It’s somehow appropriate that the day I get back from SXSW, I wake to a piece on BBC Breakfast about an initiative to help musicians called the Music Matters Trustmark. It’s an initiative aimed at acting as a guide to music purchasers and will differentiate between legal music services and illegal ones, primarily online.
The digital revolution offered so much to the music industry, namely to be able to reach audiences directly and immediately. But, with illegal free downloads seemingly everywhere (apparently 19 out of every 20 tracks downloaded is done so illegally), how can you make sure you are acting ethically and supporting the vast creative talent the UK has? Well, I’d encourage you to make sure that you use sites that are signed up to the Music Matters Trustmark to ensure that performers get their fair reward.
I’m still buzzing about SXSW in Austin, Texas. It’s a huge festival in a small city. Roughly 2,000 artists gave 3,000 performances in nearly 100 venues. I have to admit to being a little bit biased, but I thought the show featuring Liverpool Sound City and music from the North West on Saturday was a huge success. All the bands were fantastic and the organisation superb.
I’m absolutely not going to single anybody out as I think they were all wonderful. The behind-the-scenes support from UKTI, Liverpool Sound City and North West Vision ensured a great platform for the artists to succeed. If anyone is in any doubt about the importance of the music sector to the UK, the business is worth £5bn a year with exports amounting to £1.5bn.
Music matters to everybody; we all have our own soundtrack accompanying our lives and it’s important to support the development of new talent. Someone we saw in Austin last week may be The Beatles of tomorrow.