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Quick-fire Interview with Richie Muir

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When lockdown hit in 2020, few people knew the impact that the pandemic would have on the music industry across the UK. Musicians, producers and managers up and down the land found themselves with time on their hands like they never had before. One such musician was Richie Muir: an Edinburgh-born musician based in Nottingham, but most importantly of all, a huge, lifelong fan of the Scottish rock band, Runrig. Lockdown saw Richie launch a Facebook page dedicated to acoustic covers of Runrig songs from across the decades. Before too long, the idea to put a band together to keep the legacy of the music alive led to the formation of Beat The Drum: The Runrig Experience. With the band due to embark on their latest UK tour, aptly named ‘The Long Winter Tour’, we sat down with Richie to discuss what the group have been up to and what concert-goers can expect from this run of dates.   Richie, it’s great to see you. We’re excited to hear about what you and the band have got planned before the e
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Coldplay's Music of the Spheres: the future of touring, or just virtue signalling at its most nauseating?

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Coldplay has just announced a new string of UK dates as part of their ongoing Music of the Spheres tour, which has been selling out stadiums and smashing records across the world. The tour kicked off back in March to clamour and excitement - but the hullabaloo was less about the music and more about how the tour was to be made a reality: with a sustainable and eco-centric approach.   The Music of the Spheres tour was prefaced with several environmental pledges: to Reduce, Reinvent and Restore, according to the band’s official website. Without going into the details, the headline aim was to reduce CO2 emissions produced by the concerts by an ambitious 50%. Anyone with any experience in the gigging and touring industry will know exactly how big a challenge that figure presents.   The cynics amongst you will no doubt harbour deep scepticism about such claims. After all, the music industry is full of stars professing to want to ‘do their bit’ whilst navigating the skies at a whim in their
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AMS Support Sleep 1000 Refugee Project

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Artist Management Services are proud to be supporting the Sleep 1000 project – a charitable endeavour aiming to deliver one thousand sleeping bags and thermal blankets for Ukrainian refugees arriving in Poland.  The project has been spearheaded by a selection of local heroes who will next week undertake the mammoth task of driving the donated goods across Europe, from Nottingham to the Polish city of Krakow. Well over 1000 miles and involving several days of travel, the lengthy journey will involve a small fleet of vans setting off from the Nottinghamshire town of Hucknall early next week. Despite the logistical challenges the job presents, local Sleep 1000 volunteer, Alex Marshall, was hugely optimistic about the project and the benefit it will bring to the refugees fleeing Ukraine: "We knew we had to do something to help," he said. "We were told by a Polish couple, who are actually currently housing some Ukrainian refugees in Krakow, that there was a real shortage of s
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We've Got You Covered!

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Covers are a useful weapon in an artist's arsenal; taking a well-known, well-loved classic and putting a refreshing new twist on it can be a great way to break through and get noticed. A rarer phenomenon occurs when an artist takes a lesser-known track from an established name, adapts the song, and releases it to greater acclaim than the original: so much so, that audiences sometimes assume that the song isn’t a cover at all. So, without further ado, here are five of our favourite covers that you never knew were covers in the first place!  1. UB40: RED, RED WINE (ORIGINALLY BY NEIL DIAMOND) Coming off the back of three consecutive Top 5 UK records, as well as achieving hits in countries around the world, UB40 released their version of Red, Red Wine in 1983 to much acclaim. Whilst other hits helped the band to get a foothold in the charts, it was this cover that gave the band their first Number 1. Included on the reggae covers album "Labour of Love", Red, Red Wine was or
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Explained: Taylor's Version

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Taylor's Version:  How Taylor Swift made her music her own Anyone with even the vaguest interest in popular music will no doubt have seen the recent re-release of 'Red', the award-winning album from American country-pop superstar, Taylor Swift, initially released in the Autumn of 2012.  Why the re-release, you might ask? It would be considered highly unusual for such a relatively recent collection of music to be afforded a second publication. It is not uncommon at all for Swift, however. Back in April, the singer released a re-recorded version of her much-loved early album, 'Fearless', much to the excitement of fans and the interest of industry bodies. It is expected that the other Swift albums will also be given new life at some point in the future. So, what is the story behind this string of album re-offerings, and how might these new 'Taylor Versions' signal a change in how artists manage and control their work? The saga began in 2018 when Swift’s entered
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'The pandemic has made me reconsider a career in music' - How COVID-19 has affected our music students

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Artist Management Services have today published their report on how music students have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Having surveyed hundreds of students on a wide range of music-related courses, AMS have presented their findings in this detailed report, which highlights some of the key concerns. As well as the immediate disruption to learning that has similarly affected the rest of the education system, the results of the survey reveal destroyed confidence in the music industry and serious concerns about future employability.  Artist Management Services' Communications Director, Adam Cable, spoke about the report and its findings: "The results made for dire reading. It's clear, perhaps unsurprisingly, that the pandemic has brought about a real shift in priorities for students. There's more anxiety about career prospects and job security - we've even had conversations with students who are in the process of changing courses or giving up on music altoget
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Artist Management Services Supports Business School's £50 Challenge

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We are delighted to share the news that we as a business are supporting a group of selected students from Nottingham Trent University, in collaboration with the Institute of Directors. Every year, the university nominates a section of their students to become student members of the IoD, giving them access to additional support, a mentoring programme and a number of business-specific events designed to boost their real-world experience.  One such event is the £50 Challenge, where students are put into teams and are tasked with turning £50 into as much profit as possible in a set amount of time, with money raised going to charity. The challenge is done in partnership with the students' IoD mentors; Artist Management's CEO, Ben Marshall, spoke about how excited he is to be taking on a mentoring role this year:  "Both as a business and as individuals, we are passionate about seeing young people succeed. The £50 Challenge is a great opportunity for students, as not only does it
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