Yamaha Education News

Yamaha UK supports Rock The House

Pictured here: Mike Weatherley MP, representing Hove and Portslade, who came up with the Rock The House concept

Yamaha UK is supporting the first ever parliamentary 'Rock the House' programme, which is designed to champion live music and showcase the UK's best music venues. The scheme will see MPs and a panel of local experts nominating local bands and the most innovative and community-active venues from their constituencies to compete for the coveted title of Rock the House's best live band and best local venue.

Yamaha is joined by by a myriad of big names within the International and British music sector, including UK Music, EMI, Future Publishing, Consumer Focus, the Music Managers Forum (MMF), Incorporated Society of Musicians and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Music (APPG on Music).

The sponsors and supporters have pulled together an unbelievable array of prizes, many of which money can’t buy. These include performance opportunities on the terrace at the House of Commons, the chance to network and have consultancy sessions with top industry professionals, recording opportunities in a professional studio and invaluable PR exposure through coverage in Future Publishing’s catalogue of specialist music titles.

MPs will nominate one band and one venue from their constituencies by 31 March 2011, these nominations will be submitted to the high-profile, influential judging panel which includes Chris Ingram, Group Publisher of Future Publishing, music industry experts and Mike Weatherley MP and John Robertson MP (Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music).

The panel will determine the five finalists, and the shortlist will be announced by the end of May 2011. Each of the finalists will be invited to a star-studded reception on the terrace of the House of Commons, where the winners will be announced on 30 June 2011.

The programme is the brain-child of Mike Weatherley MP and aims to promote the intellectual property rights of unsigned and up-and-coming musicians by utilising the voice of British politics and national, specialist and local media. The competition is an accessible vehicle through which to capture the imagination of the public and legislators in recognition of the need to support and promote the live music sector.

Mike Weatherley MP said:

"The future of music lies in the hands of the up-and-coming artists, who are finding it increasingly hard to break through in a sector where many consumers think it is their right to access content for free. Without recognition that this music actually constitutes the creative and intellectual property rights of artists, it will become increasingly difficult to for new creative talent to pursue music as their main form of income. This is bad news for anything outside of mainstream genres and will serve only to stifle the diversity of the British music scene.”

More info from http://www.rockthehouse.me.uk/

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(posted: February 2011)