Basement Juice - The Future of Music

This is the finished product, I think with more time I would have included more interviews, and more vox pops from the presenters.  The interview was cut short and some pre-recordings were thrown away due to bad quality. Overall we have a short feature interview with local musician James Morrison of the underground sludge metal band Cromlech.  Click on the blogger video below to listen to the short production, enjoy!

Recent changes...

After discussing the possibility of partnering up with a co-student Ben Hale, we decided to work together on the project. I have been looking to BBC Radio 6 and BBC Radio 2 for their feature length documentaries on music.

So far we have a fully recorded interview with James Morrison experienced independent musician and a short written interview with Tom Buchart, that I will re-record due to bad sound quality.

Interview with Tom Buchart of SounditOut!

R.Welsh:  The Sound It Out! Documentary directed by Jeanie Finlay has received national and even international credibility having been aired on BBC Four, screened at Cambridge, Norwich, Sweden and even Australia how did you react to such exposure?

Tom Buchart:  Honestly it blew us away, she made a little documentary we were expecting to sell in the shop, then the film was chosen to premier in Austin Texas at the South West Film Festival that was March 2011 and ever since then it has snowballed. We were also shown in cinemas in Sweden in Canada and Germany, we've even had e-mails from people in China who have seen it, because its been bootlegged onto the internet

R.Welsh: Independent record stores tend to be the more honest and genuine distributors would you agree?


Tom Buchart: I would agree if we sell an album we stock its because we believe it to be good, we wouldn't want to mislead people

R.Welsh: How did you react to the HMV's failure and the possibility of them being liquidated in the future?

Tom Buchart: The HMV scandal? believe it or not we're actually quite upset by it! so is Stuart who works in the shop. The first time I ever heard a Pixies record it was in HMV, I bought my copy of Loveless by My Bloody Valentine from HMV the year it was released, which is one of my favourite records. It used to be all about the music but over the past decade it has become more concentrated and its now dictated by the charts and sales that exist only in the top 40. I think its due to extensive administration and bad marketing, the big wigs were telling them how to play music in every retail store in the country, you are doomed if you're just going to play pop-music! And pop-music as a genre isn't worth anything over time. For example you could buy a Will Young album for 10 pounds this year but a year on it will sell for 90 pence. Its all about instant downloadable gratification. We are very old school in our approach but some of our records feature free MP3 downloads. Our customers vary from all ages, from 8 to 80, its great seeing Dads bring their kids into the shop.

R.Welsh: Do you think the internet is hampering music or bettering it?

Tom Buchart: I'd say its a case of both, you can now send mixes over the internet to all your friends as opposed to making tapes like I used to years ago. People are getting sick of the mp3 culture, its not happening in big cities but I believe it is happening in the North East. People would rather purchase records from a local independent record store because its a physical thing, you're holding a product and listening to it, its a package, something you physically own. The internet is making it easier for people to share music, you can perform online, stream DJ sets and live performances through SoundCloud, technology has moved the music industry in so many ways, and its seeming as if it is for the better.

In production...

 

Today I interviewed two contributors for my radio documentary 'The Future of Music' one of them being Tom Buchart owner and music distributor of SoundItOut! records in Stockton. And another being a local independent musician and friend James Morrison. I did experience some technical difficulties with garageband ultimately loosing some vital content. As a result I have decided to use Audacity as I am more familiar with this basic software.

Soon I'll follow this up with voxpops of my own and add some further tweaking in the post-production stages. I am aiming to finish the production in 7 days.

New Assignment 2

Radio Show Assignment

After several weeks of researching radio shows by logging several of our own listening diaries, we have seen how different shows use different interpretations to style, format, audience interaction and different paces or volume of content i.e. concise, expansive. We did  this in order to understand the make-up of radio broadcasting so we could in turn produce our own broadcast show. Our given assignment is to produce a show of our own in a style of our own.

My Show: ‘What’s Next? The Future of Music’

I have decided to produce a documentary style radio show on the future of music and where the music market is headed in the United Kingdom. This idea was evoked after the possible sale or liquidation of HMV, who will take over on the high street? And what do the public think the future of music is? To do this I will find relevant sources, I will interview Tom Buchart who owns the one and only brilliant Teesside independent Sound It Out! I will possibly interview two HMV employees and several members of the public and ask for their views on HMV’s retail disaster (why do they think this happened? What’s the most likely reason this happened?). I will also include the popularity of music formats i.e. mp3, CD, vinyl and is vinyl experiencing a revival? is the internet an easier option for music shopping? Who is most likely going to cater for music on the high street? And finally my conclusion and focal point of the programme... is this all due to bad karma for driving out competition in the first place?


This article from the BBC web page explains what's happened since the company announced it was going into administration in January 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21517862

Radio Show Treatment

Radio Show Name:  What’s Next? The Future of Music
Running Time: 5 Minutes
Presenter: Myself, Ben Hale
Style: Community, Entertainment



Structure

I want the structure to be typically of a documentary style radio programme for example: 

‘Presenter introduction, music bed, contributor, music bed, contributor, presenter'

The desired style of the programme will be upbeat, educational and entertaining. It will be targeted
at those who are mainly interested in those who prefer alternative music to mainstream music featured on commercial radio.

Contributors

I will interview local independent record distributor Tom Buchart of SounditOut! the last record store in Teesside. Along with that I will interview local independent musician James Morrison and ask his opinions on what its like in the music industry part of an independent group his drone metal band Cromlech. I will also interview record collectors and ask their opinions of the current state of music retail in Great Britain.

Pace

I want the pace of the programme to be slow but maintain interest with the audience with an upbeat educational approach to opinions of the music industry at present day and the current state of  high street music retailers.

Music Bed

Ideas for the music bed will include ‘MF Doom - Vomitspit' 'Elliott Smith - Kiwi Maddog 20/20' 'Mogwai - The Sun Smells Too Loud'

Listening Diaries...

Over the past three weeks, we have been listening to a range of different radio broadcasts, we began by listening to BBC Four programme, Stephen K Amos's comedy segment 'Life: An Idiot's Guide'. I went onto listen to various other more relevant documentaries regarding assignment 2.

After comparing some of the material I have listened to I can see clear differences from one radio station to the next, this is due to the target audience, differing culture and interests and the format for each broadcast show. If you listen to a talk show, it becomes an interactive forum for debate, or merely to entertain. If you are listening to a documentary you may learn things about a certain subject that you wouldn't previously know, this is educational. I have learnt that most music programming does transcend age, even though young people who listen to jazz may fall into a minority, it is still permissible that they contribute greatly to its relevance in the industry today. Overall I have listened to alternative radio, because this is something I personally can identify with.

LISTENING DIARY WEEK…….
22/05/2013

…………………………………………

Name of Station:	XFM Live
Programme name:	On Air: XFM London
Target audience:	25-50
Genre:	Music
Format:	Pre-recorded
Structure:	Introduction, track, contributor, music bed, track, contributor,  music bed, track, advert...
Contributors:	DJ Jo Good
Ethical/ legal regulatory issues	Royalties for the use of selected artists' music
Evaluation of programme:	It was refreshing to listen to an alternative station, I'd say DJ Jo Good's set appealed to an older audience selecting music from the likes of R.E.M. Morrissey, James and Patti Smith, all artists I can listen to.

LISTENING DIARY WEEK…….
15/05/2013

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Name of Station:	BBC Radio 6 Music
Programme name:	6 Music Live Hour - Mogwai - Archive Content (2001)
Target audience:	20-40
Genre:	Music
Format:	Pre-recorded
Structure:	Introduction, live performance...
Contributors:	Mogwai
Ethical/ legal regulatory issues	Royalties for the use of Mogwai's music
Evaluation of programme:	The programme was recorded in 2001 at Reading Festival, it wasn't the best live bootleg I have heard, the quality wasn't pristine, and the band only played two tracks, but the recording still lasted for a duration of 30 minutes and 8 seconds.

LISTENING DIARY WEEK…….
09/05/2013

…………………………………………

Name of Station:	BBC Radio 6 Music
Programme name:	Marc Riley's Musical Time Machine: The Ramones
Target audience:	18-40
Genre:	Music
Format:	Pre-recorded
Structure:	Introduction, Marc Riley, Music Clip, Pre-recorded interview with The Ramones 1977, Marc Riley, Outro
Contributors:	Marc Riley, Bob Kilby and The Ramones
Ethical/ legal regulatory issues	Royalties for the use of The Ramones' music from sire
Evaluation of programme:	The programme is a nostalgic journey through 1977 a   and The Ramones's impact on the UK punk scene.  For a musically minded audience

LISTENING DIARY WEEK…….
10/03/2013

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Name of Station:	BBC Radio Four
Programme name:	The Real George Orwell: Down and Out In Paris and London (1/10)
Target audience:	36-66
Genre:	Documentary
Format:	Pre-recorded
Structure:	Presenter, contributor, reading, presenter, reading, contributor
Contributors:	Peter Davison, Frances Stonor Saunders, DJ Taylor, Hugh Wilford
Ethical/ legal regulatory issues	None
Evaluation of programme:	The programme has objectified Orwell, and looks into what really effected him during his research for Down and Out In Paris in London, there are all in all 10 episodes, I find that the target audience would be mature scholars or book collectors, or those who are merely interested in the life of the notorious figure of socialism and politics. Caters predominantly to a middle class audience.

LISTENING DIARY WEEK…….
21/02/2013

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Name of Station:	BBC Radio 6 Music
Programme name:	The Radiohead Story Episode 2
Target audience:	18-40
Genre:	Music
Format:	Pre-recorded
Structure:	Introduction, Presenter, Music Clip, Thom Yorke, Ed O' Brien, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Presenter, Music Clip...
Contributors:	Steve Lamacq, Thom Yorke, Ed O' Brien, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Phil Selway
Ethical/ legal regulatory issues	Royalties for the use of Radiohead's music, which EMI would receive
Evaluation of programme:	Light-hearted, in depth review on Radiohead's career from 1994's Pablo Honey up to 2003's Hail To The Theif. I'd say the target audience would be loyal die-hard Radiohead fans of all social classes.

LISTENING DIARY WEEK…….
19/02/2013

…………………………………………

Name of Station:	BBC Radio 6 Music
Programme name:	The Radiohead Story Episode 1
Target audience:	18-40
Genre:	Music
Format:	Pre-recorded
Structure:	Steve Lamacq, Thom Yorke, Ed O' Brien, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Phil Selway
Contributors:	Steve Lamacq
Ethical/ legal regulatory issues	Royalties for the use of Radiohead's music, which EMI would receive
Evaluation of programme:	Light-hearted, in depth review on Radiohead's career from 1994's Pablo Honey up to 2003's Hail To The Theif. I'd say the target audience would be loyal die-hard Radiohead fans of all social classes.

  

LISTENING DIARY WEEK …….
17/01/2013

…………………………………………

Name of Station:	BBC Four
Programme name:	Stephen K. Amos, Life: An Idiot’s Guide, Series 2, Role Models
Target audience:	18-40
Genre:	Comedy
Format:	Pre-recorded
Structure:	Introduction, Presenter, Audience, Contributing Comedian, Audience, Presenter, Contributing Comedian, Audience, Presenter etcetera close…
Contributors:	Stephen K. Amos, Sarah Kendall, Grainne Maguire, James Acaster and the Audience.
Ethical/ legal regulatory issues	Comment involving ‘smacking’ children, comment involving a sexual slur referring to Bill Clinton/Lewinsky Scandal Comment referring to bestiality
Evaluation of programme:	Light-hearted pre-watershed comedy slot, a variety of different stand-up comedians with differing styles, catering for predominantly a middle class audience.