[This week's Sunday Supplement has been prepared for us by Ali Millar. Noted for her tireless work on putting together last year's hugely succesful Oxjam festival, Ali is about to venture into the murky waters of live promotion... Don't forget to email us at sunday(at)songbytoad.com if you've got an idea for a Sunday Supplement you'd like to see published]
Before I start this piece I want to kind of issue a small disclaimer, that what follows is mainly a collection of (poorly) gathered thoughts that have been floating around somewhere in my head for a while, and I just wanted to throw them out there. Also I want to apologise in advance that this is very much an Edinburgh-centric piece.
I’m pretty new in terms of understanding the city’s music scene, but having organised, promoted and sweated blood organising Oxjam in Edinburgh last year I kind of jumped in at the deep and quickly became familiar with at least one facet of the music scene in Edinburgh. Prior to this I guess I was like a lot of people, I went to the bigger gigs, went through to Glasgow for a fair few shows, and moaned that nothing much went on here.
I can honestly say too that in the promotion of Oxjam so many people got behind us and helped out, Nick over at what was Under The Radar, Jim at Cab Vol, Andy and Alex at Off The Beaten Tracks, Matthew who put up with us on far too many occasions and most notably Meursault who did just about whatever we asked them to do. And it was a nice feeling, that there was a city kind of rooting for it to be a success, which it was and hopefully will be again this year. All of that, and more besides, really made me protective of the music Edinburgh has to offer. This has a flipside as at times I get frustrated that it doesn’t get the wider acclaim it deserves, and I can’t help but feel there must be more that can be done to promote it within the city and further afield too. Also there is the danger that I have become slightly blinkered in my view, I assume that everyone is going to gigs, buying EPs and albums by local bands and generally embracing what the city has to offer, all too quickly I have forgotten that for many people this simply isn’t the case. The problem is most people I talk to are all involved in music in some way and so I’m seeing the city through their eyes and we’re all looking at it close up, through music tinted glasses and the danger is that we could become complacent and self congratulatory when in actual fact there is a lot more that could be done in terms of promotion and exposure.
I have some inkling of how hard Matthew works, and reckon he should be exempt from this conversation, and I know too that there are a number of promoters out there who also work tirelessly and for not much in return. So maybe the issue here isn’t about doing more, but doing what we do a bit smarter. Maybe we could showcase something that the city has to offer, broaden the appeal and instead of it being the vision of one promoter or one charity event we could host an event that showcases the breadth of the talent within the city from the perspective of a number of promoters, and additionally the growing number of record labels we have too.
The press also have a certain responsibility, not just to promote bands, but to do so in a way that supports the city as a whole. It seems to be the only way that a critical mass can be reached that then allows for bands to get the attention they deserve. Okay, I understand that journalists have to be objective and if, in their objective opinion they listen to something they don’t like, then fine give it the review you think it deserves, regardless of where the musicians are based. That’s okay, and sure, it might cause a bit of fuss, but that’s all part of writing something down and letting people see it, but when it comes to covering the city as a whole it’s important, at this stage, that the coverage is favourable, that it creates an excitement and that the city is talked up as much as possible. In the recent past there have been examples where it was questioned whether the music scene could hold its own out with Edinburgh. Pieces such as this do nothing to help the bands, labels or promoters who all believe in what’s going on and who all want Edinburgh to have the wider recognition it so badly deserves. Also if our own national press, representing the city, can’t find it in themselves to promote the city, to be passionate and to pass that on to readers, then how can we expect to get wider coverage on a national level? We need to draw more people in and the media can play such an important part in this.
I suppose all I’m trying to ask in a roundabout way is what can we do to promote the music scene within the city more effectively and how can we open it up to wider audience both within and out with the city? It seems that this is the only way to ensure that it will continue to grow, to attract new talent and to not stagnate. We have an excellent base here of bands, bloggers, promoters and record labels, there is a lot to shout about, and more shouting that could be done.
Oh, and speaking of promotion, there’s a great gig on Thursday 22nd at The Wee Red Bar; Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers, The Stormy Seas, The Kays Lavelle and Tony Yorston, only a fiver in with free cake. Shameless plug. Sorry!
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Meursault – Sleet
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