Whilst beginning incredibly stressfully, Hugo’s week has actually come to a rather pleasant close as he sits overlooking the Thames under a crisp blue sky through floor to ceiling windows. He has found himself at the Southbank Centre at the AIF’s Structural and Crowd Safety Conference ducking out from the proceedings to bang out some work and check his emails.

One thing he’s not looking forward to however, is the celebration of New Zealand’s national day ‘Waitangi Day’ this weekend. Let me rephrase that, he is looking forward to the celebration of this day on Saturday with the thousands of other Kiwis who have found themselves in London, but he’s not looking forward to the Sunday. The day commemorates the treaty that was signed between the main Maori chieftains and the British crown thereby bringing a close to the bloody ‘New Zealand Wars’. It now turns out that the British duped the Maoris into signing the treaty by mistranslating it and thereby stealing the Maori land – so in effect we’re celebrating the peculation of property from the primitives… ‘Here here’ as the Brits would say.

This week two people in the office win clutz awards, Lisa walked into the doorway, slamming her arm against the hard metal lock. She did, “Yelp” in pain but her colleagues laughed about the clutz move. However this (Friday) morning, Sam managed to make the toaster fall off the table, which then in a chain reaction, caused the sugar and other items to fall on the floor. It’s a mystery how he managed this, as he was sitting at his desk when the incident occurred. We think he may have magical powers.

He did however want to say how excited he and the team are to be working on Nozstock 2012!! Woop Woop!  A much loved, much fun festival that aims to stay small even though it could grow a lot bigger…  Look out for the first artist announcements next week!

A rather busy week, Denise hasn’t been conscious of the days but rather feels like they’ve amalgamated into one another and now it’s, “Happy Friday” as she likes to call it. With a fun pack packed weekend ahead of her she’s raring to go and can’t wait to see her friends.

Quote of the week has to come from our Mommy of the office, Lisa. During a brief chat about technology, geeks and more Lisa uttered, “Khaki Pants – the uniform of Geeks”. Everyone was in stitches after she mentioned this.

Have a great weekend

• Digital Soundboy, headed-up by mercurial producer Shy FX& leading electronic luminaries Tri Angle Records get on board

London, 2 February 2012:-Blasting off into the New Year, [PIAS] announce the signing of two leading independent labels – Digital Soundboy, headed by legendary producer & artist Shy FX, and New York & London-based electronic luminaries Tri Angle Records.

The labels have each signed pan-European sales and distribution deals, with a view to expand to fuller label services in the future.

[PIAS] plans to ignite significant growth for both labels throughout 2012, backing them with the systems and resources they need to be taken to the next level of success.

Digital Soundboy Recordings was set up in 2005 by the legendary Shy FX. Shy’s vision for Digital Soundboy is simple. “I wanted to set up a new platform for good music, not genre specific. A good label doesn’t need to be about one artist or sound. For us its simply all about the music.” Since then the label has gone from strength to strength releasing countless classics from the likes of Breakage, Skream, Benga, DJ Fresh, Caspa, Redlight, Rusko, Donae’o, Shy FX himself and many more.

With many more releases signed and scheduled for the coming months including material from Youngman, Shy FX, Breakage, B.Traits, & Skream, Digital Soundboy continues to grown and progress, whilst maintaining its original ethos of good quality bass music. Shy goes goes on to say “We’re delighted to now be with [PIAS] and look forward to releasing more exciting music in the future”Next release: Die & Break ‘Grand Funk Hustle’ EP.

Founded by Robin Carolan in 2009, Tri Angle has found itself at the head of a new vanguard of independent electronic music labels. Last year the label topped Billboard magazine’s ‘Top Independent Labels’ feature & they were also named as Bleep.com’s ‘Label Of The Year’. 2012 should see releases from key artists Clams Casino&Holy Other as well as several new signings.

Said Robin “Since starting Tri Angle I’ve been overwhelmed by the reception we’ve received. I’m confident that working with [PIAS] will mean we’ll be able to keep the momentum going and Tri Angle will be able to give its artists the platform they deserve.”

Commented Craig Caukill, Head of Label Management for [PIAS]: “After several months of conversations with TriAngle and Digital Soundboy we are thrilled to see these two exciting labels join the [PIAS] portfolio.

“Digital Soundboy has a proven record of supporting & developing emerging talent from a variety of genres and Tri Angle have established themselves as a serious proposition within a short period of time.  Both labels have fantastic A&R instincts & vision which we look forward to projecting further across the UK and Europe.”

About [PIAS]

[PIAS] is Europe’s leader in the provision of specialist services for the licensing, distribution, sales and marketing of music, film and comedy on an international basis. [PIAS] is dedicated to providing repertoire creators and owners with specialist, premium level services that enable them to develop and maximise the value associated with their artists, products and brands.

Originally founded in 1982 and headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, [PIAS] supplies a range of highly professional services for leading repertoire owners across both physical and digital routes to market. The group has significant operations in UK, France, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, and Ireland. In addition [PIAS] has interests in USA and Australia plus an extensive international network of partners that enables it to offer its services on a truly global basis.

[PIAS] also owns premium repertoire and rights through its [PIAS] Recordings stable of labels that includes the Wall of Sound, Different and Play It Again Sam imprints. Additional interests include[PIAS] Comedy and the Strictly Confidential publishing operations and joint venture film companyTwin Pics.

• Sofia Hagberg (End of the Road Festival) and Dominique Czopor (The Boileroom / we:Live) Finalise Line-up for ‘Get Plugged In’

Sofia Hagberg, director of the hugely successful End of the Road Festival and Dominique Czopor, Owner of Guildford venue The Boileroom complete the lineup for MusicTank’s music promotion course Get Plugged In: Live Music, Promotion and Venue Management. Following the success of its oversubscribed debut in 2011, MusicTank is again partnering with Andy Inglis, the hugely respected co-creator and manager of north London venue The Luminaire.

Inglis will be joined by a raft of leading industry figures such as Jonas Vebner (head of Music Export Norway’s UK office), Steve Tilley (National Promoter, Kilimanjaro), Dave Newton (founder, WeGotTickets) and now Sofia Hagberg (Director, End of the Road Festival) and Dominique Czopor (Owner, The Boileroom).

Designed as a much needed best-practice roadmap of the processes involved in live music promoting and venue management, the five part course draws on Inglis’ two decades of experience, sharing lessons learned and highlighting the pitfalls plaguing promoters and venue operators UK-wide.

The course will cover an extensive range of topics concerning venue owners, promoters and programmers such as promotion, ticketing and licensing legislation as well as the future issues facing Britain’s venues.

Despite the 100 Club’s rescue from the brink there have been some much publicised London closures of late, The Luminaire itself not escaping the recession’s icy clutches. Part of the course will investigate the events that led to its closure, as well as what this award winning venue did to gain such an avid following and a special place in the hearts of Londoners.

Appealing to venue promoters and owners as well as tour managers, booking agents and artists, this extensive course promises to guide and encourage those learning their trade as well as identify the risks felling even the industry titans in one of the last sectors of the business still able to generate income for new bands.

Jonathan Robinson,  Programme Director MusicTank said “Despite the economic challenges that lie ahead, 2012 could be a breakthrough year for small venues across the UK.  With reforms to the Licensing Act set to ease the sector and the appetite for big ticket arena concerts on the wane, there’s no better time for small venue operators and promoters to update their knowledge, refresh their skills and drive new business.”

Said Andy Inglis; “The Luminaire was a six year long education for me in customer service, what’s right and wrong with the live industry in London, and what’s so important about socks and 9v batteries that they appeared on almost ever backstage rider I ever saw. I’ll lay bare my experiences without concern for my own embarrassment, celebrate those who helped both artist and audience in their search of a fulfilling gigging experience, and castigate those who seek to put obstacles in their way. And I’ll swear reasonably frequently.”

Course: Get Plugged In: Live Music, Promotion and Venue Management

Date & Time:

18.00 – 21.00 Feb 27 2012, Mar 05, 12, 19 & 26

Venue:

The Boardroom, University of Westminster, Regent Street, London, W1B 2UW

Prices:

MusicTank Members: MT student members £150 | MT Individual members £170 | Full price £229

Speakers:

• Course tutor: Andy Inglis, co-creator and manager, The Luminaire

• Jonas Vebner (head of Music Export Norway’s UK office)
• Steve Tilley (National Promoter at Kilimanjaro)
• Dave Newton (founder of WeGotTickets)
• Sofia Hagberg (End of the Road Festival)
• Dominique Czopor (Owner, The Boileroom / we:Live)

Book here: http://www.musictank.co.uk/events/courses/get-plugged-in-live-music-promotion-and-venue-management-2012

2012 COURSE

Course Tutor: Andy Inglis, co-founder The Luminaire

Targeting tour managers, promoters, booking agents, marketers, DIY artists and small-to-medium sized venue owners and operators, this innovative 5-part course will provide all with a thorough grounding in the business of live music. Current practice will also be analyzed in an open forum, to distill ways of improving revenue and maximizing opportunity.

Drawing from an extensive pool of experience, Luminiare co-founder Andy Inglis, with industry guests, will be looking at the live music industry’s continually evolving ecosystem providing pointers for best practice and comparing UK and European markets and help inform and inspire a new wave of live industry entrepreneur.

COURSE OUTLINE

1. The Lie Of The Land: Sector Overview – 27^th February 2012
From 150 capacity rooms like The Windmill in Brixton, to 20,000 all-seated arenas, we’ll examine both the common issues (marketing and promotion, how to turn a profit, customer service) and the unique issues they face (how to keep the regular bar punters happy while there’s a Japanese noise core band playing in the corner, in the case of The Windmill). This introductory session will also consider the changing nature of the audience in a world where attention spans are shortening, where technology and an explosion in media makes never leaving the house an attractive proposition, and how venues can adapt to cope and survive in the teeth of arguably the worst economic crisis in history.

2. Selling The Gig: Marketing & Promotion – 5^th March 2012
From promoting the barely-breaking-even backroom gig, right up to sold out arena shows, we’ll consider the full gamut of marketing methods available. From traditional press ads, flyers, posters and street teams to the constantly evolving digital methods and platforms: e-lists, Facebook, Twitter and whatever else has appeared in the past five minutes, we’ll establish what works, what doesn’t and what’s best value for money. What tricks can be learned from the likes of Live Nation and Kilimanjaro and what do the cream of indie gig promoters keep up their sleeve?

3. Selling The Gig: Ticketing – 12^th March 2012 
From Ticketmaster and WeGotTickets to the new direct-to-fan companies snapping at their heels, we’ll look at booking and administration fees, kickbacks, paperless tickets, entry systems, fraud and what new technology has in store for the future of ticketing. For those with sell out gigs on their hands we’ll also consider the new front opened by a contentious secondary ticketing market jostling for a slice of a particular huge and tasty pie.

4. Compliance – 19^th March 2012 
Venue owners and promoters face a slew of legislation top-down; from the proposed changes to the Licensing Act (seldom out of the news) to a burgeoning raft of health and safety legislation, noise abatement issues, security and temporary event notices. How does this affect the day-to-day of the live sector, who exactly is responsible for what and how is this legislation best managed?

5. Learning By Example – UK & Overseas Case Studies – 26^th March 2012
The Luminaire…from award-winning venue to shut-down in under six years. A thorough examination of why it was opened, how it tried to be different, how it was received by the audience, artists and industry, what went right, what went wrong and what its legacy was – if indeed it left one – from one of the people who built and managed it. For an international perspective, we’ll look at other markets covering mainland Europe, how things differ to the UK, particularly where state funding is concerned. We’ll also take a look at that super-rich anomaly of Norway – the world’s third largest oil exporter, pumping tens of millions of pounds into culture a year.

-ends-

NOTES FOR EDITORS

ABOUT MUSICTANK

Unique among the music business’ many and various interest bodies, MusicTank is the country’s leading, independent, sector-specific business development network for the UK music industry.

Established in 2003 to inform and guide the future shape of the music business through engagement with industry, change and innovation, MusicTank has built an enviable reputation for its ongoing and unique programme of think tank debates, events, occasional courses and conferences, a natural progression from which has been the delivery of incisive reports commissioned from key industry figureheads.

Its content-rich website – www.musictank.co.uk – contains a wealth of industry information and resources, together with event transcripts and podcasts, news and research papers. Visitors to the site can sign up to a free monthly e-mail newsletter, and for a small annual subscription become members, giving access to premium content.

MusicTank is owned and operated by University of Westminster.

PRESS CONTACT

Hugo Mintz, Name PR

hugo@namepr.co.uk / 020 8357 7305

• Essential sign up The Orchard for physical distribution across Europe
• Ink Fierce Panda, No Sleep and Lojinx labels
• Paul Buchanan, Betty Wright and DragonForce come aboard

5pm 29th January Cannes: - Essential Music & Marketing has gotten off to a flying start at this year’s Midem with a clutch of key artist and label signings including Paul Buchanan and Fierce Panda Records, as well as a deal to handle physical distribution across Europe for digital aggregator, The Orchard.

Among Essential’s artist signings is The Blue Nile’s Paul Buchanan, who releases his debut solo album via a label services deal for Europe – his first record since 2004’s Silver selling album, High.

Fresh from her appearance on Jools’ Annual 2011 Hootenanny, Essential have also signed Grammy-nominated Betty Wright for label services across Europe. This will include her latest album Betty Wright: The Movie (recently released in the US by S-Curve), recorded with legendary soul/hip-hop mercenaries The Roots.

Another artist joining for European label services is flaming power metal axe masters DragonForce. The band are preparing to release an album with new lead singer, Marc Hudson, on their own on their own Electric Generation Recordings label, followed by a world tour.

Essential has also signed several cutting edge labels, including West Coast Indie No Sleep Records, for European distribution. Fierce Panda, home to Kabeedies & Electricity in Our Homes, is about to become that much more fierce with Essential handling physical distribution for UK and Eire, whilst Essential will provide distribution for Europe as Lojinx prepares to release the 5th solo album of Raconteurs founder-member Brendon Benson.

The Orchard artists covered by Essential’s distribution include Therapy?, soon to release their thirteenth studio album and tour Europe, and blues rock legend Dion.

Said Mike Chadwick, Founder and MD of Essential said: “It’s great to have so many well-regarded labels and artists come on board.  2012 has kicked off with a bang, and we’re looking forward to coming back from Midem with even more good news”

New Essential signings:

The Orchard  –  Physical distribution across Europe

Paul Buchanan, Betty Wright, DragonForce  – European label services

No Sleep – European distribution

Fierce Panda – UK and Eire physical distribution

Lojinx – European distribution

About Essential Music & Marketing

Essential Music & Marketing has been redefining the roles of distributor and record label since its inception in 2003 by Mike Chadwick, former MD Vital Distribution and Martin Goldschmidt, owner of Cooking Vinyl Records.

Essential is part of the Cooking Vinyl group, which comprises of Cooking Vinyl Records, Essential Music & Marketing and Cooking Vinyl Music Publishing, which is run by Paul Kinder, a former director at Chrysalis.

www.essential-music.com

•  Maxi Jazz Collaborates in First Project Post-Faithless

Artist:                         Trenton Birch & Free Radical

Title:                           Giant Step

Label:                         Noise Inc.

Release Date:            29^th March 2012

5pm 29th January 2012 Cannes: – Today Noise Inc., a leading digital development and partnership business with music industry and A-list celebrity clients, announces its first signing of an artist that the company will manage, launching Trenton and Free Radical to European audiences through innovative approaches in how marketing an artist transpires.

Noise Inc. is looking to combine the company’s technological expertise with the it’s knowledge and experience from the music industry to take Trenton to the next level. Be it developing multi-platform social applications, mixing artist events with new technology, or marketing across multimedia channels, Noise Inc. intends to demonstrate how unusual approaches to building an artist’s fan base can work in today’s industry. With no fear of applying experimental techniques to the process of launching new music, Noise Inc. has signed Trenton because they have a fundamental belief in the music, the creative ethos behind the artist and the project’s aspirations. From a marketing perspective, Noise Inc. feels that this opens the doors to many different and adventurous marketing opportunities. The artist will be marketed by an experienced team with 50 years of experience from marketing, brand development and technology.

The South African artist Trenton already has a significant following in his home country for his reggae-infused Afro-beats, where he has performed for his hero Nelson Mandela. At his side, is collaborator Maxi Jazz, formerly of Faithless, who has teamed up on a the first single of the new album Giant Step called “Tomorrow’s Day” that is set to release March 29^th. This is Maxi Jazz’s first project since ending Faithless, and is the result of a decade of ad-hoc projects between the pair, getting back to original Jazz music roots of his pre-Faithless days.

Noise Inc. met Trenton through mutual associate, recorder Louis Henry Sarmiento, who’s worked with Lady Gaga  and 50 Cent, among others, in Ibiza, and ignited a relationship that’s on course to change the way the music industry launches new artists. With the new album set to release soon, a compilation that has been mixed by legendary producer Grippa (Faithless and Dido), Noise Inc. is gearing up to unleash a remarkable artist that will be looked at as much for his talent, as for his very different approaches to marketing.

Kim De Ruiter, Noise Inc. Partner, said: “We aren’t going to take a standard, same-old approach to launching Trenton in Europe, so stay tuned for when we unveil what we think will be a strategy that could break barriers and change the perception of how a standard music campaign should be run.”

Trenton Birch said: “By hooking up with Noise Inc. We’ve signed up for what I know is going to be a wild ride that will get attention for the band’s music across Europe.”

Live Dates:                 Standon Calling, 1^st August 2012  (other UK festival dates to be added shortly)

About Noise Inc.

Noise Inc. design and develop exciting, platform-agnostic apps, games and services for digital platforms and mobile devices. Whatever a clients’ ambitions and challenges, Noise Inc. will work with them to turn the opportunity into a reality.

Whether it’s creating and managing amazing content, or providing robust technical builds on everything from iPhones to Augmented Reality, or if you just want smart people, creating smart ideas to make your next marketing campaign exceed your wildest expectations, Noise Inc. are the people to talk to. The company, which combines high end innovative app development with bespoke digital marketing strategy, and is best of breed at both, launched at Midem 2011 with a string of A list stars and global music corporation clients, including Vodafone, Universal Music International and Sony Music, Decca, Defected Records, Ministry of Sound and Richer Sounds.

The brainchild of four execs, Jane Turner, James Coughlan, Kim De Ruiter and Mark White, Noise Inc. combines over 50 years of experience in marketing, brand development and technology.

Jane Turner’s experience in IP, TV, film, music, publishing and merchandising was gained at WPP, Havas, Mintel and, most recently as global MD of Chorion Ltd.

Working closely with Universal Music, James Coughlan was part of the team that initiated Pixie Lott’s association with Vodafone, a mobile first.

Kim De Ruiter is an award-winning digital music and mobile marketer who was shortlisted in the top 50 leading women in the mobile industry by MEM (Mobile Entertainment Market).

Trenton and Free Radical: Real Music Makes a Comeback

With his feet firmly planted in African soil, Trenton Birch has a global musical sensibility. Having spent time London, where he  developed the distinct sound and conscious lyrics of his reggae-infused Afro-beat band, Trenton and Free Radical, his return to Cape Town is a major score for the South African live music scene. Before setting off for the UK, Birch was prominent on the local music scene as part of electro-rock band Anti-Gravity which opened for South African performances by both The Prodigy and Faithless. Whilst in Europe, Birch promoted Johnny Clegg, and headed up the African hip-hop website / label Afrolution and ran the record label Black Mango Music which helped launched Goldfish internationally.

Trenton and Free Radical is finding its feet in Cape Town, playing up a storm on the live venue circuit in preparation for the Spring-2012 release of a debut album with sizeable international credentials. Produced by Dean James (Nitin Sawhney, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly) and Craigie Dodds (Sugarbabes, Natty, One Eskimo, Gorillaz), the album Giant Step is mixed by Gripper (Faithless, Dido, Hempolics), and includes vocals by the inimitable Maxi Jazz, best known to the world as the lead singer of British band, Faithless. It’s a collaboration that suggests the esteem in which the band has been held whilst working in the UK. The album also features the immensely talented South Africa hip-hop MC Ben Sharpa and Senegalese hip-hop artist and activist Sister Fa who recently won the global “Freedom To Create Prize”.

For one release, we connected with the artist Trenton Birch, and his band Free Radical, who’s collaborating on a new track for his upcoming album with Maxi Jazz of Faithless fame. Fan girl Lisa was thrilled to have a link to this amazing artist, who’s tracks carried her through the late 90s.

This week has been pretty standard for Denise; however she did go to the Childish Gambino gig on Wednesday night. The night kicked off with a performance by Josh Osho and then Gambino took to the stage much later.  She says, “It was a great chance to bring out her inner rapper and get down.” We can’t even begin to imagine this!

One of the best things that happened, was that we announced our lovely Lisa has now joined full time and of course our Zealander Hugo, who has now been promoted to press officer – YAY for Lisa and Hugo,  as Lisa would say! It was nice to see Lisa and Hugo becoming famous – be it only for only 15 minutes – as we’ve had some great endorsements from some of the most read publications within the music industry, like Record of the Day and Music Week.

We are also inching closer to taking on a really cool little festival this summer – the sort of thing we will be going to anyway if we weren’t working it!  Fingers crossed for us!  To celebrate we might even try and sneak off a little bit early tonight for a nice drink – don’t tell Sam!! Shhh!

• Counting Crows, Reverend & The Makers and The Proclaimers Sign to Cooking Vinyl

26 January, London:- Cooking Vinyl have signed, Reverend & the Makers, The Proclaimers and Counting Crows.  Reverend & The Makers and The Proclaimers are signed to full label services deals, Counting Crows have signed for a royalty based license deal and all of the acts plan to release albums in the Spring of 2012.

Reverend & The Makers join Cooking Vinyl’s roster for their third album.  This features Youth (The Verve, Killing Joke, Primal Scream, The Charlatans) and James Dring & Jason Cox (Gorillaz) on production duties and which is set for release in Spring 2012. The Sheffield based collective, fronted by John McClure (aka The Reverend) have released two albums so far – The  State Of Things, which reached the UK’s top five in 2007and 2009’s A French Kiss In The Chaos. The band has done extensive touring with their hometown buddies Arctic Monkeys as well as Oasis, Kasabian and The Ting Tings. They have also just been confirmed as main support on Noel Gallagher’s Feb/March UK arena tour.

Californian multi-platinum selling rockers Counting Crows have signed to Cooking Vinyl with a royalties based licensing deal for Europe and the UK.  With five albums under their belts, Counting Crows will continue to be managed by Collective Music Group partner Jordan Berliant and will be releasing a new album in April.

Scottish twins, Charlie and Craig Reid, make up The Proclaimers, a platinum selling group who have signed a worldwide services deal (excluding North America) with Cooking Vinyl for their ninth album.  Possibly best known for their smash hit I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), The Proclaimers are currently working with Steve Evens on their new album slated for release April 2012. This is Evens’ third production collaboration with The Proclaimers and his previous collaborations include Robert Plant, Siouxsie Sioux and Templecloud.

Craig and Charlie Reid recently said of their new deal “We are very excited to be joining with such a progressive and successful label and we look forward to the promotion and touring of the new album immensely.”

The signings follow in the footsteps of Underworld and Groove Armada who pioneered similar services deals with the Cooking Vinyl. These recent additions mark what is becoming a strong 2012 for the label who have added The Cranberries, Marilyn Manson, The Cult and Roll Deep to the roster in the past twelve months.

Rob Collins, Director, Cooking Vinyl commented “We are proud to add more quality artists to the label. 2012 is already shaping up to be great year”

Jon McClure, Reverend & The Makers said “I’m made up to be on a label that is growing seemingly by the minute and that contains on its roster at least 3 of my favourite bands”

Cooking Vinyl has developed a reputation as one of Europe’s prime artist-focused independent labels, inspiring an enviable loyalty among its artist roster. It is also in the vanguard of music companies offering innovative services-only deals that claim no stake in artists’ copyrights.

Cooking Vinyl take full responsibility for the management of a project whether functioning as a label or in a services-only setting. Adding more than just marketing muscle, Cooking Vinyl devise and implement worldwide sales, marketing and distribution plans for their artists, working alongside booking agents and artist managers.

www.cookingvinyl.com

For any artist-related queries, such as requests for photos or interviews, please contact Maddison Moore on maddison@cookingvinyl.com

For Cooking Vinyl press queries contact Hugo Mintz on hugo@namepr.co.uk

• Award-Winning PR Veteran Lisa Devaney Joins Team to Work on Tech Clients
• Hugo Mintz takes over Name PR’s Festival and Live Music Division

London, 26 January 2012 – Name PR, industry leaders in music public relations and marketing, announces hiring Lisa Devaney, a veteran award-winning technology Publicist, to serve as Account Manager, leading the agency’s technology related client work.

With more than two decades of media experience, Devaney joins Name PR with working knowledge from both a career as a print journalist and time spent with leading PR agencies, including Hill & Knowlton, where she worked with Microsoft, Motorola and Olympus. Devaney joins Name PR, following seven years of entrepreneurial effort establishing her own successful consultancy business Hai Media Group, which provided public relations and social media counsel to many mobile technology clients from Silicon Valley. She has worked with mobile industry leaders HipLogic, Skyfire, AdMob, Greystripe, Smaato, Flirtomatic, Cellfish Media, Counts Media, The Yellow Arrow Project, Audioboo and more.

Among Devaney’s highlights of her career was being a co-founder of the WeWantWork.com campaign for employment, helping New Yorkers get back to work after the events of 9/11. For this effort, Devaney (then Lisa Rosevear) won international media coverage and appeared as a spokesperson live on CNN, The Today Show and radio station WNBC, among other outlets, and was featured in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. The WeWantWork.com effort earned a “Purple Cow” award from marketing guru Seth Godin, the author of “Unleashing the Idea Virus” and other popular marketing books.

After a year and a half of working up the ranks of Name PR Hugo Mintz has been promoted to Press Officer, where he will manage the day to day running of the live trade clients and a selection of small to medium sized festivals. His portfolio consists of the leading paperless ticketing company WeGotTickets; AIF a not-for-profit that represents UK independent festivals; music business resource MusicTank; and Attitude is Everything, the charity that recently made the news by launching an initiative in the house of commons to better disabled access to music venues.

Hugo will draw on his years of experience as a musician playing internationally in a range of bands as well as a solid base in music promotion and marketing.

Name PR MD Sam Shemtob said: “We are thrilled that Lisa joins us, and with her experience we see great opportunity to grow the technology side of our business. She’s got a valuable combination of tech PR experience and general agency insight that will help drive the company considerably forward in 2012.”

Lisa Devaney said: “It is an honour to be working with music industry experts and learning a new area of the tech sector at a time when so many exciting events are happening, including the success of Spotify and the release of cloud services. Over the years I’ve really enjoyed partying with my friends in the industry, and now I’ll have the chance to work in a professional capacity for a sector I’m passionate about.”

Name PR
Name PR is arguably one of the UK’s leading music pr and marketing agencies, with unrivalled specialist knowledge and direct links to the heart of the UK music industry.

Founded in 1999 by Sam Shemtob, Name have successfully delivered full-spectrum pr services for a range of music clients, in both a business and consumer oriented capacity. From global trade bodies, unsigned bands to London’s most fashionable clubs Name have consistently delivered innovative press and marketing campaigns above and beyond their clients’ expectations – whether developing full positioning and communications strategies or quickly reacting to major breaking news stories.

Name offer discerning clients a proven record of pr results via successfully implemented creative strategies, delivered by a highly capable team with a real passion for the business and, most importantly, for the music itself.

• MusicTank Add Steve Savoca, Spotify; Mark Mulligan; Mark Kelly, FAC; Paul Loasby, One Fifteen Management and Cosmo Lush, EMI to Panel

26 January, London:- As the streaming debate reaches fever pitch MusicTank will hold their first think tank of 2012, ‘The Big Question: Can Streaming Go Mainstream?’ now augmented with panellists from EMI Music, The FAC and Spotify.

Once heralded as the an industry saviour, a stigma is beginning to form around streaming services, spurred on by the abstention of high profile acts like Coldplay and Bob Dylan as well as the radio silence from labels on the detail of licensing deals.

MusicTank will place this misunderstood issue under the spotlight, with a panel made up of industry luminaries including Steve Savoca, Head of Content, Spotify; Paul Loasby, Owner, One Fifteen Management; Mark Mulligan, Digital Media Strategist;  Mark Kelly, CEO, The FAC; and Cosmo Lush, Senior VP Digital Business Development, EMI Music.

The issue could not be more important – some argue that unless streaming is both understood and embraced, the recordings business will be thrashing around a fifth percentile of licensed consumption for many years to come.   This think tank will drill to the heart of the issue, answering the two central questions – ‘how does the model work?’ And ‘how do the artists get paid?’

Keith Harris, MusicTank Chairman said “We’re still desperately searching for the silver bullet that will fix our business model on recorded music, we hope that this Musictank session will act as a torch helping to illuminate that search.”

Event Details

Title:                           The Big Question: Can Streaming Go Mainstream?

Date:                           23^rd February 2012

Time:                          18:30 to 21:00

Venue:                       Fyvie Hall, 115 New Cavendish Street, London, W1W 6UW

Cost:                           Standard – £35 / MT members – £25

Final Panellists

Steve Savoca             Head of Content, Spotify

Cosmo Lush              Senior VP Digital Business Development, EMI Music

Simon Wheeler          Director Of Strategy, Beggars Group

Mark Kelly                  CEO, The FAC

Mark Mulligan           Digital Media Strategist

Paul Loasby               Owner, One Fifteen Management

Danny Ryan               Managing Director, Kudos Records

Chairman:

Keith Harris               Keith Harris Music Ltd / MusicTank Chairman / Director of Performer Affairs, PPL

Tickets must be purchased in advance from www.musictank.co.uk/events/streaming

——————

Full Event Copy

The Big Question: Can Streaming Go Mainstream?

The recordings business begins 2012 at a make-or-break crossroads.

Digital is growing, and in under a decade, the download business has emerged to constitute approximately a quarter of all UK music consumption – a considerable slice of the pie.

Streaming is still a niche activity, but with Spotify already regularly used by about 10% of households, it is showing potential. The model is very much at a delicate point in its infancy however, which makes the growing disquiet that ‘streaming isn’t paying’ - fuelled by artists from Jon Hopkins to the Black Keys -  all the more problematic.

These artists are not on their own.  Many across the business, from labels through to lawyers, question the industry’s approach to this new model.  And the questions aren’t just about pennies per stream – some wonder whether streaming is cannibalising downloads.  Several draw parallels with the business’ response to the original Napster, the implication being that ‘get this wrong and the recordings business is going to be thrashing around a fifth percentile of licensed consumption for years to come’.

Many also feel that the services themselves could be more open. The streaming model alters our relationship with music from standard ownership to a pay-for-access model – realistically the biggest change in consumption of recorded music since its invention, yet, just when an extra effort to encourage understanding is needed, silence is fueling fear.

In some ways it’s a testament to the success of the model that industry stakeholders care to voice their concerns, though in the end, if people in the value chain don’t see value then there is a problem.

Ultimately there are two questions at the heart of the issue that this session aims to address:

1.    How does the model work?

2.    How do the artists get paid?

The discussion is sure to raise many issues – from artist contracts, the potential erosion of performers’ equitable right of remuneration for radio play, also the question of chart eligibility – however this session will avoid getting immersed in the finer ramifications for the rest of the business at this stage.

The immediate need is to understand what impact the biggest change in music consumption since the wax cylinder might have on the future of all in the recordings business – especially artists.

About MusicTank

Unique among the music business’ many and various interest bodies, MusicTank is the country’s leading, independent, sector-specific business development network for the UK music industry.

Established in 2003 to inform and guide the future shape of the music business through engagement with industry, change and innovation, MusicTank has built an enviable reputation for its ongoing and unique programme of think tank debates, events, occasional courses and conferences, a natural progression from which has been the delivery of incisive reports commissioned from key industry figureheads.

Its content-rich website – www.musictank.co.uk – contains a wealth of industry information and resources, together with event transcripts and podcasts, news and research papers. Visitors to the site can sign up to a free monthly e-mail newsletter, and for a small annual subscription become members, giving access to premium content.

MusicTank is owned and operated by University of Westminster.

Structural and Crowd Safety Conference

11:30am -6:30pm February 3rd 2012

Level 5, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre

SE1 8XX

• Panels to Include Chris Kemp, Bucks University; Simon James, Event Safety Shop; Andy Yates, Webb Yates Engineers

26th January, London:- Following the tragic festival stage collapses that shocked the world last summer, Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) will host a Structural and Crowd Safety Conference that examines the engineering details of outdoor structures, emergency planning procedures and insight into climate issues and resulting safety implications.

Throughout the day there will be a range of panels and presentations from some of the industry’s most experienced and innovative structural safety and health & safety experts including Chris Kemp, International Centre for Crowd Management and Safety Studies (ICCMSS) /Bucks University; Simon James, The Event Safety Shop; Andy Yates, Webb Yates Engineers; Roger Barrett, Star Events Group; Richard Bryan, Bearded Theory Festival and Rudi Enos, Special Structures Lab.

The stage collapses last festival season and the ensuing loss of life occurred in extenuating weather conditions although at an alarming amount of international festivals. The tragedies highlighted shortcomings in both the large temporary structures that are available on the market and the implementation of emergency procedures. Despite the fact that none of the festivals affected were British or AIF members, safety issues affect the whole of the festival industry and they need to be investigated and addressed with the help of safety and structural experts to prevent such disasters closer to home.

The morning of the conference will consist of a workshop from the crowd management specialist, Tony Ball (ICCMSS) who will investigate emergency crowd evacuation and accompanying health and safety training.

The workshop will then be followed by two panels and two presentations:

• Presentation One: Rudi Enos  senior designer and Co-founder of Special Structures Lab will display footage of the Pukkelpop and Indiana State Fair stage collapses and address the fundamental causes for the collapses from an engineering perspective.
• Presentation Two:  Chris Kemp, Bucks New University and ICCMSS, will discuss the European response to climate issues and resulting structural safety implications.

• Structural Safety at Outdoor Events Panel will cover how to make structures safe at outdoor events, what to look for when booking them and strategy for handling adverse weather conditions.

The following individuals will make up the panel:

Andy Lenthall, PSA (Production Services Association) – Moderator

Andy Yates, Webb Yates Engineers

Richard Bryan, Spring Music Ltd / Bearded Theory Festival

Roger Barrett, STAR Events Group

Simon James, The Event Safety Shop

• Emergency Planning for Crowd Safety Panel will explore preparing for emergency crowd evacuation and minimizing damage should disaster strike.

The following individuals will make up the panel:

Chris Kemp, Bucks New University / International Centre for Crowd Management and Safety Studies

Simon James, The Event Safety Shop

Jim King, Loud Sound

Those attending the entire day’s workshop, presentations and panels will receive a certificate of attendance accredited by Bucks New University.

Roger Barrett of STAR Event Group said “In my experience, the lack of basic engineering knowledge shown by a great many suppliers of temporary structures to festivals is nothing short of disgraceful, so whose fault is it that they get the work?”

Ben Turner, Co-founder and Deputy Chair, AIF commented “AIF feels that not just hired experts, but the festival owners themselves need to understand the reasons for an increase in these incidents. It is important that the key stakeholders and the industry at large have a clearer understanding of this critically important aspect of putting on live events. From the initial response to this seminar it is also clear that this is a feeling shared by many in the industry.

——————————————-

Event Details

Date:                                         3^rd February 2012

Time:                                         Morning Session - 11:30 to 13:00

Afternoon Sessions – 13:30 to 18:30

Venue:                                                      Level 5 Function Room, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road,

London SE1 8XX

Cost:          Full day Conference:   £35 + vat Full day AIF Members / Student concession : £20 + vat

Afternoon Panels :      Complimentary for industry and events students

Tickets must be purchased in advance from www.musicindie.com/events/aim/2012/02/03/1123

Full Schedule

11:00 -11:30 (30 mins) MORNING REGISTRATION

11:30 – 13:00 (1 hr 30 mins) WORKSHOP

Bucks University / International Centre for Crowd Management and Safety Studies

13.00 – 14.00 (1 hr) LUNCH BREAK 

13:30 – 14:00 (30 mins) AFTERNOON REGISTRATION

14:00 – 14:30 (30 mins) PRESENTATION

Rudi Enos – TBC

14:30 – 14:45 (15 mins) PRESENTATION

Insurance Presentation

14:45 – 15:15 (30 mins) PRESENTATION

Chris Kemp – European Response to Climate Issues

15:15 – 15:30 SHORT BREAK (15 mins)

15:30 – 16:45 (1 hr 15 mins) PANEL / Q&A

Structural Safety and Outdoor Events

16:45 – 17:00 SHORT BREAK w refreshments (15 mins)

17:00 – 18:15 (1 hr 15 mins) PANEL / Q&A

Emergency Planning for Crowd Safety

18:15 – 18:30 CONCLUSION

Closing comments, conclusions and action points

18:30 – CLOSE

About AIF

The Association of Independent Festivals is a not for profit body set up in 2008 to represent independent music festivals in the UK and Ireland.

Conceived by Bestival promoter Rob da Bank and Graphite’s Ben Turner, the association’s founder members included Bestival, Cornbury Festival, Creamfields, Evolution Festival, Field Day/Underage, Secret Garden Party, Summer Sundae Weekender and WOMAD.

With 31 members ranging from Bromley’s Leefest to the 55,000 capacity Bestival in the Isle of Wight, AIF enables the promoters of some of the UK & Ireland’s most innovative and successful festivals to speak with one voice when addressing the wider music business and government.

AIF aims to establish best practice for festivals in a variety of areas such as security, the environment and beyond, providing a knowledge base for festival promoters, as well as creating collective purchasing and marketing opportunities for its members.

AIF operates as an autonomous division of the Association of Independent Music.