The Co-Ordinator’s Blog

While looking around and reading about the ABC Music Awards for my last post, I came across The Co-Ordinator’s Blog, written by…yes, you guessed it, the co-ordinator (who’da thought?!) of the Music Awards, Natasha Schaad. It looks like it has only been started recently but is interesting in that it gives a bit of insight and ‘behind the scenes’ action into how the awards are progressing. Natasha’s latest entry indicates that the talent is certainly still alive and kicking in and around Newcastle. There is also an entry about Local Music Month, which again strongly demonstrates ABC’s committment to unearthing local talent, for which they should be applauded. As Schaad mentions, Local Music Month involves eacg 1233 program playing tracks daily from local artists, ones that have not been unearthed yet, or have previously been finalists or winners in the Music Awards.

Again, this is a site that I will come back and have a look at again, and I’d recommend it to anyone who is interested in finding out more about local musicians. There are heaps of resources out there, but the ABC are right up there in terms of passion, and encouragment of local artists. So check it out. Three cheers for the ABC, I say!

ABC Newcastle Music Awards

I was reminded today about the upcoming Newcastle ABC Music Awards. I have heard about these awards but never really knew much about them, so I looked into it and found yet another splendid way of acknowledging and ‘getting out there’ the huge range of music talent in Newcastle.

 

According to the Award’s website, the awards are held each year with the aim of encouraging and supporting local talent in the Newcastle and Central Coast area. Any artist can enter, as an individual or part of a band (or both), as long as the music piece they are submitting is an original work. Entries can be submitted across many different genres, including urban, heavy rock, soundtrack, instrumental, jazz, pop, blues & roots, country, contemporary, folk and alternative.

The judging panel, comprised of 1233 ABC Broadcasters, genre and music industry specialists and musicians (who have obviously not entered the competition themselves this year…that goes without saying!), looks at song entries in terms of composition (structure, arrangement, lyrics and melody), performance (instrumental and vocal skills) and overall appeal. It is noted that radio ‘playability’ is also considered but is not a factor that ‘breaks the camel’s back.’
The Top 10 songs from each category are selected by the judging panel and listed on the ABC website, as well as being put on to a CD which is sent off to the Finalist Judges.

Judges give each song a rating out of 10 and the 5 songs that amass the most points form the Top 5 in each category. The winners are then announced at the awards ceremony which will be held on November 6th.

In addition to a winner in each genre category, there will be 3 major prizes given out, for the ABC Music Artist/Band of the Year, APRA/ABC Music Publishing Songwriter of the Year, and the 1233 Tour Support Prize.
The prizes for each of these are quite substantial – the Songwriter of the Year will receive $1000, the Band of the Year receives a recording deal with ABC Music valued at $5000, and the 1233 Tour Support Prize awards $1233 worth of tour support including half a day with an established music publicist.

I was really glad I looked into these awards; as I said I have heard about them in previous years but never really paid too much attention to it. We have talked in this class before about the struggles up-and-coming artists face in getting their music ‘out there’ and heard by the people that matter. Simon Frith himself recognises this problem, stating, “Individual artists and performers are rarely in a position themselves to get their work to the public. They need to contract other people – agents, promoters, publishers, record companies – to organise and promote concert tours, to manufacture scores and records of CD’s” (2001, p.34).
I think these awards are brilliant. Not only does it give any original* artist – regardless of background or genre – the chance to enter the competition and get their music out there, but it is actually a competition that matters and makes a difference. Even just being named as a finalist means your music will go on a CD to be heard by people that matter (i.e the judging panel, comprised of industry players). Also, all entrants are being asked to send their MySpace address, so their entry can be linked to their page. This is a great example of the awards organisers adapting to technology and the needs of its consumers and has advantages for both sides – the artist is able to publicise themselves that little bit more, and respondents have the chance to easily find their MySpace page and listen to more of the artist’s music.
The winners of the major prizes are lucky enough to get more than a piece of paper and a bit of cash – they get put directly in contact with people who have the ability to turn their talent into real success - get the album recorded, publicised and out there, or record a video.

I also really like that there is a huge emphasis on keeping these awards local. The entry form stipulates that entrants must be residents of Lake Macquarie, Newcastle, the Upper or Lower Hunter or Port Stephens, and to have lived in the area for the last 6 months (at least) or for at least 7 of the past 15 years. This shows that obviously the organisers are concerned with helping Newcastle-raised or based artists get their music out there, which is fantastic, and it also shows that media organisations in Newcastle, the ABC in particular, have faith in the talent and quality of music coming out of this area, and are keen to help that music reach its full potential. That, my friends, is something pretty cool indeed, and I will be making sure to follow the progress of the awards this year!

 

* While entries into these categories must be original, there is actually an award that has been introduced this year to recognise the talent of cover bands. I’m still undecided as to whether I’m a fan of cover bands or not, but I think this award is a fantastic idea. I was about to go into the reasons why, until I looked again at the site and realised I couldn’t say it better than the organisers:

“Newcastle is, unashamedly, a real Cover Band town, and many talented musicians earn an honest crust by playing the Greats and Favourites in pubs and clubs around the region. It takes considerable musical skill and creative nous to make a good cover, and many musos play covers to pay the bills – thereby funding their own original musical endeavours and honing their own songwriting, musical and performance skills. It would therefore be fair to say that (albeit indirectly) the covers scene in Newcastle is supporting local original music!”

 

Reference:

Frith, S. (2001). ‘The Popular Music Industry’ in Frith, S., Straw, W., and Street, J. (eds.) The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 

LIVE

Another local publication that strives to keep the community up-to-date on the local music scene is LIVE, a supplement that appears every Thursday in The Herald. I forget how many pages it is (will have to report back on that one; I’ll guess around six or eight) and contains information, reviews, articles and news of upcoming attractions on the Newcastle theatre and music scene as well as the latest offerings at the cinema.

Each week in the supplement is a short section called “Straight Up” which is a short series of questions answered by an artist. Although only short, there are advantages for both the musician and the reader: the musician can plug his/her upcoming gig in Newcastle, and readers of LIVE either become aware of a new artist that they might like to go along and see; and for musicians who already have a bit of a profile, readers usually find out a quirky fact or insight into their personality (last Thursday’s (22 May) edition featured James Ash from the Rogue Traders; who knew he would be happy to eat nothing but curry for the rest of his life and has been in the ‘biz for 20 years? I didn’t…). And, as we have discussed previously in this course, gaining an insight into an artist’s personality, values and views of the world assist music consumers in expressing their own identity and forming their own views. As Buckingham notes,

“the ideologies expressed by the musicians in which many…students indulge is felt to reflect their own ideologies. Many students…felt that their emotions and personal politics were expressed by musicians and treated as subject matters in their music. This creates identification through consumption of music that allows young people to express their own world views through mere fandom of a particular artist or genre of music…” (in Bark, 1999, p.5).

As I said, although it is only a short section, it can still be effective. A reader could pick it up and see that Ash has been in the business for 20 years and has been involved in many different styles and genres. Who’s to say that someone wouldn’t pick this tiny interview up and think to themselves, “Well, I’m interested to see and hear more about his music and where he is after 20 years”?

LIVE also contains short articles about little-known (or well-known, for that matter) artists about to release a CD or who are doing a gig in Newcastle; again, this is also useful to learn the story of the artist, how they got to where they are, influences on their music, views and opinions etc.
There is also a little box on one page called the “Music Box” which is another guide to new music, offering reviews, descriptions of music and gig details of an unknown artist or band.

Finally, there is a comprehensive (as in, 2-3 page) gig guide of all upcoming live music in Newcastle which is obviously an extremely handy ‘one stop shop’ of all the happenings in and around Newcastle.

LIVE is only a short publication but is definitely worth a look if you are interested in further immersing yourself in the Newcastle music scene and want to discover some new music. Something that I think would improve the quality and usefulness of the guide is to perhaps include more reviews, particularly of live performances.

Reference:

Bark, B. (1999) “Them” vs “Us” – Music, Youth and the Struggle for Identity [Online], Available http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/contributions/bethann1.html

27 March 2008

Fall of the Mighty

There was an interesting and timely article in Saturday’s Weekend Herald a week ago about the demise of the once-mighty Newcastle radio station NEW-FM.

Less than a year after it began broadcasting in 1990, the city’s first FM station was firing, almost attaining the “magical” ratings figure of 30. However, the first set of 2008 Newcastle radio figures shows that NEW-FM is nowadays languishing near the bottom of the pile, with only a 5.6% share of the audience, trailled only by ABC stations Radio National, News Radio and Classic FM.

And as Neil Jameson discusses in his article, the fall from grace signals trouble not only for the owners and employees of NEW-FM, but for the wider Newcastle radio community as well, particularly when it comes to advertising.
A duopoly currently exists in Newcastle commercial radio, between Super Radio Network, which owns 2HD and NEW-FM, and Austereo, which owns KO-FM and NX-FM. And it’s not difficult to see which radio conglomerate is attracting the advertiser’s dollars.
Craig Wilson, managing director of Newcastle Advertising firm Sticky Advertising, said that advertisers are being left with little choice but to fork out top dollar to advertise on the Austereo stations, which as a result are attracting more than 80% of radio advertising (although this is an estimate).

As mentioned, NEW-FM dominated the radio scene for much of the 1990’s. So how did it all go so pear-shaped?

In 1999, a “relative newcomer” by the name of Bill Caralis paid $12 million for 2HD and NEW-FM. At the time, reports Jameson, the stations were rating one and three respectively in Newcastle ratings. Obviously, something was being done right, but in actions that “perplex(ed) all and sundry”, many members of the on-air team walked, or were pushed. The successful NEW-FM breakfast team of “Garth and Steve” moved to NX, while “David and Tanya” moved from 2HD to KO where they currently hold second place in the breakfast ratings.

Caralis and his Sydney team also cut other popular programs, resulting in more listeners switching off or over. However, then general-manager George Liolio worked to reverse the station’s fortunes and in around 2001 NEW-FM regained a respectable audience share, including top spot in the all-important 25-39yo age group. But they perhaps bit off more than they could chew when they broadened their playlists to try and attract listeners from the rival stations.
Jameson says that trying to build an audience “while trying to run the business on the whiff of an oily rag” was quite taxing, and by 2004 NEW-FM was limping along without a sales manager, program director or general manager. These factors no doubt had a considerable bearing on where NEW-FM is today.

However, Jameson spoke to Guy Ashford, the station’s newly-appointed sales and operations manager, and Ashford believes that NEW-FM’s fortunes will turn around.
“Come June 2, we wil have a new on-air line-up, new format, new sound and better direction,” he told Jameson.
Impending changes also include a $3 million refurbishment of the well-known studio at Sandgate in preparation for the introduction of digital radio next year.

As Jameson says, staffers at NX and KO were ”not getting too excited about beating up a bloke on crutches” and I’m sure they – and much of the Newcastle population – will be hoping the once-mightly NEW-FM can get back on its feet. It seems to be in good hands with the enthusiastic Ashford, who has spent a fair proportion of his 28-year career in the radio business living and working in Newcastle..

We will have to wait and see how he and his team go, but Ashford is convinced that all is not lost.
“NEW-FM’s turn will come again.”

References:

Jameson, N. 2008, ‘Rock Bottom’, The Herald (H2 Section), 17 May 2008, pp. 4-5.

Jameson, N. 2008, ‘New Hope Springs from the Sandgate Bunker’, The Herald (H2 Section), 17 May 2008, p.5. 

*               *               *               *

Jameson’s article is timely and I feel it addresses a gap that has been present in the Newcastle music and radio scene – how and why did NEW-FM perform such a drastic slide? I agree with Jameson when he described Caralis’s decision to cut much of the on-air talent and a number of the popular programs as hard to make sense of. The old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” comes to mind! I could be off the mark here, but I think especially in radio, people emjoy the familiarity of knowing what to expect on air and when (in terms of announcers rather than, say, songs that are played). As listeners they get a sense of the presenter’s personalities and quirks, and obviously get to know the programs and know what is on and when. They don’t like it when this familiarity is disturbed. At least, that is my opinion. A couple of thr radios at my house were set on NEW-FM when Brownee, Carlee and Benno were doing breakfast, probably back around 2005-06. I don’t remember who came on when they left (or were pushed? I’m not sure) but we switched over; I remember thinking that the new announcers lacked chemistry with each other, which then reflected on the show.
That is another obvious advantage to familiarity – announcers that have worked together for a period of time get to know each other well, and in most cases establish a rapport that keeps the show flowing along nicely. I guess, like anything else that is new and unfamiliar, the breakfast team following Brownee, Carlee and Benno deserved a chance from NEW-FM listeners to get on their feet and establish a rapport with their audience. Unfortunately, it seems that many listeners (including myself) didn’t quite have the patience, and switched over.

However, as mentioned, it will be interesting to see whether Newcastle radio listeners will be any more patient come June 2, when NEW-FM relaunches. I hope it is successful for them, although I can’t say yet whether I will abandon my morning routine and switch over.

At the end of his article Jameson raised an important issue that will affect not just the future of NEW-FM, but the wider radio community – the advent of internet radio. Next year, consumers will be able to purchase internet radios that will give them access to over 13000 radio stations. That obviously signals a huge choice for listeners. When it comes to radio, listener’s choices have always been constrained by factors that are out of their hands, such as geography. Country and regional residents have never had as much choice as their city counterparts, for example. Internet radio obviously removes these boundaries, not to mention making available stations that appeal to niche audiences, opposed to the more mainstream/must-appeal-to-the-masses approach that many stations (have to) take today.
In addition to internet radio, personal mp3’s are also still a huge thorn in the side of radio stations in that listeners can carry huge amounts of music that they enjoy (as opposed to being subject to a station’s usually-repetitive playlist) and can program themselves, without the hindrance of having to listen to advertising.
It would seem that these 2 factors are quite significant ones that affect the fututre of the radio industry in general. I guess only time will tell of the effects to be had…so watch this space!