ISSUE #1

isn’t that well established and so are
just not famous enough to rip you of
your hard earned cash. Chances are
they’ll put on a better performance as
well, no point getting you through the
door and putting on a half-assed show,
because next time when they charge £12
instead of £10, you probably won’t go.
Bands in themselves are a local business
and the more you give them the more
they can spend and the more they can
improve. This in turn makes everything
else better, because that is how the
economy works… until the bankers take
it all. So, usually the venue will get a cut
of the money a band makes on entrance
fees, and if not it will probably get at
least one or two people having a drink.
More money for them! They’ll be able to
keep the place up and running and
maybe even have more shows. This is
especially good for those venues that
don’t quite have enough money or a good
enough space to attract big acts.
However if you don’t go, no one makes
money, bands starve, music shops
liquidate, bars close, we all go sober –
productivity may increase but we will all
kill each other in frustration. Let’s not
forget the poor record stores, even if
you’re not buying a record or CD by a
local band, at least try to buy it in a
local store, you’re helping these bands in
a different way and more so helping a
business that will be investing money
back into our own economy. You
personally will be saving someone’s job
and in that case go ahead and buy
yourself another congratulatory CD.
“
By creating a thriving local
scene ourselves we produce
something that tourists will
want to come and see
”
MAR/APR
There has been a lot of discussion
over the past decade of the
Creative Class, a group of people
who are the leading force behind
economic growth. A wondrous
selection of workers that bring
growth to any country that
attracts them. We obviously want
some of that. So in this new age of
global economy, we have to shift
our focus on retaining big industry
and manufacturing, but more
importantly start attracting
smaller creative rms, the rms
all these Creative Class types want
to work for. Now there are many,
and almost certainly more
important ways to attract these
people, one of them is to have a
thriving local music scene. A city
needs to have a sense of self to
reel them in, and a scene that
demonstrates the cultural and
social diversity of a place, is one
way to do that. You have to ask
yourself, what wouldn’t be
appealing about going somewhere
with a great local music industry?
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