Developing new thinking and practice in the creative sector
Following research carried out by the hub team, Manchester City Council is set to earmark almost £250,000 to support grassroots music venues in the city and help them share the success of the city’s summer of music. Last year, the hub was commissioned by Manchester Music City (MMC) to carry out research into the city’s […]Read More
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” African Proverb As someone who’s been involved in promoting, producing or touring culturally diverse music for more than 25 years now (eek!), I’m really excited to be facilitating Arts Council England’s ROUTES Beyond WOMEX ‘open space’ event at […]Read More
Made For Each Other is a day of free digital talks, workshops and coaching sessions, made by and for creative freelancers to help us all take a few moments for our own wellbeing and creativity on World Mental Health Day. It’s part of the hub’s ongoing Balance programme, which helps creatives take better care of […]Read More
Our first Balance session for 2021 and ‘creative perseverance’ definitely felt like a timely and relevant topic to start the year with. The current restrictions on our freedoms, plus learning how to cope with the changes and uncertainty that the pandemic has brought about has definitely meant digging deep… to go the distance. Whilst hope […]Read More
Even during the ‘before’ times, a lack of work-life balance, financial risk and the ongoing pressure to do more with less meant incidences of burnout in the creative sector were on the up. Fast forward to life in the time of Coronovirus, and new pressures and frustrations mean more of us than ever are susceptible […]Read More
Change is a part of life, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy, and it feels especially hard now, given that the change we’re living through feels seismic and constant. Should we try to stay the same, or is it better to embrace the future knowing that we might lose things we love or that […]Read More
It’s World Mental Health Day on 10 October, and to mark it we’ve put together a Balance OneDayer, full of talks, workshops, coaching sessions (plus a living room disco!) designed to help artists and creative freelancers take better care of their minds. The day is yours to dip in and out of, and you can […]Read More
There was a great turn out at Sheaf Street on Monday 26 March for good food and an evening of conversation and debate about how we can begin to tackle inequality in the music industry. In fact so good was the Leeds open space that I was struck dumb (literally, with the flu, hence the […]Read More
So, exactly how can we how we can begin to tackle inequality in the music industry? This question was the focus of a day of discussion, reflection and debate at the wonderful Constellations in Liverpool last Saturday. A small but select gathering of musicians, promoters, journalists and researchers came together for the second of our […]Read More
The music industry can look an awful lot like a man’s world, even in 2018. Fewer than 1 in 5 songwriters in the UK are female, just 1 in 6 labels are majority-owned by women, and fewer than a third of those working in the industry are female. Get to the upper echelons, and only […]Read More