Afternoon to you all.

I have to say it was a little strange not heading off to the pub last Monday for an FM. Strange but good to have a break.

The number of out of office replies I am currently getting suggests the rest of the industry is off at the moment but can I please request that there really is no need to say where you are going in your message. I don’t really want to know about those of you in Barbados, St Lucia, Thailand or Australia.

It really is quite enough just to say you’re away – for those of us without holiday plans, it’s more than enough to bear!

Despite the exodus, there is still plenty of news.

Before I update you all, I really wanted to get something off my chest. Not quite my Friday rant about the difference between the Music industry and the Record industry. But a little rant non the less.

I think we have developed Cultural ADHD.

I know we have a history in this country for building people up and then knocking them down; the reasons for which seem inexplicable to me. However, as technology continues to change the way we live our lives, it seems we have developed an insatiable appetite not only for the technology but also what we consume through it.

This year, we have the highest number of female artists nominated for a Mercury. On this basis, there is already talk that labels are no longer signing female artists as they’ve ‘had their time’. Increasingly we give a band 2 albums at best before we get entirely bored of them (or is it the case that actually the quality of music being made is actually dropping?). The proliferation of electronic bands seems to have been and gone too. And what next – folk?

Align this with our insatiable appetite for technology. Myspace is so last year, Facebook so last month – Twitter – well that’s so yesterday. Spotify – how long will the enthusiasm for that last – some say the bubble has already burst. Rightly or wrongly, I am not a big myspacer, facebooker or twitterer. As you should know, I value personal relationships – it’s the very reason for the creation of FM.

It seems to me we are so obsessed with what’s next, we don’t seem to take much stock of what’s now and make much of an effort to enjoy it. Whatever happened to letting things develop and grow – good old fashioned nurturing?

People continue to demonstrate their love of being part of something real – festivals, gigs and so on. But now some of the festivals are suffering – is that because there are too many? Yes others are selling out like Glastonbury, Bestival etc

All I know is that our ability to enjoy something for a reasonable length of time seems to be diminishing as we have greater expectations from technology and what it delivers.

That this is spilling over into the way we enjoy music I think is a real concern. I think we need to take a collective deep breath and take a little more time to enjoy what so many people have spent so much time, effort and energy into making.

OK, so now on to other things.

O2 and Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy charity are proud to announce a one off concert, featuring unique collaborations from some of the UK’s greatest music talent at London’s most celebrated music venue, The O2.

Taking place on 11th September, O2 Rockwell in aid of Nordoff-Robbins will see influential musicians including Robert Plant and Tom Jones, sharing the stage with some of the best new talent to come out of the UK in recent times. This unique event will be a celebration of the amazing contribution that Nordoff-Robbins has made to Music Therapy and the music industry over the past 50 years.

The artists confirmed to play the event, with more to be announced, in no particular order include…

Razorlight

Tom Jones

Robert Plant

Joss Stone

Ronan Keating

Gaz Coombs & Danny Goffey (performing as Hot Rats)

Gabriella Cilmi

Beverley Knight

Lulu

Dan Gillespie Sells (The Feeling)

David Gray

… with more artists coming together to plot and plan a very special Super Group to play for one night only, and legendary collaborations amongst the other artists, it truly will be the musical spectacular of the year.

One hundred percent of proceeds from the show will be donated to Nordoff-Robbins.

Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy has established itself as THE charity of the music industry, with support from across the globe and patron’s that include David Bowie, Coldplay, Elvis Costello, Mick Jagger, Tom Jones, George Michael, Cliff Richard, Keith Richards, Sting, Rod Stewart, and Paul Weller to name but a few. Since its inception back in 1959 when Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins put their individual talents together for a fantastic cause that has helped millions, it has gone on to host and benefit from some fantastic events.

Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy is the UK’s largest music therapy charity and the O2 Rockwell event is part of its celebrations marking 50 years of the Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins collaboration. It provides over 35,000 music therapy sessions to children, young people and adults who are challenged by disability, illness or injustice, through its national centre in London and over 70 national projects. Nordoff-Robbins does not receive statutory funding and needs to raise almost £3 million a year to continue to operate.

Ticket prices for Rockwell range from £40 to £65, and further information can be found at www.o2rockwell.com.

Tickets are on sale now from the following outlets:

The O2:         www.theo2.co.uk

Kililive.com:   www.Kililive.com

Ticketline:     www.ticketline.co.uk

Stargreen:      www.stargreen.com

Gigantic :      www.gigantic.com

Now, for those of you worried about how to make money from your music, Own-it www.own-it.org are holding a free event called ‘How Not to Get Ripped Off’ as an introduction for creative businesses on how to protect and make the most of their creative work.

When: 19.08.09 at 18:30

Where: Street Lecture Theatre, London College of Communication, Elephant & Castle, London , SE1 6SB

Please visit http://www.own-it.org/events/how-not-to-get-ripped-off for details and to register

Going back briefly to holidays, I have come across a pretty spectacular resort in Goa. Now we are not a travel agent so you really do have to go through to the link and do all the necessary checks but this place does look stunning and if you think a healthy retreat but be just what you need, maybe in the New Year, then this seems like an ideal spot. You can check all of the details out here

http://www.sandawellness.com/india/main/index.html

and if you want to find out more, please contact them directly here anna@essence-communications.com

With so much covered in this mailing, I’m going to leave it at that for now but details will follow later this week of September FM events in London, Liverpool and New York.

Enjoy your week folks.

Sybil

FM is a music industry social networking night. Or if you want the less stuffy description, drinks in a pub.

FM Stands for First Monday – so everyone knows exactly when it is (although people do sometimes still ask when the next FM is).

It’s not stuffy in any way; no badges or bossy organisers – if it was like that, we wouldn’t come!!

FM is a very relaxed get together with people from the industry, in a bar, all there to meet other people in the industry and possibly do business. And it’s totally free.

We have been running in London for just over 2 years and in the autumn of 2009, FM will go online as well as see monthly events kicking off in Liverpool and New York. As of June 2009, we have 630 people on the mailing list and generally the events attract between 10-40 people.

So much business is now done by email and online, we wanted to do things on a more personal level. There area also a number of new businesses of 1 or 2 people setting up who enjoy the chance to meet other people from the industry.

We don’t bombard you with endless emails – apart from anything we don’t have the time! FM starts from 6.30pm and runs until people go home – not always early… You can arrive early then go off to a gig or come along after – you don’t need to RSVP – just turn up.

People who come are; MANAGEMENT – LABELS – ARTISTS – PROMOTORS – PUBLISHERS – PRODUCERS – LAWYERS – ACCOUNTANTS – PR’s – PHOTOGRAPHERS – VIDEO PRODUCERS – CHARITIES – TRADE BODIES SUCH AS MMF, BPI, AIM, MPA ETC, UKI TRADE AND INVESTMENT AS WELL AS STUDENTS LOOKING FOR INTERNSHIPS

We take a break in January and August.

Evening to you all.

Hope you’ve got some serious air conditioning or large open windows to help with the heatwave we’re going to enjoy/endure this week – well done to those of you who’ve got time off and are heading to the beach!!

Last week was a busy one kicking off last Tuesday with a UK Music reception at No.10 Downing Street hosted by Sarah Brown. Whilst the heat wave officially starts this week, the weather that evening was sunny and warm enough to allow us to enjoy the Downing Street Garden. Ben Bradshaw and Feargal Sharkey addressed the guests made up of around 100 managers, labels, publishers, the live sector, music charities, composers, a very small number of artists as well as technology companies and key politicians.

I tried to find people who would be happy to join me on the trampoline in the garden….no one was brave or game enough which in hindsight was probably a good thing….

Glasto’s been and gone – sadly I wasn’t there but first hand reports are unsurprisingly glowing and from what I saw and heard, it’s easy to see why.

If you haven’t already done so but would like to have lunch with Take That, please don’t forget you can still get the last few tickets to the Nordoff Robbins Sliver Clef lunch this Friday 3rd July at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane.

Take That are the winners of the prestigious Silver Clef Award this year and if last years event is anything to go by, it will be a wicked afternoon. Amongst other award winners who will be there on the day to receive awards are Madness, Brian Wilson and La Roux.

All proceeds go to Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy; a charity that does incredible work but doesn’t have the exposure that perhaps it deserves.

I know times are tight at the moment but if you pull anything more than a hairy toffee out from the back of the sofa that comes close to £295, you’ve got yourself a ticket.

If you would like to attend, please contact Nordoff-Robbins directly; Rachel on 020 7371 8404 or emailrachel@nrfr.co.uk

FM will be kicking off in Liverpool in September so if you would like to attend and haven’t already been in touch, please let me know.

We’re also going all international and launching an FM in New York this autumn too!!! If that’s something you’re interested in getting involved in, please reply and put New York in the subject line. I already have some people who will help organise the night out there but as with all get together’s, they work so much better with lots of people so please do pass this mail on to anyone you know who lives/works in the big apple. Now, I’ve just got to find a way to justify going to the big apple for that one….

The next London FM is on Monday 6^th July – that’s next week and the last one before our summer break.

We’re back here

UPSTAIRS

Duke of York, 47 Rathbone St, W1T 1NW

Map here

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=W1T+1NW&ie=UTF8&z=16&iwloc=A

Nearest tubes – Goodge Street or Tottenham Court Road with Oxford Street not too far.

We had a great turnout last month so hope to see as many of you again next week.

Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Sybil

sybil@fmfirstmonday.com