How many more to be overlooked?

Recently the clique orientated promotion of Scottish artists has grated on my nerves greatly. I would start telling you who are part of this clique, but to be honest by doing that I would only be giving them more promotion which the don't really need. It's not that I don't want to promote them, it's just that why should I overlook other acts like Dead Sea Souls, Pure Dead Brilliant, Kenneth Bowman, Dougie Greig and many more.

Last night I posted a comment on a status which I agree was a bit harsh, but it lead to a conversation with a well known Radio DJ who's reputation in Scotland only proceeds him. We agreed that we should all work together to promote artists, but what wasn't agreed on is the fact that the newer and lesser known artists should be given as much exposure as possible.

It's not an easy industry to get into, it's not easy to make a name for yourself and it's a lot of hard work to make just a few new fans. There are avenues there to get your music heard, there are a number of radio stations willing to play unsigned music, the only problem seems to be that if you're not "in the gang" then you'll be waiting a hell of a long time to get your music out there. I try and play every band that sends us songs within an hour, it might now always be possible but I try my hardest to do so. Every musician deserves recognition, a chance to build up their confidence and the chance to get some constructive criticism. As I mentioned to the auld fella last night, I sent him 2 tracks from my debut E.P two years ago, and I've still not heard anything back. If he thought the tracks were shit, then a bit of constructive criticism would have been nice. I actually considered not releasing that E.P because my confidence took a hit from that. I eventually released it, and I'm glad I did.

Why should music be so "tribal"
Why should music be so "one sided"

I walk into a pub with live music, and I'll listen, I'll have a chat with whoever was performing, and to be honest, even if I think they're shit, I'll give them a business card and tell them to send over a few tracks. Everyone deserves a chance, everyone can improve and the only way of doing that is to get feedback. Yes in the past, I've reacted badly to negative feedback, but I realised that I could improve on it.

I know this might sound like a shameless bit of self promotion, but it's true. If you send a track to MESi Radio, we'll play it. Chances are, you could get a gig or two out of it. We work with some venues, we get a lot of listeners, we'll do our best to help out anyway we can.

I'm not surprised that a certain radio station is not going to be on DAB anymore, and I'm also not surprised that another certain radio station currently looks like it's hitting the shit. From what I can see, there's about 4 or 5 good named stations in Scotland that say they are dedicated to Unsigned Music, well here's the killer......it's a load of bullshit, there's 3 out of those 5 that are only out to help themselves and don't care about the music. They see pound signs, they see recognition for giving "the clique" a push. It's a shame, because like I said, we should all be working together to promote everyone.

What do I know?

I've only been on the receiving end of a couple of those stations policies, and to be frank, I know a good few others aswell. I would never tell anyone not to listen to them, or even send them tracks, you never know, you might get lucky. All I'm saying is, don't let it bother you when you don't get the airplay. Just realise that you're not part of the elite task force and that when you've done something special you can snigger, and sit with a big cigar as you watch them grovel for an interview.

I think that's my rant over, hmmmm

Someone say Pizza? ...................