Young musicians get help from the pros

Musicians, managers, entrepreneurs and those looking to self-release their own work can now get some help starting out in the industry from those who’ve been there before.
A series of sessions called DIY In The Spotlight will run at this year’s Great Escape festival that aims to give young musicians access to people involved in all parts of the independent music industry.
They will give practical advice as well as tell their own inspiring stories of how they succeeded.
There will also be artists, managers and marketers working on self-release campaigns to provide any tips they can.
It is thanks to £38,000 funding from Arts Council England, which has been granted to deliver education and development programmes.
“There has been a lot of talk about artists going the ‘DIY’ route in recent years, especially early on in their career as labels look to sign slightly more developed talent,” said convention programmer of the Great Escape and publisher of CMU Chris Cooke.
He explained that DIY does not really mean ‘do it yourself’ because being successful at grass roots level is still a major collaborative effort involving forming partnerships and “capitalising on tools and technologies out there that can help”.
“This programme of sessions will throw the spotlight on everything new artists and their teams need to know, and offer plenty of valuable tips for more established music business professionals too,” he added.
Highlights of the course include the practicalities of self-publishing, from the logistics down to the legal matters, while new artists also need to learn the art of building a profile for themselves and using gigs as a form of marketing.
Of course, there will also be a strong focus on how to use social media for getting your name out there in the public eye.
Already 141 bands have been confirmed to make an appearance at The Great Escape in Brighton from May 10th-12th, a festival designed to promote brand new music.
Other planned events include a conversation with Xfm’s John Kennedy about his 20 years of championing new music.