I go between Nottingham and London, in the UK. I\u2019m from Nottingham originally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m a PR consultant, and I work wherever my laptop is, but usually in my home office in Nottingham or my local co-working space when I need motivation. I run a music PR agency called Brick<\/a>, working with various artists, events and festivals. I also founded a platform called House of DIY<\/a>, which helps creatives and musicians do PR for themselves through one-to-one work, workshops and resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I listen to a mix of new music and anything nostalgic, depending on my to-do list. I often listen to my client\u2019s new releases and think strategically about where to place the streams or videos. If I\u2019m not doing that, I\u2019m usually spinning some old stuff. Today, I\u2019ve been listening to Jay-Z\u2019s The Blueprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The work I do is very much concentrated online, so that\u2019s where I discover new music. Because I\u2019m always trying to place content – mixes, playlists, singles or album releases – I regularly visit music editorial sites and trawl through playlists, many of whom curate brilliant collections. Clash<\/a> Magazine, for example, offers an excellent mix of in-depth editorials with new and legacy artists and cutting-edge playlists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I usually always stream via my phone or laptop for convenience. I\u2019d say Spotify is a vital tool I use daily. I listen to the radio often in the car or via Alexa at home when I can\u2019t decide what to listen to, and that\u2019s how I discover a lot of new mainstream releases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The work I do is very much concentrated online, so that\u2019s where I discover new music. Because I\u2019m always trying to place content – mixes, playlists, singles or album releases – I regularly visit music editorial sites and trawl through playlists, many of whom curate brilliant collections.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n I listen to music all day, and that\u2019s a mix of listening to music that my clients send me (new releases, a new mix to place), or to familiarise myself with artists on a festival line-up. If I\u2019m not listening to new music I\u2019m working on, I\u2019ll often throw on something nostalgic like a UK Garage mix, some hip-hop, or maybe one of the early Blink 182 albums from my teen years for motivation. I am also privileged to catch many live acts and DJs performing at the festivals and music venues I work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Premieres are much less popular than they were a few years ago; most releases I find online now are already – if only just – out. Many sites do \u2018best music of the week\u2019 style round-ups, a good way of discovering new tracks and artists. Radio is still a good way of previewing music that\u2019s unreleased or brand new. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My clients tend to send me MP3s or playlists of music from SoundCloud<\/a>, which I\u2019ve used for many years and find easy to navigate. Sometimes, I listen to the same playlists repeatedly because I\u2019m busy working. It\u2019s so easy to do this with streaming services because the library is so vast that there\u2019s a lot of pressure trying to select something new sometimes! The benefit, on the flip side, is having all this music at your fingertips and being able to be creative with playlist building. I\u2019m an older millennial and spent my teen years making mixtapes, recording my favourite tracks from the official Top 40 charts on the radio on Sunday evenings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spotify playlists are my friend, and I try to be as organised as possible.\u00a0I collate my clients’ music within their own folders on Google Drive as MP3s, and I\u2019ve used Byta<\/a> to service pre-released albums to reviewers.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat are you listening to?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you discover new music?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What formats do you usually listen to? LP, CD, Cassette, Digital, Streaming Services? Why?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Where do you do most of your music listening?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you find and listen to pre-release music?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What are your frustrations with listening to music digitally? Any benefits?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you keep track of everything you are listening to?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n