2 MusicWeek 18.05.12 NEWS EDITORIAL
Music is Great - with an Escape
SEYMOUR STEIN doesn’t get a lot wrong. When the fabled record exec told Music Week that The Great
Escape was one of the best shows on earth last week, it was Thursday afternoon. It was drizzly. And it was in a ‘media’ room full of smart headphones and even smarter haircuts. This was not a promising start. But lo and behold, he got it spot on. Perhaps it’s the sea air,
perhaps it’s the local ale, or perhaps it’s the free booze from PRS and PPL – thanks for the hangover, friends – but there’s just something a bit special about the Brighton showcase. It was my first time sampling TGE’s atmosphere, but even
before setting off, one glance at the line-up showed that, at the very least, the live music was going to be ace. The Music Week team caught acts ranging from straight-up
acoustic folk to roaring blues; scorching electronica to bonkers Japanese tribal cacophonies – not forgetting the record label bumfight that was Wild Belle. (Congratulations go to EMI Publishing for snaring the songwriting signature this week.)
“Live summer showcase opportunities for up-and-
coming British music artists are shrinking as the indie festivals market gets squeezed. But The Great Escape showed what you can do with great A&R, a smart publicity machine and clever organisation.”
But better than all of that was the overall feel of the thing; an
optimistic, non-exclusive hivemind that reminds you just what the UK is capable of musically when it gets its thinking cap on – an accolade I’m sure Liverpool Sound City will also deserve when it finishes up on Friday. Artists, wannabees, trendies, managers, label folk, publishers,
digital gurus; they all mixed and mulled over the biggest industry issues of the day without snootiness or conspicuous seniority. And they all passionately loved the music, together and in great numbers. Turn to the back of the mag and look how happy Michael Eavis is. Yeah - that. Interesting that such a heart-warming, over-subscribed get-
together was to take place in and around Music Is GREAT week; the Government-backed campaign designed to remind us all of the brilliance of British music. Even the PM’s getting involved, with David Cameron applauding the trade for £1.9 billion UK artist sales abroad in 2011, according to the BPI. That’s all very well for the Adeles, Florences and Mumfords
who make up our top unit shifters abroad; but what of the barely- there raw talents coming through the ranks? As the Association for Independent Festivals points out on
page 23, live summer showcase opportunities for the next wave of British greats are shrinking - no doubt knocking the confidence of those thinking about staging their own musical bills. TGE shows that it can be done: with great A&R, the right
delegates, a smart publicity machine and clever organisation. Tellingly – and unlike some UK mega-fests - it was energised by
a spirit of discovery, rather than the same old megastars headlining for another jaded payday. Bravo. Tim Ingham, Editor
Do you have views on this column? Feel free to comment by emailing
tim.ingham@
intentmedia.co.uk
On board with YouTube: AIM’s panel featured executives from PIAS, YouTube, Music Ally, Cr2 Records and Dramatico
DIGITAL BY TOM PAKINKIS
T
here’s good money to be made on YouTube - and the platform is rapidly
eclipsing other revenue streams. That’s according to label reps
in attendance at AIM’s Music Connected digital music conference last week. The endorsement came
following a presentation from YouTube’s senior strategist in partner operations Zofia Bajokowska, who cited the 4 billion views and 60 hours of uploads YouTube now boasts on a daily basis. Bajokowska said that new
YouTube rights protection meant that labels and artists can benefit from content lifted and used by consumers. “The system makes a digital fingerprint of your content and searches YouTube’s database to make a match,” she explained. “That means, if I have my own channel and I decide to put some of Katie Melua’s music on my holiday videos, Dramatico records will still generate revenue even though the music is played on a different channel… That’s a huge revenue opportunity for record labels and artists.” When asked exactly how
much revenue could be gained from a YouTube presence, MD of digital & business development at PIAS Adrian Pope said: “Whatever number I put on it today, it’s significantly bigger than it was in the past month, and that trend is the same for the past 18 months… Had we had more resource
[dedicated to YouTube] at PIAS in the past year, we’d have probably picked up an additional half a million. “It’s eclipsing other revenue
streams rapidly – and I think we’re at the thin end of the wedge.”
Cr2 label director Chris
Rodwell was also enthusiastic. “Yes, there’s money to be made from YouTube,” he said. “We’re talking thousands of dollars a month – not from chart success but underground, dance music success.”
BEGGARS: IMMEDIATE ONLINE PRESENCE IS CRITICAL
In his own digital marketing campaign presentation titled ‘Adele And Other Interesting Things’, Beggars Group head of marketing David Emery (pictured) emphasised the importance of YouTube and other online avenues, which he suggested should be utilised immediately upon a single’s release. “YouTube is currently the only
legal streaming site that you can listen to tracks through without needing to log in and that’s a very big deal,” he told attendees. “Obviously you can get paid for it as well, which is an even bigger deal. “For high profile singles the
idea of on air/ on sale has gone out of the window. It doesn’t work in terms of getting a singles [chart] position or trying to maximise your
radio airplay. You’re doing yourself a disservice. “It’s critical that at the same
time you go to radio, you get things online as well because if you don’t do it, someone else will and you will lose any sort of control,“ he stressed, adding that “the most natural form for music online, confusingly enough, is video.”
AIM CONFERENCE SHOWCASES BUSINESSES REAPING REW
Who said you can’t anymoney fromYou
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