AI still can’t compose music very well. That doesn’t mean it isn’t useful for musicians. How easy is it to write a good pop song? Pretty damn hard when you think about it. Imagine all the elements that go into your favourite hits: melody, rhythm, orchestration, instrumentation, structure (verse and chorus) and more. No wonder computers struggle, even those using the latest advances in machine learning and neural networks. There have been many attempts to train an algorithm t

How’s your performance today? Not your sales targets, or your upcoming quarterly review. Not those social media conversion metrics you deliver at the end of every week. I mean your performance. You know, like a musician on the stage with a song to perform and a crowd to work. That performance. The word is on my mind because I saw my best gig of the year so far at the weekend – and I wasn’t even expecting to see it. But there I was, at a small village festival watching Mission

In 1981 a long-playing record cost nearly £5.00. That’s about £20 in today’s money. Why does this matter? Bear with me. I’m imagining how I’d describe the world in 2017 to my teenage self. Back then buying music was simple. Save up every month for one record. Listen at leisure. Start thinking about the next purchase in about four weeks’ time. So, I imagine asking the question. “If £5.00 buys you 10 songs in 1981, how many songs can you get for £5 (£20 in today’s money) in 201