The problem with promoting: you almost certainly won't get rich. But you may have big fun.

DieDasDer talk of many things: of promoters, cabbages and kings...

We take local gigs for granted. There's tons of them; I think we're spoiled. Given the growth of the past few years, the West Midlands (and pretty much everywhere else) is rich in quality bands doing vibrant gigs. This, at a time when everyone's skint, and we're not out of the recession that's hammered businesses and crushed earnings.

So you wouldn't think it's the best time to lay on gigs, especially risky ones. All that planning dates and venues well in advance, sorting PA, insurance, contract and liability issues, covering travel, fees and exes for everyone, usually on a budget you could put under a cup. Crucially, it means being quite ready to put your hands into your pocket if you need to. 

Welcome to the world of promoters. 

Your 10 Radio To Go most-read posts of 2014

This past year, as in previous years, I wrote, wrote and wrote, aiming for a post each week, sometimes more. It's a good exercise. 

Three years ago, I opted for music and music business as core topics, specifically from the West Midlands. There are a lot of dedicated people who work to better our local music scene. Their work and the challenges they face are fascinating. They deserve our support.

I do stray away to write about radio and broadcasting, of course. But thinking in that area, unlike in music, still evolves at a glacial pace. I think and hope that will change: soon and fast. New platforms are due to emerge out of left field. Unless the existing platforms can adapt, they will wither and die. This is nothing new.

The most-read about musos in 2014

While there are a lot of solid numbers for music posts, and these are trending up steadily, it's really interesting to see just which musicians get the big numbers. These four made the grand most-viewed top ten, which you'll find further down the post

1  Old Punks don't die: Neon Hearts go big in Japan 

Big numbers for an obscure 35-year old Wolverhampton punk band, rapturously received in Japan. Lots of numbers scored in the land of the Rising Sun.

2  Terry and Gerry

They came back, to a lot of love. Post-punk nostalgia, and an exclusive live recording. 80s loyalty rules.

3  The Other Campbell Brother 

While Robin and Duncan keep on with UB40 and Ali snarls at them with his rival band, brother David Campbell continues their father's grand tradition of old-school left-leaning folk.

4  Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls - The Stuff Of Wonder

What a team. Whoda thunk it?

After these four, the next six most-read music posts were:
5  Goodnight Lenin on Record Store Day
6  Electric Swing Circus go pro
7  Beat Goes Bang - all about the three Beats we got now
8  Simon Halsey - the CBSO Chorus Master, ahead of Crowd Out
9  Erica Nockalls - her new album and how she does business
10 Boat To Row - telling figures for a much-loved band

The basic conclusion? score one for the guys who build their audience relationships; score another for happy memories. 

The most-read media and business posts in 2014

So, having split the musicians out, it made sense to do the same for the rest of the topics. Interestingly, although I didn't write that many posts on broadcasting and the media, some did really well. These made the top ten

1. The Desolation of Smug

The biggest numbers of the year by a country mile, commenting on the BBC's hideous local underspend of license fee revenue collected from the Midlands. There is some movement, but the imbalance is still massive. If you haven't read it yet, do so now. Please. Then tell your MP.

2. BRMB: 40 Years ago

Launch day at the old BRMB in February 1974

3. The Wireless Festival in Brum

A chat with the man who ran the biggest music fest Birmingham has ever seen.
4. Thursday 21 November 1974

The night they bombed Birmingham city centre. I was live at the old BRMB when it happened.

5. Mellotrons

The men who still make Mellotrons. Midlands rock history.
6. Don't It Always Seem to Go: The Old Crown A lament for yet another historic music venue which used to grace the city centre.

And the next four most read were 
7  The Local YouTube Top 50 chart, February. I do this every six months.
8  Peaky Blinders - made in Brum? Er, no.
9  Promoting and how not to make money. With Bohemian Jukebox's Ben Calvert
10  How much is your music worth? Ever tried asking? Bluebeat Arkestra and their online honesty box.

I can't draw any great conclusions here - but my thanks are due to the many people who sat down with me and chewed the fat so interestingly.

The most-read posts of 2014

Finally, here is the top ten for the year, irrespective of categories.

1. The Desolation of Smug

2. BRMB: 40 Years ago

3. Old Punks don't die: Neon Hearts go big in Japan 

4. The Wireless Festival in Brum

5. Terry and Gerry

6. Thursday 21 November 1974

7. Mellotrons

8. The Other Campbell Brother

9. Miles and Erica - The Stuff Of Wonder

10. Don't It Always Seem to Go: The Old Crown 


I wish you a peaceful and optimistic 2015.

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Wireless: Birmingham's biggest ever Festival

I hear local mutterings, and ruffling of feathers. Big bad Wireless Festival is coming to Brum. Get real - this is serious business, and we should get a slice.

The Largest Music Promoters In The UK, Live Nation, are plonking their flagship brand, Wireless Festival, down in Birmingham this summer. Two simultaneous festivals rotating line-ups between London and Brum over three days. This makes it, by a long chalk the biggest music event in the city: 150,000 paying customers in Perry Park over three days.

This happened without the knowledge or involvement of anyone involved in any of the well-meaning council-sponsored or other bodies trying to push the local music scene forward. Fait accompli, done deal, we're coming, thank you very much. That's business 

So is this a bad thing? I don't really think so. It's how the music industry operates when it's set up to run on an industrial scale. And maybe we should think about building links. The big boys don't need us and our local scene. But we could sure do with touting our wares on a big stage. And there are grounds for optimism.

How to make a small fortune promoting? Start with a large one.

Promoting small-scale gigs and making money? Defining 'folk' in 2014? Tricky.

Ben Calvert is a songwriter who runs regular Sunday night gigs and a small record label under the handle of Bohemian Jukebox. We had a terrific, lengthy and detailed conversation this past week after an email exchange triggered by a post on promoters who love what they do and the music they work with. Ben pointed out that, contrary to the popular belief that music promoter equals bloodsucker, he and many others work for ridiculously silly money. 

So we met up and he showed me his books. Guess what? He really does work for a pittance. But promoting penury hasn’t slowed him down; he loves his music. Bohemian Jukebox now runs as a venue-supported freebie at the Bulls Head in Moseley, Birmingham. After well over a decade, Ben's not getting rich; he's not alone. A huge tranche of local music businesses work this way. Without this kind of gritty idealism / bloody-mindedness / music obsessions (delete as appropriate), local scenes would be a lot poorer. 

Scary financial stuff and noble principles to follow…

The Hare and Hounds - the threat is BACK

UPDATE: This story has not died down. There's been huge response to this post, and a lot of fresh coverage in local media (BBC WM, the Birmingham Post, Birmingham Mail (with a terrific comment from John Mostyn, which you can also read here), Phil Parkin via Chamberlain Files, along with much Tweeting and Facebookery). There is a huge groundswell of protest against this. And as yet, no statement or explanation has emerged from Birmingham City Council to explain why they suddenly reversed their previous decision.

Birmingham City Council Planning Committee mysteriously and unilaterally reverses its decision to protect the Hare and Hounds. And they say there's no appeal.

Yesterday, I and hundreds of others who had voiced concerns to Birmingham City Council's Planning and Regeneration office, got emails saying the Planning Officer has reversed the council’s decision to oppose a property development right next to the Hare and Hounds venue.