Music Matters Blog

Vote for your favourite Unsung Hero

2012-02-08T12:02:35+00:00

Can you imagine The Beatles conquering the charts without George Martin? Or a band like U2 managing a world tour without an army of roadies?

Every musician has an unsung hero in their life, from the person who gave them their start, to the sound mixer that pushes a sound to become something extraordinary.

Today Music Matter launches our Unsung Hero campaign, and we want you to give these behind-the-scenes rock stars the recognition they deserve.

We asked some of today’s top artists to nominate their unsung heroes, and we collected some incredible stories of collaboration and friendship. Now it’s up to you to vote for your favourite:

http://www.whymusicmatters.org/unsung-heroes

Give these unsung heroes of music a chance to shine and you could have your very own moment in the spotlight. Every person who votes will automatically be added into a prize draw to win a pair of tickets to the BRIT Awards ceremony at the O2!

We’re thrilled to have this opportunity to celebrate talented musicians, their heroes and you, the fans.

Take the Music Matters Survey

2011-12-28T10:00:03+00:00

2011 has been a great year for the Music Matters campaign, and a great year for music! Thousands of music lovers have joined us in our quest to spread the word about supporting artists, not to mention some incredible musicians including Elbow, Bernard Butler and of course The Beatles!

As the year draws to a close we want to know about your musical highlights of 2011 - what were you listening to, where, and how? Help us pull together a list of Why Music Mattered in 2011?

http://www.whymusicmatters.org/take-the-survey

Take our survey now and you could win a whole range of goodies, from signed CDs and records to a very special Beatles goody bag!

We'll be hitting the ground running in 2012 but until then we want to wish you a very happy, healthy, and music-filled New Years Eve.

See you in 2012!

An alternative Christmas playlist

2011-12-22T11:47:29+00:00

At Music Matters HQ the festive season is now in full swing, and that means we have had the standard christmas pop classics on repeat. But as much as we like to hear Mariah telling us what she wants for christmas, it was about time we found some lesser heard christmas classics to help keep the festive spirit alive.

We asked the Music Matters community to help us put together a more alternative selection of tunes and once again they have delivered a great playlist. Click the link below to hear Music Matters take on a alternative Christmas spotify playlist.

http://tellus.whymusicmatters.org/christmasplaylist

if you don't have spotify you can download it here

A Super Spooky Halloween

2011-10-31T11:37:33+00:00

Happy Halloween! You guys helped us come with an especially eerie selection of tunes for our Halloween Spotify playlist. Check it out here - if you dare…. (you can download Spotify here if you need to)

http://tellus.whymusicmatters.org/halloween

All the leaves are brown..

2011-10-21T16:05:11+00:00

The days are drawing in, the leaves have fallen - it's official - summer's over and winter's knocking on the door!

Fear not, our fantastic Music Matter fans on Facebook have come up with this beautifully autumnal playlist to soundtrack a walk in the park kicking up the leaves, or an afternoon staring out the window clasping a big old mug of hot chocolate!

If you have access to Spotify (You can download it here if you don't) check out the "All the leaves are brown.." playlist by clicking here.

We always want to know what you think. Did we miss out a classic song, is this playlist spot on? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or leave a comment below!'

Music matters to fashion!

2011-09-21T12:51:36+00:00

As London Fashion Week is slowly drawing to a close, we went around the shows all week and looked at how designers are using music in their collections and shows.

No one uses music more than true music fan Christopher Bailey, designer of Burberry, who often uses young musicians in his advertisements, created the Burberry Acoustic Sessions and always has a host of artists on his front rows.

This time it was no different: established names like Kanye West, Paul Weller, Ellie Goulding and The Feeling sat next to young talent like Sam Beeton, Misty Miller and George Craig. The soundtrack to the show also featured big names like U2 and Joss Stone next to Kill It Kid.

Have a look at the video of the show below, and let us know: do you think the choice of songs enhances the experience? Or do you think it doesn’t matter?

Alex Vanthournout is a freelance fashion journalist and the author of popular blog www.alexloves.com. Originally from Belgium, she now lives and works in London. Before going freelance she earned her stripes at magazines like Wallpaper* and Elle Belgium, before a stint in PR at the Louis Vuitton press office. Her favourite band is The National.

A word from our Beatles competition winner…

2011-09-14T11:24:26+00:00

The Beatles’ music has always been a very essential part of my life from my early childhood, attending university in Liverpool and through to teaching their work as an A level subject.

It is simply impossible to specifically say why The Beatles have had such an impact on my life but their work seems to transcend the world of music and singing. When listening to their early work I often think of my younger life when I would sing along to tracks like “I Wanna Hold your Hand”, “Eight Days a Week” and “Please Please Me”. These tracks are indicative the carefree teen (girl or boy) having a laugh and a good dance to a cracking tune. There are also tracks such as “This Boy” which harbour deep feelings of melancholic love and loss through detailed heartbreaking harmonies; things that almost every teenager could identify with back then, now and always. Further along in the catalogue, songs like “Eleanor Rigby”, “Strawberry Fields Forever” and the mystery that is “A Day in the Life” make me think about music in a more grown up way.

Having had to teach the rudiments of the compositions for the last few years I’ve had chance to deconstruct the songs and appreciate them for their beautiful and almost haunting artistic complexity. In short, it is this duality of meaning and tone that elevates The Beatles above everyone else.

If you want a dance and a crazy night out they will Hold Your Hand and if you want to write an academic essay they will allow you to Work It Out.

Nick Whitfield

Above: Nick with his class and his Beatles goody bag prizes. Nick won our Beatles giveaway by successfully inviting friends to join the Music Matters campaign to enter our prize draw - keep your eye out for news of more giveaways soon...

Whatever happened to Summer?

2011-09-09T16:11:30+00:00

Now that August is officially in our rear-view mirror, we're reminiscing about sunnier days with a Summer playlist – put together with a little help from our Facebook friends.

For those on Spotify check out our Sounds of Summer 2011 playlist for a few summer classics as well as some recent greats. As usual if you think we've missed a song that made your summer let us know on Facebook or Twitter... Enjoy!

Graham Coxon on The Beatles

2011-08-18T13:34:28+00:00

My earliest memories are all Beatle flavoured. Holidays in austria to the sound of rubber soul. Our flat in berlin space hoppering to "revolution". Enforced bowl haircuts...

A life long obsession.

The Beatles were my bible. My infant imaginings are scratched and peppered with images of cowboys on rafts with the arrows of indians wizzing past their ears to the sound of "tomorrow never knows". Terrifying mines full of shadows, rubies and eyes - "strawberries fields forever"...

The voices, the chords, the words, the guitars flipping backwards and the sitars... familiar stories on mad cushionings of alien sound.

The Beatles were smiling wizards... sweet, young and mop topped or bearded, flared and weirded... from cuban heals to bare feet and plimsolls they built the foundation of modern pop and the inspiration for my own journey into it. thats why Music Matters.

Like Graham Coxon on Facebook today.

Behind the animation: Music Matters - The Beatles

2011-08-17T07:39:23+00:00

Writing a short film about The Beatles is one of the scariest things I’ve ever been asked to do. I had a little panic attack that involved standing up, then sitting down, then standing back up again, over and over until my flat mate got sick of it and told me to stop. These guys are seriously important to me, they always have been. They mean an awful lot to pretty much everyone I know. I have had serious bonding moments with complete strangers over a shared love of The Beatles.

At a certain point once I had stabilized my breathing and managed to stand still for a whole 5 minutes I realized this was the point. To make a film about the importance of The Beatles I had to talk about how much they mean to one person and that person might as well be me. Suddenly realizing that I had just written my self into a film about The Beatles I started panicking again.

From here the script came quite quickly. I had a bit of a poke about on the internet to find some Beatles-y illustrators to work on the job with me. Pretty quickly though I realized that I had to make sure I was working with my friends on this one. I wanted to make something personal and full of love so the whole process needed to be very personal.

To keep things as simple and clear as possible I made my animatic, which is a story board timed out to music, using simple stick figures. My intention was to update them with more involved drawings at a later date once my friends and I had figured out a style.

Each of the four songs that I used was written by a different Beatle. I don’t talk about the individual importance of each of the members of the band in the script. They all bring quite different personalities to the table and this comes across in the broad range of emotional experience you can have when you listen to them. Hopefully this comes across through the music and the changes in mood without actually being discussed in my film.

So I made my little preview film and sent it off to my friends at Music Matters. A little while later I hear back that it’s going ahead. Then I hear that Paul and Ringo were quite taken with the stick figures and I go back to having panic attacks. It hadn’t occurred to me that Beatles were actually going to look at the film, let alone give me feedback. Really useful feedback at that.

I had started thinking that there was a lot to be said for the funny looking stick figures but wasn’t sure if I had the balls to suggest that that was how I intended to make the final film. If Paul and Ringo dig it though I thought, then it’s on.

For the dreamy part of the film I was still really keen to use my talented friends. I like the idea of stick figures dreaming of being drawn properly. It was a bit of an international crew. Giles Dill and Darren Turner were in London doodling characters and I was hanging out in Australia at the time with Rick Mereki and Ross Paxman who were drawing the dreamy BG’s. Jason Mildren who did the typography for the Dream Sequence was also in Oz. Being an ace typographer Jason might be keen to distance him self from my decision to use Helvetica for the rest of the film. It’s simplicity and familiarity felt right though.

I didn’t really direct the crew all that much. There was a brief of course but I love their natural styles and wanted them to draw in a way that was personal and not overly dictated.

Disaster struck when Rick got offered the dream job of getting flown all over the world to make a (now very well known) travel film. His schedule was ridiculous and I thought there was no chance of me getting any drawing out of him. It turns out though that Rick is an absolute trooper and he drew for me on every flight between every country.

All the crew wherever they were in the world put in a lot of love. My buddy Hana Davis helped me to cut it all out and I was relieved when I slapped Giles and Darren’s stuff on top of Ricks and Ross’ and it came up looking tops. Massively relieved. I had made the right choice in getting my friends in and letting them do as they please.

So pleased was I with my buddies at this point that I drew them all and popped them in for the Hey Jude sing along at the end. All those guys are my friends. Apart from Bill Murray I just couldn’t resist putting him in there for no good reason. It might seem a little self-indulgent something like that but it was in line with my philosophy for making the film. Make it personal and fill it with love. It’s a pretty good way to approach life in general I think and The Beatles wrote a song or two that suggest they might agree.

And here it is...

Why Music Matters to Coco

2011-08-11T10:39:22+00:00

Music has played a massive part in my life since I first started playing the piano aged five. I’d always wanted to be a music therapist but I decided I should get a “proper” job – and took a place on the graduate training programme at Warner Music International. I spent two years there before moving on to be International Product Manager at Decca and finally Senior Product Manager at Universal UK.

I was at a Nordoff Robbins fundraising event with Russell Watson, one of the artists I looked after, when I realised I wanted to become a music therapist. I heard a mum speak about the massive difference music therapy had made to her child’s life and I realised I wanted to do something where I could really be sure that music mattered and made a difference every single day. I left Universal in 2006 to do the 2 year full-time Nordoff Robbins training course and I’ve been a music therapist since 2008.

It’s not easy to understand how and why music therapy works. It has the potential to have such a massive impact on so many people – on babies, children, teenagers and young adults and the elderly. And at Nordoff Robbins, we work with people with all kinds of challenges – those with autism, dementia, depression, mental health problems, those who’ve had a stroke, a brain injury and even those with a terminal illness. For some, music therapy offers physical benefits, for others emotional or social ones. It can help people feel able, motivated, social and self-confident and give hope when times are rough.

One person I’ve been working with is Coco. She’s 8 and has autism. She finds the world a confusing place and simple tasks like brushing her hair or taking a walk can fill her with anxiety and stress. Coco loves to strike up a conversation but finds language really confusing and often struggles to understand what people are saying. She finds learning new things a real challenge.

I worked with Coco for 2 years and she made incredible progress in her sessions during that time. Coco’s mum wrote to me recently, to let me know just how much music matters to Coco:

“You have allowed Coco to be herself and have given her a unique opportunity to express and explore her creativity. Through your music therapy you have given her the freedom to grow and flourish without inhibition. Thank you for these special gifts you have given her. We owe this amazing experience to Nordoff Robbins’ existence and pursuit.”

Nordoff Robbins is proof of just how much music matters - as a charity, we’re 100% reliant on fundraising and donations. The music industry play a massive part in supporting our work and without their support, we would not be where we are today, providing over 50,000 music therapy sessions annually.

But ultimately, what matters more than anything is the music. Music allows us to communicate without words and can fill a silence when someone cannot speak. The power of music is unique and for most of us it plays a huge part of our lives. For people like Coco it provides a lifeline, a way to take part in every day life. Music matters to Coco and to the many thousands of people Nordoff Robbins support. Quite simply, music provides a voice we all deserve.

liberte, egalite, musicalite

2011-07-14T16:44:54+00:00

It's Bastille day, so we're marking it in true Music Matters style - with a playlist!

Check out the tracklisting, and if you have access to Spotify, you can listen to the frenchest songs (in artist, or inspiration) that our beloved Music Matterers could muster here.

... and I’m feeling good

2011-07-13T15:13:33+00:00

Hello all,

I have collaborated with my very talented friend Laura Dockrill to make a short animated film about why music matters, in particular the music of Nina Simone.

I am so happy to be part of this campaign as it’s all about how important music is! Back when Nina started she used it to make political and social statements that were integral to where we are today. It was part of the jigsaw that made people see that segregation and slavery was absurd and inhumane. She and her peers were so courageous to stand up to "the man" and help make these changes which we can still push further today.

I suppose the music matters campaign is all about appreciating music and those that make and listen to it. Musicians throughout history have always moved people whether it be emotionally or socially and I am so proud to be part of something that has such influence.

This campaign is helping to support is the artistry of music. The time and effort put in to making records and recording them beautifully and really thinking about what we are saying needs to be preserved. I hope you like the little film Laura and I made about why I was so inspired by Nina!

Lets all keep listening to and buying great, inspiring music and making statements in our own sweet way!

Viva la revolution!

Love love love is all you need.
Paloma x

Born in the US of A

2011-07-04T17:51:11+00:00

With the help of our lovely Facebook friends - we've put together a little playlist to celebrate July 4th, and all the great music that America has given to the world.

If you're based in the UK - check out our "Star-spangled playlist" on Spotify. With a touch of irony that Alanis herself would appreciate, our friends from across the pond can't currently access Spotify, but here's the playlist in it's entirety to help your celebrations go with a swing.

Use the comments section below, or get in touch on Facebook to let us know ifyou think we've missed any essential sounds of the States!

Behind the animation: Music Matters - Phil Lynott

2011-07-01T07:39:30+00:00

I chose to make my film about Phil Lynott because he is not just a hero of Irish music, but an iconic and influential figure in Rock music the world over.

He was also an Irish artist who left Dublin for London to further his career as myself and my brother Eoin (Art Director/illustrator) also did.

Also, Thin Lizzy were perfect as I wanted recognisable, powerful and iconic music to back up the film and being a character animator I wanted a true character to focus on and characters don't come any bigger than 'Philo'.

While writing the film, I found that I had to explain to a lot of people - particularly younger and non Irish/British people - who Phil Lynott actually was, sometimes just the mention of Thin Lizzy was enough, if not then a quick rendition of the line 'Boys are back in town' would always do the trick. This influenced my film to walk a line between a micro-documentary and a tribute so that hopefully some people who previously only knew the music could now meet and appreciate the man behind it.

Philo's music matters to me because I grew up with it and it's as fresh to me now as it ever was and Phil Lynott still stands tall in Dublin.

Check out more of Conor's fantastic animations here.

The boys are back in town…

2011-06-30T12:26:55+00:00

Philip Lynott,live and dangerous, in the spotlight, audience on their feet, the boys are back in town.

Philip fashioned this imagery after his heroes, that had been his musical inspiration.

That swagger, that ease on stage with his audience, all made for the boy with a bad reputation.

The Philip Lynott I met in the summer of 1973 was really quite shy about his abilities as a performer and writer.

He had grown up in Dublin in the 50s and like most of his generation had been influenced by all things Irish and American.

The traditional Irish music scene and the America of Hollywood.

The characters and scenes he wrote about in his songs would have all featured in the films he saw in the Roxy cinema.

The cowboys lonesome on the range, nightlife in the big city, renegade Indians, wailing sirens, a jailbreak somewhere in this town tonight. The flickering screen was to be his early muse.

The traditional Irish music scene in Dublin was to see a young Philip at poetry readings, learning about Irish folklore that would feature in his early songs. This is where he began to learn his craft from some of the finest Irish musicians and poets.

On a cold winter’s day he would, for the price of a coffee, spend endless hours amongst them in the Coffee Inn on South Anne Street.

He would sit around talking about the when and how there would be an audience for his songs.

It was to be a journey across the Irish Sea with his band Thin Lizzy that would involve me in his life.

The group had signed to Decca records and he had become a musician in search of fame and fortune. I was to be part of that search as his friend and manager I spent 15 years helping him realise his dream and it was to be a dream that endures through his music.

Countless fans around the world listen to his music today because for them, his music matters.

Chris O’Donnell

Former Manager, Thin Lizzy

Check out the Music Matters Animation celebrating Phil Lynott here

Why Glastonbury Matters - Alice Gold

2011-06-22T13:35:18+00:00

I once went to Glastonbury with a large yellow blanket and 4 cans of Stella...(!) I hitched a ride with a band I barely knew at the time and slept the first night in one of the straw chicks they thoughtfully leave about. Luckily it was a warm night and I found myself a tent for the rest of the festival.

Glastonbury is more than just a festival..its a part of many people's lives...often a coming of age...of real freedom, a place where people first experience feeling love for humanity on a massive scale. It is unforgettable...even though some hours are usually...unrecollectable!

To be opening up the Other Stage at 11am Glastonbury 2011 is a mighty honour indeed. I am excited beyond belief and nervous in the best way possible. I am going to sing my heart out and try to stay present throughout the set to absorb it all as much a possible...There isnt a Glasto 2012 so that makes this one extra special.

Over the years I have cried tears of overwhelming joy, (and probably tiredness) listening to Jimmy Cliff sing "Many Rivers to Cross....", sung along loudly to Radiohead headlining, screamed lovingly at Shirley Bassey, passed out at Sunrise in the Stone Circle. One of the most special experiences in hindsight was stumbling unexpectedly into my cousin, who I had lost touch with for years, under the flags one Saturday night...We have been in touch ever since.

Music brings people together - that's why Music Matters! And Glastonbury, in my opinion, is the best music festival for that.

Alice will be performing on the Other Stage at Glastonbury 2011 at 11am on Saturday 25 June. Find out more about Alice and check out her music at http://www.alicegold.com.

“Are we nearly there yet?”

2011-06-06T12:01:02+00:00

Inspired by Elliot Dear, who was in turn inspired by John Martyn, our marvellous Music Matterers have been telling us the songs that soundtracked their childhoods.

The trip down memory lane was so fun we decided to make a nostalgia tinged playlist to share with you all - click here to listen to the songs that soundtracked a hundred squabbles in a thousand car journeys.

And in case you can't currently access Spotify in your neck of the woods, here's the tracklisting.

Behind the animation: Music Matters - John Martyn

2011-06-01T15:19:51+00:00

With so many musical greats in the world, have you ever wondered how on earth we pick who to feature in our animated short films?

Often it’s our wonderful animators, who are inspired by exploring their own musical influences, like when we asked Elliott Dear to get involved with the campaign.

“I had been listening to a lot of John Martyn. He has always been a favourite in our family and I grew up with his music always in the background, my mum listening to it or my brother learning how to play his songs on the guitar.

But it wasn't until I saw recently, a documentary about his life, that I began to realise how interesting he was as a person and how unusual both his personal and professional lives had been. I was fascinated to learn about the contrast between his boisterous and mischievous tendencies and his beautiful, soulful music.

I decided to use his story to pitch my aesthetic ideas for the Music Matters project, as I thought he was a person worth telling people about.“

We agreed with Elliott - we hope you do too!

What links The Libertines, Mark Owen and Summer Camp?

2011-05-17T14:04:32+00:00

No, it’s nothing to do with super-injunctions! They’ve all worked with Bernard Butler; an inspiring guitarist, a pioneering producer, and the latest person to support the music matters campaign.

Bernard’s got experience in every part of the music-making process. Since he started recording with Suede in 1992 he’s either played on, written or produced some of the most innovative tracks this country has produced – sometimes all three at once! Who better to be part of Music Matters?

As Bernard says:

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing lead guitar, producing a record or banging away on a triangle at the back of the room. It’s all about being involved in this incredible thing... That’s what’s really important and that’s why music matters.”

Now we need you to help protect the “incredible thing” that you love so much - music.

If you haven’t already seen it, take a few minutes out of your day to enjoy this beautiful Bernard Butler Music Matters animation.

As an extra special bonus, we’ve got a limited edition Rolling Stones 7" to giveaway this week. All you have to do to enter is share the Music Matters campaign with your friends using our email form.

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside…

2011-05-14T16:11:16+00:00

We may not have made it to Brighton's Great Escape for a weekend by the seaside, but we've got the next best thing... well almost.

With a little help from our fantastic Facebook friends and Twitter followers we've put together a little playlist titled "Oh I do like to be beside the seaside". Check out the tracklisting below and have a listen for yourself with our Spotify playlist.

Pulling Mussels (From The Shell) - Squeeze
The Great Escape - The Rifles
Sea Song - Doves
Just Chillin' - Norman Brown
Young Lions, Alternate Version - Constantines
Little Eyes - Yo La Tengo
Sigh No More - Mumford & Sons
The Boys of Summer - Don Henley
Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra
California Stars - Billy Bragg and Wilco
Avenue - Saint Etienne
Santa Monica Dream - Angus & Julia Stone
Blue - Stereotypes
Holiday - The Kinks
You Need Better - Lanterns on the Lake
Postcards From Italy - Beirut
Seaside Rendezvous - Queen
Lets Go Surfing - The Drums
Ghost Train - Summer Camp
Margate - Chas 'n' Dave

Think we've missed anything? We'd love to hear your suggestions. Comment on this post or get in touch on Facebook or Twitter.

Roll Up! Roll Up!

2011-05-12T10:19:01+00:00

Next Saturday (21 May) some of the UK’s leading independent labels will be taking to the streets of London for a very special event – the aptly titled Independent Label Market.

Head honchos from labels such as Peacefrog, Wall of Sound, XL and Mute to name a few will be setting up stall and flogging their musical wares on Soho’s Berwick Street for the day.

And there couldn’t be a better place for all our favourite labels to get together. Berwick Street and the surrounding area has been something of a mecca for music lovers, but sadly many of the great record stores have been forced to shut up shop after years of falling sales in records and CDs, and the rise of digital downloads.

Our Music Matters team will be down there on the day trumpeting the value of music, spreading the word about the campaign, handing out our sought-after Music Matters badges, and hopefully picking up some rare vinyls along the way.

If you’re down there, come along and say hi, and don’t forget to tell all the music lovers in your life to come down and show their support for music makers everywhere.

Find out more at the Independent Label Market blog, or let the world know you’re attending on the Facebook event page.

Elbow joins the campaign

2011-05-05T14:42:14+00:00

Big thanks to Elbow, who are supporting our campaign.

Animator Elliot Dear has put together a wonderful video that tells the story of the band's journey from a Bury youth club to the Mercury Music Prize.

Watch the video and let us know what you think:

1,000 reasons why music matters

2011-05-04T12:53:03+00:00

I ran over 1,000 recently submitted reasons about why music matters to people through Wordle.

First, it's great to see something that distils so many individual thoughts into a single image.

Second, it's interesting to see that the word 'without' really pops out. I'm assuming that, for something to matter for you, you've got to imagine life as if it didn't exist at all. Can you imagine life without music?

Tell us why music matters to you and join the campaign.

I'll be posting up some of the best individual reasons in the coming days.

Why Music Matters to me - Sam Bailey

2011-04-20T11:31:09+00:00

When I was at school, my music teacher asked my class to define "music".

As always at school, there’s a bit of fear that you’re going to have the wrong answer but, as everyone read theirs out, it became clear that, although everyone’s answers were different, all of the personal definitions were somehow right.

That’s what I find so amazing about music – regardless of your background; everyone has an opinion. My classmates thought of music as ranging from “a form of art” or “what feelings sound like”. Being from an arty family, I probably use the creative side of my brain a little more than the scientific, but the answer that struck me most was that “music consists notes of varying pitch and timing, arranged by a human”. It seems such a technical definition, but the involvement of humans is where it really explodes for me.

The thing that helps these notes live through generations is human emotion. I can’t imagine there’s a musician who has ever set out, let alone achieved, to make a piece of emotionless music. Songs can pick us up and put us down, bring us together and pull us apart. Music encompasses everything because every personal definition, everything you hear in music is yours – and right.

No matter how simple, how complex, songs are paths to places that roads can't physically take us. They are escape routes that get us away from the towns and cities that can suffocate us. They always retain that unexplainable something that keeps us hopelessly in love with them.

And to (dis)prove my point about music being inherently human, watch this wonderful video of birds playing guitar:

What’s your definition of music? What makes it unique to you?

Record Store Day - your photos

2011-04-19T12:49:21+00:00

People have been sending in their photos of Record Store Day (thanks all). If the queues were anything to go by, it looks like this year’s was the most popular ever:

Mike Race, at the front of the queue at Rough Trade East:

Andy Price, somewhat further back (also at Rough Trade East):

Brian Weaving (what’s the shop Brian?):

The box at Louise Parker-Jones’ feet (25p 7”s!) is what Record Store Day is all about (@101 Collectors Records in Farnham):

There also seems to be a broadening of the appeal of the day, with people running, cycling and even being crawling their way to their local record shop:

Tim Tompkins (but which pair of hands are yours Tim?):

Finally, there may be no better sight in music than this effort (we would say that), from Shaun Gordon:

Ricky’s record store story

2011-04-19T10:01:46+00:00

Thanks for all the stories sent in over the weekend. Ricky Chowdhry sent a really lovely one that absolutely sums up the way a record store can really matter – not just as a place where you start exploring music as a teenager, but as somewhere that’s totally fundamental to your life (and the family income!). Ricky says:

“I grew up living and working around my parents’ record store. They started it in the 1980s and it’s still going now, but it struggles because of downloads, and that's why I choose to buy all of my music.

I remember sleeping in the shop and spending nights going through each and every one of the CDs, listening to every track and flipping through the little books that come with them.

Thinking about it takes me back to my childhood.”

We really love the idea of growing up in a record store – it’s the grown-up version of being jealous of the kid who lived above the sweet shop.

If you've got more stories like Ricky's, send them in.

Artist on Artist Films: Pixie Lott on Stevie Wonder

2011-04-04T17:19:57+00:00

In our second film in our new series of “Artist on Artist” films, Pixie Lott tells us how the legendary singer/songwriter Stevie Wonder inspired her to follow her passion and become a musician.

The new series of films explores how today’s artists/musicians have taken inspiration from other artist’s music and explores why it is so important to them.

“His voice is unique, you can tell he means everything he signs…when you hear that amount of passion it’s infectious and inspirational” Pixie Lott about Stevie Wonder

Did you enjoy our new film? Share with us your thoughts on the films and why music matters to you over at our Facebook page, Twitter and YouTube or simply leave a comment below.

Artist Wanted to Contribute to New Music Matters Film

2011-04-04T17:16:56+00:00

We at MUSIC MATTERS are looking for artists / illustrators / designers to contribute to a short animated film being produced for the campaign.

We are looking to tell the story of ROUGH TRADE Shop and Record label through a series of
animated concert posters.

The range of styles needs to be totally diverse. Everything from a hand made punk poster to conceptual art.

So whatever your style we would love for you to be involved. We will be animating the designs and typography at the end of the process.

If you're keen send us some samples of what you do and we'll get you a proper brief.
Email to : info@anvilrecordingco.com

Think How You Consume Music That Matters

2011-04-04T17:13:47+00:00

I don’t think I need to sit here tell you all why music matters. That should be pretty damn obvious. It is all around us on an almost constant basis. It makes us laugh, cry and smile. We fall in love to it, we get married to it we say our farewells with it. It is in the very fabric of our beings. Yeah, it’s damn obvious that music matters.

So what am I trying to say, where shall I start… ok here I go:
Sometime last year I saw that Robbie savage (yeah him, the footballer) get a volley of abuse after saying on twitter something along the lines of ‘A top darts player can earn £1m a year…. But it’s always footballers who get criticised.’ Thankfully he got a lot of abuse over this stupid comment. The point is that pretty much every premiership football is on a jaw droppingly high wage even if they're team is rubbish. Darts players? Well the only darts players that earn the big bucks are the 1 or 2 a year that actually become world champions. They that actually work their (sometimes rather bulky) asses off to get to the very top of their game. Often by time they get to this point many will have been holding down a normal job to pay the rent as well as and honing their skills on the oche. It can take the years, years of struggle to get really good holding onto a dream of distant fame and riches to come. What has this to do with music? Musicians are like darts players in a way. Obviously they’re usually slightly more attractive than your average darts blokey but in terms of the work they put in for the eventually gains, they are just like darts players. Yes, there are plenty of very rich pop stars and artists but on the whole scale of things they are a tiny percentage of the hundreds and thousands of people out in the world making music for little, or no money.

In the age of X-Factor’s-Got-Talent-Idol the music game can often seem far too easy. Sing a cover, hang round at Simon Cowells house for a couple of weeks, go on telly, sing some more covers and BOOM win a million quid record deal. Just like that. Unfortunately for everyone else trying to make it in music things are very, very different. 99% of bands slog their guts out for very little reward, it took Pulp almost 13 years to finally get a proper record deal and have a hit. 13 years for hard slog and toil. 13 years of signing on the dole, of trying to explain to their families every Christmas why they still hadn’t ‘got a proper job’ yet’ 13 years of working their (actually rather skinny) asses off and getting good. Even when a band does clinch that mythical record deal don’t for one second image that that’s them made for life, the country estate and the swimming pools filled with 100% pure uncut cocaine are still a long long way off. A band may get signed for £150,000, pretty much an average deal in today’s market. Sounds good hey? This ain't real money though; it’s essentially a loan from the label. It’s money paid in ADVANCE of the band selling records, they won't get paid again from their label until they have recouped this money via album sales, some bands never recoup. So break it down a bit, for a 5 piece band each member gets £30,000. For a band that’s spent the last 5 years working to get the deal that is not the best return is it? Not only that but it could take them YEARS for the label to recoup the money if their sales are not strong enough. In terms of wages, hell, you're better off becoming a teacher, or a plumber. Or a footballer.

The artists who make the music will listen to have devoted their lives to making music, whether is Pulp, Biffy Clyro, Take That or Lady Gaga, each has made many sacrificies to get to when they are today. The songs you love are born out of blood, sweat and tears. In many cases quite literally. The music you love doesn’t just ‘happen’, it’s not a fluke. Sure if you get to make it then the upsides are amazing, it sure beats a proper job but on the other hand spending the night in the back of a stinking transit van after driving 100’s of miles to play to 3 people in the Dog and Elbow in Slough isn’t all that fun.

It’s time for us all to think about this when we consume music. Illegally downloading a track or album by the latest mega star may not seem like you’re doing any harm but in the long run you are. I’m sure Elton John won’t be crying himself to sleep if you’d grabbed a copy of Rocket Man from a file sharing site but what you have to remember is that it’s this revenue that also goes back to record labels. Whether it’s a major or an indie, it doesn’t matter. If record labels continue to lose revenue like this then ultimately we all suffer, it costs money to sign new bands. It costs money to even find the new bands to sign in the first place and most of all, most important of all, it costs money for artists to be allowed to grown and evolve creatively. Blur were almost dropped whilst recording their second album, Elbow only made it massive on their 4th album. Thank god that people were buying records back then otherwise they may never have realised their full potential and developed into the bands we hold so close to our hearts.

This is not meant to be a rant. I’m not here to say USE ITUNES OR YOU’LL GO TO HELL. And I don’t want to paint artists out as poor little lambs who have no money to eat. What I'm saying is that sometimes things have a greater value than you think and maybe now is the time to think more about how the music you love came into being. These things matter.