Music Publishers Association AGM marks 40 years of punk with a focus on DIY culture

21 June 2016 - Press release

Music Publishers Association AGM marks 40 years of punk with a focus on DIY culture - Wednesday 29th June 2016

Keynote interview with British punk original Tony James (Generation X, Sigue Sigue Sputnik) before the AGM focusses on 2016’s trailblazers, including Austin Daboh (BBC 1Xtra), Chris Meehan (Sentric Music), Harri Davies (Bucks Music), P Money (Artist/Writer) and Sian Anderson
(SighTracked)


“This is a chord. This is another. This is a third. Now form a band.”
[Sideburns Fanzine]

Marking 40 years since the long hot summer of punk, the 2016 Music Publishers Association AGM will dedicate itself to music’s disruptors and innovators.

The event will look to celebrate the UK’s long history of DIY culture - combining a scene-setting keynote interview with celebrated rabble-rouser Tony James, before a focus on today’s new wave of music publishers, writers and entrepreneurs.
 
Tony James is widely recognised as one of the leading pioneers of the British punk movement, beginning his career in the 70's with the formation of Generation X with Billy Idol, before moving on to create the provocative phenomenon that was Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Tony then went on to join The Sisters of Mercy before exploring the next musical revolution with the formation in 2002 of the band Carbon/Silicon, his current digital-leaning collaboration with ex-Clash mainstay Mick Jones. In conversation with Music Week editor Mark Sutherland, he will look back at the genesis of UK punk and its continued impact on our musical culture.

Then looking at the punk spirit of today and tomorrow, we will segue into a panel discussion featuring Austin Daboh (BBC 1Xtra), Chris Meehan (Sentric Music), Harri Davies (Bucks Music), P Money (artist/writer) and Sian Anderson (SighTracked) that will explore DIY culture today.

Moderated by Record of the Day’s Liz Stokes, expect a wide-ranging conversation covering everything from technology and starting a music publishing business, to talent development and the rise of UK Grime - surely our closest equivalent to punk rock today.  

Jane Dyball, CEO of the MPA Group of Companies, said:

“Punk rock not only created a musical revolution, but generated a DIY ethos which some industry commentators feel is lacking from the current music scene. We would respectfully challenge that notion and are presenting a celebration of today’s punks at the MPA AGM – those who are instilling a can-do DIY culture that thrives in the digital age.

“We are delighted to present an interview with Tony James, who was there at the epicentre of events in 1976 and who founded not one but two seminal DIY bands. It will be fascinating to see how much the excitement of ’76 chimes with today’s most entrepreneurial young voices in the shape of Austin, Chris, Harri, P Money and Sian.”

The AGM is invitation-only and takes place on the afternoon of Wednesday June 29th 2016, at London’s Royal Institution.

For more information, please contact Jen Hall: jen.hall@mpagroup.com / 020 3741 3808