Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg offers artists an inside look and training course dedicated to the UK Jazz market on December 12 & 14. The two-day online workshop discusses how to strategically grow your career as an artist from the perspective of the UK industry.

The online workshop will be led by Creative Producer Lucy Woolley, who alongside running her coaching practice, runs Lancaster Jazz Festival and works for Edition Records. Her 10+ years of experience in the jazz sector encompasses developing networks, artist development and roles within the live music sector, including Programme Manager for Jazz North, Network Manager for Jazz Promotion Network and Festival Manager for Manchester Jazz Festival.

This workshop will address the state of play, understanding and opportunities in the UK Jazz Market. The workshop will cover the infrastructure, looking at the landscape for touring and live opportunities, networks to promote and market your music and the role of labels and the challenges faced in releasing music in an impactful way.

Each session will begin with an overview of the subject and introduction to panelists and will be followed by a round-table discussion and Q&A, with particular insights from successful independent artists operating on the UK scene alongside their professional industry counterparts. The goal is for the participants to come away with a thorough and working understanding of the UK market, it’s opportunities and it’s challenges. 

Practical information
The workshop will be held in English. All sessions are taking place online. A link to join the sessions will be emailed to all registered participants prior to the workshop.

Schedule

Day 1 – Tuesday 12 December 2023
Promotion & Labels

10:30am – 10:45am | Introduction by Lucy Woolley

Presentation of the program and schedule, panelists, and hosts.

10:45am – 12pm | Panel discussion followed by a Q&A

• Looking at the English audience – Jazz is a broad music, who are the audience, how do we reach them, what are the platforms for engagement?
• What is the media landscape? TV, Radio, Newspaper & Magazine support for the jazz industry? What’s the best way to impact in a release cycle, tour cycle, outside of any major activity?
• PR Agents – does it make an impact?
• Audiences and community building

12pm – 12:15pm | Break 
12:15pm – 01:30pm | Panel discussion followed by a Q&A

• Who are the labels? What’s the benefit of a label vs self release?
• What is the release process for CDs, LPs in the UK? What is the timeline?
• How has streaming impacted the physical market for Jazz? Do streaming platforms impact on audience development?
• What are the other pathways for audience development? Does Social Media impact?

Panelists: 
Mark Kavuma – Banger Factory Records, Founder & Recording Artist
Daniel Garel – Edition Records, Label Manager
Tina Edwards – Media & Press Expert

Day 2 – Thursday 14 December 2023
Touring and Live opportunities

10:30am – 10:45am | Introduction by Lucy Woolley

Presentation of the program and schedule, panelists, and hosts.

10:45am – 12:00pm | Panel discussion followed by a Q&A

• What are the roles, processes and steps to UK touring? Artists managers, concert and tour promoters/producers, booking agents, venue owners, festival bookers: Who does what?
• Main touring destination: major touring cities/regions, who are the main locations and venues, festivals?
• Approaching for gigs – with and without an agent. How venues work, who do they book. Venues vs Festivals – what’s different?
• London – why the London market is different and getting the right gig

12pm – 12:15pm | Break 
12:15pm – 01:30pm | Panel discussion followed by a Q&A

• Opportunities for an emerging artist? Showcasing & artist development opportunities
• ACE, PRSF, HMUK and other funding opportunities
• Touring as an international artist in the UK
• Touring the UK after Brexit – what is different and what is the impact?
• Importance of community in the UK scene.

Panelists: 
Agnese Daverio – Booking Agent, FMLY Agency
Emma Johnson – Independent Touring Artist
Nishla Smith – Programmer, Howard Assembly Rooms, Leeds

Speakers

Daniel Garel
Daniel Garel is the Label Manager at the UK-based independent record label Edition Records, an award winning label working with an international roster, where he brings experience of co-ordinating complex release campaigns and strategic vision. Daniel has worked in a number of roles within the jazz sector, including co-ordinating the UK presence at jazzahead!, working as the communications and marketing manager for the Jazz Promotion Network in the UK and he also currently works as one of the programming team at the Vortex Jazz Club in London.

Tina Edwards
Tina Edwards is a London based music journalist, broadcaster, curator and DJ. Embedded in the media world, she hosts radio for Worldwide FM, Soho Radio and British Airways, and writes for the likes of Downbeat, WeJazz, Composer and Sound of Life Magazine. She runs two curation platforms; re:sonate with Tim Garcia, and Queer Jazz with Jelly Cleaver. Tina is also the Editor of Listen Zine, presented by British speaker brand, KEF.

Mark Kavuma

© Serena Guidolin

Over the last decade Mark Kavuma has established himself as a key player in London’s rapidly expanding jazz Scene. As leader, he has released five albums, two on Ubuntu Music, and three on his own label, Banger Factory Records. Mark’s main outfit, The Banger Factory, is a collective that is contingent upon bringing the people a good time. From a weekly residency in Brixton’s POW, over 8 years, the band developed and nourished a truly unmistakable group sound. Banger Factory Records was founded by Mark in 2021 as a natural evolution from The Banger Factory. With the inception of the label, he has established a direct link to the legendary musicians that pioneered the sound, the look, the language, and the swagger of the whole culture. His vision is to pass it on to the generations to come and while he is at it unashamedly showcase the London jazz community and its herds of exceptionally dexterous, accomplished, brilliant players and singers.

His aspiration for the label is that it will inspire and empower those within the community and provide a platform for uncovering new artists and up-and-coming musicians, enabling them to not only hone and finesse their craft but to innovate, flourish and realise their full artistic potential, ultimately shaping the future of music beyond genres, genders, and borders.

Agnese Daverio
Agnese Daverio is a music industry professional with 10 years experience under her belt, working in the sector in a number of roles. Agnese worked for over seven years as Programmer and Producer at the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival and Jazz Scotland, delivering over 40 festivals and concert series across Scotland. During that time, Agnese was also the leading force driving forward international projects and collaborations (e.g. Criss Cross Europe, festival exchange partnerships with the Italian Jazz sector), curated festival takeovers (e.g. Hidden Door festival) and developed a number of talent development schemes. In recent years Agnese has been working transnationally as a Booking Agent. In November 2022, Agnese was invited by FMLY Agency to develop a new roster of exciting emerging as well as established artists working in jazz and related styles. Since then, Agnese has been working alongside artists, managers, labels and industry partners to develop international careers for a number of artists, including Theon Cross, Mansur Brown, corto.alto, Eliades Ochoa, Orchestra Baobab, Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange, Mica Millar, Georgia Cecile – and many more!

Nishla Smith
Nishla is an artist and curator based in Manchester, UK, concerned with storytelling, both in her own composition and performance, and in her curatorial work. Nishla curates the public programme at the 320-seat Howard Assembly Room in Leeds, putting together diverse seasons across classical, contemporary, folk and jazz music alongside spoken word, film and public lectures. She’s interested in unravelling the divisions of genre and showing work that sits at the intersection of music, visual art, dance and theatre. Her programming is driven by concepts and ideas, and she hope this serves as an invitation for people to experience it on their own terms. Nishla believes that the arts have a vital part to play in shaping the world we live in, and that belief is a powerful starting point from which to imagine the experiences she creates for audiences. Nishla is a recording artist with her quintet, a recent alumnus of London Jazz Festival’s prestigious Take Five cohort and was the 2022 recipient of the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award. She performed in Atri Banerjee’s acclaimed production of ‘Kes’ in 2022, for which she won a UK Theatre Award for ‘Best Supporting Performer; and is Co-Artistic Director of cross-disciplinary theatre collective, Ulita.

Emma Johnson

© Joe Collinson

Award winning saxophonist and composer Emma Johnson is a Leeds based independent musician and the bandleader of Emma Johnson’s Gravy Boat. Emma’s music has been played on BBC Radio 3 and her writing has been described as ‘a relaxed, melodic and distinctive style of contemporary jazz’. With her group, Emma received the Peter Whittingham Award to record her debut album Worry Not, which was released in July 2021. The band completed their first national tour at the end of the year, performing the album’s music live in cities across England. Their second album, Northern Flame was developed from a commission created for and premiered at Lancaster Jazz Festival 2022. Gravy Boat are currently on a national release tour in support of that album. Emma is an independent artist, who has released two albums and toured without the support of a label, booking agent or other team.

More information