West Midlands Acts on Video - who's watching?

YouTube views for local acts totted up, ranked and compared with the February numbers. There's some surprises...

Who the hell are are these guys? Read on...

Six months ago, just out of curiosity, I researched local acts on video, ranking by most-viewed. It was an interesting exercise, showing how different genres pull in some terrific figures. Six months on, here's a slightly refined repeat exercise. 

No such chart is perfect. With apologies to those artists I missed out on six months ago, I've cast the net wider, although this makes ranking some stuff difficult - do Rap Battles count? I've excluded these - but they might make an interesting sub-chart in their own right. I've also charted the increase in views over the past six months, which gives a rough indication of how an act may be progressing. In one case this has led to a spectacular and probably unrepeatable increase in viewing numbers. The new chart is after the jump.

Spoonfed by robots: What do we get from music streamers... and what do we give?

Step aside, Radio. The web is the hot way to get new music. Or is it? How we relate to music and performers isn't a commodity you can easily exploit. 

2010 Facebook traffic. Look - that's me, Liking The Destroyers

A question: where do you go for new music? I follow tipoffs, or I catch a promising support act; I dig around. I use the web, but I'm not happy.

I rarely get any leads from radio now. After decades listening to people putting themselves before the music, or relegating music to filler status, there’s only a few shows I can stand to listen to. In truth, that's probably how it should be. 

And it's fun following my nose to live and local new stuff, before it becomes product. There are inventive, fresh performances to discover, played to interested audiences. Do this, and you’re a grassroots part of something unique, priceless and intangible, that’s at the very core of the music industry. That's what this post is all about.

Moseley Folk. John Fell would like a 30 hour day, please. And no hangovers.

2013 Festival season #4: Three weeks out from Moseley Folk, with four hour Goodnight Lenin rehearsals, This is Tmrw work and solo gigs to juggle…

Courtesy Skakeypix

John Fell is ridiculously difficult to get to in mid-summer. It’s not his fault – this is the halfway point between the two Moseley festivals, and he has segued from Festival booking team chores to stage manager, senior bottle-washer and soother of fevered muso brows. He has – hopefully - helped clear up after Mostly Jazz, while setting up for Moseley Folk. His band Goodnight Lenin have a slot at the Festival, clearly set on delivering something special ahead of a much delayed album release. So that means lots of rehearsals as the band shifts to a more raucous, punchier approach. 

And on top of this, weeks before Moseley Folk, John also signed up for solo gigs supporting the redoubtable Patty Griffin. Then there’s the gig with This Is Tmrw. So it’s been a struggle to pin the boy down. But I bet lots of people say that.