MISSING IN ACTION…

Last Sunday night I presented a three-hour radio session and the second instalment of our albums of the year shows. We played a song from each of the albums from number 21-50 (the previous Sunday we had played our top 20 albums). Our radio sessions always only include songs from albums that we review favourably, and more often than not songs played are not singles (although may be selected as future single releases such as Nickelback’s ‘Burn It To The Ground’). Each week we present two, two-hour shows and in 2009 there was no shortage of great music to play, in our experience the richest year for music ever. Our shows are a labour of love, not least because we play album rather than single tracks - we have to ensure that there are no naughty words with every song selected played to check, and therefore have to listen several times…

Ultimately, when we choose our albums of the year it’s a list that has been proven over time, often backed by checking out live performances. We therefore review, radio airplay and then listen in full again prior to deciding which are our albums of the year. It’s a serious and long process that only ends when releases stop arriving (i.e. 31 December).

During Last Sunday’s radio session my producer and I noted that much of what we were playing had never seen the light of day - on the BBC and major commercial stations - and many had not been included in any Best Of Year lists (Nickelback and Susan Boyle were two notable examples). During the year we have witnessed many great and sold-out live shows, but it was rare to find any of these acts on radio. Confused?

Great Music and Integrity go hand-in-hand, or so we believe. Our play-lists and accolades are based on merit and hard work. You may disagree with our selections, but at least you can be assured we are honest about what we feel is great music. The truth for us is easy to tell, and I wonder why it is so hard for others to adopt the same, simple principle; to tell it how it really is.

“EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT IT…”

Ever get the feeling that the music industry, especially the BBC, are telling you what you should like? Album advertising tells you that ‘this brilliant album is available now’, while the X-Factor hires major selling artists and introduces them by telling you how many albums they have sold (so they must be good…). Adverts tell you ‘everybody’s talking about it’, ‘album of the year’ and you wonder if you’re missing out on something. Then there’s BBC’s notorious play-lists that includes a very limited range of acts for up to 8 weeks, and plays their songs many times each week. Robbie Williams comes back from the dead with a new album and he’s everywhere - radio, TV, press…

“Money doesn’t talk, it swears”

FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE

The Christmas Number 1 campaign was fundamentally a negative one, stopping a song and X-Factor from reaching number 1. Last year’s campaign almost worked and sent Jeff Buckley’s rendition of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ to number 2 in the 2008 Christmas chart. So we know a groundswell of public opinion can change things. The Internet made all this possible and guess what folks… it’s still there to use. I’ve already mentioned how many great acts and albums/songs were ignored by the press and broadcast media, and I’ll give you an excellent example of a British act, the Maccabees. The band released a brilliant album in 2009 and I attended a sold-out gig in Liverpool along with well over 1,000 fans. The album sold in modest numbers, the singles sank without air-play. What if the Maccabees had released a download single at 25p retail and fans really got behind it via the Internet, and a similar groundswell developed. It doesn’t take many sales to top the charts these days… and radio would have been obliged to play-list it.

To underline the point, here’s an excerpt from a recent Billboard piece:

“James Blunt’s debut album ‘Back To Bedlam’ (Atlantic) is the biggest U.K. seller of the decade, according to the Official Charts Company.”

“‘Back To Bedlam’ did not reach the U.K. albums chart when it was first released in 2004 - its first-week U.K. sale was 482. It eventually charted thanks to heavy radio rotation for the single “You’re Beautiful” and moved more than 3.1 million copies in the U.K., according to 2008 OCC figures.”

“…with David Gray’s ‘White Ladder’ (IHT/East West/Warner Music) from 1998 at No. 5 (”White Ladder” was indeed released in 1998 but it actually sold in large quantities in 2000 and 2001, following long-delayed BBC and commercial airplay - Ed).”

What I’m suggesting here is that rather than use the Internet for negative purposes, why not use it in a positive way - to promote great music that’s being ignored by the media. Just imagine: Nickelback and Shinedown could have had number one singles. Susan Boyle would have topped the chart… The Maccabees would be munching on caviar… Elliot Minor, Metric, The Tragically Hip would have been playing large rather than tiny venues, The Enemy would be playing arenas, and so on and so forth.

With downloaded sales now included in sales statistics, you and Shakenstir could make a huge and positive change for the better. What do you say?

AND FINALLY…

We write about and play what we love, while the words ‘cool’, ‘happening’, ‘hype’ just do not register with us. And no website or magazine on earth REALLY supports great music like Shakenstir - you can listen and buy on virtually every page of our website. Hell, you can even download exclusive, high quality images from the world’s largest music photo gallery! So, if you want to know what isn’t ‘cool’ or ‘happening’, but is simply the best music around, check us out regularly and support the best. And if you’re really good, you can see the world’s first dedicated digital turn-page rock magazine! Yes folks, in 2010 Shakenstir is continuing to embrace the digital future and great music, just for you.

Have a good one

Ed