Making gender equality in the music industry a reality…. What can we all do?

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

[View the story “Here’s one we made earlier – notes from our Make Do & Bend Ideas Lab” on Storify]Read More

Get curious… Get Generous… Reflections from Venues Day Business Up, Be Inspired panel

Earlier this week I joined 300 other delegates at the Music Venue Trust’s second Venues Day, all of us enjoying the slightly weird experience of drinking tea in the Ministry of Sound bar at 10am on a Tuesday morning. And all of us clutching hot off the press copies of the GLA’s Rescue Plan for […]Read More

‘Fresh ideas… knowledge, greater understanding, confidence and new people’ – what musicians will get from The One Dayer

the hub’s One Dayer – Independent Music, Money & Tech takes place in Camden on 1 July. In her latest blog, the hub’s Director, Julia Payne, talks about why the event is a ‘must go to’ event for musicians, songwriters and composers working in beyond mainstream music – and what they can expect to get […]Read More

#VoteForMusic: the sector speaks – postings from The Great Escape

At a packed session at The Great Escape on 15 May, I took to the festival stage, to announce the results of our #VoteForMusic campaign. Joining me on stage were the musician and dj Dan le Sac, Cooking Vinyl founder and chief executive Martin Goldschmidt, The Great Escape’s Martin Elbourne and Yellowbrick music’s Meredith Cork […]Read More

WHY IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT YOU CAST YOUR #VOTE FOR MUSIC

With just one week to go till Election Day, it’s all getting a bit crazy here at #VoteForMusic HQ. Voting closes on 7 May, with results being announced from The Great Escape on 15 May. Plans are also taking shape for our #VoteForMusic debate, when senior politicians and others will debate key campaign issues. With […]Read More

Them’s the breaks – could tax breaks help the independent music sector?

Last Friday, as part of our Joining the Dots programme, we turned our thoughts to tax and the independent music sector – and more specifically whether or not tax breaks might benefit musicians, promoters and producers working in independent music. For our – highly sparky –  hubchat, which came in the same week as the government […]Read More

Some early morning musings on Labour Party new creative industries network plans

Last night, the shadow culture secretary, Ivan Lewis MP, announced the launch of the Labour Party’s new Creative Industries Network, established it seems to link arts organisations with businesses. Members will include arts organisations, trade unions and businesses, and the network will be tasked with determining what arts organisations need in order to develop important […]Read More

Follow ‘Sustaining Innovation Through Collaboration’ online

With final plans for Sustaining Innovation Through Collaboration at Tate Liverpool on 15 March now underway, and with just a few spaces still available, we’ve put in place some online opportunities for people to get involved online now, and also to follow all the action on the day. First off, you can download the Gigzine […]Read More

Parliament launches national music competition for artists and venues

Earlier this month Mike Weatherley, Conservative MP for Hove and Portslade, launched Rock The House, a national music competition in search of talented new artists and venues from across the UK. Rock The House is a music competition with a political twist; as well as showcasing unsigned bands and artists, it will raise political awareness […]Read More