6 music and it's benefits

I am a religious 6 music listener and am fully aware of the pomposity that this brings. Radio 1 has been the home of Steve Lamacq, that Australian one who thinks everything's amazing, Huw Stephens and of course, the legendary John Peel

Many an argument has been started by my detestation of their playlist choices, how they lack flow in their playlist and end up overplaying interesting music to a generally unappreciative audience. It sounds pompous because it is, I feel very protective over music and get annoyed when others do not appreciate both the content and it's delivery to the same level.

6 Music is a digital station which obviously brings with it a range of constraints. Despite it's presence on iPlayer, as well as broadcasting live constantly over the internet and on digital radio, digital radio is still to really take off and even when it does, I'm positive it will be to listen to Fearne Cotton's babblings slightly clearer than before. A case could be made that with the live lounge and Zane Lowe, Radio 1 does still champion new music. They sponsor tents at festivals, hold their own Big Weekend and once in a blue moon will air a documentary about a ridiculously huge band (read Muse) to bring a sense of public education to the whole mess. There was a time of course when they were the place to go but I feel that torch has passed these days.

And isn't it amazing when you're proved right?

Comparemyradio.com puts it as clear as day, one station lined up next to the other with live updated stats showing who's who in the radio business.

A few quick facts for you:-

Radio 1 played a total of 3189 tracks in the last 30 days whilst 6 Music played a total of 4334.

Over the last 30 days, Radio 1 has played 964 unique tracks. This means that once a track has been played, it does not count towards this total again. If you've heard Bleeding Love once, that is a unique track. Next time it is played in 30 days, it is no longer unique. By comparison, 6 Music has played 2749 unique tracks.

The stations shared just 135 tracks over the last 30 days.

A few additional stats I've cobbled together from those numbers include -

This works out as Radio 1 playing an average of 32.13 new songs per day, in addition to their current playlist.

6 Music plays an average of 91.63 new songs per day

Radio 1 played it's top ten most played artists a total of 544 times. This equates to 17.06% of it's total output being from ten artists.

6 music played it's top ten artists a total of 447 times, a measly 10.31% of it's total output.

Here's a chart I made up based on the figures I worked out, based on the numbers available on comparemyradio.com

So there you go. It was incredibly interesting working on this, and I will consequently be printing that chart out and keeping it in my wallet for the next time someone tells me Radio 1 is the station for the discerning music lover

The Unrecorded

So, it is with great pleasure that I kick off this new phase of boywithacoin with a new musical venture.
Despite having completed a degree in Music Industry Management, artist management is something that hasn't ever really crossed my mind. From experience, it seems that many artists, once they have begun playing live and really promoting themselves, seem set in their musical direction and their hierarchy with little willingness to change.

Artists are told to get a myspace, play as many shows as possible and that fame will eventually, probably come their way. Those pesky Sheffield based Monkeys are the modern proprietors of this not quite total-truth for example. It is vitally important to recognise that not only did Arctic Monkeys have a myspace and play a load of shows, they also had a collection of truly brilliant and innovative songs. As is the case with all seminal albums, they captured a moment in time and place in a record, encapsulating all that was relevant and reflecting their lives in crafty lyrics and new and invigorating sounds. It could easily be argued that since The Strokes genre-defining album "This Is It" way back in 2001 that truly launched the new wave of guitar based music, the market was waiting for another guitar band to grab hold of people's attention and continue to wrestle it forwards.


Now, I'm not trying to say that I have discovered the next Arctic Monkeys, nor am I saying that guitar music is about to be thrown on an entirely new trajectory. However, the art of writing a great song is again disappearing, the return of guitar music has meant the blossoming of bands with a punk DIY attitude but little appreciation on how to really write something that is interesting and challenging.

The Unrecorded display a range of influences on their debut album, Other People's Music.
Each song is carefully distilled, the varying instruments are carefully separated and introduced gradually to enhance the appreciation of the end product. The album's influences range from Bonobo to Portishead with a mix of theme based songs and slower, trip-hop numbers carried By Jess' unique voice.

Live, The Unrecorded are an almost entirely different venture, building samples up on keyboards and vocals with a dampened drum kit and a heavy bass rumbling underneath. A lot of the album tracks are reworked for their live performance due to the sample based nature of their album but this allows for new interpretations and an interesting revelation of how adept The Unrecorded are as musicians.


If you wish to hear more, you can download their album and ep, for free, from www.unrecorded.org and I hope you enjoy

I was gone but now I'm back.
It's been 5 long months with many incredible experiences, some sad times, heavily outweighed by some good times. I've had an epiphany brought on by basically nothing, I've become world-weary coupled with a sense of renewed hope and optimism. I know more and less than I ever thought.

Now you may understand why it's been quiet around here.

First of all, I'm going to do a ridiculously quick recap of what's been happening the last few months.
Shuffle has been highly successful, if far from profitable. We've had (inhales)....

She Keeps Bees
Sixtoes
Erland and the Carnival
Tristram
Dear Reader
Hot Feet
Jamie N Commons
Liam Hayes & Plush
The Unrecorded

I have also launched a gay night with my promoting partner in crime. It went very well and we wont do another one.

I've also been to another Latitude festival, saw some amazing new bands that I think will have a big future (Kurran & the Wolfnotes), saw a few bands that have wanted to see for ages (65daysofstatic, tick) and saw an equal mix of impressive and disappointing acts (Grace Jones, pretty good, Phoenix - fail)

I also went to America for the first time and confirmed why I want to travel there. New York is stunning. It's a blatantly obvious sentence, one by someone who went for 1 week as a tourist and did touristy things. From all accounts however, it's a blast to live there and I cannot wait to go back. Highlights included the wettest day of a festival EVER, staying in the most stunning apartment, 24hour pizza and a constant rush of excitement and awe at everything that was around me. I'd also like to offer my public thanks to Chelsea and Ali for making us extremely welcome and showing us around, it was awesome.

In other happenings, a new hockey season is upon us with Caps doing well, if not stuttering every now and then. But still, the season is 82 games short and it's wonderful to have hockey back, it's a LONG summer without it.

Twitter has also become more and more important, not in a "is washing the dishes" kind of way, but in a "constantly discovering new music, news and other random bits and bobs kind of way".
For those of you that haven't, get on it. The social networking revolution can be used intelligently and ingeniously if you put in the smallest bit of time.

Finally, in the most recent of developments, I'm hopefullystarting to manage a band. This is new to me but something I really want to do and think I could be very good at. More news as things become more solid.


Lastly, I've never been afraid of using my blog for personal reasons, it is after all mine, with no ties to anybody or anything. I want to say a big thank you and a whole load of lovely things to Lauren. You've been amazing the last few months and hope that we've a long way to go yet. Each time we mess up, we seem to come back stronger and that fills me with hope. You're one in a million


Will return soon, with music and things.
In the meantime, you must must must listen to Kurran & the Wolfnotes and Charlie Winston. Expect big things from both of them, and I'll explain why soon.

It's good to be back