Gateshead angles of the North- nice photo almost getting Hoults Yard in

I spotted this photo on flickr. Thought I’d blog it, so Hoults Yard fans can figure out if we are actually sneaking into the image – just on the far right.

Catch the original – and comment from the photographer on his post:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allan_bruce/400079085/

Mere Mortals – Steve Walmsley podcast

If you are interested in Mere Mortals, you could listen in to this Bridge Club podcast of Mere Mortals MD Steve Walmsley.

Mere Mortals is one of several highly successful businesses that are clients at Hoults Yard – the North East’s premier digital media hub. (Check out the website for the latest flexible studio space that Hoults are developing in the former pottery in Byker – The Kiln website here)

 

The Bridge Club is the North East’s premier entrepreneur network, run by Caroline Theobald.

Creative industries – Feargel Sharkey involved

The Mandrake Club, a London networking group at Adam Street Club, hosted their monthly session this week with Feargal Sharkey explaining his new role at UK Music. There are lessons for creative industries across the UK in his message.

Amazingly, for the Undertones star from Northern Ireland – perhaps most famous for writing Teenage Kicks – he is the head of this new government quango to support the music industry.

Feargal talked elequently about the need for a collaborative approach across historic industry divides as the music industry faces the assaults of piracy, digital convergence, MySpace and international competition.

It’s a big political challenge to bring rival groups together – and also to link with the likes of the Internet Service Providers and the peer-to-peer music sharing sites. Feargal talked passionately about how unprecedented these joint discussions have been and how positively they are being engaged with. (Clearly it helps if you are one of seven children yourself and used to politics from a Northern Irish context!)

Feargal has commissioned new research amongst teenagers to understand their love of music (83% said they couldn’t do without music, only 60% said they couldn’t live without their mobile phone!). He has recruited heavyweight industry support (his chairman, Andy Heath, founded Beggar’s Banquet records – Feargal has taken to the stage to sing Teenage Kicks with Culture Secretary Andy Burnham on guitar!)

UK Music’s members include the Association of Independent Music (AIM), theBritish Academy of Composers & Songwriters (BAC&S), BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, the MCPS-PRS Alliance (The Alliance), the Music Managers Forum (MMF), the Music Publishers Association Limited (MPA), theMusicians Union (MU) and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL).