the hub

New Music Plus: long term evaluation shows real artistic and audience development impact

Julia — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 11:15:00 +0000

“NMP… was blue sky thinking made real.” (NMP… host organisation)

In 2009, the hub joined forces with the PRS for Music Foundation to initiate New Music Plus…, a development programme which aimed to strengthen leadership skills and cross art-form learning amongst organisations and independent producers keen to develop their approach to programming and building new audiences for new music.

Between 2009-2011, New Music Plus… supported two regional producer and ‘host’ organisation cohorts, one in London (2009/10) and the other in North West England (2010/11). These programmes had five key elements: producer training; producer mentoring, producer bursaries, co-production partnerships between producers and ‘host’ organisations, and cohort-wide Creative Circle learning and networking sessions.

At the end of 2011, we carried out some long term evaluation with 15 producers and 11 host organisations to assess NMP…’s sustained impact on participants. To do this we worked with Steve Taylor from We Work With Data, who peer reviewed our methodology and research analysis.

“NMP… developed me, it developed the artists I worked with on the co-production, and it developed my host organisation. It raised the bar for us all.” (NMP… London producer)

Our findings indicate that NMP… has had a sustained impact on participating producers and host organisations alike, in four key areas:

Creative development

Audience development

Skills development

Increased resilience and sustainability

“I’m much more on it… It’s all a bit more in focus in terms of what to say yes to. Before I wasn’t too discerning… I question everything now. ‘What’s this going to do for me? Is it going to make any money? Will it develop me?’.” NMP… London producer

NMP… has clarified producers’ vision; they’re doing more ambitious, higher quality work and commissioning more new music, much of this powered by the wider NMP… network. As a result, producers have created an important new income stream, seen their audiences grow, and increased turnover and gross profit. NMP… has had an unequivocally positive impact on the producers’ business practice, increasing their resilience and financial sustainability in difficult economic times.

“NMP gave us a whole year of thinking how music could be integrated into the whole of our programming. Now it’s part of almost every public event and a key part of our future thinking – so forthcoming collections and exhibitions will have music as a key curatorial element. It’s also informing our family and schools programmes.” (NMP… host organisation)

As a result of NMP… most host organisations have retained their music programme – despite cuts to programming budgets. Even more positively, thanks to NMP… their music events are more ambitious and of higher quality, better integrated into their wider programme and now form a larger part of their strategic plans. Through their NMP… partnerships, host organisations have seen audience numbers for this work increase, along with numbers of new attenders. All host organisations plan more work with music producers and feel better equipped to do it.

We’re really pleased to see that NMP… has made a real difference to so many individuals and organisations. We learned a lot too; it was incredibly inspiring to work with such diverse, creative individuals and teams, and we’re definitely creatively renewed and wiser for having done so.

If you’d like to get inside the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the impact NMP… has had you can read the New Music Plus long term impact evaluation executive summary.

We’re looking forward to applying everything that we’ve learned over the past three years to a national New Music Plus… programme. With our partners at the PRS for Music Foundation we’re hard at work on this, and hope to go live with this later this year. If you’d like to stay in touch with these plans, you can sign up for our newsletter, or follow me on twitter.

Changes to tax relief announced in the budget will hit the arts sector

Julia — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 17:41:31 +0000

In last week’s budget, Chancellor George Osborne announced changes to the amounts of tax relief individuals will be able to claim that are almost certain to hit big gift donations to the arts sector, as well as the wider charitable sector.

In his budget statement the Chancellor said, “From next year, anyone seeking to claim more than £50,000 of these reliefs in any one year will have a cap set at 25 per cent of their income”. In essence, the changes mean that from April 2013, the maximum tax relief that major philanthropists will be able to claim is £50,000 per year. If they want to give more, they will not be able to claim tax relief on all of their donation, even if they are donating a large amount to, say, establish a foundation or an endowment.

These changes should surely be a concern for the arts sector, given the government’s insistence that philanthropy needs to play a larger part in the funding of arts activity. As philanthropist Vernon Ellis said on Radio 4′s The World This Weekend, this change is likely to result in a ‘double whammy’. Firstly, major philanthropists will simply feel able to do less, and so will do – and give – less to the arts. Secondly, this potentially creates a bigger strain on the public purse as the government will have to step in to plus this gap. Here the fear of course is that the government won’t do ‘step in’ in the case of the arts, meaning that we’ll end up with less private money coming into the sector AND less public subsidy.

What sense is there in capping this area of tax relief at a time when the government wants to ramp up philanthropic giving?

John Low, Chief Executive at Charities Aid Foundation, said of these changes, “Government can’t have a philanthropy agenda on the one hand and then introduce measures like this on the other. This change seems to run counter to the very idea of Big Society.”

Meanwhile, Gary Shortman, a partner at accountants UHY Hacker Young, said that the move “casts a huge shadow over large scale donations to charity by wealthy individuals…Very high earners, encouraged by the relief, often make substantial lump sum charitable donations that dwarf their income and that behaviour is now threatened”.

On TWTW, Vernon Ellis finished by saying that he thought there was still time to influence government policy on this, and that the Treasury would be open to discussions about this. So, as well as asking Vernon to speak up for us, perhaps the answer is for us all to club together, raise the requisite £200K and get ourselves a dinner invitation?

Our thoughts on creating more apprenticeship opportunities for small music businesses

Julia — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 12:10:27 +0000

At the end of January, the Creative Industries Skills Council endorsed a Skillset report into improving the skills of people working in the creative industries. We think it’s a great report, and hope to play a part in turning into reality some of the recommendations that Skillset have since been asked to lead work on action. These include:

• Creating an online professional learning network for employers and individuals, implementing sector-wide management and leadership programmes and establishing virtual boards of experienced professionals to provide support and guidance to start-ups and small creative companies.

• Reforming the ICT syllabus in schools, so that computer science, arts and/or a creative subject are included in the National Curriculum as core subjects, and English Baccalaureate options.

• Establishing a single careers resource for the creative industries.

• Developing group apprenticeship approaches should be developed for creative media as well as fashion and textile industries, allowing groups of employers to take on apprentices collectively.

Those of you who know us will already know that much of what we’re passionate advocates for small music businesses and sole traders, and try to influence policy whenever we can. We’re really encouraged by the report and hope to work with Creative & Cultural Skills to action some of these recommendations, not least because it picks up on some of the ideas we’re currently developing at the hub and that in the past we’ve recommended to them.

The creation of the online professional learning network not only mirrors what we’re planning to do with our Joining the Dots network, which will (subject to a last fundraising push!) provide networking and skills development support for upwards of 1000 individuals across the music sector; it will also help us to link up members of the network and the learning that comes out of it to the wider creative industries sector. And given the programme’s called Joining the Dots that’s – excuse the pun – music to our ears.

We were also pleased to see the report recommend more group-based approaches to offering apprenticeships. For several years we’ve lobbied CC Skills about this, knowing that the costs and other practicalities of offering creative apprenticeships were simply beyond most small music businesses and sole traders, and that as a result potentially hundreds of apprenticeship offers were being squandered. In 2006 we proposed piloting such a scheme via the Own Industry network we were involved in setting up in the East Midlands, but it was something that in the very early days of music sector apprenticeships seemed beyond either CC Skills’ comprehension or resources. Frustratingly, the idea got filed in our ‘ones that got away’ box.

Now, however, we’ve dusted it down, and after a really good meeting with CC Skills a couple of weeks ago are hoping to work with them to get more small music businesses involved in delivering apprenticeships. It’s a no brainer – small groupings of music businesses come together to offer an apprenticeship, increasing their ability to deliver, bringing new skills and ideas into their teams and strengthening relationships with peer organisations locally. Meanwhile, the apprentice develops new skills, becomes part of not just one company network but potentially three or four, gets access to formal and on the job learning and gets a fantastic overview of how different parts of the music sector work and fit together. What’s not to like?

We think this could be a great add on to our Joining the Dots programme. If you’d be interested in finding out more about Joining the Dots, about being involved – either as an employer or an apprentice – and/or helping us to work up the programme, sign up to our mailing list .

We’re interrogating happiness!

Julia — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:39:42 +0000

Here at hub towers, it’s all about happiness right now.

That’s because we’ve just started work on programming this year’s Interrogate! festival at Dartington, which will take place 12-14 October. This year, the focus of this unique little festival – which has one foot in Dartington’s arts programme and the other in its social justice work – is happiness.

Happiness is something we’re thinking seriously about….’What do we mean by happiness?’ ‘Why is it important?’ ‘Can you learn to be happy?’ ’Should government have an interest in our happeniness? ‘These are just some of the many questions the festival will explore, via a programme that will take in comedy, live music, performances, debates and workshops. To get an idea of the kind of event Interrogate! is, take a look at last year’s programme.

Interrogate! is being co-produced this year with Action for Happiness, a movement of people committed to creating a happier society by making positive changes in their personal lives, homes, workplaces and communities. Spearheading their involvement in the festival is A4H’s Director, Mark Williamson, who you can see here, talking at last year’s festival, which focused on income inequality.

More on the programme as we pull it together – here and on twitter. In the mean time, if you’d like to sign up to find out more about it via Dartington’s email list, you can do so here.

Some early morning musings on Labour Party new creative industries network plans

Julia — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 08:53:03 +0000

Last night, the shadow culture secretary, Ivan Lewis MP, announced the launch of the Labour Party’s new Creative Industries Network, established it seems to link arts organisations with businesses. Members will include arts organisations, trade unions and businesses, and the network will be tasked with determining what arts organisations need in order to develop important business skills and generate the priviate income needed for them to “become global enterprises”, as well as reviewing the tax treatment of the creative industries. The latter will be led by Patrick McKenna, former chief executive of the Really Useful Group and founder of Ingenious, while the network will be chaired by Andrew McGuinness, chair of the Advertising Association.

Lewis spoke of the need to “match our cutting edge creative ideas with an equally creative global business strategy which ensures we can benefit from the new jobs and growth of the future”, adding that “The Conservative-led government has so far failed to provide the strategic leadership which is urgently required, and in education and the arts, they are implementing policies which are damaging the foundations of our creative success.” Other demands made by Lewis included a call or more cross-department working within government and for the collation of rigourous data about the sector.

The creation of the network is to be welcomed we think; it’s too easy for us all to work in our own silos, and an opportunity for a real opportunity for sector leaders to come together – to share ideas, develop joint initiatives and present a coherent set of policy recommendations – can only be a good thing.

In response to Labour’s plans, a couple of ‘morning after the night before’ points that our experience here at the hub immediately called to mind are:

1. Firstly, in terms of learning the business skills required to generate private investment, not all businesses want to become global enterprises, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need help to develop their business skills.

We’d say that Labour’s review needs to listen hard to the multitude of small businesses which together form the backbone of the creative sector about their ambitions and development needs.

We’ve done a lot of work with small businesses like this, for the Arts Council, various former Regional Development Agencies and the Learning and Skills Council, and know a fair bit about their business development needs, and what works and what doesn’t. We’d hope to follow up on this with the network, and would be happy to share what we know and plans we’ve developed for a Joining the Dots programme that in part will do just this.

2. Looking at the fairness pledge, which aims to ensure those signed up to it offer internships and jobs on the basis of merit rather than social background, we of course support that proposition. Who wouldn’t? However, many small businesses still find the costs of offering creative apprenticeships prohibitively expensive and CC Skills appears unable to get its head around the idea of small businesses offering a ‘collective’ apprenticeship, potentially across SMEs sharing creative industries ‘hub’ spaces. This is something of a hobby horse issue for us – and has been in our discussions with CC Skills down the years.

For the time being, internships are often the only way for small businesses to provide the entry level experience that is so important to those entering the creative sector these days. And many -ourselves included – pride themselves on offering an incredibly valuable, carefully sructured opportunity. Public sector support to help the ‘common man’ small businesses in the sector to provide more financially rewarding entry level internships would surely be a good thing?

3. Next, arts organisations are businesses, regardless of whether they have charitable status or not. Their business aims may be charitable, or they may be ‘for profit’, but either way, they are still businesses. It’s semantics you might argue, but we’d say the semantics get in the way of a bigger, cultural issue for the cultural sector. We work a lot in the music sector, and here the economy is very mixed, with individual artists working as micro businesses, and a multitude of small businesses working tirelessly to survive. These guys have to operate as businesses – albeit with charitable or social entreprise models – if they are to survive. So, using common terminology, are these guys, are we, an arts organisation or a business? We tend to describe ourselves an ethical business working in the creative sector. 4. And finally, back to that point about rigourous data. Yes, absolutely that’s needed. And without giving too much away, we’d suggest that everyone keeps an eye on info coming out of the National Campaign for the Arts l ater this autumn. We’re working with the NCA at the moment, and can’t say too much, but there are some really interesting numbers being crunched at the moment. If you want to keep up to date with that then sign up to our hub email newsletter.

And so to today’s work…

Kicking off a summer of work with the National Campaign for the Arts

Julia — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 07:00:31 +0000

the hub is excited to be working with the National Campaign for the Arts this summer.

Over the next three months we’ll be working with the NCA, which campaigns and avocates for the arts sector across the UK, to help the organisation chart a new strategic course. At a time of almost unparalleled change in the sector, this is a crucial point in the NCA’s history, as it looks to identify how it can provide the most effective support to those working as artists or in arts organisations.

To help determine the organisation’s next moves, our work will include surveys of existing and former NCA members, plus widespread consultation with a good range of people working in the sector, and in funding, policy-making and umbrella organisations.

We’ll also be surveying the 21000+ people who’ve pledged support for the I Value The Arts campaign.

This feedback will inform our work to develop a set of strategic recommendations for the organisation from 2012 onwards.

More details here as the surveys go live…

Serious fun for the open minded – the INTERROGATE! festival is born!

Julia — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 09:31:05 +0000

Performance, debate, comedy, film, art, workshops and ideas. That’s what’s on the cards at INTERROGATE!, the UK’s first festival of social justice, that the hub is programming on behalf of Dartington.

Brand new and unique in the UK, INTERROGATE! will take place between 23 and 25 September, taking a fresh approach to looking at income inequality, its impact and what we can all do about it. We hope that INTERROGATE! will be game changing, inspiring people – people like you and us – to take action.

Taking place on the Dartington estate, a home for forward thinking for 85 years, it’s a spotlight on a serious issue, but it’s also about getting inspired and having fun.

We’ve spent the last few months lovingly constructing a programme that lines up some of the UK’s most forward looking thinkers and activists – plus some fiercely funny comedy and cabaret shows, great gigs and all manner of other performances – to get you inside, under and on top of the issues.
Whether you’re someone who shouts at the telly during Question Time, you work in an area where income inequality is an issue, or you just fancy a weekend of thought-provoking ideas and performance in the beautiful Devon countryside, Interrogate is for you.

Our thinkers and activists are some of the sharpest minds in the worlds of economics, social policy and health – for starters, Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson, authors of the best-selling The Spirit Level; TV’s favourite geographer, Danny Dorling; Economics for Dummies author and lecturer Peter Antonioni and environmentalist and co-founder of the Transition Network, Rob Hopkins. Also taking to the stage are comedian Mark Steel with a special one-off show; multiple award-winning musicians Spiers and Boden (of Bellowhead fame); and the acclaimed Jean Abreu Dance company.

Aside from the performances, debates and podcasts, there are loads of opportunities to have your say. Tell us what you think on Speakers Corner, add your thoughts to our People’s Manifesto or join the Interrogate Choir. We can pretty much guarantee you’ll go home feeling inspired, having had a great time, made some new friends, thought a bit, and laughed a whole lot more.

Keep an eye out here and on twitter (@juliaatthehub) for full programme details over the next couple of weeks, and book tickets via the Dartington website. Fair play to us all!

We’re busy setting up HOME in Dartington!

Julia — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:07:33 +0000

With just 24 hours to go till the ribbon is cut (not really!) on the 2011 HOME festival, we’re busy getting ready for the off. We’ve been working with the Arts at Dartington team on HOME for over six months now and are really excited it’s nearly here.

Producer Matthew Linley is already on site, pacing the site and glancing anxiously at the skies (seems the weather’s going to be great though – it’s been worth keeping our fingers crossed all week!), and others are busy packing for the journey to Dartington tomorrow.

The line up is a corker. We’re very excited about the line up: Suzanne Vega is headlining (one of only 3 UK shows this year – the others being Glastonbury and Hyde Park!), alongside: Songlines Best Newcomer nominees Tamikrest; Alejandro Toledo and the Magic Tombolinos; Sheema Mukherjee; Max Pashm, and Perunika.

Like festivals used to be when we were nippers (well, sort of…), HOME is that all too rare chance to get up close and personal with exceptional artists, and – as an added bonue – in the beautiful the Dartington estate.

Find out more on the Dartington website.

Hope to see you there…. Don’t forget the suntan lotion!

We’re at HOME again at Dartington on 24/25 June!

Julia — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 14:00:26 +0000

Following a fantastic inaugural one-dayer in 2010, we’re once again working with Dartington to produce HOME – a world music festival with acoustic music at its heart.

Off the back of the success of last year’s sellout, HOME has been expanded to two days this year – 24/5 June.

We’re very excited about the line up: Suzanne Vega is headlining (one of only 3 UK shows this year – the others being Glastonbury and Hyde Park!), alongside: Songlines Best Newcomer nominees Tamikrest; Alejandro Toledo and the Magic Tombolinos; Sheema Mukherjee; Max Pashm, and Perunika.
Like festivals used to be when we were nippers (well, sort of…), HOME is that all too rare chance to get up close and personal with exceptional artists, and – as an added bonue – in the beautiful the Dartington estate.

Find out more on the Dartington website.

Hope to see you there…. Hurray! It’s nearly summer!

Murray Lachlan Young: Burlesque, a new play. . . your chance to buy a piece of the action!

Julia — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 14:00:31 +0000

the hub first worked with BBC 6 Music poet-in-residence Murray Lachlan Young on our 2009 Phrased & Confused tour. We’re working with him again now, to help raise money for his new play Burlesque.

We’ve been working with the team at WeDidThis to involve fans in the development of the piece, and raise money along the way.

£25 to spare… Why not buy a line of verse from the play?

For £75, a whole verse can be yours, read out and personalised by Murray and sent to you as a unique MP3.

Find out more about how we’re hoping to raise £4000 this way on the WeDidThisUK site , and keep up to date with all the latest news via hubster Matthew Linley’s blog.