope that, like Macbeth, he finds his vaulting ambition seriously overreaches itself. Oh for a Macduff.

There is little comfort in the knowledge that, should the country vote Leave, chickens will come home to roost. No doubt once we have excluded European migration and, in the same hand, denied outward looking younger generations the chance to exit the UK and develop an internationalist approach to life, blame group number 2 will be ready to go. That's how narcissim works, it's always the fault of the other. Could be the 'other' immigrants, many conversations over the past month with Leavers have led me to believe that its not just Poles and Romanians that stoke their ire, could even be the generations below them, that especial critique of our 'work ethic' that is rich coming from a load of people who spent half the 70s on strike and most of the 80s and 90's hoovering up council housing and spending the nation's capital whilst demanding no replacements be provided as they enriched themselves on the hard work and political capital of their own parents; the generation that fought to create a peaceful and prosperous continent.

Whatever a Leave outcome, you can be sure of one thing. The boomers won't feel a thing.






Friday, 10 June 2016

Walking headlong into the fire? - Why the Music Industry must REMAIN

I get it. We're all bored with the European question. A succession of Punch and Judy displays, arguments over millions and rebates and housing and a host of other issues reduced to a parade of soundbites. From the Leave side 'Australian Points System' seems to be the equivalent of their Lord's Prayer, from Remain 'Self Administered Recession' their entire sell to the public.

I suppose I should not be massively surprised at the narrowness of the debate. In many ways this is the echo of the Scottish independence vote, the cavaliers of 'Out' versus the grim faced economists of 'In'. With an added dose of perceived xenophobia against non Brits, rather than non Scots this time.

What does surprise me is the lack of any real noise from the music industry. From a personal perspective Brexit is a nightmare writ large. Here's a brief example as to why.

To get a band on tour outside of Europe bands need visas. To get visas there is paperwork, fees and, in some cases, long waits. The most prevalent and extreme examples; the USA, China, Russia, involve a significant amount of administration to gather a host of personal data for each member (for example, the USA wants the names of all applicants parents whether alive or not), hefty fees (again the US side of the process on a standard application is around $3000 if you use immigration lawyers, which is pretty much a no brainer) and a wait that can extend into the horizon. When you panic and realise its all going to be too late you can fast track for another $2500 or so to get things over in 14 days. Then you have to go through the process here which involves more fees to a UK company, a two week wait for an appointment at the US Embassy and a week wait for the passport to be returned.  So if your band is on tour you need two passports so that's another £100 or so per member and more time waiting. Add on paying to get all the members there for appointments and paying crew for half days as they are technically working. And after all this there is no guarantee whatsoever they will approve your application.

And before you can do all of this you need firm offers and contracts from promoters to tour. A band is around £4000 in the hole before they step on the plane.

Contrast this with touring in the EU. A whole continent. The biggest single market in the world. The home to Benicassim, Pukkelpop, Rock am Ring, Primavera, London Calling, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona etc etc etc. No visa. No need for a list of contracted shows. Free movement, free to add shows, free to play and make money and build fanbase and sell merchandise and records and have a career.

If the UK votes to exit the EU there is absolutely no guarantee that free movement is assured. Given the spread of European festivals and their absolute necessity to the economics of touring for bands from the huge to the modest and it seems incredible to me that the music industry as a whole is not hanging flags from Kensington to Kings Cross offices saying 'the music industry says REMAIN'.

This is just one example of a hit. I could drone on about tax harmonisations, export tarrifs, copyright law (see the dispute around the US take on neighbouring rights as a demonstration of how things can be different), the lack of control of piracy on a colossal scale (talk to anyone who has played Russia), collection of performing rights monies etc etc etc.

The music industry is one of the UK's brightest and most profitable export sectors. The EU is the prime market on a doorstep. Artists, managers, labels, promoters and agents have 13 days to step up out of self interest if nothing else. Why the silence?

Monday, 19 October 2015

The Death of Indie England




It has often been said that our generation, that lot that lived through indie in our teens and baggy as we hit University, Britpop for first jobs, are incapable of growing up. There is a certain truth in this. We cling to our youth stubbornly, we still fill gigs (more so in many cases than the generation of the bands on stage), we sustain cd or vinyl sales and magazine subsciptions, we campaigned for, and retained, 6 Music whilst BBC 3, with a younger target generation, went to the wall. Whilst it may be our parents that stole all the houses, pissed off with the oil revenues and destroyed the trade unions and worker's rights by letting in Thatcher, we have done a similar job to culture. Our half dead hand controls not just the mainstream but the perceived alternative as well, marking out a territory that those after us simply cannot break into.

So the collision of the ultimate £50 bloke wander through indie courtesy of BBC 4's 'Story Of Indie' and the relaunch of NME has marked a fascinating compare and contrast for those of a certain age. Friday day brought Chris Moyles in a four page exclusive (6 if you count the double page ad that trailed the feature), Friday evening brought Genesis P Orridge and Tony Wilson. Or you could have Taylor Swift for your morning coffee and Morrissey for your evening beer. To those of a certain age, us indie kids that grew up on indie in its strictest sense the dichotomy of the bible being profained and the screen reviving our prophets in such close proximity may have been too much to bear.

Whilst I refuse to join the ranks of those proclaiming sell out at the doors of the Blue Fin Building I also refute the more ridiculous notion that the all new free NME has anything in common with its paid for predecessor as espoused by some of its present and former staff. The new NME is a perfectly serviceable entertainment magazine that would do well to add its more outre content (Radar) to those parts already jettisoned (live reviews, serious criticism of any form) to the web. Whilst I buy the NME was always a broad church argument, its new incarnation is nothing of the sort, cutting wildly at one end whilst opening the commercial doors at the other.

Leaving in place the celeb heavy Q & A interviews strictly patrolled by the kind of PRs that give my lot a bad rep when we tell people what we do (the whole Mr / Ms won't answer that question thing), the blatant marketing tie-ins and accepting that 300,000 random passers by don't give a rat's arse who Foals are would remove the indignity of the NME 'cover' for any non world famous stars actually being an inside cover wrapped around with a cartoon version of the image reimagined by the marketing department of Netflix. Anything else is self-deception.

Where this leaves any sense of alternative music as documented by Mark Radcliffe and a somewhat selective bunch over the last three weeks (that whole Factory / McGee thing got a little wearing and where the hell were XL or indeed, women, in the last part?) is a more twisted debate. NME's fall is, of course, a direct result of a number of factors that mark the slow decline of independence as an attitude and political standpoint rather than an ownership model. What is most salient came from BBC 4, the repeated assertion of bands and labels alike that they didn't do it for the money. The same was true of NME in that heyday. But then all concerned had a, to quote The Shop Assistants, Safety Net. That option no longer exists, nor does the opportunity to fall flat on your arse as an adult which means no long shots at being in a band, starting a label, becoming a music writer or putting out something that transmits enthusiasm and love rather than market tested certainties. When Jeremy Hunt says he wants us to work like the Chinese and the Americans what he really means is he wants us to feel we have to because, like both those populations, we know that not working will mean penury, illness and a sooner death. Given its new focus the all improved brand NME may well prosper in this brave new world, proffering short attention span hits and shiny baubles to tired commuters and in debt students. I wish it well.
 



Wednesday, 16 September 2015

Guy Garvey - 'Courting the Squall' debut solo album and live dates










‘Courting the Squall’

The Debut Album, 30th October 2015 

Europe and UK Live Dates Announced

After nearly twenty five years and counting as a member of elbow and one of the UK’s most recognised and celebrated musicians and lyricists, Guy Garvey is setting off alone for the first time. On October 30th he releases his debut solo album, ‘Courting the Squall’. 

Recorded initially at Real World Studios near Bath and completed at Blueprint Studios in Salford, ‘Courting the Squall’ features a band created by Guy from his ‘favourite musicians outside elbow’ and was driven by spontaneity and experimentation amongst the assembled players with Guy firmly and exclusively in the driving seat. The band ‘moved fast and drank a lot’, focusing on live recording with minimal overdubs to create the songs. Unlike elbow, where democracy has always ruled, this is an album where Guy embraced the freedom to do exactly what he felt throughout.
The album features Pete Jobson, long time friend and bass player from I Am Kloot, as lead guitarist and Nathan Sudders from The Whip on bass, bringing an indie sensibility that was at the heart of Guy’s thinking for certain songs. Keyboards are marshalled by old V2 labelmate Ben Christophers and drums are filled by Alex Reeves. elbow’s brass section add to selected tracks whilst Rachael Gladwin, a steadying contrast to the party vibe of the team due her being pregnant, plays the harp and kora. 

‘Courting the Squall’ is powered by influences and ideas that ‘don’t fit the elbow template’. Some tracks, notably ‘Angela’s Eyes’, ‘Harder Edges’ and ‘Belly of the Whale’, come completely from groove, finding a sweet spot between Manchester’s baggy past, long term love Tom Waits and Bowie’s mid-70’s albums, particularly ‘Sound and Vision’. This change of type engendered a change of vocal approach, a clipped and more direct Garvey voice coming across, a hark back to his early days writing lyrics influenced by his listening to hip-hop where short delivery carries rhythm alongside meaning.

Lyrical concerns encompass those familiar to Guy’s past work at times, the big themes of love and friendship, the lure of his Northern homeland but tracks and lyrics were not always pre-planned. On one occasion a bird observed from the window of the recording studio became the catalyst for the music, at other times a loose jam approach crystallized both lyrically and musically into a finished composition. There were no rules. 

Having guested on various artist’s albums as a vocalist, ‘Courting the Squall’ sees Guy duet on his own music again with the sumptuous ‘Electricity’ featuring Jolie Holland conjuring up images of illicit jazz dives in fin de siècle Paris or prohibition era New York in the distinctly non urban studio setting outside Bath. Alongside Jolie’s credit, another, less familiar set of co-writers appear on the album but we’ll leave that to you to discover.

Yet not all of ‘Courting the Squall’ is a move away from the familiar. The album title track, a trip hop rhythm propelled ballad and ‘Juggernaut’, a hymnal clothed in sedate populist clothing, may feel more immediately recognizable to long term followers of Guy’s music whilst  ‘Broken Bottles and Chandeliers’, with its warmth , once again showcases his unerring ability to translate the sense of overwhelming joy into understated musical form.

It is, as with all solo albums, a glimpse into its creator’s soul. Shot through with warmth and emotional intelligence, content and comfortable in its own skin, ‘Courting the Squall’ is that most unique thing; a record made without preconditions, an album of songs made purely for the joy of its making.

Guy has also announced a short run of dates in Europe and the UK throughout November and December on which he will be accompanied by the musicians who recorded the album, including Pete Jobson of I Am Kloot on guitar, Nathan Sudders of The Whip on bass and Alex Reeves on drums. Elbow’s brass section complete the live line-up.

A special fan presale will commence at 9am on 16th September – simply follow the link at Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/GuyGarveyofficial.

Tickets go on general sale at 10am on Friday 18th September.

Dates are as follows

November
Thursday 26th                        Brussels, Ancienne Belgique
Saturday 28th                        Berlin, Postbahnhof
Sunday 29th                           Amsterdam, Paradiso

December
Tuesday 1st                            London, o2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Wednesday 2nd                     London, o2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Friday 4th                               Manchester, Albert Hall
Saturday 5th                          Manchester, Albert Hall
Monday 7th                            Dublin, Olympia
Tuesday 8th                            Glasgow, o2 ABC

‘Courting the Squall’ is released on Vinyl, CD and Download on 30th October 2015. Limited quantities of vinyl and CD feature a lenticular sleeve.

FOR MORE INFORMATION                                -               LOUDHAILER PRESS
Lewis Jamieson                                                     -               lewis@loudhailerpress.com / @LewJam
                                                                                                07718 652582 / 020 8714 0139

Thursday, 10 September 2015

An Open Letter To The Economist

Adding to a growing list of badly researched and, frankly wrong, pieces about the music industry, even The Economist is not immune to getting things badly wrong it would seem.

Have a read of this 'back of the bus' piece on the NME going free and see if you can spot the glaring errors. If you can't I got all Henry Root and sent them a letter which is below.




Whilst the initial set up of your article in the September 5th edition of the paper regarding the imminent relaunch of NME as a freesheet displayed correct analysis, your subsequent expositions regarding the fate of previous free music titles and suppositions regarding 'NME's readers' were unworthy of your well earned reputation for accurate analysis.

The Fly was not 'free for a short time' as you assert but ran from 1999 to 2014 as a free title and peaked at a readership of around 100,000. It was rightly regarded as an important source of coverage for bands large and small and was instrumental in the success of a huge amounts of now household names, including elbow who I have represented since 1999. The demise of the magazine was less to do with its free nature and much more to do with parent company MAMA Group's involvement with HMV and a distribution deal with the chain which, following the store group's collapse in 2014, left the title without a valid distribution network.

A short journey to Google would have revealed this to you via either this guardian story - http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/mar/07/the-fly-music-magazine-closes-after-nearly-15-years - or Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fly_%28magazine%29.

Stool Pigeon, which you cite alongside The Fly, (again being 'free for a short time'), as a harbinger of doom for the new NME, also ran for years, beginning in 2005 and ending in 2013. This, according to editor Phil Hebblethwaite, was not because of bankruptcy but rather that he was 'knackered' after eight years of running the paper. Again, this is public knowledge, see the Press Gazette piece at the time of closure - http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/print-edition-music-magazine-stool-pigeon-scrapped-after-eight-years.

As regards NME, you note that it will have to broaden the bands it covers to appeal to a wider market but a public statement from editor Mike Williams has already declared that 'music is "firmly at the heart of the brand" but there will also be "film, fashion, television, politics, gaming and technology".' (http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/86702), suggesting that the editorial team are already focused on just such a strategy.

As a subscriber I value the analysis that The Economist offers in areas where I have no expert knowledge. In an area where I have some knowledge I find it disturbing that such copy could pass for publication with multiple glaring errors and naïve assumptions devoid of fact.

Best
Lewis Jamieson
DIRECTOR LOUDHAILER PRESS


Friday, 3 July 2015

JAKE EVANS LIVE SHOWS







LONDON, UPSTAIRS AT THE GARAGE 21st JULY 2015

MANCHESTER DEAF INSTITUTE 25th JULY 2015

DAY ONE – THE DEBUT ALBUM, 31st JULY 2015

Following the announcement of the release of his debut album, former Bad Lieutenant singer and guitarist Jake Evans has announced a very special album release shows at Manchester’s Deaf Institute and London’s Garage to preview the release.

Jake will play the Deaf Institute in Manchester on the 25th July and Upstairs at Highbury Garage on 21st July. 

Tickets FOR MANCHESTER are available now from http://www.ticketline.co.uk/jake-evans#bio

Tickets FOR LONDON are available now from http://goo.gl/n7lBxA

‘Day One’ marks the first solo outing for Jake and was recorded at Big Red, his studio in Macclesfield, in between tours with Jimi Goodwin for his own solo project. Both Jimi and former bandmate and New Order founding member Bernard Sumner contributed to sessions for ‘Day One’, Jimi on backing vocals and percussion whilst Bernard sang on an alternate take of ‘This Is Life’ which will be made available with a special edition of the album and downloads purchased through Itunes. A video for the album version of ‘This Is Life’ can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuI2ulZIkpw

Over the ten tracks the album hints at gospel (‘Easy On My Soul’), dips a toe into psychedelia (‘Sun Goes Down’), flirts with the dancefloor (‘Telephone’) and nudges up against Augustus Pablo (‘Last One Standing’) but, at heart, is about Jake and his guitar.

Further dates will be announced shortly. 

‘Day One’ is available to pre-order on the following formats from http://jakeevans.tmstor.es/:

‘Day One’ Signed CD with exclusive bonus CD.
‘Day One’ Signed Vinyl album with CD insert and exclusive bonus CD.

FOR MORE INFORMATION                                         -              LOUDHAILER PRESS
Lewis Jamieson                                                                 -              lewis@loudhailerpress.com / @LewJam
                                                                                                                07718 652582 / 020 8714 0139