UK MUSIC: a new chapter for the UK’s commercial music industry

CISAC President, Robin Gibb gives speech at Popkomm

British Composer Awards

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Representatives of the British Academy attend the inaugural ARTMUSFAIR in Helsinki

INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENT

PRS decision on allocation of BBC Radio revenue

British Academy of Composers and Songwriters announce new CEO -

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ACADEMY ELECTIONS 2008

Academy Membership - "Members Area"

Songwriters Academy 08

Round Britain masterclasses for talented top 60 The BBC New Talent/Songwriters Academy project came to a successful conclusion with a series of two-day masterclasses around the UK and an evening of spectacular performances at The Bedford in Balham, London's top showcase venue for songwriters. Almost 3,000 entries had been received and these were whittled down to 60, with the finalists attending one of four events in Manchester, Bristol, London and Glasgow.

Each masterclass began with a mentor talking about their experiences and answering questions from the group. In Manchester, Peter Hook spoke about his time in Joy Division and New Order, as well as his general approach to songwriting. Sacha Skarbek (You’re Beautiful), Niara Scarlett (Sound of the Underground) and John McLaughlin (What I Go To School For) were the mentors at the other venues. The finalists were then broken down into groups and given four hours to come up with a top line and lyric to a pre-recorded backing track. This was then recorded in the BBC studio.

On the evening of the first day, there was an open mic session at which the finalists performed their entry songs. Bristol narrowly pipped Glasgow for rock ‘n’ roll stamina, with the sound of Cecily Pearce’s ukelele still audible from the hotel bar as late as 3.30a.m. The second day began with a playback of the mixes from the writing exercise, which were then critiqued by songwriting tutor Glenn Skinner and Academy director Mark Fishlock. The afternoon took the form of a business seminar featuring industry professionals such as publisher Peter McCamley, accountant Barry Kernon, lawyer Michael Cover, and manager Keith Harris. As might be expected given that only the top 2% of entries had made it this far, there was a lot of talent on display, and what was particularly impressive was the diversity of styles.

At The Bedford Showcase 13 finalists were selected to appear at the event, which was hosted by Radio 2's Janice Long and recorded for broadcast.  The acts had been chosen not just for their performance but also to form a varied line-up.  Those performing were:

Edinburgh-based songwriting team Louise Stanners & Simon Reid
South African born Logan Wilson who recently released his first album Geography
Silje Haavet, Norwegian songwriter who also writes music for film and television
Rapper Joachim Walker of Shades of The Streets
Jonny Wright, formerly with The Müvs, now performing solo
Jess Gardham from York who is already making waves in Nashville
Londoner Rokhsan Heydari, former student at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford
LIPA student Africa Fuentes singing R&B with a Spanish flavour
Charlie Jones, also Leicester Sound's Unsigned Act of 2007
Hazel Tratt, keyboard player and singer
Cecily Pearce and her ukelele from Bristol
Birmingham's Vicki-Ann Nash performing as VIANNE
Nayloa and Soul performing as Indigo Brown

    

The Academy gives its thanks to Tony Moore and The Bedford and all who made it such a great night; the performances had the audience of invited music industry guests rocking.

The Academy is currently looking at ways the project can be repeated, possibly in 2009.  In the meantime, watch out for some of these names - you've almost certainly not heard the last of them.