I am looking for editors and video/creative set ups to get involved with.
I have new video /photo projects I want to develop and show in public.
I am a creative who has worked with visual arts mainly photos and video ,but I am also involved in public art type projects.
I have a hi def video ready to be edited ,the material was shot in thailand ,a kind of chill out relaxation idea which I have experience of exhibiting ,it's surprisingly effective.
I am particularly interested in places that are already established as I work best in active environments ,particularly with young people.
I am in the process of updating my site so any web designers out there who might like to help with the upgrade let me know

Bright Space web www.brightspace.org.uk phone 0121 772 6932 email andrew@bsalute.co.uk

Animation or ICT Practitioner Required for Worlds End Infant and Nursery School

World's End Infant and Nursery School in Quinton is looking for an ICT/Animation practitioner for their speaking and listening project.

The project will be focusing on Year 1 pupils and you will also be working with teachers, parents and carers.

Deadline for applications is Friday 27th November 2009.

Please click here for further information.

Drama/Dance Practitioner required for World's End Infant and Nursery School

World's End Infant and Nursery School would also like to recruit a Dance/Drama practitioner with early years experience to work with Reception class pupils. The practitioner will also work with staff, parents and carers.

Deadline for applications is Friday 27th November 2009.

Please click here for further information.

Steve Purdham

Steve Purdham

CEO we7.com plus discussion with a Guest Panel

MONEY FOR ARTISTS and your music for free

Steve Purdham’s success to date has been in the computer industry. He was the co-founder of SurfControl, a world leading internet protection systems provider. Between the sale of SurfControl plc and the early formation of we7, Steve was also Chairman of Identum Ltd, an internet security encryption company which was a spin out from Bristol University utilising world class IP. His entrepreneurial skills have also been recognised with many prestigious industry awards.

Steve is passionate about music, so it’s not surprising that his career in the technology sector has culminated in his current role as CEO and Founder Investor of we7, an online music service. We7.com is a new music destination where customers can listen to, share and discover music for FREE, legally and safely. This music can also be bought as high quality mp3 downloads which can be played on iPods and most other digital players.

Steve explained that his background in technology and marketing led him to explore the idea of providing music via a system where someone else paid for it. He likened this to previous music industry revenue models but with the value proposition shifted to a third party. In the case of we7, the technology platform allows the delivery of ad/message supported music. There is the option for customers to pay for the music if they prefer to receive music without adverts.

We7 has 4 million songs available via search and click, it’s not even necessary to register in order to access this music. There are currently 2.5 million users but the service is still in its infancy and momentum will inevitably increase. A break even situation has yet to be reached but as costs reduce we7 expects to be in profit sometime next year.

Answering the first question from our audience Steve emphasised the recent history of the internet. Not so long ago companies like IBM had yet to embrace it but now we take for granted the fact that any content is now available online. However, we7 is a firm believer in compensating artists for the exploitation of their material.

He stressed that Ad funded is just one model, there are others, but ultimately what the internet does is deliver – it also counts. With such mass consumption there will inevitably be attention given to the economic possibilities. Steve reminded us that music has never been owned as such, when we buy CDs we are really only buying a licence – all we own is a piece of plastic. What we participate in is the ‘sharing’ of music, nothing in that equation has really changed with the advent of the internet but the issues are magnified. The technology is only a means to an end, what’s important is to get music heard and as it is the market expands. The internet challenges restrictive distribution practices and in this way it does change previous business models. What Steve was keen to point out is that people will pay what they think something is worth, so the value chain does change but payment can still occur. What’s happening at present is the process of educating the public about legal ways to download material. This is preferable to the counter argument that some might support where a climate of criminalising the online market is seen as the only way forward.

We7 has featured 75 exclusives in the last 90 days, in themselves these are not a great deal of use to artists but may encourage a bigger revenue market with follow up material made available in higher quality formats and the exploitation of back catalogues. With this generation of demand, there will always be a value attached at some stage in the process and this is why advertisers are keen to engage. Advertisers are always interested in anything that promises to reach a mass audience or a mainstream customer base, they’re looking for the big numbers so they will be less than enthusiastic about small niche markets and enterprises that are set up as ‘clubs’ which have limited appeal to the majority of the public.
Steve talked about the development of such an economic model or market, the Guardian reported, in the same week as our event, that 2009 was already (two months before the peak Christmas sales period) the biggest year ever for UK singles sales. Digital downloads have rapidly overtaken sales of CD singles and cassettes to dominate the market. That they have reached these heights whilst there are still more than a billion illegal downloads every year in the UK is testimony to the vibrancy of the download market. Consumers are responding to the value and innovation offered by the legal services and these figures show how the market could explode if the government acts to tackle illegal peer-to-peer filesharing (Geoff Taylor, BPI chief executive). 

PANEL DISCUSSION

At this stage, Steve was joined by our panel for the evening. It was chaired by Andy Derrick who is an award winning professional musician, educationalist and consultant working for Sostenuto LLP – an independent organisation dedicated to providing cohesive creative industry development and support as well as inspiring future music industry leaders. The panel also included Lee Parsons of Birmingham based Ditto Music, who have achieved 7 UK top 40 singles, all with unsigned artists.

Our audience put many questions to the panel. Lee Parsons talked about what methods could be employed to promote unsigned bands. In September, working with Ditto, we7 launched its brand new showcase for unsigned talent – we7 Presents. Designed to give up and coming new acts the chance to reach a mass audience and earn money for the music they play. Lee spoke about facilitating promotion, an example being using SMS texting at live shows in order to spread interest and the need for acts to weigh up what works well for them at gigs. There are lots of different add ons in terms of product, for instance 5 track and 10 track releases, vinyl, USB bracelets etc – coming back to the point Steve made about value amounting to what people perceive something is worth.

Another question concerned barriers to entry of the music industry; Steve suggested that the biggest barrier for anyone to overcome is that of ‘noise’ or rather the sheer quantity of content now available. Bebo uploads 4,000 bands per day so in order to compete or be noticed then the artist’s ‘brand’ is all important. With any random download of 100 tracks it’s not possible to discover the essence of what’s provided. iTunes has 13.9 million songs listed but most of these, 10.3 million, are never sought by customers. Of We7’s 4 million songs, only 22% are rarely downloaded, so some differentiation is required in order to have an impact on the public consciousness. Steve cited his fellow founder investor Peter Gabriel as someone who realised the importance of a point of difference from the competition, forcing people to take notice of the band by ensuring the public knew their brand and what it represented.

Andy Derrick did a splendid job of chairing some lively discussion and allowing as many people as possible to be heard. We thanked him and Lee Parsons for joining our keynote speaker Steve Purdham for the evening and taking the time to present their interpretation of the current state of play. Showing our appreciation with much deserved applause for our guests, the evening came to a fitting close and we left with much to ponder. This event certainly lived up to its proposition that the way music is consumed may have changed, but the value has not.

We did film the event and the video will be posted on the Creative Networks website as soon as possible.

Lee Parsons	Andy Derrick	Steve Purdham

In this special event, co-hosted by Flip, Birmingham City University, Hello Digital, and Animation Forum West Midlands, we looked at the current state of the West Midland’s animation industry. Asking what are the highlights and achievements and how we can help the sector develop and expand at a time of recession?

It included a screening of work from leading animation studios and individual filmmakers and a panel focussing on some of the achievements and highlights from the region. The panel included Chris Randall of Second Home Productions, who pioneered an innovative replacement animation technique, Andy Guest from the CharacterShop, who are involved in a number of international co-production projects, Sam Moore, filmmaker specialising in animated documentary and Dan Lawson, Head of Production, Development and Inward Investment at Screen WM.