MUSIC ROYALTY JOIN FORCES WITH O2 UNDISCOVERED

Music legends Dave Stewart, Bobby Gillespie, Johnny Borrell and Ian Brown are amongst the legion of stars that are coming together this month to launch O2 Undiscovered. Now in its third year, O2 Undiscovered is a grass roots music programme that has evolved to find new ways of opening up careers in the music industry to people in the UK.

Renowned for always being at the top of their game, the celebrity ambassadors will kick start O2 Undiscovered 2008 with O2 Undiscovered Workshops – a series of industry workshops at The O2 Wireless Weekenders throughout May, where they will be at hand to offer expert advice to those looking to get into the music industry.

The O2 Undiscovered Regional Workshops will visit Newcastle Academy (3 May), Glasgow Academy (10 May), Manchester Academy 2 (17 May), Birmingham Academy 2 (24 May) and Bristol Fleece (31 May). There are a limited number of free places for each workshop, which may be applied for at www.O2undiscovered.com which also details a full running order for each event.

Each of the O2 Undiscovered Regional Workshop events will be open from 11am-3pm and provide access to a panel of seven experts: A&R, artist management, musician, producer, music lawyer, promoter, venue owner and music agent. Each panel member will give talks, answer questions and provide advice to musicians or individuals wanting a job in the music industry. So whether attendees want to be the next Radiohead, Timbaland or Malcolm McLaren there will be someone to help make their dreams a reality.

Experts currently confirmed for the O2 Undiscovered Regional Workshops include Dave Stewart, Danny McNamarra (Embrace) and Eugene Kelley (The Vaselines and Eugenius).

These will be supported by experts who have managed and produced some of the biggest names in the music business including Roddy Woomble (Idlewild), Grant Dickson (View Manager) Vince Power (Mean Fiddler Founder), Paul Carey (The Who) and Nigel Jones (Kylie). A full list of the panel is on the O2 Undiscovered website (www.O2undiscovered.com).

In addition to the main talks there will be selected one to one sessions where attendees can bring along their music to be professionally A&R’d, plus managers and producers will offer individual advice on making it in the music business.

O2 Wireless Weekender Cinema Screenings

As well as the O2 Undiscovered Regional Workshops there will be cinema screenings with films dedicated to music from each city. Please see attachment for full information.

The O2 Undiscovered workshops at the O2 Wireless Weekenders will be the first of a full programme of O2 Undiscovered activity that aims to demystify the music industry and provide advice and access to anyone who wants a career both on the front of a CD or in the credits.

Other elements of O2 Undiscovered 2008 include a series of work placements in the music industry and an O2 Undiscovered bespoke stage created at The O2 where unsigned bands can apply to play via the O2 Undiscovered website.