Our gossip column for December....published in guide2brighton

http://www.guide2brighton.com/news/393/Brightons-BiGiAMs-Monthly-Gossip-Column

A DAY IN THE LIFE - the importance of marmalade and toast to the well oiled BiGiAM machine.

People ask what we do (if you find out, be sure to let us know) so we've started keeping a (near) daily blog of all things BiGiAM by way of diary. I expect this very article will be up there at some point, such are the ways of 'social networking', which spins me out a bit, but there we are. Speaking personally though, my own day goes like this.

I wake up when I wake up (I might just put the alarm on if I've had a particularly late night) and having read the overnight emails and checked facebook accounts in my dressing gown (you got facebook accounts in your dressing gown?) I go in search of breakfast which, depending upon initial diary commitments of the day will take place in one of three locations - the Cafe round the corner from the Shoreham office (best sofas), The greasy spoon at the Lagoon in West Hove (best doorstep bread) or Izzy's Cafe in St James Street (best 'home from home' from Brighton base which is Latest Musicbar). I order the same thing every day, irrespective of location, being Earl Grey tea (where available, otherwise 'builders') and toast and maralade. This is a ritual I cannot, and will not, miss. Most of my regular clients, friends and associates are brow beaten into joining me in these establishments should they have had the temerity to ask for a morning meeting. Some, normally female, contacts, whilst understanding that it is fruitless to try and deny my habit, do at least have the sense to pick their own meeting location, normally an upmarket independent coffee house (but having first checked said establishment does indeed include toast and marmalade on the menu!).

This way they avoid the tattooed builders and recovering users that normally comprise the mainstay clientelle of my regular haunts. Why am I telling you all this? Frankly I have no rational explanation except perhaps it's some deep seated inner need to confess my habit. Hello my name is Mark and I'm a tea and toast user. It could be worse but I do really think I have a problem here....Anyhow, where was I, oh yes...what happens for the rest of the day, post fix ? This and that...I guess.. the above mentioned blog might shed a little light, but, speaking personally, my thoughts are already returning to the orange coloured fruit just waiting to be spread on some gently burnt bread...

EVENTS AND SCHIZZ

OK...so what's happening?...well, if you're reading this at the very start of the month you should go down to the Ropetackle on Friday 2nd December to support a charity gig there for Martlets Hospice. Organised by South African born but locally based singer, Sam Horwill, the night will feature the rather wonderful harmony voices of 'House of Hats' (one of my favourite new bands) with special guest appearances promised from both Jo Harman and Autumn Red's Lloyd Williams.

Also, if this is still an early read. then don't forget the Radio Reverb 'Reverbathon' live all nighter on 3rd and 4th December, sounds like one long party y'all www.radioreverb.com

If you've missed all this stuff then what can I say, except that this is the season to be merry and jolly and this is the time for Xmas parties and drinking and feasting and this is the town to do it! There is no shortage of events on across the dozens, nay hundreds, of venues across our fair City, so go take your pick.

CALL ME AL

Local producer Al Scott is in the album charts having produced the much acclaimed 'Ragged Kingdom' album for June Tabor and the Oyster Band. Mojo folk album of the year, Roots magazine album of the year and 4 BBC folk awards to the good, Al also picked up his guitar and joined the artists on tour, playing 17 out of 18 sold out shows. Nice one Al and another gold star in the production CV which already includes a chart toping album by the Levellers amongst a host of gold records. Well done Al, on another remarkable success.


Also on the BiG i AM radar:-

- Raising Maisie. This teenage outfit write remarkably melodic and catchy tunes well beyond their tender years and are rightly attracting much watchful attention from people in the know. Their new video is a hoot too. Definitely ones to watch!

- The Brighton Eye. What's all that about then? The Brighton Wheel, in fact, to call it it's proper name. "Temporary planning permission till 2016'. So, here to stay for a bit then. All alright with that? We are? Ok, that's fine, then. Carry on!

- The Source, Brighton's leading music magazine (it says here) is thirteen! It's now officially a teenager. I sometimes find myself questioning the sometimes rather too knowing smugness of it's views and reviews. But this is a good thing, a magazine should occasionally push your buttons and, in any event, 90% of the time they get it spot on. What's more, one gets the sense they really care and believe about anything good in our City. Congratulations and more power to them say I as they enter their surly years!-

- The Cosmic Snowball at the Blind Tiger on 16th December. A party, raising money for charity that's all I know but could be a very good one, knowing some of the folk involved.

- Theatre Royal Brighton. A lovely Victorian theatre makes for a lovely night out with some lovely events, Spamalot and some interesting music events included early in the New Year.


Till next time dear chums.... You can follow/contact BiG i AM on twitter @BIGIAMBrighton and email comments on info@bigiam.co.uk

A Good or Bad time for Music?

In many ways it's never been a better time to be an artist as the 'democratisation' of the 'industry' means anyone - and I do mean literally anyone - can make a record andput it out for sale. The ready availability of computer sampling software and the like even means there is no longer any need to be a skilled musician in the traditional sense. Moreover low cost digital distribution outlets such as itunes etc. provide a non-discerning open outlet for music to be put on sale. Literally anyone can now be 'in the music business'; no longer are there the old barriers relating to production and physical manufacturing costs associated with the old 'vinyl' industry where, unless you were signed by a record label, it was as good as impossible to make a record, let alone market it. 

So, that's the upside, but with this opening of the floodgates has come - unsurprisingly, of course - a deluge; a deluge of self made, self produced and self marketed music. So much so that it's almost impossible to sort the wheat from the chaff and, worse still, because all music is now so readily available, it is no longer a scarce commodity and, by dint of the laws of economics, has largely become financially valueless. 

Music is now, by and large, simply given away. Spotify, soundcloud, myspace, youtube, facebook and/or by the many dozens of other 'social network' and download distribution channels - let alone the thorny matter of illegal downloading - make everything so freely available to the extent that why would anyone actually go to the bother of buying it? And of course people aren't buying it and so revenue streams for artists, both real and potential, are drying up at an alarming rate. Music itself will survive -  people will always make music and people will remain compelled to self express as long as there is a sun  in the sky - but, for now at least, the ability to make music for money seems severely curtailed. It's a

bit of a win win for the consumer - we can have whatever music we want, pretty much however we want it, for zero cost - but a far less rosy outlook, I would suggest, for those seeking some financial reward from the creative process.

Agree or disagree, we'd love to hear your views.

Social Media tips for Musicians

Social media and social networking networking allows artists to connect to their fans in a number of ways, and make discovering music much easier.

Since web 2.0 was created social media and social networking sites have taken off and are now a major part of any companies or musicians marketing efforts, the reason for this is the outreach these social networking sites can have, the Internet has always been a brilliant way to share music. Now I'm a bit of a social media geek, so i thought i'd share with you a few tips!

Myspace started off the movement for bands to create their own online presence, and since then there has been many more sites offering the same kind of thing. I know you’re probably thinking I’m crazy but if there is one thing Myspace is still good for, it's hosting your band page. Many people when they search for your band name will find your Myspace page at the top of their results. Although Myspace is dying (& desperately holding on for dear life), it is still a great SEO booster for your band and a great way for people to hear a couple of your tracks & find out where else you are online.

Twitter has become a part of the mainstream culture, it can be a powerful asset in music promotion that not only helps spread the word about new music, but is great for making real-world connections with people on an individual basis. Twitter allows the artists and fans to share links to radio interviews, YouTube clips of live performances or SoundCloud links to an artist’s latest tracks. Users can also upload images of behind the scenes photos or flyers for upcoming gigs directly to the Twitter stream with services like TwitPic. Artists can get insight into what the community thinks of their latest track, suggestions for where their fans would like them to play a gig or to give their followers the oppourtunity to help pick artwork design for an upcoming album release. Twitter is a direct line of communication between fans and artist’s.

Soundcloud is a platform for sharing music, and is a great way to discover new music. It has had a significant effect on the way music is consumed. Soundcloud works brillantly with other social media websites, as every song that is shared has a unique URL, so a new song can be linked directly. The soundcloud player is embeddable, where the Myspace player is not, and it allows the artist to decide whether they want to make the track downloadable to fans. Overall Soundcloud is a brillant social media website that allows interaction with other websites, making sharing much easier for artists and fans.

Facebook is a great platform for artists and fans to share and discover music. Applications can be added to an artists Facebook page, such as BandPage (RootMusic) which can be made the default landing page, and offers a clearly laid out page with a music player, which can be linked to Soundcloud, and can be updated with new gig announcements and links to iTunes to purchase music, as well as a Twitter stream. The ‘Like’ feature for artists pages is another element that can spread the word about a particular artist, when a fan presses ‘Like’ on the artists page, it automatically updates in the Facebook feed, so all of that fans friends can see that they have ‘Liked’ that artists. Facebooks other facets include the ability to upload photos into different albums and the ability to create events and invite all fans to RSVP.

YouTube

YouTube is not only a great way to showcase what you’re up to, your music videos, and live performances but it is also a great discovery engine. Many people will click on your video if they find it in the related videos section of a band they already like. I always urge any artist to set up a YouTube channel, start off with something simple, like recording yourself covering a song that's popular at that moment in time, it's a guaranteed way to at least get a couple of hits on your video, and you never know, whoever is watching your video might even click through to some of your other vids. YouTube is becoming more of a search engine these days, if someone wants to learn how to play 'Stairway to Heaven' they don't google the tabs, they search for it in YouTube.

When used together Social media is a powerful tool, artists can make music discovery easier by spreading themselves on every possible networking site, and with the ease of these websites being able to interact with each other so effortlessly, it makes social media awesome.


if you need any help with setting up social media sites for your band or organisation, we can help and have some very cost effective pricing offers alongside our general press, publicity and promotion support packages.

Glenn Tilbrook

Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook formed one of the most celebrated songwriting partnerships in recent times; as part of Squeeze they churned out an endless stream of highly original and intelligent pop songs: Cool for Cats, Up The Junction, Take Me I'm Yours, Another Nail in the Heart, Tempted, Is That Love? Squeeze reformed in 2007, cashing in on their earlier success, with Glenn still working the circuit as a solo artist.
"Absolutely fantastic, the reaction to the tour has been amazing," say Glenn who is currently in the middle of a long UK tour. I keep on finding that doing different things more and more feeds into the next thing I'm doing."

When Squeeze got back together we were quite fastidious in preparation in terms of rehearsal and production - we were involved more as band, and it showed - it was a better show, a better Squeeze. And I wanted to take that to my solo world - I've got Simon Hanson and Chris McNally with me - although I wanted to do the opposite to Squeeze... Tyrannosaurus Rex was my starting point funnily enough - the idea of acoustic guitars, wild bongos, ukuleles, harmoniums, but with the addition of electronic percussion - we're using iPad's. It's a proper instrument; it's so many great apps. For instance, there's a drum machine app I use now - I would have paid £400 for a few years ago for the actual machine but now, as an app, it's just £10. I remember when we hired a mellotron in 1978 for a Squeeze gig it cost over £500; now, it's £13..."
Tilbrook is further embracing the brave new world by selling USBs at the end of each gig. "The response has been incredible, the enthusiasm people have for it has been beyond my wildest dreams.

"Next year, Chris and I will see if we can come up with anything Squeeze-like and brilliant... if we can't, we won't do it... Originally, the thought of getting Squeeze back together didn't really excite me... but I thought the only way we could do it was to be a proper band and work hard at it and that's what we do... combining Squeeze and my own work - its got to be real and passionate, on both counts.

Glenn Tilbrook, Monday 19 December, Komedia, Brighton (and UK tour) 7.30pm, £17.50

www.chiefmusic.co.uk

A DAY IN THE LIFE AT BiGiAM - BiGiAM diary entry 30th Novemember

Up in Eastbourne today for guest lecture to music production students at Sussex Downs College (part of Brighton Uni) which, in the event, was cancelled due to 'general' strike today. Instead had productive lunch meeting with consortium hoping to take over a famous provincial theatre with which we may, or may not, get involved with. Watch this space I guess.

Popped in to Yellowfish studios near Lewes on way back where owner Ross failed to find a biscuit on the premises. Never mind the vintage pianos and Hammond's where are the Kit Kats? Priorities guys, priorities!!! Assistant Rob responded to my howls of protest to go find a Mars Bar which, for some reason, required him to find a key to turn off the alarms???!!! Never mind the hundreds of thousands of pounds of gear in the place, it's the Mars bars that are under lock and key!. The increasingly surreal day took a further turn when the entry intercom rang (yes, the place has more security than Stalag 17)  and a voice announcing 'Bird buggery inspector', demanding entry. Subsequently, Arthur 'God of Fire' Brown himself, resplendent in blue workmans overalls complete with obligatory flat cap, emerged to collect some gear from the archiving/storage  area. I left Yellowfish leaving Arthur at the Grand Piano, singing away to himself, with Ross somehow having talked me into promoting both the new Teenage Cancer Trust single and legendary r&b rock band Pretty Things new recording for, as I understand it, nothing ('do it as a favour to me this time Mark'!). Do me a favour Ross, next time at least have a Kit Kat in the fridge with my name on it, to sweeten the deal!

Hey ho,.... just another day at the BiGiAM office.