Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI)’s Post

Last night Ezra Collective broke new ground by becoming the first jazz group to win the prestigious Mercury Music Prize beating out much bigger names like The Arctic Monkeys and Fred Again... This is massive for the UK grassroots music scene and the passionate people who support young musicians.   Ezra Collective's influences are as diverse as their North London home which they reflect, incorporating a range of genres from grime to salsa and reggae. In their winning speech (below), band leader Femi explained how the whole group had met in London at a youth club run by the charity Tomorrow's Warriors.   He said: "this is not just a result for Ezra Collective, this is not just a result for UK Jazz, this is special moment for every organisation across the country ploughing their efforts and time into young people playing music".   Reading the former attendees of Tomorrow's Warriors reads like a who's who of the leading lights of the new UK jazz scene with previous Mercury nominees Moses Boyd and Nubya Garcia represented in the ranks. These artists are now globally famous, and part of what makes UK music a cultural and economic force.   Ezra Collective's win is proof of what can happen when there are opportunities and infrastructure around to nurture latent talent and help it blossom. This obviously doesn't just apply to music, but to sport, the arts, and beyond. The UK has long been able to punch above its weight in these arenas, and grassroots charities working to give a platform to talented youngsters has been a massive part of that.   This is the kind of investment where the return is hard to see on a balance sheet, which goes a long way to explain why we've seen cuts to grants and funding for these organisations over the past decade. Typically, we assume what is easy to measure is what's important. What is harder to measure becomes a nice to have. Ezra's win explains better than any impact report or social return on investment how flawed that logic is.   In Femi's speech he called out a range of organisations doing this work. There are many more he didn't mention, and more still who've had to close their doors since Ezra first worked with Tomorrow's Warriors. If we're going to produce the next Ezra Collective tomorrow, it couldn't be more important that we make sure these organisations are able to thrive today. https://lnkd.in/eAD4GnsB

2 more reveals to go!! Hope you are staying tuned in!!

Last night 'each one teach one' apostles, Ezra Collective collected the prestigious Mercury Prize for Best Album. In his speech, Femi Koleoso took time to pay tribute to community based talent development organisations like AudioActive, Kinetica Bloco & Tomorrow's Warriors. I want to use this moment to shine a light on just how much impact the each one teach one doctrine could have, if adopted, even more widely. I sometimes feel that artists and the commercial music industries don't recognise the potential they have to use their huge platform to supercharge the pipeline which ultimately feeds their sector. In a time where the UK infrastructure - especially music education, grass roots music and venues are teetering on an existential crisis, whilst the very top of the live music economy has just enjoyed its best year ever, Ezra Collective are an exemplar of how industry can meaningfully help without even having to put their hands in their pockets. Before last night's Mercury Prize, the last time Ezra did this - giving an impassioned speech and bigging us up at an in-store performance in Brighton and again during their Glastonbury set to 30,000+ festival goers - AudioActive and our young people benefitted directly through offers of donations, free consultancy and (although hard to prove) increased success rates of pitches and BIG funding bids which ultimately means much more of the good stuff for young people and aspiring musicians and emerging artists... Lets face it, good PR works. When Rag'n'Bone Man and past participants, Rizzle Kicks became Patrons of AudioActive it had a transformational impact on the company which undoubtedly helped us to weather the various storms over the years, when we may otherwise have folded. We are forever thankful to both Ezra and our Patrons for their support but lets not forget the important role that artists' teams also play in this equation. Where the artists have been in-front of the camera spreading the good word of our work its been their managers who are behind the scenes, strategising, brokering and enabling the ideas or sometimes they're even the difference between whether an approach or proposal from AudioActive or a similar charity even ends up in front of the artist. So here's a shout out to anyone out there, artist or otherwise in a position of influence who wants to support young talent to thrive. It doesn't have to be money (although it helps!). Adopting and enabling an 'each one teach one' approach has got the potential to support - and sometimes save - hard strapped organisations and venues and in turn, it helps to clear the way for emerging and disruptive talent to come through. So lets all take a leaf out of Ezra Collective's book, who by the way, did also put their hands in their pockets and donated some of their fee to AudoActive and the other amazing organisations they mentioned at Glastonbury... Absolute legends! Congratulations to you all. Well deserved is an understatement!

It's that time of the year where the Composers & Authors Society SG has its annual award ceremony. I've been a full member since 1999/2000 and have been invited to this annual event yearly. As the organisation collects royalties on members' behalves, we are treated to this annual event which includes dinner and a show. I have also been engaged as the music director accompanying the award winners for 7 years in a row between 2007-2013 organising various groups from 12 pc big bands to smaller 5-6 member combos. This was always one of the highlights for me of being a member. However, this year things have changed unfortunately, not for the better. A member can attend without charge but if he/she brings a spouse a charge of $80 would be 'imposed' on the member , even a long standing one of 20 years or more. Why this change? I would surmise it is due to the recent change in leadership. It seems the original priorities of creating an association of like minded individuals promoting and collaborating in the creative arts (in this case composing and producing-arranging music) as a non profit, have changed to merely a profit driven entity concerned with creating more revenues. I always assumed that it was a non profit organisation. If the distribution was equitable and raised in line with revenues which have gone from a few million to tens of millions recently, I would support the cause, however the distribution to the majority of members remained the same since I first joined in 2000.

Absolutely and has been a tactic employed by .gov to starve the creative arts education at FE resulting in reduced progression to HE. It then gives them the negative data to argue creative arts education is declining when actually it is not, it has increased in vocational education and this was not their plan. Might be why the increase and success data is not included in the information they publish. It is also a shame they are not interested in listening to the positive impacts of creative arts education on mental health and wellbeing dispute the fact creative education and people who adopt creative processes in most industries are more successful and help overcome problems by applying creative solutions. It is not just about playing an instrument or painting a picture, it is about expression and developing confidence. #musiceducationmatters

What a night for our clients and friends! Congratulations to all of this year's Grammy nominees and award winners. We are proud to be a member of your team and privileged to assist with your wealth management needs. A special thank you to all of the business managers and managers who choose Perigon to look after the financial affairs of your clients. We appreciate you. Perigon Wealth Management, LLC #topRIA #musicwealthmanagement #fiduciaryadvice

The tears from the local industry players and creatives do reek of a layered brand elitism. It’s fashionable to cry for the Grammys. Even though we’re technically guests, invited to an American spectacle to diversify their ranks. We’re still fringe players at the Recording Academy, with negligible numbers incapable of swinging the odds in our favour. We still have a few voting cycles to cry some more. And that privilege of crying depends on Afrobeats maintaining its hold on pop culture. We are still building over there, and todays lesson teaches us that growth isn’t linear. Afrobeats, please hold this one. Where was this level of support for the Headies, Nigeria’s homegrown, legacy award show with 16 years of honouring the local scene? Nominees are often absent and late. The chatter about the show borders on derisory. We don’t pack our halls in honour of the event, neither are we interested in elevating it. But we can cry for the Grammy. Fashionable tears for what could have been. What we need is to return home. Tails between our legs as the realisation that all we got is us. And if we don’t take care of home, build, support and elevate it locally, we at risk of delegating our pride to foreigners. Afrobeats have intrinsic value. But the current business model has funneled the entire ecosystem into exportation. And while we can boast of improved finances and investment pathways, we’re now forced to negotiate our cultural impact on parameters that weren’t created for us, in spaces where our existence is still a moot point. Why are we hurt? Because we are playing a game that wasn’t created for us. And it sucks to lose. Perhaps, this spurs us as a creative and business class. To look inward and see our worth within us. That our local industry and all its institutions are enough, and exploration is just what it is; exploration. Perhaps across the continent, we can resurrect our reward systems, intentionally imbuing cultural power and credibility in local award shows and bodies that seek to celebrate us. And to see those platforms worthy of our artistry and ego. The Grammys snubbed Nigeria this year. And rather than mope around and petulantly kick some dust, let’s fight back by getting stronger at home. It’s the only way out.

Here are the 2024 Grammy winners and nominees

If you are at the PACENation Summit this week, make sure to keep an eye out for Scott Dicke, our Director of Clean Energy Programs!

The recent remarks by the Grammy Chairman regarding the Afrobeat category have exacerbated existing frustrations within the music community. For a process aiming for genuine authenticity, the identities and qualifications of the "certified judges in the USA" who voted remain unclear. Their apparent lack of understanding of Afrobeat's significance and nuanced elements raises serious concerns. Dismissing the public outcry by invoking subjectivity merely adds insult to injury. Voting, similar to the judicial system, shouldn't be solely subjective. Concrete evidence of an artist's work and its impact deserves thorough review and assessment by qualified, unbiased individuals with a deep understanding of the genre. Anything less undermines the credibility and relevance of the Grammys. And to those who say people who have objections to the outcome are sore losers, I sincerely want you to experience such a situation where you have worked for years and at the point of you getting rewarded, it is handed over to someone else entirely. That way you begin to see clearly why this is an issue. No hate here but voting can't be subjective not in this case,