the blog

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

From Now On Festival packed with fans of indie, electronic and experimental music

A sell-out celebration of the "edgy Welsh-language music scene" translates well into the mainstream - with thrashing harp, ethereal electro pop and a little help from LA's Lucky Dragons. Read More

How to run an award-winning festival

Record labels signing fewer bands, a closed shop operated by bigger promoters - and a lot of deer. Just some of the issues faced by Kendal Calling festival promotor Andy Smith who tells Karen Pirie how he and others like him are getting through it.Read More

Jen Long

Jen Long on how young music fans are pioneering new ideas in the live music circuit

Presenter of Radio 1′s BBC Introducing, Jen Long, chats to Karen Pirie about the hub’s music funding project Joining the Dots – and the innovations that broke but dedicated young music fans are pioneering.Read More

Utilitarian austerity and noise music provide sensory assault in The Bunker

New Music Plus producer John Stevens's "vicious mix" of noise music and visuals in an austere setting is a sensory assault for serious listeners at Bristol's Arnolfini. Kate Molleson reviews.Read More

In search of the musical game-changers of 2014

House gigs, live streaming and hit-predicting software are just some of the changes affecting how we discover, share and make music. But who will be the game-changers of 2014. We ask industry experts to future-gaze and invite YOU to be a music industry game-changer too.Read More

Fertilizer Festival crowd

How to get more young people to beyond mainstream gigs

In the last of our three blogs on Joining the Dots’ key areas of focus we look at how building younger audiences for live independent music can increase your revenue. Read More

For those in peril on the sea. A haunting choral commemoration

Lachrymose was a choral commemoration of local people lost at sea. The choir's disembodied voices made the performance a strikingly abstract but beautiful experience. Kate Molleson was there.Read More

Time for a change in commissioning and touring new music?

After widespread consultation within the music industry, the hub is focusing on three key areas for our Joining the Dots project. In the second of three blogs giving greater insight into our themes, we look at how using digital technology could get more people to gigs and spend more when they are there.Read More

Got a bright ideas for using technology to increase attendance at gigs?

The first of three blogs giving more detail on the three key areas where our Joining the Dots project is looking for inspiring ideas. Starting with 21st century ideas using digital technology to get more people to gigs and spend more when they are there! Read More