A new partnership between live music marketplace GigPig and arts organisation Reform Radio could provide hundreds of paid gigs for young people to carve out careers as professional artists.
The Manchester-headquartered organisations are teaming up to provide young adults with regular gigs in venues across the city.
Multi-award winning Reform Radio uses its platform to engage young adults looking for new opportunities, working creatively with them over a sustained period to develop new skills for employment and providing DJ Sessions, Music Production and Creative Leadership workshops.
GigPig, meanwhile, provides venues such as bars, clubs and restaurants with a streamlined way to search, book and manage entertainment in-house, while offering artists a free platform to find, play and get paid for gigs.
Initially, the partnership will be rolled out in Manchester, where the appetite for live music is booming and Reform Radio is based. Reform Radio supported 316 young people last year and has a community of more than 500 artists working with the organisation at any one time. GigPig will match artists up with its Manchester venues every month.
Kit Muir-Rogers, co-founder at GigPig and himself a DJ, used the Reform Radio network to re-enter the Manchester music scene when he moved back to the city around a decade ago. He said: “As an artist, you can feel a bit alone unless you have a community around you to give you more clout. The music industry is complex and hard to enter – all too often it is about ‘who you know’ rather than ‘what you know’. We’re wanting to turn that on its head by challenging the norm and democratising the system.
“This pivotal partnership is extremely important in terms of breaking down barriers for talented young artists who would otherwise struggle to earn money doing what they love and have trained to do. We need venues to accommodate new artists and that’s the part we play at GigPig. We can’t wait to start working with Reform Radio to introduce more young emerging artists to the Manchester live music scene and help them to carve out successful careers.”
Robin Guérard, station manager at Reform Radio, added: “At Reform Radio, we want to make a positive difference to the lives of young people and inspire the next generation to consider music as a career.
“Our partnership with GigPig is a fantastic opportunity to open doors and improve access to the industry. The ultimate goal is to enable the city’s venues to discover new artists, in turn giving young artists a platform to establish themselves as professional artists; from where they can build their profile and connections to secure repeat work. I truly believe that with more partnerships like this, we will improve the industry for all new and existing professional artists.”
