Voice of London

Joining me is Sweeney, DJ and producer also known as Howson’s Groove from South East London, who gives me a glimpse into the realities of being a young creative. And music lecturer from Westminster University, Kienda Hoji, gives some expert advise on what it takes to get noticed.

With soaring rent, bills to pay the city has never been such an expensive place to live. How do you survive as an up-and-coming artist?

Sweeney tells The Voice of London that often, you won’t get paid for what you do, “but you do it anyway because it’s what you love doing.”

Sometimes you might just get noticed out of luck, which is helped by networking and entering the right circles.

Sweeney tells The Voice of London:

“You’ll be surprised about how the people you meet now could give you unexpected opportunities in the future.”

Howson’s Groove talks about the bizarre connections that got him signed to Anglo Management, and how he ended up performing in France because of an interaction in ski shop. Find out how it all came about here:

Kiendra Hoji says that,

“Students often end up in the business side of the music industry.”

Kiendra has a background in AMC Records, when the internet wasn’t a way to of getting noticed. He tells the Voice of London:

“It was very difficult getting into the music industry back then, you had to play tricks to stand out, now we get emails from AR who are looking for young artists.”

He goes on to tell The Voice of London:

“Anyone can show the world their music through the internet, this has made things a hell of a lot easier.”

Yet the internet opened up the doors to piracy, which cost the music industry a big cut to jobs and profit. Since illegal downloading site, Napster, emerged in 1999, music sales in the US dropped 47 percent, from $14.6 billion to $7.7 billion – according to Music Business Worldwide.

This was a huge blow to the industry, and to young artists who are trying to break through. A lack of jobs and finance leaves producers in a position where risks can’t be taken. The funds are therefore only available to established artists.

This is the reality for many artists living in London, who work part-time jobs to keep a roof over their head, whilst doing what they love on the side. But the message is… crack on, keep going, and don’t give up.

Words: Yasmin Dahnoun | Subbing: Joshua Hornsey