Category: Strategy (Page 2 of 11)

Strategy, policy, ideas, opinions and discussion of

Progress Report on Implementation: Destination Birmingham (Birmingham, A Music City)

January 21, 2014 /

Watch the video here: http://bit.ly/1egRTFX

The relevant part starts around 00:40:15

Progress Report on Implementation: Destination Birmingham (Birmingham, A Music City)

If you have an interest in Music and Birmingham you really should take the time to watch this.

Download pdf: Progress Report on Implementation Destination Birmingham – Birmingham A Music City

All positive comments invited

Subjects covered include Home of Metal, Black Sabbath, BCU and its involvement in Music, James Burkmar, UK Trade and Investment, Midem, Budget Cuts,

 

Parliamentary debate on the future of Arts, Creative & Cultural Industries and Birmingham.

June 22, 2013 /

Parliamentary debate on the future of Arts, Creative & Cultural Industries

The first debate in the House of Commons on arts and culture in over five years took place on 19th June 2013. Given the huge economic and cultural value the sector generates, how important to the government is the future? Maybe the clue is in the massive turn out (See picture above). Some valuable arguments were raised, including the BBC representation of regional broadcast production and investment to the Midlands. Here is the transcript or you can cringe through the video here:

If you are interested to read how some people perceive, research and formulate recommendations for the growth of the Independent Music Sector in Birmingham, read through this document: Does Birmingham punch below its weight? Research and recommendations for growth of the Independent Music Sector in Birmingham by Councillor Ernie Hendricks, James Burkmar, Kevin D’Costa. It has only taken three years of emails, phone calls, and meetings to chase down and read a copy of this, but read it for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

And if you want more, to put some context around what’s been going on over the years, have a read of this, it’s an eye opener. Birmingham: How to kill a city – The Economist http://goo.gl/fb/pZgKq  – Britain’s planning laws all too often restrict and prevent investment which might create economic growth. It is worth remembering occasionally that things were once even worse. For proof of that, see this fascinating post on Birmingham’s economy in the 1950s and 1960s, by Henry Overman, of the LSE’s Spatial Economics Research Centre. It’s worth reading. A shorter version here: http://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty/2013/05/birmingham

More articles worth reading and discussing can be found here: https://birminghammusicnetwork.com/strategy/

Robin Valk at the Birmingham Music Network Meeting – 4pm Thursday 26th July 2012

July 20, 2012 /

Robin Valk will lead The Music Network meeting on Thursday 26th July 2012.

Robin Valk

The Meeting starts at 4pm and will finish at 5.30pm at Birmingham City University, Millennium Point, Curzon Street, Birmingham, B4 7XG.

Robin is a broadcast and software consultant. He has been in radio for over 40 years, working on student radio, US Rock Radio, Commercial Radio and BBC Radio 2. When not consulting, teaching, podcasting or writing on radio and music, Robin works on radio and music projects – most recently, a documentary project on the music and musicians of Handsworth, Birmingham, and he’s leading the Pilot Project for the British Library.

Robin is one of the most experienced music programmers in Europe, working for RCS, makers of Selector, at their New York HQ for ten years. He offers consultancy in Selector and  P Squared’s AutoTrack / Myriad, for whom he is currently authoring online help, as well as other systems. Recent consult work has taken Robin to Southampton, Glasgow and Budapest. He is currently developing new ultra-low cost radio approaches for Internet radio streaming.

In recent months Robin has turned his attention to blogging more about local music and the stories he has uncovered.

Anyone involved in Music in the region is welcome to attend, its free and there will be tea and coffee provided. Continue reading

John Mostyn – Managing Music Workshop, Birmingham

June 15, 2012 /

A few words from John Mostyn who will be running the Managing Music Workshop

“In 2006 Geoff Pearce and I ran a project called Managing Music. It had European Regional Development funding and ran for 18 months. It was for managers in the music industry or self managed artists. Each applicant joined us for 6 months attending a workshop on a weekly basis with individual mentoring in between. It was a great success. It was a joy to deliver because we were able to work with some of the best up-and-coming artists and managers in the area at the time. We even had a budget to spend on recording and promotion; delightfully Geoff and I were paid for delivering the project.

Everyone who came on the project agreed that it was more than worthwhile and I suppose the ultimate accolade was when Scott Matthews won the most prestigious Ivor Novello award for his song ‘Elusive’, the recording of which was partly funded by the project as both his manager and record label were participants in Managing Music. One of the strangest aspects of European Funding is that even if something is going really well it has to end and cannot be repeated.

As I look around the ever-changing music industry scene today I am recognising that there is absolutely nothing like what we did available in the area and should an aspiring manager or self managed artist wish to seek advice or mentoring there is nowhere for them to go (please tell me if I’m wrong). There may be University courses that teach certain aspects of the music industry but who has 3 years to spare and who can afford it?

I am currently being trained to be a professional mentor and I’m starting to wonder if the time has come for me to offer my skills and experience via paid one-to-one mentoring. Although the industry is changing so quickly there is still a lot to be learned from someone who has seen it go right lots of times, and of course wonderfully wrong and from someone who frankly isn’t too bad at sharing his knowledge and experiences.

I am going to hold a free workshop on Tuesday 3rd July 2012 to take a look at how people in Birmingham’s music history have made a successful living, and how those aspiring to do that now might also be able to achieve similar successes. I will share some of my stories and I would like aspiring managers and self-managed artists to come and share with me what they feel are the gaps in their knowledge that they are facing today. This initial workshop will help direct future Managing Music seminars.

If you would like to be part of this free Managing Music workshop held at Highbury Studio, please get in touch by emailing managingmusic@gmail.com with the subject ‘Workshop’.

If you would like to be kept informed or find out more about my mentoring services, email me at managingmusic@gmail.com with the subject ‘Mentoring’.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Onwards and upwards.” – John Mostyn

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2025 Birmingham Music Network

Theme by Anders Norén — Up ↑