Generator at Sound City: Boss

Team Generator embarked on our fourth Liverpool Sound City and it was deffo the boss-est yet! We hit the ground running on Thursday morning with back to back Generator panels. The first, with the Lucas-esque title ‘The Rise of the Influencers’ looked at the trend for targeting tastemakers to get noticed rather than traditional media, taking in anecdotes, algorithms and the very sound advice that if your music is strong enough, you’ll get noticed regardless.

Perhaps it’s time to put down the Hype Machine and pick up the guitar again!

Generator’s second panel ‘Live Music and the Digital Age’ looked at how promoters can embrace digital platforms to better target fans and to create better experiences for live audiences. While many in the room were intent on Facebook bashing, the reality is that the slightly-less-social-than-before network just needs a little TLC. Take your time to be original and engaging and when the time is right, use their advertising platform as a cost effective way of promoting to those most likely to attend your events.

Thankfully, panellists from Music Glue and TicketWeb were on hand to tell us how much more open their platforms are to promoters wanting to share data with artists, labels and managers. Those willing to bundle content can appeal to a greater audience while making it easy for fans to spend their money – and surely that’s great news for us all!

Elsewhere at the conference we caught a forward-thinking and positive Branding panel, The Musicians’ Unions ‘Conscious Coupling’ debate between promoters and artists and a great session on the Friday asking ‘Which TV Show Uses Music The Best?’.

After much debate, I think we can all agree Made In Chelsea should take the prize for introducing Asgeir to Brieality television. With so many great panels, and the debut of a new Roundtable format, Sound City have really thrown down the gauntlet this year.

On the showcase front, we were blown away but great new venue Kazimier Gardens where we not only caught GeneratorNI’s hugely popular show, featuring PORTS, but also a surprise highlight of the festival in the form of teenage Polish two-piece The Dumplings. We then took in a few hype bands before surrendering to the guaranteed fun of Thumpers.

Our very own Tipping Point showcase on the Friday evening was full from the first indie-pop chords of Lisbon. Eva Stone hasn’t lost any of her charm and produced the standout vocal performance of the weekend. Fresh from European touring, Boy Jumps Ship shook things up to show why they’re getting so much love from Kerrang right now. Spontaneity and raw twintuitive talent were in abundance for Gallery Circus’ set and we rounded the night off with lush dreamadelica from Sheffield’s Blessa. We’re not going to pretend we saw much else on the Friday but why would we leave our own venue!

With future FIFA presidents, the John Peel World Cup and reds and blues (almost) uniting for the weekend, football fever was inescapable at Sound City this year. Also inescapable was the queue for Jungle, the most anticipated new band on the lineup in amazing new space The Factory. At Tipping Point Towers we’ve been fans since day dot (last year) and they were well worth the wait. In a mad rush to see as much as we could, we rushed passed the magnificent Wolstenholme Square food stalls to take in Eyedress and the finale of Public Service Broadcasting’s set.

With some truly special venues and exhilarating sets across the weekend, Liverpool Sound City treated us extremely well this year. We’re off to sleep until Brighton but needless to say we can’ wait for Scouse by Scouse West 2015!