Ryan's Gig Guide - October 2018

Radio Presenters It might seem obvious but mainstream radio is still an effective propaganda tool. Even if the music itself being broadcast isn't connecting with its braindead audience stuck in traffic on the M25 then you can always depend on an arsenal of gormless monotone millennial radio presen- ters to chat aimlessly about the exploits of pop stars in between the harmful bland sound emis- sions escaping the station. Radio presenters, otherwise known as the beautiful people, use their platform to share and regurgitate their knowledge of music history; mainly bands or artists who've become fashionable in the past twelve months or anyone connected to something they noticed on television the previous evening before finally passing out on a prostitute after their body's regular heroin intake. DEATH Unexpected celebrity musician deaths such as suicides are often prioritised in news media. It's morbid but a musician can gain huge mainstream attention once they've passed away and are likely to be transformed into a bigger household name if their death is announced on television or featured in major tabloids.This effectively catapults the artist to a wider audience including millions of non-music fans. Often in these cases a huge younger generation of followers emerge as teenagers once hit with the news become traumatised and incredibly sad with the fresh knowledge that people they see on their television sets that they don't even know can actually die in real life; making the whole thing incredibly depressing. TALK SHOWS Even a hardened anti-music fan can't avoid eye contact with huge billboards; especially when there's the giant face of a celebrity spunked on to it. Part of billboard advertisings strength is to ensure you're familiar with the brand it promotes; entertainment programs such as the Graham Norton Show or The Last Leg use this form of advertising a lot and receive high TV ratings. Guests antics on these shows are religiously tweeted or talked about and often there's a musi- cian desperately plugging a new album that someone else probably wrote for them. If whilst on a show they mutter anything funny or relatable to a fellow guest then they become intertwined with that stars media and fanbase too; like a televised networking orgy for celebrities.These guest format shows aren't strictly music based; you can also expect to see athletes, politicians, comedians, actors andWill .i.am appear on them too. Millions of viewers with no interest in arts and culture often make first contact with a mu- sician via a talk show and after watching them make fart jokes or anecdotes about anal sex for thirty minutes they soon reveal their natural personalities and become part of the next intel- lectual discussion at the family breakfast table. Nick J Townsend is the frontman and guitarist for British bandWeak13.An experienced Underground musician and music promoter, film producer, all round good guy & supporter of original music. rgg Oct 2018 17 www.ryansgigguide.com