Here’s a couple of shots from Tim’s recent session with photographer/writer/Mod festival favourite Jason Hook. Jason has never been sighted aboard a Lambretta, yet inexplicably is the toast of the parka and Benzedrine crowd, in the same way that nobody could ever figure out why the hell Sting was in Quadrophenia.
Jason coped admirably with Tim’s absence of trousers in this particular session, which is always a challenge for the showbiz photographer who then has to find some other way to express the personality of the performer. The session was for Tim’s forthcoming twin track release, of which more shortly.
There’s been no time for blogging lately, as I’ve been working with a new act. And I’m proud to announce, after a lot of hard contractual bargaining (the boy seems to think it’s 1975 and he can stipulate a recording studio in Barbados, I put him straight on that one) that we have a new signing, Tim Bick.
I’m very excited about the possibilities with this act, and at my age that doesn’t happen very often. My doctor’s advised me to keep the excitement down to a sensible level actually, but you know doctors, they’re no fun. The most important thing is that we have songs, people. As I told Tim, production we can work on, trousers can be fitted, but songs need to be there from the off, and he is delivering. I hope to share some more news soon, as we finish some final mixes and videos.
I don’t normally do business like this but by way of an experiment I am putting out a call on this blog for any musicians that need management representation. And if you think you don’t need management then you’re in the wrong game. Read more…
So, Amazon have released their new Cloud Drive and Cloud Player services that allow punters to upload their digital music and whatnot, and then have it streamed back to them wherever they happen to be. I can’t say I was terrifically excited about this idea, but then I’m always listening to new acts, most of which don’t merit more than a single listen anyway (ouch, Shel, you’re going to have to learn to be a bit more tactful – although it’s unlikely that this leopard will be changing his spots to stripes after all these years). Read more…
So, it’s now been five days since a massive protest involving half a million people in London. How many cash-in singles about the march against government cuts do you think have beeen released? Exactly none. Which is precisely my point. Everyone in the business has lost the plot when it comes to marketing music that resonates with the times. And resonate, my old china, is what a cash register does when the hungry drawer pops out to gobble up the punter’s money. Read more…
I’ve been in this ridiculous business we call “music” since the early 70’s, when there were only about three managers in the entire British Isles and we all knew what we were about. This situation has of course changed significantly, and the entire music industry is now in a hell of a mess. I’ll be using this blog to share some of my thoughts on why this is, what everybody’s doing wrong, and where the next successful artists are coming from, which may surprise you.
If you find the look of this site a tad on the rudimentary side, well then good. That is by design. I want the focus to be on the words and the music. Which is what this business is all about. Thank you for reading and listening.
Shel
**** artist management 