the blog

First Off Axis gig brings new fans for out of town bands

It’s just after 9pm on Saturday night in Derby when Manchester’s Black Lights take to the stage. They’re the second band on of a three band line up, and spend the next half an hour delivering the kind of faultless, beautifully crafted songs that has seen them build a loyal and passionate fan base back […]Read More

First Off-Axis gig this weekend

The first ever Off Axis show takes place this weekend. One great idea, three great bands and only three quid in advance. One of four pioneering music projects funded by Joining the Dots. Read More

Cafe Oto wants to make its unique and adventurous music available to all

Cafe Oto, pronounced "Britain's coolest venue" by Italian Vogue, wants to use Joining the Dots funding and support to make its adventurous music programme available to as many people as possible. Read More

Jeff Thompson of Un-Convention

How to guarantee an audience in a city you have never played before

Joining the Dots winner Jeff Thompson explains how his Off-Axis project, inspired by a hugely successful system in Brazil, will enable bands to play to packed houses across the UK. Read More

Show me the money

Show me the money: sources of finance for early stage artists

At last weekend’s Making Money from Music – Early Revenues panel at The Great Escape, hosted by PRS for Music, I promised I would post some links to funders and other sources of finance I mentioned that are potentially relevant to early stage career musicians, so here they are, along with a link to my top 10 […]Read More

Live music discovery app Eventbox is a Joining the Dots winner

The internet is opening up a world of opportunities for evolving how we interact with live music events. Joining the Dots winners Eventbox are primed to bridge the shrinking divide between artists and fans.Read More

three men jumping by a taxi

Taxiing through Tibet provides inspiration for Joining the Dots gaming project

One-word challenge game migrates from extreme sports to live music. Entrepreneur, adventurer and Joining the Dots winner Paul Archer explains how a South Asian odyssey inspired this game-changing idea. Read More

Joining the Dots game changing winners announced

Four game changing live music projects have been chosen for Joining the Dots funding and support. A pioneering gig-swap network, opening up a digital music archive, a mobile game for gigs and a location based app for "listening to listings". Read More

the hub at The Great Escape

The Great Escape is the UK’s leading festival and convention for new music and takes place in venues across Brighton next weekend (8-10 May), attracting over 400 artists and several thousand industry delegates. Saturday afternoon (10 May) sees us de-camp to the Old Ship Hotel for the Joining the Dots-inspired series of panels we were invited to […]Read More

How we are not helping to inspire youthful innovation in specialist music

Music blogger and editor (and hub intern) Deborah Findlater on charts how the state repeatedly deters youthful innovation in music. Read More