New Initiative Unveiled by Industry Veterans Ronnie Traynor, Nicky Maciocia and Ben Johnson

Cassyette, Yonaka and Gateway Girl First Beneficiaries of Development Fund

A new initiative aimed at providing opportunities for emerging artists through funding, artist development programmes and ongoing industry expertise has been launched by three UK based, music industry veterans.

Riot Noise is the brainchild of brand partnerships expert, record label executive and artist manager Ronnie Traynor, who has teamed up with live events and marketing specialist Nicky Maciocia and music, tech, lifestyle and health entrepreneur Ben Johnson to help artists develop their craft by providing writing camps, studio time and tour support, and to help them find and grow audiences while creating pathways into the commercial music industry.

The team have also designed and built ‘The Riot Truck’, a 7.5tn customised lorry with a fully loaded sound system that can double as a mobile stage and DJ platform, that will allow emerging talent to perform at festivals and live events throughout the year.

Other plans already underway include the building of a residential recording studio in Buckinghamshire – ‘The Coach House’- which will be available at a reduced fee for music companies to use as part of their artist development work and free to unsigned artists who come through the Riot Noise programme.

Riot Noise has been founded as a ‘social enterprise’ and is independently funded. It is currently in discussion with a range of established music companies from across the records, publishing, artist management and live sectors with a view to partnering on this new initiative. The aim is to create a self-sustaining ‘circular artistry’ model whereby a small amount of an artist’s future income goes back into developing future talent.

Ronnie Traynor, co-founder of Riot Noise said, “There is huge, untapped reservoir of talent that is struggling to find a pathway into the music industry because an increasing number of record labels, music publishers, managers and live agents are only interested in working with fully developed, oven ready projects. There is a real need for artist development opportunities to help evolve ideas and hone skills to a point where artists can embark on a commercial career. We want to provide support, encouragement, expertise and funding so that we all don’t miss out on the superstars of the future. We have established Riot Noise as a social enterprise in the hope that it will become self-sustaining through partnerships with the artists we help develop and the wider music industry.”

Among the first beneficiaries of this new initiative were hotly tipped, emerging artists Cassyette and Yonaka whose recent co-headlining tour of the US was funded by Riot Noise. In return both artists have pledged to work closely with other up and coming bands as mentors and through a series of writing camps.

David Bianchi, CEO of Various Artists, who manages both Cassyette and Yonaka said, “What a fantastic initiative this is for new and emerging artists. There is no way we could have even contemplated playing any dates in the US without the support of Riot Noise. I love the idea of ‘circular artistry’ whereby artists who benefit from this type of support pledge to pay it back down the line. This is definitely something that the wider industry should support.”

Other artists already benefiting from the support of Riot Noise include 20-year-old, Brighton based Gateway Girl and IYAMAH, who was also raised in Brighton but is now based in London.

Gateway Girl is receiving mentoring from a number of industry experts, performance coaching, access to writing camps, studio time to develop her music, live show supports with Joy Anonymous and Morgan Harper Jones, alongside the opportunity to release an EP of new tracks in the near future.

IYAMAH is receiving funding for her UK tour and in return is offering other emerging artists a chance to remix one of her tracks for release.

Nicky Maciocia, co-founder of Riot Noise said, “Riot Noise exists to empower and amplify the voices of emerging musicians, artists, producers and DJs and these first few projects are great examples of ways in which we can help with the fundamentals of artist development and audience building while giving confidence to talented individuals often working in complete isolation with no networks, no experience or no understanding of how to make progress into the commercial music industry. We’re here to help.”