Amazing Blog

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE RADIO AND INDIE MUSIC INDUSTRIES

May 17th, 2012

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Amazing Radio ceased broadcasting nationally on Digital 1 at midnight on Monday. This letter explains what happened, and why we think it is important for all of us who love radio and care about music.

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Let’s be honest. Some of you will have said ‘Amazing Who?’ Others will go ‘serves them right, their model was crazy’. Others will be sad to see something new disappear from the airwaves, but assume it was never viable as a concept.

The truth is more complicated. Amazing Radio did not go off the air because our model failed. We have been growing very rapidly for two years and broke even in January. We have very supportive shareholders who understand that we have a long term, very audacious plan to reinvent the music industry. We are about to raise $30m in Silicon Valley to expand internationally and in the UK. Transmissions ceased because we were unable to secure acceptable terms for an extension of our contract. We could not close a US funding round with uncertainty about our UK broadcasting licence. We remain grateful to Digital 1 for taking a risk with us when we launched in 2009, and we hope to resolve the dispute and get back on the air. Certainly the astonishing reaction from listeners and musicians, erupting spontaneously within an hour of our announcement, confirms that people want us back on DAB.

Why should you care about this? Several reasons: -

The music industry is broken. The old model doesn’t work any more. Major labels have withdrawn from A&R. The industry needs help finding the new talent. That’s what we do.

Musicians need an outlet. The UK has an incredible live music scene, and technology allows bands to record to a higher standard and lower cost than at any time. But there’s no point having an MP3 nobody hears. We have given thousands of bands their first radio play and first revenues.

DAB has to work. It’s important for the whole radio ecosystem and the Government needs the cash from analogue switch-off. The incredible reaction to our departure shows people want to use DAB to find new things. (Not just simulcasts of FM).

It’s good for GDP. Creative industries are the fastest-growing part of the UK economy. The industry needs to work together to find the next Adele, the next Radiohead. We are (now) an important player at the start of that process. And our expansion will create even more jobs.

It’s good for young people. Music provides a creative outlet and focus for anyone. It’s democratic and (because of digital technology) accessible – if there’s a route map for talent to develop.

It’s good for radio. We don’t compete for your audiences – we only ever expect to be a niche, and we’ll never take advertising. But we will find the music you’ll be playing next year.

We hope you see merit in these arguments and will wish us well, as we continue to expand. When we get back on the air, we hope you’ll find some new music you love. (Thousands have).

PDF: Amazing Radio – Open Letter to the industry

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Save 6Music Founder Writes to DAB Broadcaster

May 16th, 2012

Paul Lewis, one of the founders of the Save 6 Music campaign, who is now taking a leading role in the emerging campaign to get Amazing Radio back on DAB, sent the following letter to Paul Easton of Arqiva (owners of Digital One, who used to broadcast Amazing Radio) this morning.

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Dear Mr Eaton

I am writing to you concerning Amazing Radio and the withdrawal or removal of the station from the DAB platform. I do not know the detail of your arrangements with Amazing Radio but the current impasse clearly involves funds.

I would argue that Amazing Radio is one of the very few differentiators that the DAB platform has over the FM platform, particularly as the platform has recently come to the attention of many people due only to the rise of BBC 6Music.

I was one of the key organisers of the campaign to save BBC 6Music. I met with the BBC Trust and Executive during and after the campaign and was central to putting a forward a compelling case that saved the station.

As a direct result of the campaign to save 6Music, the station received publicity that drove listenership from a position where the BBC had been unable in 8 years to grow the station over a listenership of 700,000 in 2010, to a rise to 1 Million listeners within a month of the campaign commencement, to 1.5 million today. The RAJARs on Thursday will see a further rise in 6Music’s listener numbers.

The key argument to the BBC Trust was the financial benefit provided to UK plc by the UK music industry and 6Music was at the time responsible for giving more first plays of new bands and artists than any other radio station.

I raise 6Music because Amazing Radio is a fundamental part of 6Music’s success story. In the last couple of years Amazing Radio has certainly acted as music filter for 6Music in overtaking 6Music’s record of breaking more new artists than any other radio station.

Amazing Radio shares many presenters with 6Music and as a new music only station, Amazing represents an oasis of quality on the DAB commercial platform for those who truly appreciate music – those who are horrified by the mainstream and would never listen to a radio station broadcasting music that’s sold in supermarkets. Those of us who cannot cope with radio advertising corrupting our listening, will probably look only to Amazing Radio as a station on the Digital One platform that we can listen to.

I know that this comment will not be appreciated by a commercial radio operator but many of us passionate about radio will generally only accept BBC Radio as quality radio. However, Amazing Radio is rare in that it embodies BBC standards in terms of production and content risk taking and represents a breath of fresh air in a commercial sector dominated by the bland and the mainstream.

Amazing Radio listeners will listen to Amazing, BBC 6Music and Radio 4. You’ve lost a whole mindset of listeners who are frankly never going to look at anything else on the Digital One platform.

DAB needs differentiators to survive. This case has been proven by 6Music. As things stand, the only differentiator that Digital One had over FM was Amazing. Bland stations that play X-Factor content and tell us to buy double glazing are ten a penny on Digital One and on FM. The non-BBC element of the DAB platform needs Amazing Radio more than the bean counters or the suits who’ve never been to a proper gig can yet begin to understand.

I and others who helped to prove the case for 6Music are collectively prepared to campaign for Amazing Radio.

I urge both parties to resolve this impasse, not only for the benefit of the listeners, but also for the long term benefit of the DAB platform.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Lewis

If you feel similarly moved with Amazing Radio‘s move from DAB and want to let Arqiva know how important it is that alternative and diverse stations exist on its platform, let them know @arqiva.com

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It’s Getting Political…

May 16th, 2012

Big respect to Amazing Radio fan Gavin Kemp, who sent the letter below to his local MP. Some people have said on email that they plan to do the same.

It’s clever how Gavin connected the disappearance of Amazing Radio to creative industries and emerging talent, and to his own backyard. It’s a brilliant fact that creative industries are one of the fastest-growing parts of the British economy, and music is slap bang at the centre of them, so we see his point. Thanks Gavin!

Paul
pc@amazingradio.co.uk
@drumpaul

Dear Anna,

Can I draw your attention to an issue that has come up in the last 24 hours, a [national] radio station called Amazing Radio has been taken off the DAB network due to a contractual disagreement between the station owners and the trasnsmitter owners Digital 1. Digital 1 have the only license to operate a commercial DAB network in the UK. There is a public interest responsibility that needs to be properly satisfied in this decision, in addition to a commercial responsibility.

Amazing Radio is a unique and important station, because it plays music uploaded to the station’s website by new and emerging bands, most being from the UK. These are new bands that have in [many] cases not yet been signed. Amazing Radio does not play the traditional back catalogue and current work of any established bands and does not play commercials. This makes them unique and the only radio station in the world entirely looking to the future in its output.

New bands usually have a number of inherent qualities, many are made up of young people (some still teenagers) and they are highly creative, producing work that is innovative and imaginative, and for those reasons they offer a massive window into today’s young generation and many of the issues they want to talk about. Young people and the creative industries are two of the most important assets for business in the UK. Many of today’s young musicians provide the proving ground for up and coming film makers through music videos, and young photographers wanting to develop their craft. Musicians and film makers also feed into television and computer games production in the future.

So there is a national economic interest for young people today, and today’s and tomorrow’s creative industries, in Amazing Radio being available through the DAB network. It helps the British economy.

Could you draw this problem to the attention of the Culture Secretary and other Ministers who have an interest in the economic value of the creative industries in this country? Could they get the appropriate parties together at Ofcom and look to find a solution to this problem because of the public interest, and the creative and economic benefits doing so will bring in the future?

It is worth considering that a young band or singer in Broxtowe can get their music played nationally (and until this problem arose, on a radio most people have in their homes) on Amazing Radio by simply uploading it, as there is no other station offering that opportunity to local youngsters.

Regards,

Gavin Kemp

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Amazing Radio, Keep the Faith – A message from our founder

May 15th, 2012

Well. It’s just under 24 hours since I tweeted that we were leaving DAB. It had only just become obvious that we’d have to go, and we were all shocked.

Now we’re stunned.

A mere forty minutes after my tweet was posted, the founder of the Save6Music campaign posted a tweet with the hashtag ‘SaveAmazingRadio’. Then it all started; a tidal wave of support, comment, offers of support. As I write this, @saveamazingdab is trending nationally; the petition at http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/saveamazingdab has got 700 signatures, and a Facebook page someone created at http://www.facebook.com/SaveAmazingDab is not far behind. Lauren Laverne, fresh from 6Music winning a richly-deserved Sony award, tweeted about us, saying 6 needs ‘great competition’ like amazing. Someone created the Keep the Faith picture featured in this post. Someone else made a ‘SaveAmazingDAB’ Twibbon. Lots of people suggested crowd funding the cost of DAB transmission. Today the activity has accelerated with every hour.

The trouble with broadcasting is that, if you’re not careful, you’re only ever set to transmit. You don’t often get the chance to receive. As a result, it’s hard to know what people think of our efforts. Well we know now. I spent all last night reading and replying to emails from people who took the time to write to me at pc@amazingradio.co.uk. It could be a full time job. It was incredibly emotional, a fantastically humbling experience to read what you had to say about Amazing Radio, how and where you listen, what you like, why you wanted to get in touch. Thank you, from all of us here in Amazing Towers, from our staff and presenters around the world, and the thousands of bands we have helped, and will continue to help. Because we are still broadcasting, of course. Not on DAB right now, but you can still find us online and on our mobile Apps. And as I said in my blog of yesterday, we’re expanding internationally.

If we had any doubt before yesterday that we should move heaven and earth to stay on the radio, it’s evaporated now. Please keep spreading the word. Every tweet and every signature give us more energy and more ammunition.

Thank you.

Paul Campbell
amazing founder
@drumpaul

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ME AND MY REALLY EXCELLENT MUSICAL GUESTS

May 14th, 2012

Back at the normal time, with all the usual shenanigans in store! The Artist of the Week for your delectation is the wonderful Me & My Drummer.

Having recently featured You’re a Runner as a Track of the Week not so long ago, we couldn’t resist getting the band in while they were in the country last week. Not only did they have a chat with us, but they also recorded three exclusive acoustic tracks which are going to melt your heart! For now, remind yourself of how good You’re a Runner is:

From one Track of the Week to another, this weeks comes from Nedry – Worship have remixed Here Now Here and it sounds incredible – beautiful synths for your ears every day this week.

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