The former Undertones singer turned British Music Rights bigwig talks about the way the music industry can meaningfully connect with education and tells us why the internet doesn't have to mean the downfall of the music industry.
MM: You spearheaded the rehearsal spaces initiative. How is that going? Are we succeeding in reaching kids on the margins?
FS: Our pilot in Wrexham, which opened in January 2006, was phenomenally successful. The local council donated some space in a local building free of charge and the Music Industries Association provided instruments and equipment, and in four months more than 700 people - the majority of whom were under 18 - used the rehearsal studio. So, yes, the evidence was pretty compelling that we were reaching kids on the margins.
From there, in December 2007, DCMS pledged £500k for us to set up a national network of rehearsal spaces. That process is now ongoing.
Can you tell us about the ways that British Music Rights is supporting and engaging with young musicians?
Educational programmes are fundamental to BMR's activities, and will underpin most of the work that we do. We don't want to be hitting kids over the head with copyright jargon or lecturing them about what they can and cannot do. That's not the point. The aim is to use music as the basis for driving entrepreneurialism - so getting kids to start a music company or organise a music event with QuickStart and then, as a byproduct, understand the challenges of running a business based on intellectual property.
The hottest topic in the music industry has to be illegal downloading. How is the industry going to cope when people don't want to pay for music?
There's always going to be some people who don't want to pay for music. Or indeed for anything, especially when it comes to the internet. For me, the challenge here is two-fold: firstly to develop and encourage new business models that match how music fans want to consume music; and second, to get the information out there that the creative people at the end of the chain - the musicians, artists and songwriters - need to get paid to continue to do what they do.
When you took on the job at BMR you talked about working with technology partners and innovators for the benefit of all songwriters. How is this working?
Have you ever noticed what happens when a busker in Covent Garden starts playing a song? A crowd starts to form. If they're really good, that crowd might even throw some money into a hat. The same principle applies online. Music attracts people. If you're running a digital business and you want to build an audience, then just add music. That in itself is a fantastic opportunity for both technology and music industries, although only if those who create music get paid. I don't see why artists and songwriters should be providing the fuel for somebody else's failed business plan.
Happily we are seeing progress here. The deal between the UK collecting society, the MCPS-Alliance, and YouTube was groundbreaking, and we're now seeing royalties flowing back from the use of music on that site to the pockets of UK creators. It's the tip of the iceberg though, as most online usage is still not monetised. The other key part of this will be working with ISPs and building commercial businesses with them.
If you and your friends were forming the Undertones today, do you think you'd have more or fewer opportunities to make a living out of music? And to be fulfilled creatively?
As I've already mentioned, the advances of technology have been astounding. With a broadband connection and a home computer, you can now record a song and post it to the world. With developments like the rehearsal room initiative, the opportunities for kids to pick up an instrument and play have been blown open. For a lot of kids that would be enough to fulfill them creatively.
However, for a professional career, I still believe that you need more than that, and to understand the business of making music. There's no one route to success any more, and much more is in the hands of the individual, but you still need to find ways of exploiting your copyright - ie. your songs - and getting yourself noticed, whether that's playing gigs, radio, press or TV.