But there’s something very wrong with the way we develop latent, real talent and the complex personalities that often go hand-in-hand. How many have disappeared from the scene? One notable example is the very talented and distinctive Alex Parks who through her experiences with her record company and the media, after winning Fame Academy, appears to have turned her back on the music industry. However, less talented artists like Ellie Goulding, Cheryl Cole and La Roux survive and prosper big-time on the back of massive hype and airplay. It’s perverse. So what can we do to encourage and nurture the country’s finest and seldom heard talent? The Internet offers at least a partial solution and of course sites like ours will always cover those artists, often before anybody else. Gong it alone is now more possible than ever, but, artists need sympathetic, skilled and experienced management able to help acts achieve aspirations which should be clearly identified at the outset.

I offer two examples: Katey Brooks is one of the finest British female singer/songwriter prospects I have heard in recent years. Her aim is to write and play music for those who are receptive, and to sell her records so more people can hear her music, and not necessarily to make millions. She would love to be played on radio to expand her audience. She would like to achieve her ambitions independently. These are clear objectives that can best be summed up as ‘organic growth’ and should be at the heart of her management’s strategy.

My second example is Glen Hansard and The Frames from Ireland who toiled away for years working for major labels, and recognition here in the UK. We have covered them almost exclusively since 1999. It was only when Hansard declared a state of independence that his band finally broke through big-time in Ireland with FOR THE BIRDS. Hansard decided to concentrate his band’s efforts outside the UK and has subsequently built a worldwide following and strong sales. His partnership with Marketa Irglova (The Swell Season) and 2008 Oscar win sent him into orbit through an independent movie, and the first Swell Season album, which was ignored for over two years, began to sell in large numbers (it was our album of the year in 2006/7).

No doubt Frames albums also began to sell like never before. But it took Hansard well over 15 years to achieve this very satisfying and deserved outcome.  It meant hard work, endless touring and major risk-taking but as Hansard put it to me, “We now have our hands on the wheel. We play for people who want to hear our music…” It seems to me that it’s not a financial issue, rather, the general acknowledgment of great talent, and its effective communication to those prepared to listen. There is also a common thread running through all the acts I have mentioned - lack of airplay. And my finger has been and is still pointing at the publicaly owned and funded BBC who needs to take a close look at the implications of its daytime play-list policies, and the frustration caused to so many talented artists. 

12 April 2010

 The art of deception is rife and rather like growing mushrooms, it grows profusely as more shite is heaped on. It has even spread to the music industry. How often do you see TV ads proclaiming an album to be ‘incredible’ or ‘brilliant’ when in fact it’s rubbish? How often are the most untalented people hailed and hyped by the media? Can we believe in anything any more? Is deception the new art?

Last night’s radio show included an hour-long celebration of the talents of two great and ageing musicians. Ravi Shankar and John McLaughlin have been making music for a combined 100 years, and in the process have opened the world’s ears to the rhythms of the East. Shankar taught McLaughlin how to play the Sitar after which the pupil had a guitar specifically designed to sound like a Sitar and called the Shakti #2. During the show we played songs by both artists but many more by Western artists who have used Eastern sounds, the most notable being George Harrison and the Beatles. Looking back, it seems to me that these two fine musicians opened the way for the music of Africa and many other nations to be used and heard in the West. Perhaps it’s time for these great achievements to be recognised by the music industry and those in the seats of power.