Keith Harris, Thom Lewis and Cannelle Bencherqi are among the industry experts set to offer advice and mentoring for the Music Industry Advisory Group (MIAG).
The MIAG was launched by creative development agency Generator earlier this year and applications for one-one-one sessions are now open.
Keith Harris, who spent years working alongside Stevie Wonder, is the chair of the MIAG.
“It is important to me as someone who was born in Newcastle to use some of the experience that I have had over the years to allow the next generation of creatives to achieve their potential without having to move south,” Harris said. “The Music Industry Advisory Group gives me the opportunity to do that.”
The MIAG will be a game changer for the industry in the North East and beyond
Mick Ross, Generator
Generator CEO Mick Ross added: “From the very first conversations I was having with industry leaders, it became apparent that something like the MIAG – offering free, accessible, actionable advice to the region’s emerging talent – would be a hugely powerful tool to help us achieve our vision. I’m incredibly proud of the work that’s gone into coordinating what is a highly complex web of diaries and schedules and I’m blown away by the passion, dedication and commitment of all the members in the group.”
Ross also predicted that the MIAG will be a “game changer for the industry in the North East and beyond”.
“I know myself and the rest of the group are itching to get started,” he said.
It is important to me to allow the next generation to achieve their potential without having to move south
Keith Harris
Producer Thom Lewis, who has worked with Sam Fender, and Atlantic A&R Cannelle Bencherqi will also be offering advice to participants in the project, as will Mercury Prize winner Bernard Butler, leading music lawyer Paul Lennon, the creative director of Sage Gateshead Wendy Smith and local musician Grace Stubbings.
Stubbings said: “As a musician from Hartlepool, I would like to share my experience of what it is to be an ‘emerging’ musician from the region. I will be able to talk about my own experience, and talk about the barriers that I have faced and observed in the industry. I have always been supported by other creatives in the region and have been offered an abundance of advice and support, so I want to support others.”
The MIAG is part-funded by the North of Tyne Combined Authority and applications for advice sessions are open here.
Pictured above (L-R): Generator CEO Mick Ross, Keith Harris and chairman of the Generator board David Haley
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