Artist Management Services Ltd

If one thing can be unanimously agreed upon by everyone, barring the likes of Jeff Bezos and investors in Pfizer, 2020 has been one hell of a ride; emphasis on the 'hell'. What a brief bit of respite from the doom and gloom it was when, early this morning, Spotify users awoke to find their smartphone apps telling them that their personal Spotify Wrapped was now available to watch: a personalised review of your year-long listening habits, favourite tracks and most-listened-to artists. A phenomenon that flew under the radar in years gone by, the now hotly anticipated annual event has been the most consistently talked about and tagged phrase across social media today. It's a bit of fun ultimately. Wrapped will tell you quirky factoids like which new genres you've explored, how many hours of your life you've forfeited to conspiracy theory podcasts and how you're in the top 0.5% of global Frozen II soundtrack listeners thanks to car rides with your two-year-old. Spot...

We are delighted to announce that we have finished as runners-up at IKON 2020, a global small business award.  To be recognised on the international stage is a fantastic achievement, and even though we didn't walk away with the top prize, we feel very proud to have made it to the final, where every candidate showed themselves to be worthy of the win.  IKON 2020 is an annual conference held in California and hosted by Keap, a software company aimed at improving and growing small and medium-sized businesses. It is estimated that the company currently has around 200,000 users. This year's conference differed from years gone by in that much of the presentations needed to be held virtually, due to the ongoing restrictions caused by COVID-19.  After an extensive application and interviewing process, our CEO, Ben Marshall, was delighted to find that his business had made it to the final, which involved delivering a keynote presentation to the thousands of conference delegates vi...

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With current COVID restrictions showing no signs of going away any time soon, many consumers looking to organise a small wedding or party are having to be creative with how they create the party vibe without contravening any government or venue enforced rules. One of the most common get-arounds used (especially when it comes to weddings) is to move as much of the event outdoors, both to appease restrictions and to make guests feel more at ease with social distancing. If you are fortunate enough to have been asked to perform music at one of these outdoor events, you may be unsure of the challenges that could be presented to you. After all, the majority of musicians will have spent much of their time playing indoors. So without further ado, here are the most important tips for making your alfresco gig run as smoothly as possible.  1. Are you catered for? Before agreeing to perform or signing any sort of formal contract to do so, you must have assurances that the necessary resources...

The lights go down. The crowd erupts into anticipatory cheers and applause. Stage lights flicker as the unmissable rattle and hum of a legion of VOX AC30 amplifiers begin to crackle into life. As the muffled, distorted vocal intro of arguably one of the greatest concert openers of all time breathes its way through the line array speakers, a silhouetted figure strides through the haze, clad in a glitzy, disco ball-like jacket and leather gloves that would make even Liberace blush. Freddie – is that you? Alas, it is not. But as Adam Lambert's devastatingly excellent vocal cords navigate their way through Queen's stadium anthem, 'One Vision', like a lightsabre would through the even world's sturdiest butter, it's easy to see why legends like Brian May and Roger Taylor feel so at ease sharing the stage with the American Idol finalist. Lambert is good. Almost too good. This was back in 2015, in one of the UK's many soulless, corporate-owned stadia, at the tail e...

Tom is a full-time musician based in the US and has been working with Artist Management Services for the best part of two years. He is primarily a pianist, but also enjoys the chance of putting his skills on the oboe to good use. Like the majority of us, Tom is currently trying make the best of life under lockdown. We caught up with him and asked him what it’s like for a working musician stuck in quarantine.  Hi, I’m Tom. I was born in Devon but moved out to the US six years ago to be with my (now) wife and to try and pursue my dream of working as a session musician. Long story short, it took less than a month since the move to land my first bit of work – playing piano on a recording for a children’s choir. It wasn’t exactly the rock and roll beginning I was expecting from a life in music, but I was grateful for the opportunity (and the cash, of course), and it actually led to some other exciting projects that I’m still involved with today. As well as session work, I also play regu...

Signs are encouraging for aspiring female musicians, especially songwriters, as the number of women finding success in the industry is officially on the rise.   Although women remain massively outnumbered by their male colleagues, the number of female songwriters signing with UK rights organisation PRS for Music is thought to have increased by 60%, demonstrating the growing appetite amongst listeners for talented acts, regardless of gender.   PRS, which collects and distributes royalties to songwriters, said 1,755 women signed up in 2019, compared to 1,097 a year ago. Interestingly, nearly 63% were below the age of 30, perhaps indicating a trend towards younger acts.   Celebrated pop acts like Billie Eilish (18) and Mabel (24) have made headlines recently, for their musical contribution for the upcoming James Bond film and their well-received live performances at award nights respectively. Eilish is already steaming ahead in terms of the number of Spotify streams her...