You might have picked up over the years we were rather keen to see a Nottingham artist get to Number One. Since then a few of you having been asking what we will Nusic do next. Pursue a second number one? Start our own band? Retire and move to Vegas? Well we’ve been having a think, talking to some of you and we’ve decided we’re going to start a band in Vegas, and you can all come visit. Until the bands ready though we thought we’d share some ideas on what we see coming next here in Notts…
Still being somewhat obsessed with the number ‘One’, we have a working title in our heads; ‘Make Nottingham Number One’. We know that sounds a bit naff but bear with us here, this breaks down into these three very non-naff aspirations:
AS MANY NOTTINGHAM MUSICIANS AS POSSIBLE MAKING A LIVING FROM MUSIC. Fundamentally this is what Nusic has always been about, trying to help as many musicians as possible START on the path to making a living doing what they love. We can’t get ya a main stage slot at Glastonbury, but we can help create the belief in yourself that that dream is achieveable.
THE CONTINUED GROWTH OF THE NOTTINGHAM ‘MUSIC INDUSTRY’. From labels to sound engineers, from venues to artist management, we aspire to see all aspects of the Nottingham music industry flourish. JAKE and DOG IS DEAD have shown how much can be achieved from right here in Nottingham.
NOTTINGHAM RECOGNISED NATIONALLY AS BEING HOME TO A BUZZING MUSIC SCENE. Masses of media coverage talking positively about Nottingham, setting off countless ripples of encouragement amongst both current and next generation musicians. We’re already close, we all feel it but does the rest of the UK? They possibly see JAKE as a one-off.
WHICH ALL RESULTS IN
NOTTINGHAM BEING A MOTHER FLIPPING AMAZING PLACE FOR AN ARTIST TO PURSUE THEIR MUSICAL DREAM
Nottingham’s success over the last year means that how Nusic (and indeed all of us) can make a difference has changed. There is less to lobby for when the Council is draping it’s HQ in New-Music-Ness, the tourist board is shouting about Notts on the London Underground and your biggest promoter is committed to creating as many opportunities as possible for local artists.
We see the way forward panning out a little bit like this:
1) At a ‘street level’ we will continue our broad strategy of making a ‘small impactful difference’ (SID) to as many musicians as possible. ‘Musical Communism’, as we call it , has proved pretty effective. We can proudly point to making our SID (shame it sounds like STD) to the majority of Nottingham’s success stories from JAKE and DOG IS DEAD to the latest wave such as INDIANA, HARLEIGHBLU and ADY SULEIMAN. Helping as many musicians as possible get started out increases the chances of finding those with the talent (and drive) to make it.
2) We plan to ramp up the educational and inspirational parts of what we do, primarily for musicians, but also for those dreaming of working elsewhere in the music industry . We really hope we can get the School Tours back up and running (they’ve struggled since the Trent FM days), make our Nusic Academy Workshops more regular (the last one had 150 people turn up) plus build our database of inspiring interviews with successful creative industries professionals; whether they are from Glasgow or London we want to enable Nottingham musicians to tap into their wisdom (check out the most recent HERE). We’re also going to start regular Nusic Surgeries where musicians can pop by and seek one-on-one advice on specific issues they are facing be they media, legal or financial.
This all takes a lot of time and resource so we’re grateful to Craig at Confetti, George at DHP, Jared at Leftlion and of course YOU for all your continued support. We’d also like to welcome two new supporters who are going to enable us to spend more time on Nusic and also to create an amazing opportunity in the form of the Nusic Apprenticeship. Which will allow us to support musicians more AND create a great opportunity for a young Notts music industry dreamer. Thank you to Tom at New College Nottingham and Nigel at Nottingham City Council for making this stepping up possible. We launched the Nusic Apprenticeship a fortnight ago to the biggest turnout ever at an NCN Apprentice event. If you’ve applied yourself keep an eye on your email inbox!
3) Building on our now world famous (ish) Spread The Love campaigns is a big goal for 2013. We have some big ideas lined up. For more on our Spread The Love philosophy read HERE. We will be launching our first Spread The Love comp of 2013 on Monday’s podcast. You could secure your place in The Future Sound of Nottingham 2013 simply by being a karmic member of the Notts music community.
4) At a ‘bigger picture’ level we continue to believe in the importance of evangelising beyond the River Trent. Some of JAKE’s lyrics may not paint parts of Notts in the best light but that is countered by the numerous positive messages his success stimulates in national and now international media. The German BBC (ZDF) were at JAKE’s Citeh gig asking punters what makes Nottingham so vibrant right now (vibrant = ‘beschwingt’ in German if you’re interested). Here are a few other recent quotes in and around Nottingham artists (I feel another lamp post campaign coming on Mr and Mrs Council):
XFM - “Nottingham is on fire at the moment”
Radio 1 - “There must be something in the water”
Radio 2 – “Nottingham is the Capital of Music”
In fact the council tell us that in October well over £100,000 worth of positive PR was generated for Nottingham off the success of JAKE , DOG IS DEAD and NATALIE DUNCAN. Incredibly this figure only includes commercial media, add in the BBC and you’re probably looking at over a quarter of million pounds. Supporting individual success to catalyse societal positivity works.
5) More direct support for musicians. At risk of contradicting ourselves here there is still a bit of room for lobbying. We’ll continue to encourage public bodies and big companies to spend resources in this area, one idea is to offer scholarships that help ‘on the brink’ musicians secure the vital PR to tip them over, both helping them and creating more positivity about Nottingham. JAKE has proven our theory that a successful musician can catalyse huge amounts of positive PR for a city, with all the wondrous benefits that brings. Ranging from boosting the internal self esteem of young local musicians through to boosting the appeal of our universities, attracting talented musicians from all over to come and study in Notts. If you know a Nottingham company that would like to sponsor a Nusic Scholarship please let us know.
An exciting year lies ahead Comrade, thanks for letting us pop along for the ride. If we can help you please do get it touch (all the ways we can help are laid out in our FAQ Page at the top) and if you think you can help the cause please do get in touch too.
Twenty Thirteen – it’s your year.
Yours in Love of New Music
Mark Del and the Nusic Team
x
#SpreadTheLove
What a night.
A Nottingham artist, with a Number One album, performing at a sold out Nottingham venue.
An incredible moment for Jake, returning from his transatlantic tour to his hometown for the first time, with Number One album metaphorically tucked under his arm.
An incredible moment for Nottingham, Jake being only the second ever local artist to sell out The Rescue Rooms.
And a profitable night for me as I collected on all the bets I’d made with peeps that Jake would get to Number One!
All the above make’s it hard to review this gig in any objective way, it makes any attempt at detail or insight re specific tracks feel pretty pointless. This was a gig that was all about emotion, about the achievement being celebrated and the excitement being enjoyed about what it implies for the future.
Tonight made clear our Jake , our friend/ relative/ dude we went to school with, is the real deal destined to be a world star. The album has already shifted 100 000 copies, I’ll tell ya now this is an artist who looks capable of shifting a million albums worldwide, ONE MILLION ALBUMS! And what about the live side of things? Jake has already sold out Rock City in Feb, our Jake is on course to do the Capital Arena at his current trajectory! Possibly via a high profile slot at DOT TO DOT or SPLENDOUR next year.
And obviously it all puts Nottingham on the map. With DOG IS DEAD breaking onto the main Radio One playlist for the first time this week and NATALIE DUNCAN popping up on Wogan on Sunday, those two names are ready to join Jake on the world stage. And we all know there is a whole load of talent ready to join those three in 2013, probably starting with INDIANA. In fact whilst I’ve got you we’ll be recording our annual “People’s Podcast” (which in Dec 2010 included Jake’s mum!) soon so you will have your chance to tell us who you think will be massive.
Right time for bed, good night Nottingham, it really has been a good night.
#SpreadTheLove
md
x
SPREADING THE LOVE has been our theme for twenty twelve and October especially.
We explained in our earlier Editorial how important it is for us all to get behind DOG IS DEAD, JAKE BUGG and NATALIE DUNCAN. How it is in everyone’s interests for those artists to succeed.
THE PRIZES – One lucky winner will win a PERSONALISED SIGNED album from each of JAKE BUGG, DOG IS DEAD and NATALIE DUNCAN. This means the artists will write a brief message of your choice on the album e.g. “Dear Auntie Mabel, Keep it real, JB.” Pretty cool right?
HOW TO WIN -
- Take a photo of yourself (and friends, family, pets ) with one of the below:
+ Our October Banners*
+ Any advert/ banner/ billboard for DOG IS DEAD, JAKE BUGG or NATALIE DUNCAN .
+ Proof of order or pre-order for DOG IS DEAD, JAKE BUGG or NATALIE DUNCAN
- Post that photo online.
- Tag us so we can see it (either on facebook where our page is called ‘Nusic.org.uk – 100% New, Notts Music‘ or twitter where our tag is @FeelTheNusic). We have found twitter to be more reliable.
- All names will be put in a hat and a winner picked at random.
WINNER WILL BE – Notified within 24 hours of the Sunday 21st Oct 11.59pm deadline. We will DM you via the social media platform you posted your photo on. STOP PRESS – deadline extended to Thursday 25th Oct 6pm to include pictures with any Nottingham artist.
*The banners and car park posters around town proclaiming how amazing Nottingham’s music scene is, like THESE.
RULES/ NOTES
- Anyone who entered the first Spread The Love Comp is welcome to enter again BUT it must be with a new image.
- No limit on how many times you enter but each photo must be different.
- We’ll operate this just like a professional broadcaster would so no members of the Nusic team or their family can win, they’re obviously welcome to Spread The Love! In addition no member of any of our supporters can win (but again they can spread the love) – Leftlion, DHP, Confetti, NCC’s Comms Team & One Nottingham.
- Please remember the spirit here, we’re trying to help our musicians, if we’ve missed something we apologise in advance!
SPREADING THE LOVE has been our theme for twenty twelve, and we’ll be living that philosophy throughout our October activities.
We said in our earlier Editorial how important it is for us all to get behind DOG IS DEAD, JAKE BUGG and NATALIE DUNCAN. How it is in everyone’s interests for those artists to succeed. Our OCTOBER SPREAD THE LOVE competitions hope to spread the word of these three artists and the scene more generally, rewarding you with some ace stuff for being a nice person and spreading the love.
THE PRIZES – A pair of tickets to see DOG IS DEAD (Oct 8th – yes the sold out Boat Club Show!), NATALIE DUNCAN (Dec 5th at Nottingham Arts Theatre) AND JAKE BUGG (Feb 15th 2013 at Rock City which has already sold out!), this is winner takes all! We did try and get a pair of Rescue Rooms tickets but they’re harder to get hold of than a moment of humility from Sir Alex.
HOW TO WIN -
- Take a photo of yourself (and friends, family, pets ) with one of the below:
+ Our October Banners*
+ Any advert/ banner/ billboard for DOG IS DEAD, JAKE BUGG or NATALIE DUNCAN .
+ Proof of pre-order for DOG IS DEAD or JAKE BUGG.
+ NATALIE DUNCAN’s album ‘Devil In Me’.
- Post that photo online.
- Tag us so we can see it (either on facebook where our page is called ‘Nusic.org.uk – 100% New, Notts Music‘ or twitter where our tag is @FeelTheNusic)
- All names will be put in a hat and a winner picked at random.
WINNER WILL BE – Notified Monday (8th) 5pm in time for the DOG IS DEAD gig. We will DM you via the social media platform you posted your photo on.
EXTRA PRIZE – The most entertaining/ fun pic will receive a ticket for the sold out DOG IS DEAD gig.
*The banners and car park posters around town proclaiming how amazing Nottingham’s music scene is, like THESE.
RULES/ NOTES
- Jake and Doggy gig both 14+. Natalie gig is all ages.
- No limit on how many times you enter but each photo must be different.
- We’ll operate this just like a professional broadcaster would so no members of the Nusic team or their family can win, they’re obviously welcome to Spread The Love! In addition no member of any of our supporters can win (but again they can spread the love) – Leftlion, DHP, Confetti, NCC’s Comms Team & One Nottingham.
- Please remember the spirit here, we’r trying to help our musicians, if we’ve missed something we apologise in advance!
It’s here.
The most exciting month for Nottingham’s music scene this Millenium, possibly ever. We haven’t had an artist register a Top 40 album* since PITCHSHIFTER went to 35 in June 2000, this month three artists could do it, and hey we might even get that hallowed Number One.
The last ten days have already given us a sample of the exciting vibes that await us. No one at The Theatre Royal for that amazing Nottingham Rocks gig will ever forget it whilst the excitement across Nottingham about NATALIE DUNCAN’s appearance on Jools Holland was clearly illustrated online as facebook went crazy, she trended on twitter and she gave the famous peeps a run for their money in The Guardian’s online poll.
October is packed full of potential incredible moments. We’re expecting DOG IS DEAD, JAKE BUGG and NATALIE DUNCAN to rack up a score of exciting media firsts in print, on the telly and on radio. Indeed in just 48 hours time Jake will have his first session with ZANE LOWE, definitely the first Nottingham solo artist to notch up this honour and possibly the first full stop depending on whether you classify Castle Donnington’s Late of the Pier as a Nottingham band. Today BBC 6 Music has basically been Jake FM.
For now let’s chat about some action points, the need for which was re-inforced by the Guardian article reaction last September. October musn’t be a ‘one-month wonder’, it is important:
1) WE ALL SUPPORT DOG IS DEAD, JAKE BUGG and NATALIE DUNCAN. THAT WE STAY POSITIVE, SUPPORTIVE AND HARMONIOUS CONTINUING TO SPREAD THE LOVE AMONGST OURSELVES ACROSS NOTTS.
2) WE NEED TO SEIZE THE MOMENT AND PROACTIVELY REACH OUT AND SPREAD THE LOVE BEYOND THE RIVER TRENT.
Having two or three Nottingham acts embed themselves in the national conscious is what makes the ‘Nottingham story’, one is not enough (that would be the scene equivalent of a one-hit wonder). It is in everyones’ interests for DOG IS DEAD, JAKE BUGG and NATALIE DUNCAN to succeed, ‘a rising tide raises all ships‘ as we never tire of saying (you probably tire of hearing!).
We need to all do what we can to help DOG IS DEAD, JAKE BUGG and NATALIE DUNCAN (details on all three albums HERE). You might well think they don’t need any more help yet there couldn’t be a more crucial time to keep supporting and help push them over the top, one hundred albums could be the difference between position 21 and Top 20, between 2 and an actual number 1! Their success will inspire individuals in its own right AS WELL AS create a national spotlight that will make it easier for the next wave of Nottingham artists. And that next wave is the other area we need to focus on. That is why this month Nusic will be shining a constant light on the progress of DOG IS DEAD, JAKE BUGG and NATALIE DUNCAN WHILST ALSO spreading the word beyond Nottingham, around town through street media, in schools, hosting a Nusic Academy workshop and playing our bit in the BRANCH OUT FESTIVAL, an opportunity to showcase the next wave in one awesome day. Read more about it HERE.
So October is here. The month the most vibrant music scene in the UK steps it up. Be proud, and let’s all do our bit.
#SpreadTheLove
Yours in Love of New Music
Mark Del
x
PS Full breakdown of key ‘October Moments’ HERE.
PPS Watch out for our Spread The Love comp launching after work today.
PPPS Thank you to everyone supporting these October efforts, you know who you are.
* Assuming you don’t count Late of the Pier who are from Castle Donnington and whose album peaked at 28 in 2008.
