Generator seeks partners for Artist Development masterclass packages

Back in July, many of us gathered at the RSA in London for Youth Music’s first ever breakfast seminar for three fascinating presentations exploring the changing face of the music business, the way young people engage with music and the potential implications for music education.

For me, the chief theme to emerge from the meeting was ‘change’; Pete Paphides presented a vivid picture of how the economic downturn had resulted in fewer opportunities for young people to gather and be free of restraints so that they could nurture their talent, develop abilities in composition ability and perform.

Chris Price provided a thought-provoking account of how in the digital age young people are not only prolific ‘sharers’ of music but can be individually creative and imaginative with the social media and software tools they are increasingly becoming the masters of.

At Generator we share these views; we work with young people across the UK who still consider record or publishing deals as the Holy Grail to a sustainable career in music. The music industry, as we all know, has changed irrevocably over the last decade; despite what many skeptics say digital hasn’t killed it off but it has largely forced a reinvention by introducing new creation, distribution and consumption models.

That elusive first ‘deal’ no longer exists - record companies and publishers are no longer the risk aggregators they once were.  They are looking for young artists who already have cross-platform visibility, a fan-base and performance experience – those that are ‘industry-ready.’

The responsibility lies with all of us to ensure that our promising young artists are provided with the best conditions and frameworks so that they achieve their creative and personal goals.

As Youth Music Ambassador David Grant stressed in July’s seminar - we need to ensure young people understand how they can access the music industry.

This is where Generator can really help: over the last 23 years Generator has been assisting artists to gain industry recognition. This was formalised around four years ago in the development of a strategic Artist Development plan where we outline how the agency will work with those that exhibit the highest levels of talent and potential. At the most intensive end we will support releases with PR, plugging and digital campaigns that generate exposure for the bands or solo artists we engage with. This has resulted in several artists signing major label deals. The team has built up considerable expertise in this area and built strong network of music industry contacts willing to assist and endorse these strategies.

While we work with artists from across the UK through our intensive Artist Development programme, we have developed mechanisms of support for our core client group in the North East of England which has seen some outstanding results.

These services have clear objectives: we want to ensure that the young artists we engage with understand the music industry, what they need to become music industry ready, how they can develop their own fan bases and just as importantly, release and promote their own material in a cost effective manner. To assist with this, we have developed a suite of effective industry facing masterclasses that offer insight and practical advice in specialist areas related to artist development.

In response to the challenge presented at the breakfast seminar in July we would now like to put a call-out to willing partners who we can share this offer with. Together we can ensure that young people have comprehensive understanding and are equipped with the skills required to interact with this much-changed industry.

If you are interested in talking to us more about this opportunity we would love to hear from you

Jim Mawdsley

Chief Executive Officer

Generator

February 2014

For further information please contact joe@generator.org.uk