Bahh to politics...business as usual!!

Well it seems the race is well and truly on for the top spot in British Politics. With the leaders of the big 3 all over television, press and billboards it seems we will be hard pressed to find much else to entertain ourselves with over the next few weeks. What strikes me is that everybody seems to have something to say this year. Even our entertainers are making entertaining us a secondary pastime...It seems that the Music entrepreneurs that brought us IeMusic, and 24-7 Entertainment amongst others have taken a stand against a Lib Dem/Labour coalition (that many people have high hopes for)because of the reduction in funding for new business this partnership would ensue. Ah hell what’s all the fuss, face it we're stuck between a rock and a hard place; it wouldn't be entrepreneurial unless you were faced with adversity! I say stay out of politics and do what you do best - finding new ways to make music work!

We are certainly keeping the axe to the grindstone with plenty of interesting stuff in the pipeline...and we'll keep going regardless of who’s in parliament!

This is a woman's world...

So a day to be English eh? Apart from landlords and me, I'm yet to see an England top or flag anywhere... Still, a leaked article on the fortunes of England's (well, Britain's) young and affluent in the music business seems appropriate for the day in question!

So the Sunday Times 2010 Rich List for Young icons in Music is already out... It would appear that the fellas need to up their game somewhat! With Craig David (?!) the first male name you see on the list, one has to wonder just where the lads are going wrong...

Now I know what you're thinking: 'How did Craig David get so far up that list?!' My guess is property development. And just how old IS Craig David?! The answer is 28... I guess we can't take this sort of thing too seriously...

But moving on from Craig David, it has to be said that the solo act is almost exclusively the realm of the women in the UK these days. You can't get away from it, we have no Jay-Z's or Eminems over here (keep it up Plan-B), I suppose the nearest we have is Dizzy Rascal, but where is he on the list? Nowhere, someone call his manager and ask him for a loan. Jamie Callum is a footnote and Buble is nowhere to be seen!

No, the list clearly shows that being in classical music (Church and Jenkins) or reality TV (Leona Lewis, The Cole) is a pre-requisite to the big money, but most importantly, that you can grab both markets, male and female, and it appears that guys just don't manage this as well as the girls in the UK. My contention would be that the male consumer (a) has been known to concentrate on aesthetics before content at times, and (b) tend to look down upon the male solo singer in general unless they have a guitar in their hand. Unfortunately the guitar usually means that the money is split at least four ways, hence no inclusion on the list...

Have a look for yourself:

http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/823028-who-is-on-the-sunday-times-rich-list-2010-of-young-music-millionaires

The full list is of course out on Sunday so we can all be collectively jealous and bitter come Monday.

Happy St George's Day!

The power of music advertising

Light And Day by The Polyphonic Spree has just been announced as the most performed song in advertising having appeared in Sainsbury’s Try Something New campaign.

The survey, which was carried out by PRS, revealed the most frequently used songs in adverts over the last five years. Nina Simone's I Got Life from the Muller yogurt commercials came in a close second to the classical piece Eliza's Aria by Elena Kats-Chernin, from the Lloyds TSB's advert in third.

It still truly amazes me how a song can have such strong ties and connotations to a specific brand and become so synonymous to the products they are used to sell. For instance I now find it impossible to listen to Take That’s Shine without thinking of dear Richard Hammond traipsing through the British countryside with his Morrison’s shopping trolley! Likewise, the image of bouncing balls and Sony Brava inevitably come into my head as soon as I hear Heartbeats by José Gonzalez.

Having done some research online I found an interview with Roger Greenaway, who co-wrote I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing, the tune used in the now iconic Coca-Cola campaign. He explains: "Music makes an emotional impact upon people and a well-crafted song can lock in the listeners' mind for life, making it the most powerful marketing tool in existence."

The fact that songs like Roger’s and Etta James, I Just Wanna Make Love To You (used in a similar Diet Coke Advert) stay in our minds many years after the adverts first aired, just goes to show that these songs will forever resonate the brands they represent. The power of music really is huge and can in no way be underestimated in terms of its selling capabilities.


Top 10 Most Performed Songs in Advertising
1 Light And Day by The Polyphonic Spree - Sainsbury's Try Something New Today
2 Ain't Go No/I Got Life by Nina Simone - Muller
3 Eliza's Aria by Elena Kats-Chernin - Lloyds TSB's For The Journey
4 Shine by Take That - Morrisons
5 Left Bank Two by The Noveltones - Waitrose Essentials
6 All Possibilities by Badly Drawn Boy - Comet
7 Knickknack by Bobby McFerrin - Bupa
8 Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield - Pantene Pro-V
9 Send It On by Sean Paul - Vauxhall Corsa
10 Epoca by Gotan Project - Finish Dishwasher Tablets
Source: PRS for Music


Katie

How Much Do Music Artists Earn Online?

The digital world has changed the music industry almost beyond recognition, and very much for the better if you ask me. TheUK government recently passed The Digital Economy Act which which aims to combat online music piracy and protect artist earnings. But one burning question remains, how much do music artists actually earn online? Well here is the answer.



To read the full article, and for futher information check out www.informationisbeautiful.net

M

The Mobile Phone’s next-of-Kin, and Syllabus’s very own ‘Pete and Carl’.

Yesterday saw the announcement of Microsoft’s new all-conquering mobile phone line entitled ‘Kin’ – a set of two handsets designed specifically towards focusing on social networking over pretty much anything else.

Anyone old enough to have witnessed the development of Mobile Phone technology over the past 15 years would probably agree that the option to actually make phone calls has become less and less important. From text messaging, to camera phones, past MMS and making a quick stop at mobile internet, the ability to speak to someone has been pushed to the back of the queue, and Microsoft’s Kin range appears to represent the final nail in the coffin. A (frankly, pretty messy) interface combining all of your various social networking presences seems set to keep you up to date with absolutely everything in your world without ever verifying the information through human contact. That aside, both phones look like Blackberrys, simple as that… But the focus on net-based communication is undeniably important as all European mobile phone networks are currently bidding on the up-and-coming 4G phones available in the near future. I’d love to see the figures on actual phone calls being made over the past 10 years on mobile networks, as I’d wager the rise in ownership of handsets hasn’t been matched by rise in phone calls made. Either way we’ll have to wait and see the overall effects of these new phones on the market - will it kill the phone call, just as Facebook killed the High School Reunion? Will I ever need to actually speak to a relative again? Man alive do I feel old and grumpy…

In other news, tensions ran high last night in the Syllabus office as our very own, in-house Rock Band had their first jam!

Spirited rock-chick Lauren and the 5th member of Coldplay, Leo set out to make sweet music on our newly purchased ‘Guitar Hero: World Tour’. The inspirational moment in music history however quickly turned into a battle of artistic integrity and petty fighting as Leo blamed his utter incompetence on the guitar and drum kit “not bloody working”. Lauren let her hands do the arguing by donning the guitar herself and making it sing like a North Wales kitsch sensation who’s actual age appears highly questionable. The pressure got too much for Leo and he eventually stormed out viciously defending his skills and blaming his tools – Super Hans style. He was quoted as stating an arranged meeting at a print shop as the reason for his fast exit – we all knew the real reason Leo…

Sixth Sense technology...

This really is unbelievably amazing. Pranav Mistry demonstrates the future - better get used it!

http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html

The gloves are off!

Spirits have definitely been high in the Syllabus office today. The catalyst was the great news that we’ve been nominated for a CIPR Speciality Award for all the hard work we put into last year’s Station Sessions at St Pancras International. The awards ceremony isn’t until June so we’ll have to wait with baited breath for a while but we’re certainly all very excited about it.

This sparked a day where creative juices were flowing and competitive behaviour was at an all time high! Joe’s infamous movie music quiz was hotly contested, but no matter how much I shrieked answers at a pitch only known to small dogs and dolphins, Jon still won hands down with a record 6 points to 2! Me... a bad loser... no!! Then at the end of the day came a seriously nail biting challenge between Gideon and Joe who battled it out in a ruthless game of Wii bowling.

All I can say is that judging by today’s performances, no one at Syllabus likes to lose so our fellow CIPR nominees better be ready for some seriously determined competition!

Katie

The Power of Social Media

During my usual surf of the internet, I stumbled upon this little nugget, I thought.... blog it!!

Social media has transformed advertising and has given the consumer complete control of how they interact/embrace brands. Brands need to tread carefully when interacting with consumers in their own space. Coca-Cola is a great example of a brand that has embraced the limitations of communicating with consumers on a social media platform such as Facebook.

Coca-Cola found a popular fan page on facebook that had been created by a couple of 29 year old Coca-Cola fans. Rather than sue them, they flew the two fans out to Atlanta to continue working on the page for the company. The creators became an intimate part of the continued development of the page. Coca-Cola had the savvy to grasp the benefits of a Facebook group, and understood that Facebook was a site created and used by customers, a valuable lesson to be learnt for social media success!

http://www.facebook.com/cocacola?v=app_161193133389

Milton

Parachute into Glade and get in Free!

Everyone here is very much looking forward to the Glade Festival in July this year and they have recently confirmed that they will be allowing festival goers in for free to the event if they parachute in, provided they are dressed as Elvis wearing a sound system strapped to their back and hit the ground dancing! http://www.gladefestival.com/news/?p=35 - if your feeling brave.

On a side note, 90% of the much anticipated line-up has now been released... follow the link for full details http://www.gladefestival.com/music/ looking good!

Not sure I'll be taking them up on the parachuting but it could be interesting none the less!

Music from the masses

I’ve come across a pretty cool and initiative website today that caught my eye. It’s a bit quirky and I’m not 100% sure how accurate it is but I still think it’s a pretty original and fun way for people to share and interact with music.
It’s essentially a Google map with locations you click on to discover what genres of music people are listening to all over the world. Just click on a certain location, anywhere, from Kent to Kazakhstan, and you can instantly play tracks that people are listening to. It basically works through a download site called SoundCloud, so let’s say when Boris from Bulgaria downloads Britney’s greatest hits, it shows up on the map and you, the user, get to have a listen. Ok so it’s a bit gimmicky and there might not be much point to it, but I still think it’s a clever way to expand people’s music taste to a whole load of random world music that they’re unlikely to be exposed to elsewhere. So far my favourite has to be from Hamburg, where they’re currently rockin’ out to Alain Monnet - Und Endlich (Hochzeitslied). Very bizarre indeed!

Have a look by going to www.tracksonamap.com

Katie

NME Relaunch

So our 'beloved' or not so 'beloved' as it would seem with its drastic declining weekly circulation NME Magazine has had a major facelift with a new design, logo and editorial content.

NME is to now display ten different covers featuring stars Jack White, Rihanna, Kasabian, Foals, MIA, Magnetic Man, Florence + the Machine, LCD Soundsystem, Laura Marling and Biffy Clyro.

New regular features “First Night, On The Road” and “In The Studio” are designed to demonstrate NME’s “unrivalled access” to bands,

It has also overhauled its “Radar” section with more new band news, live reports and regular columns from Tim Westwood, Simian Mobile Disco and Mary-Anne Hobbs.

The overhaul is the first major change NME under its first female editor Krissi Murison, the Magazine has suffered large circulation falls, dropping 20.6% year on year, and this is an attempt to regain it's kudos among music lovers.

Krissi Murison said: "When I took this role I had very clear ideas about what I wanted to do with the magazine. The new NME is significantly different, with a much more mature and aspirational design, and content which focuses on being in-depth, opinionated and above all knowledgeable."

So what do we think? - Are we really going to start picking up more NME Magazines because of the more 'Mature and aspirational design'? - It looks more like a magazine supplement to me!

Feedback so far:

http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/4252915

From our friends at Coke...

Our good friends at Coke have finally come up with a REALLY great piece of student marketing...well done to the boys and girls in red!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqT_dPApj9U&feature=player_embedded

G

April's Fool....

Well I couldn’t do my blog on the 1st of April without mentioning a few classic pranks on this all holiest of days, April Fools.
A few classics so far include;

- The Sun’s revolutionary lickable paper where apparently "hydrocolloids collide with each other to spread over your taste buds creating a sense of taste”. To my amusement I saw a number of trusting people on the tube today subtly placing their tongues on the paper to test it out... fools!!!

- Gillette’s new Miracle T-shirt which contains a “unique neutralizing agent” that prevents BO. http://www.miracleshirt.co.uk/

- Virgin Media and Ferrets – Virgin announced that for years they have used Ferrets to lay their cables for their broadband service. Jon James, director of broadband for Virgin Media, said: "For hundreds of years, ferrets have helped humans in various jobs. Our decision to use them is due to their strong nesting instinct, their long, lean build and inquisitive nature, and for their ability to get down holes.” Hmmm

- The AA and their Jet-propelled servicemen – AA have stated that their servicemen will be fitted with jetpacks (costing £42,000 each) to help beat the traffic and get to their customers far quicker.

- London Waterloo and City tube line to be pedestrianised – Transport for London have drawn up detailed plans to pedestrianise central lines to assist with pavement congestion and encourage fat Londoners to burn the equivalent of 6 million calories a week walking instead.

- Google Translate have branched out into the animal kingdom and now promises it can translate your pet’s mutterings into English.

Just a few classics there for you, but my favourite must be that Pete Doherty and Carl Barat are to reform to play at the Reading and Leeds festivals this year. Surely not!! When did they become all pally again!! Whether fool or not, if it happens then hell must have frozen over, all differences must have been put aside and I might just have to eat my hat!!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/2916229/Pete-Doherty-reunion-with-Libertines-will-pay-tax-bill.html