subject: Newcastle Music Manager scouting for North East Bands [print this page] Newcastle Music Manager scouting for North East Bands
The music industry is notoriously hard to break into, but Michael Forster, director of AMV Live Music and Vertigo Management, is doing his bit to push themusical talent of the North East to the fore.
Joe McElderry, a son of South Shields, shot to fame thanks to ITV's The X Factor, and Geordie Cheryl Cole might be one of its star judges, but there is plenty of talent still waiting to come out of the North East.
Michael Forster, who spent more than a decade managing one of the UK's top-selling comedians, has turned his attention to musical talent.
AMV Live Music already has a portfolio of accomplished jazz, classical, rock, pop and traditional musicians, available for functions, weddings and corporate events - Baltic and HSBC are already among the company's corporate clients - but Michael's venture goes much further than that.
"Probably 80 per cent of our talent have completed a bachelor's or master's degree in music in the region, so they're astonishingly accomplished musicians," he explains. "However, these artists have never had representation because the agent's profit wouldn't be enormous."
AMV Live Music provides these musicians with a platform to make the most of their talent, and when Michael comes across an exceptional musician, he has his own management company, Vertigo, to launch them to a wider market.
"One to watch isVelecia Mode," he reveals. "She's signed to a producer in Jersey - a guy called Ray Hedges, who has 60 top 20 singles, eight number ones, two Ivor Novellonominations and a Producer of the Year award. He worked with Joe McElderry on his hit single, Ambitions, and is currently working on The X Factorin tandem with Simon Cowell and the groups. We've created a fantastic track for her with Maxi Jazz from Faithless that's ready to go."
Michael continues: "You have to have an angle to get somebody launched. For instance, The X Factor is an angle. Whatever you hear in the business about somebody having a website that got loads of hits and it took off, that's just an angle, it probably didn't happenquite like that.
"The hook we're creating forVelecia is getting her music synchronised with adverts."
It sounds like hard work, and Michael admits that the music industry can be a trying one.
"You need the moon and the stars to align, you need an enormous amount of luck and talent, and then you've got to find a producer or a label who believes in you," Michael admits.
He adds: "At the minute, the industry doesn't really know how it's going to make a living because of all the piracy that's going on."
However, Michael's passion for Newcastlemusic and his own natural talent as a manager keep him involved.
"Music was always my love," he points out. "I fell into comedy and found I had a talent for managing and promoting artists. It's like falling off a log for me.
"I wanted to take someone who is young, raw and talented, and shape them into an artist who will have a legitimate and long career. I was sick and tired of seeing one-hit wonders coming and going and seeing kids blowing their millions and ending up broke."
Michael found the ideal business partner in musician Andrew Garner - it was a conversation between the pair that actually sparked the idea for AMV.
"I met Andrew when I was looking for musicians to form a collective for one of the artists I have signed to Vertigo," Michael recalls. "Andrew is a very intelligent guy who runs two North East Bands. One day, he explained that his peers are always moaning about not having any work, but he was gigging five nights a week. So I said, well, we'll set up a Newcastle Musicagency for them, and that's where it started."
So, whether you're a musician who would like some help to reach a wider audience, a private customer looking for a North East Bandfor your wedding or a corporate client who needs a talented artist for a business event, AMV Live Music is the way forward.
