Tune in – the times they are a-changin'

Jun 18 2009 By Alastair Gilmour, The Journal

How we listen to music is changing forever. Alastair Gilmour looks at an amazing concept.

IT'S a brave man who declares: "the record industry is dead. Long live music." Either that, or he has something up his sleeve to endorse the statement.

Paul Campbell, the North East educational software entrepreneur, already has his sleeves rolled up and is about to launch the only national radio station run from Newcastle. Amazing Radio is first to do a lot of things; the first radio station in the world to have its listeners choose and create the content, the first radio station to allow DJs to compile their own shows and the world’s first station to play 100% new music.

The concept fits snugly alongside Campbell’s other business amazingtunes.co.uk – a facility for unsigned artists. This "ethical website" doesn’t need a Performing Rights Society music broadcast licence either. Broadcast from city centre offices, Amazing Radio’s entire output consists of amateur and semi-professional musicmakers – unsigned bands, solo singers and instrumentalists for whom a record deal and exposure on radio was previously just a dream.

With a mantra that appears to be "you decide what gets on the air, not some geezer in a suit", Campbell has made it his business to build a web space that serves the modern musician and music lover in a way that has never been done before – and in a way that creative people surely deserve. Music lovers can review tunes, create radio shows, or send track links to friends and colleagues, all free of charge. They are only asked to make a modest payment if they download tracks for ipod or computer use. It costs 79p to download a tune, the same as iTunes. The performer gets 50p and Amazing Radio gets 29p, a deal which is a godsend for unsigned artists. Listeners can also leave comments online, such as the message left for solo artist Phillippa’s song, Vanishing: "Breathtaking, I just had to sit in the dark and play it again and again."

Paul Campbell set up the Amazing Group in 2004. He had joined the Musician’s Union at the age of 13 (he is a classically-trained percussionist) and toured the UK during his teens, playing in a jazz-rock band at the height of punk. He became the youngest-ever staff producer at the BBC and went on to produce youth and music programmes for Channel 4 and BBC TV, including Big World Café, the seminal world music programme. He is also a director of the influential Entrepreneurs’ Forum.

"I couldn’t stand by and do nothing any longer," he says. "I had a burning desire to use my experiences on both sides of the industry to bring about a long-awaited revolution. We created amazingtunes.com to help people discover and share new music and to provide a platform for unsigned artists to show their talents.

"I started out in 1978 as a teaboy in Radio Newcastle and have worked in the media ever since. I can honestly say I’ve seen nothing like this, it’s absolutely astonishing. The feedback from the public has been brilliant, extraordinary.

"The messages being left on our comments page are overwhelmingly positive. People just get it, they understand the idea behind it and they want to help. One guy left a message saying he was going to the Cambridge Folk Festival and could he hand out any fliers – this is from someone I’ve never met in my life.

"And, we’re not even sure what our target audience is; it’s not an age thing, it’s a mentality. The ethical download idea really seems to have stuck."

Stephen Green, communications director of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, says: "What Paul is doing is completely new, it’s the first national radio station outside London, an innovation which will change the way we access music. I’m sure he’s had a lot of struggles along the way to get it off the ground but it’s great for others, great for the North East and great for the Entrepreneurs’ Forum. Entrepreneurs have the ability to change the world and that’s what Paul Campbell is doing."

Investors in Amazing Tunes – which include Newcastle-based software giant Sage, publisher Dorling Kindersley and Morrisons the supermarket chain – raised more than £1m, a significant sum for an entirely new business model and an untested radio format.

The "music you’re about to love" may be the culmination of three years of research and development that will breathe new life into the business, but one suspects it’s only the beginning.

Paul Campbell says: "One guy who runs 77 charity shops told us they couldn’t afford the licence to play music but now they can because this way it’s free of charge. He’s going to tell everyone in the Charity Shops Association. Someone from the NHS has also been in touch.

"I hadn’t really thought through that, but there’s lots of goodwill and it’s going to go on. It’s a viral effect, it’s brilliant."

Artists aren’t particularly used to getting a fair deal, so bands such as Spokes, with their song We Like To Dance And Steal Things, are enjoying the Amazing Tunes exposure, as is Newcastle singer, composer and piano player Beccy Owen. Music is about discovery and music lovers like to hear a new song before anyone else, they enjoy being in at the beginning and discovering talent before they become famous.

Certainly one band featured on Amazing Tunes puts Paul Campbell’s creative concepts into perspective. There Lies History sing: "We’ll Always Keep Our Feet On The Ground".

Access the sounds at www.amazingtunes.com