The Archives

• Thoughts

  Confidence breeds confidence, behavior changes and then BOOM.

  02.09.10 | Permalink | Comment?

  I tweeted earlier today that I was starting to notice non-music friends going to more concerts… I got an odd response - one of disbelief! I sort of see your point, but come on guys, let’s show a little support!
  I think this is a really exciting shift; I’m seeing a lot of technologists, designers, VCs, [...]

• News, Thoughts

  What’s the point?

  09.22.09 | Permalink | 1 Comment

  I’m back in London from a fabulously inspiring trip to the US (San Francisco and New York). I met with musicians, designers, developers, writers, lecturers, investors, venues, baristas, CEOs and old friends.
  A few things became very clear, I think.
  Not only am I going to change the design of my site, but I’m going to [...]

• Thoughts

  Early Adopters.

  08.14.09 | Permalink | Comment?

  Do you know what we don’t have in the arts?

  We don’t have a culture of early adopters or a culture of evangelists.
  What’s wrong with that? Just because the techy crowd does something does it mean we have to…?
  No, not at all.
  But it works.
  Without early adopters and evangelists, products fail. Yes, these highly investable, useful and sought [...]

• Thoughts

  Value of culture.

  06.05.09 | Permalink | 2 Comments

  Recently, somebody with whom I work was lamenting her eldest son’s lack of interest in “high culture”. They had brought them up going to galleries, concerts and museums. She couldn’t understand why he didn’t do it anymore, and whether there was any point in doing it when he was younger as it didn’t appear to [...]

• Thoughts

  Content.

  03.01.09 | Permalink | Comment?

  Are you a content owner? It feels pretty good, right? You’ve made your CD and get the PRS cheque when it comes out. Your concerts sell pretty well, people come and enjoy it, and what’s more, they come back when you’re next in town! That’s about as good as it gets, right?
  I’m afraid to say [...]

• Thoughts

  Born Digital.

  02.15.09 | Permalink | Comment?

  My generation was born digital: that is, in brief, I grew up not knowing a world where we didn’t have instant contact, information, media, the internet (YouTube was launched the year I left school…!) and, within my relatively short lifetime, all of these on one device in my pocket? Crazy times.
  This was ringing in my [...]

• News

  Filling the gap

  12.17.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  I really like the concept of a “true fan”. This is the person who buys the hardback edition, buys the limited vinyl, has the stickers and reposts your blog posts. They probably also contribute the majority of third party flickr tags and YouTube hits.
  They are your best people, and you’re mad to ignore them. You [...]

• New Things, Thoughts

  Tired and lazy

  12.08.08 | Permalink | 2 Comments

  I get tired, of course. Sometimes I even feel lazy.
  But is that really acceptable for an entire industry? This isn’t supposed to be a self-righteous “do it my way” post, but it amazes me at the lack of imagination and actual creativity that exists in the music industry.
  We all know there isn’t oodles of money [...]

• Concerts

  It’s all changing at the NY Phil

  10.29.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  The last world premiere at a Philharmonic gala opening night was for the inaugural concert at the new Philharmonic Hall, as it was then known, in 1962. Leonard Bernstein conducted Copland’s “Connotations for Orchestra.”
  This comes from a really interesting article in the NY Times about the Philharmonic’s new season and, more importantly, their soon to be new [...]

• Concerts, Thoughts

  Generational Differences

  10.08.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  The world beats to a different drum these days. There are very few things that are the same as they were two hundred years ago… one hundred years ago… fifty years ago… twenty five years ago… you get the picture.
  If I can put it another way, our expectations and aspirations are geared towards what is [...]

• Thoughts

  How much for that appetite?

  09.21.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  We consume more media in more formats today than ever before, yet live audiences are apparently struggling.
  Have we, the producers, inadvertently pushed the consumers away from live performance and into the conveniently comfortable arms of recordings?
  I believe it was, as they say, ever thus.
  Whenever something cheaper, faster and more convenient comes along, the buying majority go there. Think [...]

• New Things

  Where it all happens, but why?

  09.13.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  Contemporary music should be relevant and authentic in our society. If it isn’t, what is it?

• Thoughts

  What’s in a number?

  05.18.08 | Permalink | 2 Comments

  When I was younger, the internet was a cold, beige, Microsoft type place. Actually, did we use the internet? I don’t think so.
   
  For information, we used Encyclopedia Britannica on a Compaq Presario and printed articles out faithfully on a top of the line HP printer. In black and white, obviously. Floppy drives were still totally [...]