Joining the dots

Supporting the development of the independent music sector through game-changing ideas, sharing know-how and connecting people working in the industry.

Developed by The Hub, an organisation that develops new thinking and practice in the music and wider creative sectors, Joining the dots was a professional development programme for musicians, promoters, producers and others working in the music sector.

The project tested new artistically-driven thinking and practice through exploring touring, commissioning and financial models, harnessing digital technology to drive live attendance and revenue and building niche music consumption amongst young adults. It enabled musicians, promoters, producers and others working in the niche music sector to develop business skills and encouraged new approaches to income generation and audience engagement. The project also catalysed sector-wide sharing of expertise, know-how and solutions, encouraging entrepreneurialism and increasing sustainability.

Across the Joining the dots programme, The Hub awarded four research and development bursaries to Cafe Oto, Daredevil Project, Eventbox and Un-convention. Recipients also received mentoring support from members of the King's team, attended cohort away days and took part in monthly one-to-one meetings with the Programme Director.

After the completion of the project, the four teams that were awarded bursaries successfully built and launched an iteration of their initial ideas. Feedback from all teams suggested that without the support provided by The Hub through Joining the dots their proposals could not have been built.

The project ran a Bring & byte ideas lab / hack for thirty professionals from the independent music and tech sectors. The lab was also attended by a King's student.

Through this ideas lab the team brought together individuals from the independent music and technology sectors who reported that they felt re-invigorated by the chance to explore and develop ideas with people from the music or tech worlds that they wouldn’t normally engage with, and a number started thinking afresh about how to develop their practice, careers or businesses.

For more information about the prototypes that came out of Bring & byte can be found here.

In 2014 and 2015 The Hub also held One dayer conferences that plugged gaps in people’s knowledge of tech, audience development and income generation as well as fostered a greater sense of community in the music and wider creative sectors.

The key things delegates took from the One dayers were new ideas, contacts, knowledge and understanding. Each was attended by more than 200 people and live streamed to over 300. Related sessions also took place at The Great Escape and Sound City. A video about the 2015 One dayer is available here, and content here.

The Hub have also produced two webinars about the project and around 70 pieces of free-to-access online learning content, available via The Hub's YouTube and SoundCloud channels and blog.

For more information about Joining the dots and The Hub, contact team via email info@thehubuk.com, Twitter and Facebook.

Joining the dots was jointly funded by King’s, Arts Council England, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Musicians’ Union

Dr Gretchen Larsen

Gretchen is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Durham University. Prior to joining Durham, Gretchen was a Lecturer at King's College London, where she was the Director of the MSc International Marketing. She is one of the founding co-editors of Arts Marketing: An International Journal and has guest edited special issues on arts marketing topics in Marketing Intelligence and Planning, the International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research and the Journal of Customer Behaviour.

Toby Bennett

Toby is a PhD student at King's who joined the Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries in 2012. His doctoral research examines the nature and understanding of work in major labels as the music industry reinvents itself in a digital light. His thesis is titled 'Post-Digital' Work in Major Labels of the UK's Recorded Music Industry' and looks to map the tensions inherent in between creative and non-creative work, different cultures of production, and across techno-industrial change.

Dr Harvey G Cohen

Harvey joined King's in 2006 and is currently a Senior Lecturer in Cultural and Creative Industries. Topics Harvey teaches include the history and business of popular music and film; the history of museums and the publishing industry; the business issues facing cultural industries; and American and African American history. His forthcoming book, Who's In The Money? The Great Depression Musicals and Hollywood's New Deal (2016), will outline the history of the Warner Bros. movie musicals during 1933 and their political, historical and cultural connections on- and offscreen with the newly elected U.S.

Julia Payne

Julia co-founded The Hub in 2002 and currently acts as its Chief Executive. She has over twenty years of experience in promoting, marketing and fundraising for independent ‘beyond mainstream’ music. She has a strong interest in education, and is an experienced trainer and mentor. She led the hub team that developed and managed BBC Talent’s Fame Academy Bursary Scheme (now BBC Performing Arts Fund), and was instrumental in developing Guildhall School of Music & Drama‘s award winning Connect programme.

Jenny Harris

Jenny is The Hub's Associate and Senior Producer. She has directed, programmed and produced festivals and events including imove – the 2012 Cultural Olympiad programme for Yorkshire, Yorkshire Festival, Interrogate Festival of Social Justice and the Arts, Halifax Festival, Phrased & Confused on tour and at the Summer Sundae Weekender, Fertlizer Festival, FuseLeeds and much more.