News Archive


Times It’s Worth Takeing a gig That Doesn’t Pay

Tuesday, February 28th, 2017

What we do as musicians is a professional craft with skills that require years and years of training and perfecting, as with any trade. And those years of personal investment in time, education, and finesse come with a price tag. Nothing upsets us more than when we see good musicians selling themselves...

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Limited edition Shure SM58 microphones

Sunday, February 26th, 2017

The Shure SM58 Cardioid Dynamic Microphone has been used faithfully by the world’s most influential musicians since 1966. To celebrate and honour the strong connection of the SM58 to legendary musical artists, Shure has partnered with both Paul McCartney and The Who to make available at auction...

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The pro audio recording app,

Saturday, February 25th, 2017

While there are many video recording apps available, very few of them focus on an easy way of getting professional sounding audio tracks together with the recorded video. iRig Recorder 3 solves this problem, starting from a powerful audio recording engine and adding video recording capabilities for...

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Have you nailed it?

Friday, February 24th, 2017

The important must—have if you’re talking about what many people would consider success, i.e. earning wads of cash for doing what you love. The greatest artists have their niche and they own it. Bruno Mars has absolutely nailed it, and even more so with his New Jack Swing approach to pop....

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Chester Bennington’s Split With Stone Temple Pilots

Thursday, February 23rd, 2017

The Linkin Park singer joined STP in May 2013 after the famed alt-rock group fired Scott Weiland, who helped found the band in 1985. Bennington and STP released the five-song “High Rise” EP in October of that year. It included the singles “Out Of Time” and “Black Heart”.

Two...

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Control Your Breathing When You’re Nervous

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2017

When you’re nervous, does your heart rate speed up? Does your breath quicken and become shallow? Do your legs start to shake? Does your mouth go dry? Do you become hot and sweaty? Do you tense up?  These are reactions to the ‘fight or flight’ response that prepares us for action in situations...

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Which pop stars deserve a blue plaque in their honour?

Tuesday, February 21st, 2017

Rock and pop’s most influential figures are to be honoured with blue plaques on BBC Music Day this year – and you can decide who gets one. Over the next week, every BBC local radio station in England and the Channel Islands is accepting nominations for a local artist (or venue) that changed...

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Developing a Performance Persona

Monday, February 20th, 2017

Developing an alternative version of yourself can enhance both your performance and the experience in many ways. When performing in front of an audience, whether  it’s your production team,the studio, a crowd  in the local pub,  or a sea of  fans at the O2  Arena, it’soften helpful to consider...

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Musicians Best Practices for Hashtags

Saturday, February 18th, 2017

Hashtags are much more relevant on Instagram than other social media sites like Facebook, so if you’re actively using Instagram to connect with your fans, it really pays to understand the best practices and hone your hashtag strategy. Unlike most other social platforms where hashtags serve as a...

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Dealing with performance anxiety

Friday, February 17th, 2017

Performance anxiety, or stage fright, can affect a seasoned professional just as much as an inexperienced musician new to the game. It can strike at any time and doesn’t only occur as you’re about to walk out onto the stage, but can also chip away at a performer’s confidence weeks before a show.

In...

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Arthur Brown Talks Jimi Hendrix

Thursday, February 16th, 2017

Without Jimi Hendrix, pioneering shock rocker Arthur Brown may never have lived up to his reputation as the self-proclaimed “God of Hellfire.” In 1968, when the theatrical singer’s group, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, put out the single “Fire” – an incendiary, psychedelic...

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Alumni Nominated At 2017 Brit Awards

Tuesday, February 14th, 2017

The nomination of two alumni for the 2017 Brit Awards: Luke Patterson (Clean Bandit), and Sophie Elton (aka Dakota), Luke is the drummer for Clean Bandit, who topped the UK singles chart for thirteen weeks in 2016 with their single ‘Rockabye’ featuring Sean Paul & Anne-Marie. The track was...

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Goals You Should Keep in Mind

Monday, February 13th, 2017

Many musicians don’t realize that Instagram is not only incredibly important to millions of people around the world, but it also provides an unlimited number of wonderful opportunities to meet new people, become friends with fans, make announcements, and even sell merch and music. If you curate...

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A Rule For All Musicians

Sunday, February 12th, 2017

If a member of a group or band feels stifled and unable to be creative on stage  they are not going to last very long. It’s not a nice way to live as a musician, is it? So here is a rule that has been tried and tested. The rule is simple: Nobody can be negative for 20 minutes after a performance,...

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Special Masterclass And Songwriters’ Events

Sunday, February 12th, 2017

The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP) was proud to host two special events as part of LGBT History Month this February, focused on the promotion of LGBT artists. This year’s LGBT History Month celebrates the idea of diverse communities and uses the fingerprint logo to represent...

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