Leddra Chapman has just been C-listed by Radio 2. Would anyone like an interview?

Leddra Chapman, a 20 year old singer/songwriter, has just been added to the C-list of Radio 2. It followed several plays by Sir Terry on his morning show. Can we petition him to stay longer?

You can find out more information about Leddra here, including links to her Quiksilver photos. This is a copy of a press release that I emailed out using Mailchimp, which has a handy ‘Share’ facility.

If anyone would like to ask Leddra some questions please let me know. Serious requests only please – at least send a link to any blog you may write.

She is touring in February 2010.

Mama Group launch the new Forum website

Mama Group has launched the new website for The Forum. In a similar fashion to the Hammersmith Apollo site, it was a collaboration between Media Junction, Mama Group and Modera. The CMS is designed to allow Mama Group editors to control all aspects of the design and content. 

Facebook update Ad Manager – looks far better but still a long way behind Google AdWords

In a very welcome move Facebook has updated its Ad Manager interface. It contains better navigation, more options and a better, more clear display. We have been advertising on Facebook for over 12 months and in our view they’re still a long way behind Google Ad Words. That said, Facebook is still ahead of other Social Networks, especially its rival MySpace.

When you consider over 18m people in the UK use Facebook on a regular basis, the network represents one of the most powerful advertising & marketing platforms in history. And yet, up till now, the difficulty using the Ad Manager has slowed uptake. Maybe this new update will change things but still a long way to go.

New HMV Hammersmith Apollo site goes live!

The new website for Hammersmith Apollo has just gone live. Production was a collaboration between Mama Group, Modera and Media Junction. It features their future shows, video powered by Muzu and an awesome 3D virtual tour of the venue, supplied by Full Visual. This is the latest in a series of websites we have been involved with for Mama – other include The Fly and Global Gathering.

Leddra Chapman gets a marketing boost from tie-up with Quiksilver

There is a post on today’s Music Ally about Leddra Chapman. She is now a ‘Women’s Ambassador‘ for Quiksilver. She recently played a gig at the Quiksilver Pro Surf Championships in France and sent us loads of lovely photos of beaches and surf boards. Quiksilver have also built her a website which allows people to download her forthcoming single, ‘Story’. It works like this: During October & November anyone who buys clothing at Quiksilver stores will notice on the label a link to Leddra’s website and informed about the free download.

It’s a good example of how young artists are figuring out new ways to distribute their music.

Neil Cartwright being interviewed by Tom Robinson on BBC Radio 6

I was interviewed by Mr Tom “2-4-6-8″ Robinson on BBC Radio 6. The interview is here. The program has a segment where ‘experts’ are invited in to provide advice to new artists. My piece was about the internet and what bands can do with it to know their fans. I’ll let you in to a secret though, I didn’t have to show up at midnight on Sunday.

I had a very pleasant lunch with a very well known artist on Friday. She is out of her record deal and wondering what route to take for her solo debut. She opinioned that today the amount of choice perhaps makes it more difficult. At least ten years ago there was one route, albeit not without it’s problems. But now, faced with the myriad of different alternatives, which is the best option? For some artists, the independent route may not always be right. For an established artist a hybrid is probably best.

Where have all the music start-ups gone?

After 9 years licensing music, I finally left The Orchard last week. During 9 years at Sony and 4 with The Orchard I have met a multitude of start-up companies, including OD2, Napster, MySpace, iTunes, Last.fm, Limewire, Amazon and eMusic. I have, at some point, met them at either the early licensing stages or after they started trading. But, for every major service you’ve heard of, I also met a dozen new services. Technology covering P2P, super distribution, CD’s, loyalty cards, playlists, streaming, dual delivery, mobile, social networks and direct-to-fan. But, during my last months at The Orchard it was apparent the drop in new ideas, innovations or inventions being presented (with the exception of Mflow)

And last week, at an industry seminar, a very well connected music technology lawyer confirmed it – he reckoned he has not seen a new model this year!

So, where did they go?

We discussed it, and concluded, if you were a talented computer programmer, why the hell would you enter music?

If you invented the next Napster, Last.fm or MySpace what would you have to look forward to?

Well, first you might get sued. Or if you avoided that, you need to get a license. So next, visit a multitude of different labels and publishers. If you manage to see them you better have a shit load of cash to pay for the rights. And once you get a license, prepare to pay over most of your revenues to the rights owners. In fact, with one or two exceptions (e.g. Last.fm) I can’t think of many true start-ups who have been successful.

Datz – closed. Playlouder – hasn’t launched. Rococco – closed. Rhapsody – hasn’t launched in Europe. MusicMakesFriends – closed. Wippet – closed. Sonific – closed. Plus dozens that never even made the launch phase.

Successes?

Spotify? Got licensed because their founder, already a self-made man, had the deep pockets and tenacity to get a license.

Pandora – didn’t even launch in Europe.

I’m not attacking anyone here. Just pointing out that the result of demanding the highest rates possible, together with advances, per stream minima and suing every breach of copyright has had, perhaps inevitably, negative long term consequences.