CowFest this Sunday

CowFest at Spitalfields City Farm returns on August, 9th. This event will support the Ahimsa Dairy Foundation.
More infos about the event can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/133938153609781/

Southwark community event Mint Street Music Festival returns for a second year!

Mark your calendars for the second annual Mint Street Music Festival on Saturday, 18 July 2015! Back bigger and better after last summer’s fantastic launch, Mint Street Music Festival is bringing an eclectic mix of sounds to an audience of all ages at Mint Street Park, SE1 at Marshalsea and Southwark Bridge Road (nearest tube: Borough; buses 344, 381, RV1, C10). The festival is free, kicking off at 12 noon and finishing at 7pm. The event aims to promote the enjoyment and making of music within the community, showcasing new and existing talent.

Featuring performances showcasing a variety of genres, from Afrobeat to Latin to rock‘n’roll, there will be plenty to discover. Confirmed acts include Pink Cigar, The Curious Incident, Johnny Freyre & Kalima Project, We Used to Make Things and Double Bangz, with more to be announced.

With two further stages offering performances from dance troupes and local community groups as well as workshops and children’s activities, it will be an event to get involved with too. Local arts and crafts shop Re-creation will be on hand with sessions for you to get crafty with and even the littlest ones can get involved with classes from Diddi Dance and Sing’n’Sign. Join in the parade and make some noise with brass marching band Les Zoings.

Pack a picnic lunch to enjoy, grab a bite to eat at one of many food stalls or take a break at the tea tent hosted by Blackfriars Settlement. Bring your purse and peruse the jumble sale and stalls from local shops and crafters. Of course, no festival would be complete without a bouncy castle for the kids! And you can take a break from all the action just across the road as the Borough Welsh Chapel will open their doors to welcome visitors for a visit.

Mint Street Music Festival is a volunteer organised local initiative. The event was created last year as part of the Our Big Gig, an annual event that brings communities together to celebrate their local musical talents and get more people involved in music making. This year’s festival has received funding from Southwark Council’s Neighbourhood Fund, the Peabody Community Fund and Our Big Gig. Mint Street Music Festival is pleased to be joining hundreds of organisations nationwide as a BBC Arts Get Creative event. Get Creative aims to boost creativity in the UK, as well as celebrating the millions of people already doing something artistic and creative every day.

https://www.facebook.com/mintstreetmusicfestival
www.mintstreetmusicfestival.info
https://twitter.com/MintStMusicFest

(Not) selling contacts

Every now and then a band/musician asks us, if we could share our contact list with them.

This is not only very rude but also shows that this band/musician isn't prepared to work hard, lay the groundwork, network and that they have only little knowledge of the industry.

You should ask yourself: Would you share any of your contacts, just to be nice or do someone a favour?

Put yourself in our position or any music industry professional for that matter. We all run or work for a business. Businesses are only successful when they make a profit or at least break even (Break even means covering all the running costs – some business lingo for you ;) ). Giving away a list with contacts means they are (potentially) losing money (e.g. PR person hands over details of journalists and won’t work on the press campaign for the band or musician, booking agent gives access to list with venue managers, etc.).

Furthermore, it takes years to put such lists together and they also need to be maintained regularly. Again, why would anyone give years of hard work away for free? I know, some of you will say now, just sell it for a few quid. But this is a big no-no as well! The contacts on such lists will be annoyed when they are approached by someone they don’t know. Contacts become worthless, not only for you but also for the person who handed over the list. And no one in the right state of their mind will destroy years of work (read: the foundation of their business). 

Occasionally we will help a band with a couple of details but only when we are considering working with them. Why are we doing this? It is a test. Are they really dedicated and will they use the contacts? Will they thank us? Will they update us on the outcome? Etc. 

But we will always clear with my contacts first to see if it is ok to pass on their details!

Here is another example what some so called “managers” do. There is one manager on this planet who puts lists with industry contacts together to sell them (going through publications like The Unsigned Guide or the Music Week directory). Fair enough. S/He tells his clients though (the people who buy those list) that s/he knows everyone on that list, when in fact, he hasn’t even bothered to check if one is happy to be included in such a list. Annoys me very much and I won’t even check the music of these artists BUT I will tell them why.

When we deny the “request” of a band or a musician to hand over our contacts, unfortunately, some don't take it too well and send some rather rude messages back. Here is a little advice, folks. The time you spend asking for contacts (and sending abusive or insulting messages when this is denied), you could use instead to build your own database of contacts. And if you don’t have time (usually you just can’t be bothered), you should accept the fact that music will always be a hobby for you.

Information is a powerful source in this day and age. Information in the sense of contacts, not only as industry contacts but also as your fanbase! Build your email list, don’t rely on Facebook. But this is another blog for another time!

Peace, Love and Rock & Roll!

STRIKE releases video "Do For You" feat Heydon H

 

Fair Play Guide for Musicians

The Musicians’ Union has published a Fair Play Guide, a good read for all those gigging musicians out there!