BBC and Glee Club match emerging artists with music leaders.
While One Direction, Ellie Goulding, Hozier and Rod Stewart vied for BBC Music Awards at Birmingham’s Genting Arena, a series of intimate sessions at venues such as the city’s Glee Club gave the next generation of A-list music makers rare access to leading music industry figures.
These BBC Music: Live In Birmingham sessions included How To Make Money In Music, hosted by Radio 1Xtra’s Charlie Sloth; The Art Of Songwriting, with enlightening contributions from Tom Robinson and The Specials’ Terry Hall, plus Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker, Elbow’s Guy Garvey and Huey Morgan, from Fun Lovin’ Criminals; and Industry Inspiration.
Hosted by BBC Radio 2’s Jo Wiley, the Industry Inspiration line-up included Music Producer Lauren Brennan from BBC Radio 6 Music, plugger Rich Perry, Artist Manager/ A&R man Ally McCrae, and Nikke Osterback, from Digital Strategy Consultant, Saari Ltd. Nikke has worked with such artists as Ed Sheeran, Amy Winehouse and Florence And The Machine, while Paloma Faith, Scouting For Girls and Mercury Prize 2015 winner Benjamin Clementine are among Rich’s past and current clients.
Enjoying the atmosphere in the venue after the panel event, Jo Wiley said: “[The Glee Club’s] …charm is that it is incredibly intimate. It is lush and decadent and would create a great atmosphere for a gig.”
Markus Sargeant, The Glee Club’s Music and Events Promoter, said: “We congratulate the BBC for the three panel events they staged with us. These saw an essential array of music guests offer their creative and business experiences to ambitious people, who were able to learn from their vast and vital insights, ask their own personally relevant questions, and delve deeper in a meet-and-greet after each event.
“All the guests, who work at the decision end of the music industry, are real tastemakers, and what delighted me most was their generosity – listening to individuals, offering top tips, and demystifying the often daunting music industry itself.
“These sessions at The Glee Club offered a rare opportunity to spend some intimate time with the people who are pulling the strings. I very much hope the near future will see The Glee and the BBC working together again, and producing another run of equally informative events.”
