Get Your School Books Out

• 12th Feb 2004

Next month there's another first for the Welsh music industry as the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Welsh Music Foundation (WMF) join forces for a music industry seminar, demo jury and show-case. Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff will be the venue for the event to be held on Wednesday 3 March.

ASCAP is the world's largest performing right organisation and collection society for publishing royalties. “Songwriters have the choice as to which performing right organisation collects their royalties in the US,” explains ASCAP's Dan Moore. “We have offices in the UK to promote the differences between the different royalty collection societies in the USA.”

The seminar starts at 2pm and will examine the workings of the UK music industry, featuring a panel of experts from various fields including A&R, Publishing, Law, Management and Promotions. This will be followed by a demo jury, where musicians / songwriters will have the chance to play their music and have the panel give their praise, criticism and advice.

The seminar and demo jury are free to attend, and are open to anyone over the age of 14 ­ no tickets are needed. “This will be a an opportunity for London-based industry figures to meet their Welsh counterparts, in addition to being an opportunity for songwriters to have their music listened to by professional A&R,” says Moore.

In the evening a showcase will be held at Cardiff's Barfly venue with three of Wales' best new bands ­ already confirmed are The Caves and The Benjamins. Doors are at 8pm and it's £2 a ticket.

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