Session 3 - Your experience of music

Aim
This session aims to relate the students' own experience of the live music industry to the industry and to highlight potential careers within the live sector.

Resources:
Internet access
List of useful industry websites (resource library) 

Curriculum links
KS3 Citizenship
English
Music

You could select one of these tasks and spend the whole session exploring it in detail OR work through both tasks.

Task 1

In pairs, make a note of the last two concerts/gigs/live music events you have attended. These might be a school concert or a public event (eg. Radio 1 roadshows/T4 On The Beach).

• What kind of music did you hear?
• Did the performer sing their own songs or were they written by someone else? If so, how do you know/could you find out?
• How much did your ticket cost?
• Did you buy a programme? What kind of information did the programme provide?
• What else did you spend money on – refreshments, travel?
• Make a list of the range of the jobs or activities you think might be involved in staging these events.
  
• Feed back your ideas in a class discussion.
  

See the Resource Library for more information and links to useful music industry websites.

Task 2

In pairs, make a note of the last two downloads and/or ringtones you bought.

• What kind of music did you buy? 
  
• Listen to the podcasts below to find out why buying music legitimately helps music creators - see podcasts below.
  
• What influenced your choice? eg. heard song on the radio, recommendation from friend, etc.
  
• Was the piece of music written by the performer or by someone else? If so how would you know/could you find out?   Click through to http://www.theivors.org/awards.html for examples of current well-known songs and the writer(s) behind them.
  
• Make a list of the range of jobs/activities you think might be involved in making these products available.
  
• Feed back your ideas in a class discussion.
  

“The perception of music is that it is free and that it doesn’t belong to anyone because you hear it everywhere.  People don’t realise that the only reason they’re hearing it on the radio is because someone has paid for it to be there, and the only reason they’re able to hear it in a shop is because someone’s paid for a licence to play it in the shop.” 

David Arnold, Composer and Producer
 

Please visit the links section of the site for more information and links to useful music industry websites.

(Resource Library)