Featured Music Campaign:
Aardman Animations team up with the UK music industry for Music Matters campaign
A collective of people in the music industry, including artists, retailers, songwriters, labels and managers has formed to remind listeners of the significance and value of music.
A new campaign, Music Matters, is bringing people together from across the industry for the first time, to highlight the profound value of music and to educate consumers on how to identify legitimate music services.
Allowing the music to speak for itself, the campaign has commissioned a series of short animated films about inspirational artists who have dedicated their lives to music and contributed to our cultural landscape. The films, including the stories of artists such as Blind Willie Johnson, The Jam, John Martyn, Nick Cave, Sigur Ros, Kate Bush and the Fron Choir, will be carried on supporting artist and organisation websites, with further films scheduled for roll out later in the year.
Aardman Animations got involved with the project after being approached by Will Anderson (A&R/Visual A&R Manager) at EMI late last year. Three directors from the multi-Oscar winning animation studio were delighted to make short films for their favourite musicians, Felix Massie directed and animated the Sigur Ros short and Sarah Cox and Emma Lazenby collaborated on the Nick Cave animation.
Cox and Lazenby said of their involvement in the campaign; "We have both been long time fans, Sarah even went to see The Birthday Party in 1983 at the Hacienda. Once we got started however we felt the enormity of the responsibility in depicting someone's life, particularly someone we admire so much. We sort of wish we had selected someone whose opinion we didn't value quite so much!"
Massie took influence from Sigur Ros' album artwork and from the tone of the music to create the style of his film. "I found the story about them travelling up the mountain to record their album and thought it was a funny example of when your passion for something clouds the practicalities of the way you set about doing it. Quite romantic in a way! Making the journey across their landscape fit with the music was really satisfying and it was fun researching all about Iceland. I want to go."
The Music Matters campaign website, www.whymusicmatters.org hosts all of the films will as well as advice on how to identify legitimate music sites.
The Music Matters campaign is led by Niamh Byrne (Universal Music/formerly CMO Management - managers of Blur and Gorillaz.) "For many people music is the single most important cultural element of their daily lives," said Byrne, "but as it becomes more available it can become invisible, disposable. Cutting through the debate about technology, transmission and consumption, we want to remind everyone why music matters."
Sigur Ros by Felix Massie
Nick Cave by Sarah Cox and Emma Lazenby
