Focus Wales New Music Competition Launched!
by Ben Davis on 8 February, 2011 | 6 comments
Focus Wales, the spanking new music industry conference for Wales, has launched their New Music Competition which will give new acts from across the UK the opportunity to perform at the festival which is being held in Llangollen on the 27th and 28th May.
The gates have been thrown wide open for entries on their website, which allows band’s/musician’s to create a profile and upload a video for the public to vote for. So, submit your act now for a chance to win a slot on the Focus Wales 2011 lineup! Go to: www.focuswales.com/competition.
The weekend festival will be a mix of live music, talks, workshops and discussion forums, including performances from a collection of the best in Welsh music, including special guest headliners.
The first lot of bands have been announced to play the festival, including; MASTERS IN FRANCE, GALLOPS, WE ARE ANIMAL, BRIGHT LIGHT BRIGHT LIGHT, PAPER AEROPLANES, THE ROSEVILLE BAND, REAPER IN SICILY, THE VENUS FURY, DEAF CLUB, MEILIR, HEAL THE LAST STAND, CAMERA, ANDY HICKIE & THE MERRY MAIDENS, VICTORIAN HARDWARE and MOTHER OF SIX.
Organiser Neal Thompson said:
“There’s a real buzz growing around the event with people eagerly anticipating the weekend festival in May. There’s a feeling that Focus Wales will offer an international boost to the growing and well respected Welsh music industry. Momentum is building for what will be a unique event showcasing the Welsh music and bands. In the next few weeks, tickets for the festival will go on sale and details of the headline acts will be announced.”
Focus Wales will include a conference element with internationally respected music industry experts giving talks and chairing discussions, tackling the most relevant topics and challenges facing the Welsh music industry today.
For more information, visit www.focuswales.com
on 08/02/11 at 2:50 pm
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by wrexhammusic, Frozen Grape. Frozen Grape said: RT @wrexhammusic: Focus Wales New Music Competition Launched! (Please RT) http://bit.ly/fxsXAk […]
on 20/03/11 at 5:17 pm
[…] forget their new music competition is still in full flow, for the chance to play at the festival, go here: […]
on 15/05/11 at 7:07 pm
After all the hard work and dedication of the bands and the support of their friends and family, they have just been told that the venue has now shifted and that FFAF or the other headliners will no longer be playing. What a terrible thing to do to all those up and coming bands. Shame on you Focus Wales, you have just gone and lost the trust of all those people who you have tricked!!
on 16/05/11 at 1:30 pm
Karl, may I ask just how much hard work and dedication have the bands actually put into this event?
Surely it’s the promoters/the people behind Focus wales who have put all of the effort in? And I hardly think it was Focus Wales’ choice to change venue otherwise they would have put the event on elsewhere in the 1st place. They didn’t trick anyone. It’s just sircumstance and bad luck that forced the event to be in a different venue.
I really think you need to get your facts straight before you start blaming others
on 16/05/11 at 8:25 pm
Hey Punter
Thanks for the reply. Focus Wales ran a competition for three months on their site where bands were given the chance to upload their details and music and then encourage others to vote for them so that they could be in with a chance of playing the event with FFAF and the other headliners. Of course, for a long while a large number of bands worked extremely hard raising the profile of their music on MySpace and Facebook sites and the gig in Llangollen itself. Speaking for one of the groups who I voted for every single day with my email address and publicised widely through my own Facebook, Twitter and other contacts, they have been left nothing short of devastated after now having to cancel the coach that they had laid on for supporters and not being able to have the experience of playing with some of the finest musical talent in Wales at the moment. They had been in the local welsh press and had conducted interviews for various publications to raise the profile of the Focus Wales music event and their own music.
If you had taken an active part in the competition, you would realise how much time and effort each and every band had put in to publicising the event and their own brand of music. Focus Wales has/had overall responsibility as the promoters to ensure that the venue that they chose was both reliable and trustworthy (just like any supplier used in business or otherwise) and although a full refund has been offered to all those who purchased tickets, the hurt and embarassment of having your place at the event pulled from beneath you is hard to bear, especially when, as a winning band, you and your fans expected to be at what promised to be an amazing venue.
Hopefully, Focus Wales will have learnt a lesson from this whole mess and will stick in future to the area that they know best – Wrexham. It is surely a shame that in their maiden year, negative publicity will overshadow what should have been a celebration of the new emerging talent from Wales.
Of course, we will still be supporting the groups at the new venue, but judging by the feedback and reaction on the websites of those involved, it may be the last association with Focus Wales. I hope that they put on a really special night in Wrexham and wish them all the luck in the future.
Take care
Karl
on 16/05/11 at 11:42 pm
I have taken part in these ‘vote for your favourite band’ competitions before and I find they are completely useless… Especially when you can vote more than once (because that to me is cheating!).
You make a fair point on behalf of your supported group, but there are still many more factors you’ve missed out.
I could write a list as long as my arm but unfortunately, ‘sh*t happens’.
Yes you might have voted everyday for your favourite group… that was your choice. But somehow I don’t think changing venue was Focus Wales’ choice.
Kudos to them for actually continuing even with a change of venue and loss of bands from the line up. Offering a full refund is a noble thing to do as well as they could have easily not given you that choice. The show must go on as they say. Any one who is still involved and still playing should be proud to be taking part! It’s a celebration of Welsh music at the end of the day. Who cares if FFAF won’t be playing, that doesn’t stop the rest of the bands to play, surely?
“ensure that the venue that they chose was both reliable and trustworthy”
You’d better tell the Eisteddfod not to use the Llangollen Pavilion then!
I do feel your pain, don’t get me wrong. However, I do not believe anyone but the venue itself is to blame for what has happened to this event. I also don’t believe for one second the guys (or gals, or guys and gals) at Focus Wales would in their right mind change location and drop this bombshell on both the public and all musicians concerned in the event. Because that would be stupid!
You won’t be the only one who’ll be annoyed. Put it that way!
Take Care
A. Punter