Public Emilie

Upbeat About The Internet

mybloggywog — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:11:00 -0500

This month I wrote a feature piece for the British Flute Society’s ‘FLUTE’ magazine where I discussed using the internet and social media to promote your music online. It featured quotes from interviews with flute players Alexis Del Palazzo, Anthony Kershaw, Kyle D Owen, Meerenai Shim, Niall O’ Riordan and Tammy Evans Yonce. Here is a reader friendly version, as my previously posted image of the article is small.

UPBEAT ABOUT THE INTERNET, by Em Peasgood

In the 80s and 90s, my musical career started as many others did: with ability, private tuition, music college, postgraduate study and hours of daily practice. I met other musicians, joined a diary service, formed alliances, played in bands, joined an opera company, left an opera company, signed up with an agent: the list goes on but my point is this: my experiences enabled me to network face to face and integrate with a peer group of like-minded musicians who I would work with throughout my musical life; musicians who might recommend me to others, or book me for work. A verbal, face-to-face network involving jam sessions, hand-shakes and the building of relationships, one on one.

Before the Internet, music was shared by word of mouth. Now, for the first time ever, humanity has a central nervous system through which information is shared globally. The majority of the population have broadband internet access and virtually everyone has a mobile phone. Most of us use Facebook or some form of social media to communicate and keep up to date with our friends and family. And if we like something, we don’t wait to tell our friends in person, instead, we choose to tell the world about it by clicking “like” on Facebook, writing a review on Amazon, or rating a product with five stars on one of many review websites. Word of mouth has essentially gone online.

In a short space of time, the music industry has changed drastically, especially since the introduction of online digital music distribution. Since 2000, sales of recorded music have dropped significantly, and the world’s biggest recorded music retailer is now Apple iTunes, a digital download store. It has made us, as musicians, reassess how we reach our audience and what being a musician is all about. And we need to embrace this change, especially for those of us with a background in traditional and classical music. Flute player and composer Kyle D. Owen says: “My journey within the music world has been rather traditional, but I realised many years ago that having an online presence is essential”.

As a musician in the noughties, I still attend jam sessions and meet musicians face to face, and I still work within my peer group of like-minded musicians. But I now also use the Internet in ways I could not have comprehended in the 90s. At least half of the musicians I now work with were introduced to me on Facebook. Nearly all of my performance bookings come from my website alone, from people willing to book my services as a musician, without having seen me perform. My YouTube videos allow clients to get a feel for who I really am and how well I perform live, without their needing to travel to a performance. Potential music students find me from a Google search, or on one of the free teaching websites on which I advertise. My blog posts lead musicians to my websites too, a pied piper, drawing my audience to me. And my audience share my blog articles and music with their friends and family, expanding my network further.

Flute player and author Anthony Kershaw says, “If you have a quality product and have no online presence you are almost invisible”, and I agree. I rely heavily on the online world, and marketing and promoting myself online has become normal for myself and many other musicians. Without it, I feel I would perish as a musician.

The Internet contains a wealth of information, resources, and opportunities for musicians, and in order to reach our potential audience our duties far exceed practice and performance alone. We need to learn to navigate this unlimited and free resource. Through the Internet, every voice can now be heard, but in the sea of voices, how can a musician stand our amongst many?

SOCIAL NETWORKING

Picture this: you post a photograph of your kitten on a social network site. Within ten minutes, five people have commented on it. One of them is a family member, and the rest? You do not know who they are, but they are vaguely familiar. These people are listed as your ‘friends’, but are they?

This is the scenario that causes people to avoid social networking sites like Facebook, especially for professional purposes. Isn’t it a bit impersonal and strange? Well yes, I suppose it it. But sites like Facebook do offer an easy way to meet people, which is why I love them. Do you really want to get deep down and personal when networking with potential collaborators or clients? No. Personally, I keep one Facebook account for people I really know, and one for networking and acquaintances. When it comes to social networking, I’m a bit of an old hand and know my way around. For a newcomer, it can be daunting but is worth persevering with. Social networking sites come and go and there are many options available, some more successful than others, some more suitable for musicians than others, and all with varying degrees of commitment.

FACEBOOK

Launched in 2004, Facebook is the most popular social networking site and the easiest to join and use. General users can create a large personal profile, write updates, upload photos and videos and ‘like’ various activities, books, and music. Musicians can create fan pages, join peer groups for networking, and, for a fee, advertise their fan pages to targeted Facebook users.

The possibilities of Facebook are endless: you can tailor your profile to your specific needs, choosing what to share about yourself and your personality. The danger with this level of freedom is that many people are tempted to (and do) over-share intimate details of their life. You really can tell a lot about a person from what they write on Facebook and I would advise any newcomer to choose what level of professionalism they would like to maintain prior to joining, and, to avoid uploading those drunken photos from nights on the town. For musicians who use fan pages, engaging with fans is the key, as is providing quality content. “The trick is always to promote quality content. Consistent self-promotion is a sure way to lose a social media audience”, says Anthony Kershaw.

TWITTER

“I was initially reluctant to join twitter because I didn’t see what the benefits would be, but I have really enjoyed it and the relationships I have built with other musicians. There is a lot of positive energy that comes from those interactions that has led to various projects. I love that I have been able to meet so many musicians from different places. It’s a great way to keep up with what the current issues and trends are in music and to have a group of people to bounce ideas off”. Tammy Evans Yonce, flute player.

Developed in 2006, Twitter is similar to Facebook but scaled down. With the capacity for only a basic profile, Twitter allows users to post small updates, or microblogs. And because the onus is on what you say, rather than what your profile says, Twitter can be hard work to get going with. But once you are settled, it provides a great forum for discussion and debate, and many musicians find Twitter to be a most successful marketing tool.

“I prefer Twitter to Facebook and I have ‘met’ many people via Twitter from all over the world. The percussionist who is recording a piece with me on my next record was introduced to me by a Twitter friend. My next record will have two pieces written by composers I met on Twitter: Daniel Felstead and Jay Batzner. Twitter takes a couple of months of effort before it becomes fun and useful. But once you get started, it’s more helpful than any other site”. Meerenai Shim, flute player.

LINKEDIN

Developed in 2003, LinkedIn is a no-nonsense network for professionals only. With less emphasis on personality, it focuses on what you have achieved professionally and allows targeted networking within a circle of like-minded peers. I find joining peer groups especially useful for keeping up to date with trends and issues within my music community.

YouTube is a site where users can upload, share and view videos, and it has become popular in the music community. Many wannabe pop idols use the site and some, such as Justin Bieber, have even settled major record deals through this forum. But YouTube isn’t for the wannabe pop star. Composer Eric Whitacre uses this forum for his virtual choir, a choir consisting of submitted home-videos from 2000 voices in 58 countries worldwide. More recently, Greg Patillo, a beat-boxing flute player from Seattle, has been showcasing his skills in YouTube, receiving more than 74 millions views. Nina Perlove, the self-styled ‘Internet Flautist’, has her own channel on YouTube to which she uploads teaching and performance videos. Currently she has over 11,000 subscribers and almost five million views of her work.

WEBSITES AND BLOGGING

At the start of my career, the concept of having a personal website was a novelty. Now, my website has become hugely important to me and I advise any musician never to underestimate the value of having one. Websites provide an instant online presence. Not only does my website tell the world who I am and what I do, it informs people of where I’m performance and what my current projects are. Through it, I receive email requests for tuition, commissions, and bookings. My website also allows me to seek a new audience; many find me from an Internet search for something else, and as a result my client and fan-base increases.

Although it is tempting to ask for all the bells and whistles when designing your website, it is best to keep things simple: you can always expand later. With a basic website, you can at least attract private students, a mainstay of musicianship.

Things to include of primary important when planning or redesigning your website are:

good quality sound recordings
basic contact information
photograph
brief biography (readers want to read a little about who you are, not your entire life story)
calendar of performance dates.

And keep your website up to date with just ten minutes of weekly maintenance.

One way to draw traffic and potential clients to your website is to think of it as a resource for people. Keeping a blog or posting performance tips will keep people coming and, over time, will build an audience for your music.

“Through the Internet, you really do have a worldwide audience at your doorstep. Therefore, everybody should have a website. There is no excuse not to and there are loads of ‘create your own website’ companies that are very affordable. Think of your website as a shop window”. Niall O’Riordan, flute player and BFS Council member.

Regularly updating your blog with strong content is another key to achieving success. I regularly post blogs on my wedding band website, advising brides and grooms on how to book a wedding band. It requires one hour a week of maintenance and potential clients find my wedding band through my blog posts. Niall O’Riordan regularly posts performance tips and daily exercises on his website, and flute player Alexis Del Palazzo writes The Sensible Flutist blog, where she discusses classical music and common issues that musicians face. She says, “Writing my blog The Sensible Flutist led me to begin using Twitter as a platform to establish myself and get readership. This is turn led me to other musician bloggers who are pondering the same issues within classical music and this helped me discover my voice and solidify my identity”.

In summary, the Internet is presenting us with a world that is becoming ever smaller. It is the central nervous system through which information is shared and it allows us to communicate freely with whoever we like, so that we are no longer limited by location and peer group. As the Internet grows, so do its users, interacting in a mutual exchange. This is why, for a musician, having an online presence is more important than ever.

Through social networking, blogs, and websites, we can develop a rapport with people we would not have otherwise met. And we can do so in a laid-back manner, without the time constraint of a face-to-face meeting, allowing relationships to develop over time. Social media will never replace good old-fashioned one-on-one communications - I, for one, will not pass on work to a musician I have not worked with before - but, social media does go hand in hand with, and is a vital part of, being a musician. Things are changing. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are here to stay. And they will eventually evolve into something new.

As Niall O’Riordan says, “I think in this day and age it is very important to keep up with the times. We are living in a time were anybody can have instant access to your music. This has never happened before and I believe we are only at the beginning of a significant change in the music industry. In many ways the power is given back to the people because through social media everybody has a voice which can be heard”.

Musicians need to be Internet-savvy to stand out. If you don’t have an online presence you can start simply by creating a Facebook page and a basic website. As you find your feet, you might like to add Twitter to the equation and take advantage of other tools available to you. Incorporating and even scheduling social networking into your daily life pays dividends: ten minutes a day for social networking and one hour a week for blogging. Social media has never been more convenient; most sites have applications you can install for free on your mobile phone. In my opinion, all musicians should embrace social media and the internet as a tool for furthering their musicianship.

“We have to push the boundaries of social expectation, and that often means communication in new venues and building unexpected partnerships. We can only help each other if we are open to new ideas and partnerships. Social media, as well as new forms of communication, allow us to share those ideas, and express ourselves. We, as artists, are often leading the way because we are diving into these worlds first so that we can use them as tools to share our work. You have to be where the people are, and you can only do that if you are there yourself”. Kyle D. Owen.

************

Thanks to the flautists who contributed to this article:

Alexis Del Palazzo: www.sensibleflutist.blogspot.co.uk

Anthony Kershaw, Canadian flautist and publisher of Audiophilia: www.audiophilia.com

Kyle D. Owen: www.kyleowen.com

Meerenai Shim: www.meerenai.com

Niall O’Riordan: www.niallflute.com

Tammy Evans Yonce: www.tammyevansyonce.com

Read more from Em Peasgood at: www.publicemilie.com

Page 1 of 2 for my piece in the British Flute...

mybloggywog — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:55:00 -0500

Page 1 of 2 for my piece in the British Flute Society ’FLUTE’ Journal, edited by Elisabeth Hobbs. You can view page 2 HERE.

This piece discusses benefits musicians can gain from using the internet and social media to promote their music and features quotes from interviews with flute players Alexis Del Palazzo, Anthony Kershaw, Kyle D Owen, Meerenai Shim, Niall O’Riordan and Tammy Evans Yonce.

www.publicemilie.com

Page 2 of 2 for my piece in the British Flute...

mybloggywog — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:47:00 -0500

Page 2 of 2 for my piece in the British Flute Society ’FLUTE’ Journal, edited by Elisabeth Hobbs. You can view page 1 HERE.

www.publicemilie.com

Do We Need A Partner?

mybloggywog — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 13:53:00 -0500

I was fourteen when I first felt the urge. A mere twitch which escalated into longing. Horniness. A world of possibility opening itself up to me. These boys. These men. Why pick one when I can have them all?

I played with it. Tried it. Enjoyed it. Loved it. Physical love which so quickly becomes attachment. Easy love. Melding into another. Building a shared identity, friends, home. Merging opinions, beliefs, possessions. Becoming one.

And I hated it. Hurt it. Controlled it. Trapped it. A week, a month, a year. Always testing the boundaries of my love; my self worth shoe horned into another. Control, ownership and greed. Just how far could I push a person?

Build a person with love and laughter. Forgive and accept their past. Celebrate their you-ness. Then break them.

I want to believe love is true. I want to believe there is someone out there for everyone; that we grow into one another, complete each other and fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

But I don’t.

I do believe, that like many things, partnership is a choice. Yes, when we separate we are vulnerable and afraid: unsure of who we are and how we fit in, who our friends are and how we should spend our free time. But this is through believing we do not know who we are, if not half of another; through complying with the philosophy of partnership: believing that this is how we should live our lives.

There are plenty of fish in the sea, but the sea might as well be filled with another specie when, like me, you aren’t a settler.

Single, I feel free. A world of possibility open to me. The thrill of the chase. The excitement of being alive, of being found again by another, and of self acceptance. Single, I am happy, creative, prolific.

A family member once said to me: “what are you doing with your life? Why are you not married? Why haven’t you had a baby? Just what are you doing?”

The Year She Took Prozac

mybloggywog — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 17:39:00 -0500

The year she took prozac her grandparents died.

First: Grandad, who worked the filling factory stuffing bombs, shells and cartridges.

Second: Grandma, the circus contortionist who wielded the unicycle, walked the tight rope and engaged the crowd. She juggled from the wooden stick the ringmaster stuffed into her mouth, like a horses bit. Later, she stuffed gun-powder into bombs, at the factory where she met Grandad.

“Grandad died”, said her mother, when she phoned that morning.

“When?” replied the girl.

“An hour ago. They just rang. He died peacefully”.

“Oh”, replied the girl.

“I’m coming to get you”.

“Why?”

“So you can come with me to see the body”.

“But I don’t want to see the body”.

“Oh”, said her mother. “I’ll go alone then”.

The girl walked to the canteen and sat with her friends.

“Grandad died”, she said. “Mum called to take me to see the body. But I don’t want to go. Anyone want anything from the canteen?”

“Are you joking?” asked Pete.

“Of course not”, she replied.

“Well, you seem like you don’t care”, said Pete.

“That’s just it”, she replied. “I feel nothing”.

Later that day, she took a walk. She rounded the People’s Park and walked to the lake. Sitting on a bench, she watched the water and the ducks for a while. Walking away from the park she entered Park Avenue, coming to a stop outside Mike’s house.

“Grandad died today”, she said as he opened the door.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah”. She sighed. “Can I have a cup of tea?”

“Sure”, he replied. ”Come in”.

They sat together and drank with the comfortable silence of old friends.

“Shall we?” she asked.

“Shall we… what?” he replied.

“Shall we fuck, Mike?”

“What do you mean?” he replied.

“I mean, shall we fuck, Mike?”

“But you don’t like me like that”, he stammered. “You never liked me like that. Don’t you remember? We kissed and it wasn’t right… you said it didn’t feel right”.

“Well…I’ve changed my mind”.

“But you said we would only ever be friends. You said it would never happen.”

“I’ve changed my mind, Mike”.

And she removed her top and kissed him on the mouth.

They fucked and it was okay.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked as she dressed.

“That’s just it”, she replied. “I feel nothing”.

At 2am she went for a walk. Long and far and tight chested; willing tears to come when she knew they couldn’t.

She had drank thirstily at the bar that night, ordering one after another. Trying to not break composure. If I break composure, I will choke.

Step In Step Out

mybloggywog — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 06:22:00 -0400

For a moment today I was fully aware.

I’m right here, I thought. In this moment. And in another, it will be gone.

I paced the living room, checked my phone for messages, stroked the cat. Sitting on the sofa, I sighed, lay down and watched the familiar ceiling cobwebs sway.

In this moment time stands still. I am 34 years old and I am unfulfilled. The ache in my middle comes and goes. A sadness I can’t explain, other than that I am surrounding by people and still feel alone.

I breathe in slowly through my nose and exhale through my mouth.

Later, when I have finished my work, I will sit down, pour a glass of wine and remember this moment.

I drift for a while but the itchy feet make me rise. I go to the window to look out. Then to the kitchen for water. At the computer I sip my water, sign into facebook and wait for something to happen.

The screen judges and gives me an advert for match.com: “It all starts with a date”. The computer knows I am lonely.

I click the x and the advert is replaced by another.

The itchy feet want to go somewhere, anywhere, but the dog is ill and needs care. The mortgage is due. And this body that carries me? I hate it. I am able but I am unwilling. No. I don’t want to step in. I want to step out. I WANT TO STEP OUT.

A day in my head? Completing, panic, everything on the list that must be crossed off.

Twitter. Youtube. Myspace. Email. Google. Spotify. I stare at them, waiting for something to happen.

Homeless?

mybloggywog — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 07:08:00 -0400

A googled-y shrew and a googled-y guy

Drink special brew on the corner of Wye

The rags in the bag and the hag with a sag pets a dog with a wag and a jiggled-y jag

They’re happy sat there on the corner of Wye

Drinking special brew lager, the sun in the sky

Warming their faces as cars whizz on by

Until a suit passes by with disdain in his eye

And looks to the sky with a sigh of: “oh, why

don’t the dog and the guy and the hag just die?”

But the rag’s in the bag and the hag with a sag pets the dog with a wag and a jiggled-y jag

And they’re happy sat there while the cars whizz on by

Drinking special brew lager on the corner of Wye

The Vanity Trap

mybloggywog — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 06:48:00 -0400

Having the right font is paramount. The wrong font tweaks my inner control freak: my brain starts to wreak havoc and I panic: it is ugly.

The pressure inside your nose spreads to your cheeks and you sniff but nothing comes. Your eyelids feel heavy: they don’t open all the way anymore. You do a strange facial contortion, trying to make the skin move back where it should be; to untuck it somehow. You hold it up with your hand, blinking satisfactorily; finally! MY EYES. I can see. I can see clearly now my lid is up. You go to make a cup of tea. You let go of your lid. You can’t hold it up forever. Bugger. I can’t see.

You make that cup of tea. You take two sugars instead of none and the milk has curdled but you take that too.

Sellotape. Masking tape. Elastoplast. You tear it off, attach it to your lid, pull the saggy son of a bitch up, tack it to your head. How can I get it perfectly taut, enabling both lift and blink? Adjustments are required. Two thinner strips might do. You reattach, try a different angle, it is pointless. You look like a monster. Remove the tape. Take out your mirror.

Hairs where there shouldn’t be. A face saggier than it ought to be. A spare tyre that has always been.

The tea has curdled and tastes like shit.

Staring into space and focusing on a jar of potpourri; autumnal, old, crisp. I should add a drop of oil to freshen it up. It doesn’t smell anymore.

HOW TO WRITE BAD

mybloggywog — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 15:03:24 -0400

Are you overly precious about what you write? I am. I edit and re-edit articles, stories and blog posts for up to five hours, until they’re abso-bloody-lutely perfect. And even after publishing them, I re-read them time and time again, checking for and amending typos and grammatical errors.

My worry is that I might be completely shit if I don’t succumb to over-editing when really, the best writing I do is off-the-cuff, unplanned and comes like THAT with no warning. BAM.

Writers are often advised to keep the door closed until that first draft is written: just get it down, shelve it for a while, detach yourself from it, come back to it, second-draft it and then show it to a select few for feedback. But I can’t do this. I need to know I’m on the right track before I even begin; my ego won’t allow a false start, even if that false start is subjective.

The pressure I place on myself to achieve perfection puts me off the task of writing itself: I’m too frightened, to just get on with it and write. Or type. I stew on it: what if it’s crap? I procrastinate: I’ll do it later, after Neighbours.

I want to write the coolest thing anyone could ever write about. I want to grab my reader’s attention. I know, why not start a story with the word “and”? Who does that? No one. But I could be the first. How cool would that be? Right? No. Because I can’t find “it”. Nothing is cool enough. Once again, I have put myself off.

So, I’d like to try something different to release my creative control freak and to stop being so precious about what I produce; to just get it out there. And to stop plotting and planning what I’m going to write about before I write; to let the concept or story and the ideas or characters in it develop at their own pace, show themselves to me and to listen to what they have to say.

I’m going to write bad. Yep. BAD. It’s going to be shit. And I’m probably going to do this three times a week.

I don’t know what I’m going to write about. I don’t know if it’s going to be good. It might not even make sense and it will definitely have spelling mistakes in it because I’m not going to edit it; it’s coming out in one fell swoop. You are welcome to join me if you’re in the same boat.

LET’S BE SHIT TOGETHER.

Sky Chat

mybloggywog — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 08:34:00 -0400

Welcome to Sky Live Chat Service. A Sky Advisor will be with you shortly. Your chat may be monitored and recorded for training, legal and compliance purposes.

You are now connected with Sagar.

Sagar: Hello, you’re chatting with Sagar, a Sky advisor, may I take your name please?

You: Emily Peasgood

Sagar: Hi Emily, How are you today?

You: Is this a real person, or a machine?

Sagar: Real Person.

You: Can I verify that please?

Sagar: I’m not sure what you mean.

You: If you HAD to have one of the following afflictions, which would you choose and why: a. a boiled egg for an eye or b. nasal hair down to your naval that you could not trim or disguise?

Sagar: Excuse me?

You: It doesn’t matter. You pass the test. Real.

Sagar: What brings you to chat with us today?

You: I would like to downgrade if possible, and there doesn’t seem to be a great deal of options to do this myself online. I would like to find out what the cheapest sky package is for TV. Just the basics. And how much it costs please.

Sagar: I will certainly help you with that. Emily, Is there any reason that you are looking to downgrade your package?

You: It’s too expensive, I pay almost £75 a month for all of my sky products, and I don’t use them.There is little point paying for things I don’t use.

Sagar: Oh! Ok.

Sagar: I can understand your concern Emily.

Sagar: I would need access to your account first in order to advise you further. Can I ask you some security questions please?

You: Of course.

Sagar: Thank you.

Sagar: Are you the account holder?

You: Yes.

Sagar: Please confirm the full name/surname for the account along with the home address including postcode.

You: My account number is xxxxxxxxxxx

You: Full name: Emily xxxxxxxxx

You: Address: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sagar: Let me access your account

You: thank you

Sagar: Please also confirm the first and last characters from the password on the Sky account. This is not your MySky password and please do not supply your password in full. Please also confirm the e-mail address for the account.

You: xxxxxx

You: xxxxxxx

Sagar: That’s perfect.

Sagar: Please also confirm the e-mail address for the account.

You: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sagar: Spot on.

Sagar: Thank you for confirming those details, please bear with me a moment while I access your account and get the information I need.

You: ok

You: I would like to know what the absolute basic package costs for the basic (free) channels. I would also like to remove sky talk and keep my landline rental. And I would like to keep the broadband.

Sagar: Emily, I can see that you have Entertainment extra with the Movies, HD pack.

Sagar: You also have award wining Sky broadband and talk package.

Sagar: we have basic TV package for £21.50.

Sagar: We can look to remove the Movies and HD pack.

You: yes. But HD Pack is credited back to me every month, as I was forced to have it because otherwise my sky anytime did not work. (I was given a HD box, because my old non-HD box was faulty).

You: I see that you have a bundle on offer called “TV EXTRA & DAILY BROWSING”. It is £26.50 per month. It includes broadband, sky talk weekends, sky entertainment extra… that sounds perfect.

You: What would you suggest?

Sagar: Emily, the package you have seen is excluding Line rental.

You: Yes, I know.

You: Shall I tell you what I need and see what the best offer you can come up with is?

Sagar: Yes sure.

You: - Broadband - essential. Use all the time. Would prefer to keep what I have now. TV - Basic channels only (like BBC, ITV ETC), Landline but no sky talk.

Sagar: So as I have suggested you for TV we can remove the HD, Movies.

Sagar: and we will keep you on basic TV package.

Sagar: We can also keep you on Free talk package with the line rental.

You: The problem is, because I have a HD BOX, I cannot watch anything in the “anytime” because it is all automatically HD and not compatible, unless I subscribe to HD.

Sagar: Are you referring to Anytime+ service or Anytime? Both are different

You: “Anytime + and anytime” - because I was forced to have a more modern HD box, sky credit my HD fee (£10.50) back to me each month.

Sagar: By removing the HD it will not affect on Anytime or Anytime +

You: so, the programs aren’t automatically in HD?

Sagar: You can still get the Progammmes in SD.

Sagar: You will only not get HD channels.

You: Really? The only reason I asked them to give my HD was because I couldn’t view them in SD.

You: Before Anytime +, when it was just anytime, things would appear in the anytime planner or whatever it’s called, but they would only be in HD. There was no SD option for them.

Sagar: No doubt you have the best package on the HD package.

Sagar: 50% off on HD package for 6 months.

You: Honestly. Otherwise, I would not have asked for “FREE” HD, and they would not have given me it for FREE if my complaint wasn’t valid.

Sagar: If you want You can keep the HD.

You: If you’re saying I won’t lose any service by removing the HD, then I’ll go with what you suggest. But I won’t be happy if once again, I cannot view things because there is no SD option…. are you 100% sure things are now available in SD?

Sagar: Emily, if you remove the HD package you will lose only HD channels.

Sagar: That’s the difference..

You: I understand what you are saying.

You: But sometimes programmes appear in anytime

Sagar: You can keep the HD pack till the offer is there on your account.

You: and when they do, if they have a HD option eg BBC HD, they appear in that format, even if I do not have a HD subscription. Is this making sense?

You: They appear as BBC HD, and not BBC in anytime. And the same for other channels.

You: So therefore, I cannot view them, because there isn’t an SD channel available. The default viewing standard is HD when you have a HD box. Sky assume you subscribe to HD when you have a HD box.

Sagar: Even without the HD package you will get few channels in HD.

Sagar: in Freeview.

You: I didn’t think sky did freeview.

You: I thought that was a different service?

Sagar: You get 230 Freeview channels with your Sky TV package.

You: At the moment, I receive free HD. How long will that last for?

You: (They credit £10.50 back to me every month).

You: - Sky really do only provide a HD option in anytime. They don’t offer the SD alternative for viewing. So you’re limited if you don’t have a HD subscription -

Sagar: Just checking that for you now.

You: Thank you.

You: I only have a couple more questions after this.

You: Are you still there?

Sagar: Yes.

You: Aside from the HD question, these are my other questions. I’ll wait while you find out the answers: 1. Are you 100% sure my default viewing option for channels won’t be HD in “anytime”. This was the case before which is why Sky refund my HD back every month. 2. How long have I got my sky HD refund for. 3. You mentioned “Free talk” earlier on. As far as I’m aware I pay £5 a month for “sky talk” but don’t need it as I have free minutes on my mobile. What is “Free talk”? And finally 4. How much money will I save my going to the basic TV package, and removing sky talk?

You: I’ll leave you to answer those while I make a cup of tea.

You: I’ll be 2 minutes.

Sagar: If you cancel the HD pack you can enjoy the Anytime service however you’ll be not able to get the Anytime+ contents on the TV subscription if you have Anytime+, however I cannot see that you have Anytime+ service.

You: Isn’t anytime + the thing you plug into with a long ethernet cable? I do have that.

You: I just checked. I have “on demand”. And I plug in my broadband router to my sky box to access stuff. Is that anytime +?

Sagar: Yes that’s correct.

You: So you’re saying by removing the HD, I won’t be able to have anytime + anymore?

You: or are you saying I’ll just lose some of the content?

You: I have work to do, without prejudice, is there any way we can speed this up?

Sagar: Yes Emily.

Sagar: If you remove the HD pack you can still watch on demand service.

Sagar: Which is Anyime and Anytime + the contents will be limited.

You: right. That’s fine then. I’m assuming I’ll still need to plug in the ethernet cable for on demand?

You: Right then. Question number 2:

You: 2. How long have I got my sky HD refund for.

Sagar: Yes.

Sagar: I would need to check your account notes.

You: How long would that take?

You: I thought this would be faster!!! It’s taking a LONG time.

You: Are you answering calls to other customers simultaneously?

Sagar: No.

Sagar: It takes time to check the account notes.

You: ok.

You: fair enough.

Sagar: So if I get the sufficient time to check it then only I can get back to you with the correct details.

You: You just took 4 minutes to reply to my original question. I thought you were checking it then?

You: Please can you check it.

Sagar: Emily, I can see that the HD pack offer was already ended on 27/12/2011.

You: Why are they still crediting it back to me every month then?

Sagar: The offer was 50% discount on the HD pack.

Sagar: Its different offer you have in the account now.

Sagar: You have 25% off offer on the TV package till 08/12/2012.

You: Right ok.

You: third question: 3. You mentioned “Free talk” earlier on. As far as I’m aware I pay £5 a month for “sky talk” but don’t need it as I have free minutes on my mobile. What is “Free talk”?

Sagar: Sky Talk Weekends is our free evening and weekend call plan that offers FREE calls to any 01, 02, 03, 0870 and 0800 number from 7pm to 7am, Monday to Friday and all weekend. The calls made in these times are free for up to 1 hour. You can also call Sky contact centres free of charge from the landline at anytime of the day, evening and weekend

You: Wow. sounds great? So can I cancel the £5 I currently pay for sky anytime calls please?

You: It is called “Sky Talk Anytime (formerly Unlimited) and it costs be £5 a month. I would like to cancel that please.

Sagar: I will downgrade that for you to Sky Talk Weekends .

You: Thank you. Will I get a letter in the post confirming this?

Sagar: OK I can put that change through for you now, however I firstly need to confirm a couple of things with you. Is that OK?

You: Yes. I do need you to make another change.

Sagar: Your Sky Talk Weekends price will be £0 per month. With Sky Talk Weekends you get inclusive evening and weekend calls of up to one hour to 01, 02, 03 and 0870 numbers. Would you confirm you’d like me to do that for you now?

You: I would like to downgrade to the basic channels please. Can you tell me how much that will save me?

You: Yes, I can confirm I would like you to downgrade to Sky Talk Weekends now.

Sagar: First I will downgrade Talk package.

You: OK

Sagar: I have downgraded the talk package for you.

You: thank you

You: Will I get a letter in the post confirming my skytalk downgrade?

Sagar: You can take this chat as a conformation.

You: Ok. But will I get a letter in the post telling me how Sky Talk Weekends work?

You: I would like a leaflet please, so I know what I can and cannot do.

Sagar: I am afraid we cannot send you any letters.

You: ok.

You: No problem.

You: I will phone and ask for one from somebody else.

Sagar: So the information I have given you about this package there is one link you can go through that.

You: OK. What is the link?

You: (this is taking so long…..)

Sagar: Click here

You: ok.

You: Right.

You: Next bit: can you tell me what I will save by downgrading my TV to the basic package?

Sagar: Emily, I sorry if you feel so However I am not fast as you in typing.

Sagar: If you remove the Movies and HD pack and keep you on Entertainment package you will save £30.75

You: I have free HD until December so I will keep it until then and phone in December to cancel it.

Sagar: Emily, while giving you information I need to check your account as well so that I can give tyou the correct details.

You: Sorry, please ignore what I just said.

You: Will I still get my 25% off all channels offer until December?

Sagar: That HD offer is offer in last December.

You: yes. I know. Please ignore what I just said about that. I typed it in error.

Sagar: Ah! ok.

You: Will I still get my 25% off offer until December.

Sagar: Let me check that.

You: okay. Please check.

Sagar: Yes you will get that offer on Entertainment package.

You: Ok. Let’s do it.

You: Before I confirm, can you please tell me what my monthly bill will be?

You: For everything?

Sagar: Emily, just wanted to let you know.

You: ok

You: ?

Sagar: I can downgrade Movies and Entertainment extra to Entertainment package.

Sagar: To cancel the HD package you need to contact our dedicated team on 08442 41 41 41 this is Free call for you as you have Sky talk package.

You: okay. I will phone them.

Sagar: So While downgrading the Movies and Entertainment extra to Entertainment package I will give you the cost which is including the HD package.

You: okay.

Sagar: OK, to allow me to put through this change on your account today, I need to provide you with some key information and after you have read it, ask you to confirm if you still want me to put through this change for you. It won’t take too long. Is that okay?

Sagar: Please note that you must provide 31 days notice in order to downgrade your subscription package. If you give us notice today then after 31 days you will receive your new package and the cost of your new package will apply from that date

Sagar: The package start date will be 03/11/2012.

You: okay.

Sagar: This means your next bill will be £51.70 which also includes any pro rata credit for the change

You: okay.

You: what will my bills be after that?

Sagar: Future bills, assuming there are no further changes will be £53.75

Sagar: So this including the HD package.

You: and what will it cost when I remove the HD package?

Sagar: So when you call and cancel the HD package another £10.25 will get reduce from your bill.

You: Sagar, I am now on the phone with somebody at Sky.

Sagar: £43.50.

You: I’m going to finish this with them.

You: You are taking too long.

You: So there is no need to do anything, other than what we already talked about with Sky anytime.

Sagar: Thanks for your patience. The notice period has now been applied to your account. After 31 days the downgrade will be actioned and the cost of your new package will apply.

Sagar: So I have downgraded the Movies and Entertainment extra to Entertainment pack.

You: okay.

You: I will take it with the man on the phone from here.

Sagar: Is there anything else I can help you with today?

You: Thank you for your help.

You: I think you need to practise typing faster.

Sagar: Thanks for chatting with me today.

You: You have taken 1 and a half hours of my time.

Sagar: As I said while giving you the any information I need to check and look your account as well.

Sagar: So I have to do 2 works at one time.

You: it will take 5 minutes on the phone.

Sagar: So I can give you the correct information.

You: yes but it will take 5 minutes on the phone to do what has taken you 1 and a half hours.

Sagar: There is lot of differenced between this.

Sagar: Any ways is there anything else I can help you with today?

You: no. I am fine thank you. I’m on the telephone.

Sagar: Great!

Sagar: Have a lovely day ahead.

Sagar: I will still Practice to type fast as you have advised it.

You: Thank you. Take care.

Sagar: I apologise for any inconvenience caused to you.

Sagar: Thank you.

Sagar: Thank you for chatting with me today. We really value your feedback. Please click the button marked “End Chat” at the top right of this chat window to answer a few questionsabout your experience with us today. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Thank you for contacting Sky. Your chat session has been closed by the Sky Advisor.

Lounge on the Farm: The Meeting

mybloggywog — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 06:40:00 -0400

It has been two and a half months since I met with the Musicians Union and Lounge on the Farm and I have been putting off writing this. Why? Because I’ve been between what some call a rock and a hard place. For those of you that have been following this debacle you will know that some time ago I wrote a blog titled Scrounge on the Farm. This blog discussed how Kent’s bestest music festival, Lounge on the Farm, had been taking advantage of local bands since 2006. But you can’t be too truthful these days and that blog got me into a lot of trouble.

I can tick ‘threat of lawsuit’ off my bucket list. But I knew that they weren’t really going to sue me. After all, I was threatened with a slander lawsuit when technically it would have been classed as libel, had my claims been untrue.

Following my blog, local paper The Canterbury Times wrote an article about my blog. In response, more musicians came out of the woodwork, raising their own concerns and complaints, along with a small helping of abuse from three local artists and bands who were to play at the festival this year. (Just a tip: next time you decide to leave an abusive comment, perhaps you should hide your email address?) And I decided to ask my union of ten years - the Musicians Union - to help me out and to receive concerns about the festival on my behalf.

The Musicians Union (MU) promptly arranged a meeting with Lounge on the Farm (LoTF), myself and two MU representatives. You can read the ‘formal’ result of that meeting HERE.

I call it ‘formal’ because it is a statement that both the MU and LoTF agree with. I agree too, in part, but feel it does not really represent what happened at that meeting and this is where the rock and the hard place lies. The rock: being threatened with legal action if I don’t do what I am told. The hard place: upsetting the MU - an organisation I have great respect for - with my honesty.

Because of the rock and hard place, I haven’t written a thing since that meeting in June. But I have since weighed things up and we aren’t discussing a life and death situation here. This is relatively small pickings. So here goes.

Prior to our meeting, a young man came forward to represent LoTF. He worked for a company called ‘Outgoing’; a tour operator one of four companies LoTF hire to run their festival. Throughout our email correspondence he had made some bizarre and untrue claims:

• ‘Over 40 local musicians have written and complained to the Canterbury Times about your blog’. The Times confirmed one complaint had been received.

• ‘Ellie Goulding is going to make a public statement about this’.

• ‘A legal case is being prepared against you because of these ‘damaging accusations’’.

• ‘The Canterbury Times are also being sued’.

• ‘Two PR staff have lost their jobs because of your blog’.

• ‘Lounge on the Farm are heartbroken because of your blog’.

• ‘We have done nothing wrong and your claims are totally untrue’.

I suspected that LoTF were either unaware of this man acting on their behalf, or unaware of how he was behaving on their behalf. And when I expressed my concerns to the MU, suggesting they contact festival management instead, they still felt it appropriate to arrange a meeting with him. Coincidentally, LoTF’s upper management team are based in Canterbury, only few miles from where I live, and I would have gladly met with them, instead of trundling to London - a three hour commute with a bad hip - to meet a representative of a random organisation in the office of a random snowboarding company in Soho. Which brings me to my next point.

The meeting did out take place at the offices for Outgoing, but at the office of a snowboarding company in Soho. And no other representatives from LoTF were present at this meeting.

I wanted other musicians to come with me, to back me up, but the MU claimed they would do that. However, prior to our meeting the MU had asked me to stop forwarding statements and complaints from local musicians who felt mistreated by the festival. Suffice to say, I felt uneasy. And my unease was was confirmed when during the meeting, an MU rep told Outgoing that there weren’t that many complaints made against the festival.

He was an excellent PR man, the man from Outgoing. “I managed to convince upper management to not sue you”, he said as our meeting started. And he continued to talk. And talk. And talk. He deftly wove his way out of queries and complaints, saying everything the MU wanted to hear. And overall, he did a pretty good job, but not without the occasional slip up. Early on, he suggested that 5% of the festival’s bands were unpaid locals who were doing it ‘for the love of it’ or ‘for a free ticket’ , but as the meeting progressed this figure fluctuated between 5% and 50%. “CODA - another organisation LoTF use to run the festival - deal with the paid bands and us the free ones, 50/50”, he proudly stated, before realising his mistake. Perhaps it was a freudian slip? Perhaps he panicked and got confused? Who knows. Later on, he did agree to contact and make amends with Cut The Funk but I can confirm that in the 10 weeks since our meeting, no such contact has been made. When I asked why their ‘free’ bands were not at least offered travel expenses he replied: “we judge each band on their merits… some aren’t worth expenses”. Shocked, I replied with: “but by phoning and asking them to play at the festival, aren’t you acknowledging their value?” And it was here that we discussed the possibility of LoTF gig bookers offering expenses to bands, or making it known that bands could at least haggle for something. This would be a nice improvement to their current policy of booking locals for no fee at all; expenses at least mean that bands aren’t paying to play. But as I said before, the man from Outgoing didn’t firmly agree or disagree to anything much which is clever really; saying a lot, without really saying anything at all.

Throughout, the MU nodded and smiled. I wanted to shout: “we’re in a random office in Soho, miles from where this festival is based, with no real Lounge on the Farm staff present, thus rendering this a pointless meeting. Can’t you see that he’s just talking his way out of this?” But I didn’t.

“That was a very positive meeting”, they said as we left the office. “Yes, it went very smoothly”, I replied. As I said, I really respect the MU.

On reflection, I think they were exercising damage control on my behalf but I hoped they might tell LoTF to change their ways, issue them with some kind of warning or at least make their presence as a union known to the musicians who play at the festival. Many freelance musicians don’t even know there’s a Musicians Union.

The Musicians Union used to have such clout. But is this possible in 2012, when everybody sues everybody else and where musicians work in an industry with inadequate paperwork to back up paid - or unpaid - work? Everything goes under the board and perhaps the MU’s hands are tied.

I hope 2013 sees the rise of the conscientious festival gig-booker; one who doesn’t expect something for nothing and appreciates that Kent’s local music community value this festival and should not be taken advantage of. For the bands that play at LoTF, I hope you realise you have value too. You are worth more than a free ticket - you should get this anyway - and have every right to ask for payment, however small and to be looked after properly on site.

Assuming LoTF are aware of the man from Outgoing, they sent us a great PR man. But it doesn’t fix the fact that they stubbornly and publicly denied the concerns and complaints of many musicians.

I try not feel disappointed about our meeting but in truth, I felt let down. Yes, LoTF agreed to this formal statement but those words weren’t volunteered, they were placed in their mouths.

Lounge on the Farm and the Musicians Union Statement

mybloggywog — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 11:12:00 -0400

On the 15th of June 2012 I met in Soho with the Musicians Union and a representative from tour operator Outgoing; one of four companies Lounge on the Farm currently hire to run the festival. During this meeting we discussed the following:

1. ‘You Say They Play’ Competition

Competition procedure
Decision-making criteria

2. Other emerging artists/grassroots gig slots at the festival:

Engaging with artists
Fees/expenses
Opportunities

3. Artists’ issues from previous festivals:

Health and Safety
Unpaid fees
Artist treatment and hospitality

4. Moving forward:

Clarity in relation to unpaid gig slots
Repairing the relationship with the local music community
A statement which can be issued to musicians who raised concerns about the festival

In response to the issues raised, The Musicians Union and Lounge on the Farm have agreed to the following statement.

“Following concerns raised by Emily Peasgood in relation to the Lounge on the Farm festival, a meeting was arranged between Emily, The MU and a festival representative. Various issues were discussed at the meeting on 15^th June 2012 including:

· Terms of artist engagement and remuneration;

· Performance slots for local, national and international artists;

· The overall structure of the festival and its staffing, and the current state of play, given the tough economic times.

Whilst it was clear that there have been a number of minor operational problems and issues with the payment of some fees and expenses in past years, the festival team have clearly made changes to address these concerns and to improve both the opportunities available to artists, and the treatment of artists when onsite. The festival will look into any disputes about outstanding fees immediately.

It was agreed that festival staff need to be clear about the deals that they are offering when negotiating with artists, in order that artists can make informed decisions as to whether a slot at the festival is both relevant and beneficial to them. However, it was suggested that artists should also take the opportunity to discuss their own requirements when approached by festival staff, in order that mutually beneficial deals can be met where possible.

The MU and Emily Peasgood are satisfied with the verbal agreement made by the festival, in terms of their approach to artist engagement and hospitality at the event.

This year’s festival runs from 6-8 July and MU representatives will be in attendance at the festival on Sunday 8^th, where they will be available to talk to artists in relation to the festival, wider musical issues and MU membership.”

So, what does this mean?

If you are approached by this festival remember that they are approaching you because they acknowledge your value. They want you. So discuss your requirements. What do you want? A small fee? Expenses? Ask for them. If they flat out deny, you have to decide if this is a good opportunity for you and whether or not you are happy to work for free.

It also means that the festival agree to take better care of you onsite and should provide you with basic refreshments, a place to park and assistance with loading equipment.

If you are owed money by the festival, they should be in touch. Failing that, get in touch with them. There are various email address on their website.

If all else fails, you can contact me or the Musicians Union.

Music Students Today (BFS 'FLUTE' Journal)

mybloggywog — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 07:30:59 -0400

‘Music Students Today’ - my first article for the British Flute Society’s ‘FLUTE’ Journal, June 2012.

‘Music Students Today’ - my first article for the...

mybloggywog — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 04:49:00 -0400

‘Music Students Today’ - my first article for the British Flute Society’s ‘FLUTE’ Journal, June 2012.

Photo

mybloggywog — Mon, 28 May 2012 17:14:19 -0400

Scrounge on the Farm: The Follow Up

mybloggywog — Sat, 19 May 2012 08:46:00 -0400

Lounge on the Farm claim I am single-handedly campaigning to slur their good name. They, and some of the young musicians who play at the festival, have exhibited abusive and threatening behaviour towards me both online and in emails.

On a more positive note, musicians and non-musicians alike have been debating online about the issues raised in my blog, some in agreement, and some not, and I will write a follow-up about these debates in the near future. For now, I would like to let you know what has been happening since my original Scrounge on the Farm blog, any progress that has been made and also to reinstate my views as I feel they were not fully represented in the recent Canterbury Times article (purely due to column inch limits!).

Over the years, multiple complaints against this festival have not been properly dealt with. As a local musician I chose to speak out about this on my blog. The original blog was based on genuine conversations and interviews with local musicians and not on here-say. And I hope that Lounge on the Farm accept that these complaints come from multiple sources, are genuine and are not just mine.

I am not a Musician’s Union representative and I am not being paid to represent musicians in this case. I am not ‘bitter’ and I have nothing to gain other than to try and improve working conditions for musicians, something I feel passionately about. I hoped that by highlighting these issues LOTF might put adequate measures into place to improve their local-musician relationships. But at present, they adamantly deny these claims, preferring to label this a ‘single-handed campaign’ against the festival. What is apparent is that it is easier for them to undermine a person than to acknowledge these complaints and move forward and I feel that this has been handled very badly.

In 2008, I contacted the festival myself and asked to play in what I thought was a great local venture. But this debate is not about bands approaching festivals, young musicians getting a leg-up in the industry, or competitions that offer opportunities to them. Every musician exercises the right to accept or decline whatever deals they want to, be it playing for tickets or playing for exposure, but they should also have an informed idea of whether or not a deal is exploitative as in most cases, performing for free is just that.

What this debate is about is Lounge on the Farm’s conduct towards local musicians, whether professional or otherwise. And of major concern are multiple reports that in addition to their you say they play competition, the festival are also contacting local bands and asking them to play for free. LOCOG were named and shamed for doing this just last month and in my opinion this is ethically and morally wrong.

Lounge on the Farm are small but a business all the same. They charge ticket money, sell merchandise and serve alcohol on site. Burger vendors are not giving away free hot dogs and musicians should not have to justify their right to earn a living. ‘We’re doing them a favour’ is a common viewpoint for many, but this is real life, not the X factor, and in this case, Lounge on the Farm have been accused, by many, of the following:

Not looking after local bands: inadequate access to the site, difficulty when loading instruments from long-distances due to a lack of parking arrangements for musicians (Health and Safety), lack of refreshments, disorganisation with booking details and festival passes, evasive and rude treatment by organisers and staff.

Dishonouring agreed payments: owing monies to bands for agreed fees or expenses and musicians having to chase very hard for monies owed.

Lack of transparency in the selection process for ‘you say they play’: musicians have accused the festival of not honouring the prize of a festival performance when they qualifying for one, and of being evasive and rude towards them.

Contacting local musicians and asking them to play for free.

It is these accusations, and not my blog, have resulted in the decline of Lounge on the Farms reputation.

During my communications with Lounge on the Farm, I have offered to post any response they wish to make, verbatim, online. I have also suggested a meeting with three other musicians present to discuss these complaints and come to a resolution for all involved, but they are insistent on meeting me alone which is something I will not do. I have now asked Jack Walsh of Lounge on the Farm if he will accept emailed statements from musicians and participants of the festival in order to convince him that these claims are genuine, and he has agreed to receive your emails. Please share your experiences by emailing jack.walsh@outgoing.co.uk. Alternatively, if you would prefer to remain anonymous, you may email me at em@empeasgood.com, and I will forward your message on your behalf, whilst protecting your identity.

Why are musicians often the expendable party when it comes to being paid fairly for their efforts and time? I doubt Lounge on the Farm’s headline acts would be comfortable if they were aware that local bands were unpaid. And why do so many think music is not a genuine profession where those involved have bills to pay like everyone else? There are only so many opportunities a musician can take. On this issue, Carl Hudson (keyboard player for Professor Green) summarises my thoughts perfectly: ”musicians are not volunteers, the term ‘doing it for experience’ is a half-baked excuse for ripping off people. We are not jesters, expected to play for people for free because ‘we love it’.. We still have bills to pay the same as everybody else.”

If one musicians is being paid, all should be. And if security, stage crew, sound crew, organisers and famous musicians are being paid, so should the local musicians. But this kind of exploitation is so common, it is seen as normal.

*****

“If you don’t have this freedom of the press, then all these little fellows are weaseling around and doing their monkey business and they never get caught”. ~Harold R. Medina

Scrounge on the Farm

mybloggywog — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:17:00 -0400

As festival season approaches, competitions offering local musicians the chance to perform are on the increase. It might seem harmless enough; a great way to gain exposure and all in all a whole lot of fun, right? But what we need to ask is: why?

Why are prominent festivals who charge big money for big acts eager to recruit little-known bands who can often be seen at the local pub? And do they genuinely want to provide a platform to promote local musicians?

Kent based festival Lounge on the Farm are well known endorsers of the competition method; where most festivals offer one or two performance opportunities to up-and-coming acts, Lounge on the Farm offer six and have even set up glitsy website You Say They Play. Willing participants can register for a band-profile page and are encouraged to ask friends and family to vote for them to play at the festival. But what many don’t realise is that this is less about supporting local talent and more about making money. Why else would they plough money into advertising their competition and designing their glitzy website? Every time a musician asks friends and family to vote for them, they in turn advertise for Lounge on the Farm. Each time they post a band-profile link to their social media sites they do the job of the PR man, for free. And it doesn’t end there. Current Top Rated bands on the site average four members each, totaling 24 possible winners. Should each of those 24 bring one full-paying friend along, at £115 a ticket, the festival make a £2,760 profit. Local bands bring local punters and that’s what I call a highly effective marketing campaign.

As I said before there is a little more to this than meets the eye; several winning bands from 2010s and 2011s You Say We Play competition were not given their performance opportunity as promised. “It was pre determined”, says one musician. “We were third out of six winning bands and they didn’t let us play. We felt bad explaining this to the people who had taken their time to vote for us and when we questioned LOTF about it they were rude and evasive”.

But still this isn’t all: over the past six years Lounge on the Farm has become well known for asking local bands to play at their festival, for free. It’s bit of a bad joke amongst the local music community as most of us have experienced rudeness, disorganisation and exploitation at the hands of their team.

A few days ago, I posted the follow question on facebook:

I received ten emails from bands and solo musicians. All confirmed that they had been approached by representatives of the festival and asked to perform. But there was a snag. The festival claimed to not have any funds to pay them with. They did however emphasise that taking part would provide them with great exposure and that they would receive free tickets in payment. How very clever: selling the notion that this is a great deal when really they’re taking advantage of you, gaining free advertising from you, saving and therefore making money off of you and basically pimping you for something you should receive anyway. And at £115 a ticket, I’d rather have the cash thank you. Oh, and by the way, are organisers working for free, to showcase their great organisational skills? What about security staff? Cleaning staff? Bar staff? No? Didn’t think so.

Back in 2006 when I was involved with them, it was common knowledge that local musicians were unpaid, myself included. But we were keen to be involved because we were excited at the prospect of a good local music festival, believed in what they were creating and wanted to be a part of it. Sadly, our enthusiasm was short lived. We were not at all well looked after during our involvement and were not thanked for our participation in the festival. I left with a sour taste in my mouth and the feeling that they felt they had done ME a favour, rather than the other way around.

Over the last six years Lounge on the Farm has grown at a rapid pace. And with their growth one would naturally assume that each and every musician who performed there would be paid. But it seems I am wrong. Of the ten emails I received, two were from musicians who are still owed money from last years festival.

I tried to contact Lounge on the Farm to ask them why they continued their practice of non-payment but they deleted my post from their facebook page.

However, later in the day I did manage to enter into conversation with co-organiser Jack Walsh. He declined to comment on why local musicians were still owed money from 2011 but did clarify that they could not pay all of the local musicians.

I do get the impression that in the eyes of Lounge on the Farm, the term local musician holds a cheaper currency. Every musician is local to somewhere and locality plays no part in a musicians worth.

Sometimes musicians chase organisers for gigs, even offering to play for free. And in my opinion, by doing so, musicians devalue themselves and their future earning potential. But this is irrelevant as in this case, it seems Lounge on the Farm are chasing and asking popular local bands to play for free. These bands draw in great audiences and are mostly full time music professionals; how does payment with a free ticket work for those who perform most gig-nights including the Friday, Saturday and Sunday night of the festival? And how is exposure a relevant payment method for those who are already well known? Just how many musicians have benefitted as a direct result of performing at Lounge on the Farm? We all know that real exposure only exists on prime time television but exposure is a word readily bandied around the music industry, designed to tempt any foolhardy young musician.

Lounge on the Farm have always filled a large percentage of their performance rosta with local bands, mostly unpaid, and enough is enough. The locals are getting vocal and many of Kent’s best won’t touch this one with a barge-pole. It’s a shame really; Lounge on the Farm should make it a priority to build relationships with Kent’s many gifted and diverse musicians and not to alienate them.

As my friend Paul says, I put it to you Lounge on the Farm that you use and abuse local talent to fill up your performance rosta at no cost so that you can pay more to the well known bands who won’t step out of their front door for less. And at an estimated £1,000,000 turnover on ticket sales alone, how dare you.

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Mediocre Musician Magazine: Singers Edition

mybloggywog — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 16:31:00 -0400

Great Singer? Don’t Audition for a TV Talent Show

mybloggywog — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:43:00 -0400

Punters often approach me at gigs to lovingly suggest that I should audition for the X Factor. And although I understand that this is their way of saying you’re really good, I laugh it off to cover my disdain at their suggestion. After all, what self-respecting musician would put themselves through a process where they’re pitted against fame-seekers and the downright awful? Not to mention the fact that for many successful applicants, within a year or two they’re doing exactly what they did before. Fickle is fame.

When I heard about The Voice; “a singing competition unlike any other because because it puts vocal ability first”, with judge/coaches Jessie J, Tom Jones, Will.i.am and Danny O’Donoghue, I thought “finally!” But after tonight’s episode, where the strongest singer of the whole show, J Marie Cooper, aged 27, lost out to an inexperienced 17 year old, I’m bitterly disappointed. The 17 year-old in question, Sophie Griffin, is sweet enough but she was not the stronger vocalist. “So why did she win?” you ask. One guess: she’s 17. “I wouldn’t be where I am without the 17 year old me”, said Will.i.am. as he chose her over J Marie.

When it comes to TV talent shows like the X Factor, they usually comprise of one Rebecca after another wailing her little heart out in a tuneless manner until a Gemma walks through the door. Gemma sings her heartfelt rendition of Make You Feel My Love and sobs: “I’m doing it for my nan, she died last year”. And as a tear wells up in Cheryl’s eye I should inform you that Granny died of natural causes at the ripe old age of 96 and had a good life. “I’m so glad you came”, says Tulisa. “You know, you really remind me of myself”. Simon is impressed by Gemma’s long tanned legs. “I like you”, he says and winks as he tries to conceal his hard on. “You know, you’re going to be a big star”. When Gemma exits the audition room, her entire family embrace and scream with wild abandon as Don’t Stop Believing kicks in on auto cue.

The reality is that Gemma is naff. But in a string of crap-ness, she’s the best thing yet. Good musicians wouldn’t be seen dead on these shows which is why the average level of talent is lukewarm at best. Even past winners are, in my opinion, only good wedding singers. It’s not that genuine talent doesn’t walk through the door; it does. But it is often scrapped in favour of a sob story and big tits. Oh, and if you’re a bit weird and are publicly humiliated by judges who assume you’re bad but then discover you have an okay voice, you become a superstar.

I’m going to say something that will probably upset you all: SUSAN BOYLE IS SHIT. There, I’ve said it.

So, the latest in TV talent shows; The Voice, had something to prove for me and as I tuned into Stage 1 of the audition process, I was impressed. Aside from a couple of odd choices, the coaches were making sound choices in those they took on and the overall level of ability from contestants was high. But it soon became clear that the televised auditions featured the cream of the crop; brilliant singers, often professional, who had already been pre-auditioned. Were the thousands of other singers who applied for The Voice auditioned blind too? I hoped so.

This weekend, Stage 2 of the audition process took place with the coaches grouping singers into pairs who then ‘battled’ for a place in the final. As I watched each pair battle-it-out like performing monkeys to songs ill-chosen by the coaches, I felt sad.It was musical-masturbation at best with each singer desperate to win through and singing over the other in the process. It questioned The Voice’s mission statement of putting vocal ability first, but it’s good TV. Right?

Aside from sob-stories, big tits and now youth, another problem with TV Talent Shows is that you can’t be too good. Twice tonight I witnessed great singers (Emmy J and J Marie) thrown by the wayside in favour of the young and out-of-tune. It seems talent judges and coaches are more impressed when you don’t nail it; they certainly get a kick out of the pained facial expressions singers exude when they can’t quite reach those high notes. I can see how The Voice coaches would want to nurture and help the less experienced singers but I do wonder; by ditching the really great ones, are they saving themselves the embarrassment of admitting on television that they don’t know how to help them improve further?

Every singers talent show needs a proper vocal coach on the judging panel, and correct me if I’m wrong but like The X Factor, Pop Idol and Britain’s Got Talent, The Voice is ill-equipped in this regard. Judge and coach Danny O’Donoghue is a lovely chap and a very experienced songwriter, performer and producer but vocal coach? I don’t think so. The legendary Tom Jones doesn’t know the difference between a third and an octave and Will.i.am? No comment. As for Jessie J, there’s a conundrum; she clearly knows how her voice works but at the age of 24 and with a busy performance schedule singing leaving the BRIT School, has she any experience coaching other singers?

An experienced vocal coach can properly judge a voice’s potential and offer expert advice where non-coaches will listen to a voice as is. Often, excellent singers don’t know how they do it. For me, J Marie’s technique, style, tone and performance tonight was flawless but that’s irrelevant when the judges or so-called coaches aren’t qualified to know a good thing when it slaps them in the face. Want to watch singer who has that extra special something and sings with ease? It’s just not good TV.

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Em Peasgood is a freelance musician, musical director and writer. She blogs about lifestyle and working as a freelance musician on www.publicemilie.com.

The Olympics - Musicians Need To Be Paid Too

mybloggywog — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:51:40 -0400

But musicians are always asked to play for free, aren’t they?

Two weeks after I published the article Why Musicians Shouldn’t Work For Peanuts it came to light that organisers of the London Olympics and Queen’s Jubilee celebrations had been contacting musicians and asking them to perform unpaid. How ironic when you consider that musicians were initially wetting their lips in anticipation of a summer packed with decently paid celebration gigs. But the general consensus from non-musicians is that we should be delighted for the opportunity and exposure these performances may provide.

To date an estimated £11billion has been spent on the Olympics including this £19million atrocity, set to ‘greet Olympic visitors’. Despite this, of the 7000 musicians engaged for the opening ceremonies, only 500 are to be paid.

For the Queen’s Jubilee, 30 horse shit picker-uppers have been gainfully employed whilst organisers are still asking musicians to accept ‘exposure’ in lieu of payment. Jubilee? Jubifree.

After reading Andrea Vicari’s response to the Evenings Standard’s most recent article on the matter, I thought “woe betide the organiser who phones me with such an offer”.

But can you believe it? It happened. This morning I received the call.

“We have two slots to fill for bands during torch relay celebrations. We’re looking for volunteers as we’re only in the position to pay expenses. Are you interested?”

“Well, I am free on those dates but I can’t provide my services free of charge”.

“I am aware that this is a tricky situation but it will be a great opportunity to showcase your music”.

“Will it?” I replied.

“Excuse me?”

“Will it be a great opportunity to showcase my music?”

“Of course. It’s great publicity as well.”

“But I’m a professional musician and I have been earning my living as one for years. And I don’t need exposure because my goal isn’t fame. I’m sorry. No. I’m not sorry… Just out of interest, are you working for free you know… to showcase your organisational skills?”

No comment.

“And are the technical staff working for free?” I asked.

“Technical staff will be paid”.

“Then why aren’t the musicians? You know, the only reason this situation is tricky is because of people like you!”

“I don’t understand why you’re being so antagonistic. There are other bands that have accepted our offer”.

“Well, you get what you pay for” I replied and hung up.

Musicians were asked to work for free way before the Olympics bought attention to the matter. Whether it’s a music festival organiser offering valuable exposure, a club owner who wants a free gig in audition for ‘more’ or the charity fundraiser who tugs at your heartstrings (whilst paying all other involved staff), most musicians agonise over whether to say yes, or no.

What is it about the musician that screams you can have me for free?

Perhaps people see the musician as a desperate dole-dosser who can’t earn enough to survive. Hazy images of my post-student days where the average day involved 6 hours of shredding, 20 cups of tea, a cheese and pickle sandwich and Neighbours at lunchtime springs to mind.

Some see musicians as living an enlightened life of priviledge. So enlightened is that life that it doesn’t involve paying bills. Or maybe we’re fame seekers who’ll do anything to perform anywhere. We don’t need paying. We just need exposure so we can get a major record deal and get famous!

For me, music is my job and I exist on a fine balance of performing, teaching and leading choirs. I value myself as a musician and do not accept badly paid gigs. But it is difficult and as my friend Brendan says:

“There are no amateur lawyers, or amateur surgeons, but plenty of amateur musicians who’ll do your gig”.

Amateurs charge less than me and a whole host of music students will perform at clubs for free. But they shoot themselves in the foot as one day, they will need to pay their mortgage. When the club owner moves on to the latest freebie, they realise it’s hard to go from FREE TO FEE.

As for exposure? That’s a commercial enterprise embodied by Simon Cowell, The X Factor and a steady stream of one-shit-wonders - a soulless enterprise that moves further away from musical reality with each year that passes.

The recently deceased Levon Helm reportedly said: “just because you play music, it ain’t supposed to make you rich or famous….if you get a shot, if you get on national television, or if you get a record out that somebody can remember, great. That ought to encourage you not to quit, but it don’t mean a whole lot.”

After publishing The 24 Hour Musician and Playing For Peanuts, the biggest response I received was from non-musicians was: “it’s a simple case of supply and demand. You should take what you can get”.

I strongly believe that it is not vendors that set the value of musicians but musicians themselves. If musicians - be it amateur, part time or student - are flaunting their wares for a nominal fee, vendors will expect them for the same. And if musicians accept badly paid or unpaid bookings, they perpetuate the notion that music comes cheap. As musicians, it is our responsibility to charge a fair fee. If we don’t value ourselves, who will?

“But what is the fair fee?”

This is the question many musicians who read my blogs have asked and it is a question I don’t know the answer to. The Musicians Union have a casual rates guide for musicians working the pubs and clubs of London but aside from this the general consensus is one of confusion. Unless you work for one the organisations the MU provides contracts and pay scales for, you’re out in the cold.

I feel the only way any musician can stay true to their value is to decide a minimum fee they won’t work for less than and to stick to it. And as for those free gigs? I have a simple mantra I’m not afraid to share with any vendor who asks: if the organisers, security, technical, catering and hospitality staff are going to be paid then so am I.

*****

Em Peasgood is a freelance musician, musical director and writer. She blogs about lifestyle and working as a freelance musician on www.publicemilie.com.

If you are a musician or hirer and wish to share your thoughts, please comment below. You can use a fake name and email address if you wish to protect your identity.

For more information about Musicians Rights, please contact (and join) the Musicians Union.