To be great in the UK

frank0072

Gold Member
Who has to write about you? What websites are popular, what newspapers, magazines and radio diskjockeys should know you?

Theoretically (is that a word?) speaking, if you wanted to create a hype, who would be able to iniate the hype. Who's opinion matters in the UK?

Just some questions I hope you folks from the UK can answer, google doesn't give me anything usefull, and I would like to know this from the people that are actually from the UK.

Thanks in advance. I hope I've explained myself properly enough.
 
The ones that people read/listen to the most, which depends on what you're trying to promote.
 
presume you're talking about some sort of band/music act? Drum wise the magazines are 'Rhythm' and 'Drummer' there may be a couple of smaller publications also. If you're coming here to start out, try and make it in one major city first and get a good fan-base there to build on. Getting local radio stations should be fairly easy with a few gigs under your belts but you should try and get on stations like Kerrang and Xfm. Also Kerrang and NME magazine. Most major cities will have a popular 'new music dj' in manchester it's Clint Boon on Xfm. If you're playing with the big dogs though, Radio 1's Annie Mac and Zane Low always introduce new music and bands (they have a feature called 'In new music we trust'). As ever though the best way is to tour and do as many gigs as possible and do lots of promotion stuff.
 
Thanks for the replies so far. It's about a band actually. It's just all ideas, but if there could be a 'shortcut' to getting hyped, not that I think there is, who should you go to. Like the story of Susan Boyle, she got hyped because Simon Cowell totally digs her.

You've already named Annie Mac and Zane Low from Radio 1, are there more?

It's all hypothetical, and I think touring and gigging a lot is also the way to go but I've been asked to research this for the band I'm in.
 
There are no real shortcuts. It comes down to whether the band is good enough, or more importantly if your sound and image match the current fashion. I'd say more than anywhere in the world the UK industry is dependent on trend, and is highly ephemeral. You'll need to put in the hard work on the London 'toilet' scene, playing as many support slots in the little venues as you can. Places like the Dublin Castle and Camden Barfly are often visited by
A & R guys. If you settle in a provincial city, play regularly and get a big buzz going you might catch the attention of someone in the industry who'll come down from London and check you out. They then might invite you to London to play a venue or a showcase.
Catching the interest of an established manager is a quicker way of getting things moving, as they will have the contacts to make inroads.
Unfortunately, having ten thousand fans on your Myspace page will do absolutely nothing for you, getting out and playing the gigs with your strongest material and image is the only way foward. Best of luck, it can be a horrible and inforgiving industry. I'm almost tempted to recommend that you stay where you are and work at it in your home country.
 
Festivals, also! Small festivals offer you exposure to a large audience, probably of people who will be interested in what you do also. My band and others I know benefited greatly from playing at Bloodstock festival in the last two years, for example.

Also, there's no substitute for just knowing the right people. But you can go out and meet those people quite easily, a lot of the time, and just work your way up.
 
Lots of hard work.
If your looking to come here from outside the UK and play.
I wouldn't bother.
I went to texas NOV 08 walked into a drum shop and got offered a drum teaching job in an hour of being there.
Went to a music bar. played one song on some guy's kit and now the phone hasn't stopped ringing almost a year later.
Wrong side of the water. Doh.

America is the land of opitunity for music. don't come here. there is no music scene in the UK.
 
Thanks for the replies people, it seems that everyone is convinced it comes down to hard work, and it seems that the UK isn't the best place to try to 'make it' as a band (if that makes sense).
Eventhough it seems to be impossible I would like to continue this topic. Are there websites that report on new music that have some sort of 'status' in the UK? Is there a general news website with a music section that get's visited by many people from all classes and ages?

Thanks again :).
 
I have a feeling, your asking these questions becoarse your looking to make a living out of music and you havn't yet.
There are very few people who make a living out of it. I those that do don't make very much and can only follow that path inlive becourse someone else is subsidizing them in some way. It is recongnised that only .66% of full time musicians make more than £16,000 a year.
So if your looking for ways in, my advise would be work as hard as you can in the a area you live.
The harder you work the luckier you get.
 
I think you might be better off booking some gigs in some small clubs around the UK. Listen to what's hip in the UK music scene at the moment and time your "arrival" perfectly. E-mail some of your tunes to club owners and get the ball rolling. Don't just move to London and expect gigs. Spend a year or two visiting as often as you can with your band and see what the reaction is like. You might be better off trying out smaller and cheaper cities other than London too, such as Birmingham, Cardiff or Bristol. Anything outside London as London is the most competitive and largest, not to mention expensive.
 
If your band is decent enough which i'm sure it is, it's not hard to get supporting slots for some big bands, a band i knew in Newcastle supported Cradle Of Filth, my guitarists old band supported Blitzkrieg, Some more local lads opened up for Sylosis and Meshuggah, my old band opened for The anti nowhere league, and my other old band at the time opened up for Speed Theory and Adam Bomb you just need to ask really!
 
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