Rip It Up: Most Significant Changes in the Scottish Music Scene

Shirley Manson, Aidan Moffat, Duglas T. Stewart and KT Tunstall among others tell us what they think the most significant changes have been in the Scottish music scene over the years

Feature by Tallah Brash | 20 Jun 2018

To write the story of music in Scotland from the perspective of the people at the very heart of it, we contacted a few of Scotland's most celebrated musicians and behind-the-scenes influencers to ask them five questions.

Free to answer as few or as many as they wished, we're pleased to report that most of them responded (particularly Shirley Manson, we're really excited about Shirley Manson!) answering all of our questions. To make this more manageable, we've broken this down into five features covering the following questions – the question in bold is the one covered here and you can click through to the others easily for continued reading:

1. What Scottish venue played an important and influential role in your musical career and why?
2. What is the most iconic gig you can remember attending in Scotland and what made it stand out?
3. Which Scottish band/artist has been really influential to you/ignited your passion for music and why?
4. What do you think have been the most significant changes in the Scottish music scene since the start of your career?
5. Where do you feel Scottish music fits in on a global scale?

"It has become much easier for Scottish artists to reach a global audience by utilising social media and the far reach of the Internet. However, like everything, the Internet is a double-edged sword and so the competition is even more intense for young Scottish artists now. There is such a glut of  great talent, all worthy of our attentions."  [Shirley Manson, Garbage]

"To me, it doesn't feel like the most significant change has happened on the ground in Scotland, I think the most significant change is from a time before streaming was regulated in the way that it was. It was way more democratic than it had ever been and that suddenly there was, certainly for us, a chance to break out of our basement studio and become a professional act because of the way that people were distributing music on SoundCloud, and the way that blogs were spreading the word of our band. So, I guess I have to say I suppose it's the way that Internet distribution has created a change across the music business and that's been felt in Scotland as much as anywhere else. We felt it so directly in the band." [Martin Doherty, CHVRCHES]

"Scotland, like everywhere else, seems flooded with music now, much more so than it used to be. Since technology became cheaper and more accessible, it's much easier to make music now than it ever was, and it's easier to put gigs on now too, especially in Glasgow where there are so many venues. And then, of course, it's easy to sell and stream music, and get it to fans. So there's a lot more bands and artists, and rather than one scene where almost everyone knows each other, there seems to be a lot more smaller, more specific wee bubbles. It's great that more people have the means to be heard, but of course, the downside of that is that it's very hard to keep abreast of everything that's going on – especially if you're a middle-aged dad like me!" [Aidan Moffat, Arab Strap]

"I’m not sure that there have been many negative changes. Sure, some great venues and bands have come and gone, but new groups and new places to play have grown out from that. Scotland has a constantly evolving and vibrant musical soul." [Roddy Woomble, Idlewild]

"There are lots more girls – hoorray!" [Clare Grogan, Altered Images]

"I’ve been around for a very long time and so I can remember seeing both Nazareth and Alex Harvey in the 70s. Subsequently, with the advent of the Fast and Postcard labels, that clichéd macho hard man and woman image was seriously undermined and a very ironic sense of humble arrogance has been on tap for the more stylish musicians of Scotland ever since. Of course, neither of those statements explain the Bay City Rollers who remain mysteriously iconic but who refuse to become ironically credible despite having a story that would please Micky Spillane." [Tim London, Young Fathers co-producer]

"The biggest change for me in business terms was probably surrounding file sharing and the way people consumed music in the early 00s, roughly around the time I set up Synergy. When the vast majority of people stopped buying records every week, the ticket prices had to increase to make up for this and that shift felt quite sudden. Gigs were no longer a marketing expense to labels because they were folding, or simply didn’t have the money, so the ticket prices had to go up to pay the bands enough to cover their costs. In those days a ticket to a show at the Barrowlands was around £10-15, and to go to Sleazy’s to support emerging artists you’d be looking at £3-5. So prices had pretty much doubled over the course of a few years. That was quite a shock initially to fans but it’s passed and I think people are pretty understanding that music isn’t completely free, you have to pay for it one way or another.

"The increase of influence on social media has obviously really shifted the way we market the shows we promote, and that’s been really interesting. In other ways, I’m not sure I’ve felt profound significant shifts, to be honest, but I have noticed conversations being had which I hope will lead to positive and significant shifts, mostly surrounding diversity, visibility and inclusivity. Actually, some of those conversations are creating scenes in themselves which is awesome. I hope with that in mind, and if people in a position to contribute to this change actually do so, that our music scene will evolve into a place that involves, represents and celebrates everyone." [Gráinne Braithwaite, Synergy Concerts]

"Confidence, I see and sense a much more confident Scotland than there was when I started around 1978. Then, you didn’t hear of painters/musicians/authors coming out of Scotland, everyone seemed to have to go through London to expand. Today, 40 years later I don’t think we have to do that anymore, we have our own springboard. We always had that but our confidence to use Scotland as an artistic springboard is stronger. As it should be." [Eddi Reader, Fairground Attraction]

"When we started it seemed there was almost no infrastructure in Scotland, but there were lots of people buying lots of music. Now there is so much infrastructure: rehearsal places, studios, courses on how to be a rock musician, a sound engineer or music business bigwig, but no one wants to pay for music. It feels a bit topsy-turvy. Also when we started you would be ridiculed and threatened for being seen as 'alternative' or different, but now almost everyone seems to have bought into branding themselves as being 'alternative' and so it can be harder to find the genuinely original and different thinkers." [Dugas T. Stewart, BMX Bandits]

"This possibly sounds weird, given I’ve been a full-time musician for 15 years, but I’m not really sure if I know enough about the scene to comment on it, really. I don’t really know what the trends are, or what has changed. All I know is that we’re still selling the same amount of physical product we were selling back in 2003 – except it's vinyl now instead of CDs – and attracting the same sizes of audience. In a funny way, I think I was lucky to have my start in music when all the big money seemed to leave – I would imagine for other labels and musicians, who have been going 20 years or more, that the current state of the ‘industry’ is far removed from what it once was." [Johnny Lynch, Pictish Trail & Lost Map Records]

"I guess that would have to be the nature of the industry itself and the impact it’s had on the bands I know and love. 20 years ago our friends in bands were all potentially looking at making a career out of music, as record deals and publishing deals were a real possibility. Off the back of those deals, bands were often touring and were able to leave home for weeks at a time to devote to playing live, supported by their record company. The idea of playing live was to sell more records; even if the tours made massive losses, the record companies were able to cover those losses as an investment in more record sales.

"That whole situation has reversed now, bands make records on their own, with much-reduced budgets, and will usually struggle to find anyone to release them so often do it themselves with next to no marketing. Playing live is also at the band’s expense, and releasing a record is often the calling card, enticing people to gigs which is the only moneymaker for most artists now. A career in music, particularly for a band, is now more of a hobby than a career, which is a huge loss to music in general." [Emma Pollock, The Delgados & Chemikal Underground]

"It’s hard to answer that as I haven’t lived in Scotland since earning a proper living as a musician. But it seems to me that Scotland is absolutely a place where record labels and publishers will now look for new talent, as it didn’t really feel that way when I was trying to get somewhere. The output of successful Scottish music, when you look at the size of it, is absolutely amazing." [KT Tunstall]

"More artists are able to pursue a career while remaining in Scotland, whereas in the past they would have had to move to London or the US. Conversely, in the early eighties, it was common for acts to play all the main Scottish cities, as well as towns such as Dunfermline. Although many of Scotland’s most successful artists in recent years – Calvin Harris, Emeli Sandé, Paolo Nutini and Nina Nesbitt – are not from Glasgow, the city has done an impressive job of promoting itself as the centre of our national music scene!" [Olaf Furniss, Born to Be Wide & Wide Days & Under the Radar]

"Education, funding and the steady growth of independent labels. On my return to Scotland in the 90s, I got involved in setting up some of the college music industry courses in Edinburgh and Glasgow and similarly consulted with the then Scottish Arts Council to allow 'Contemporary Popular Music' to be eligible for funding and have parity of esteem with other musical genres. Remarkably, that only happened in 1996. The independents who followed in the path of the very great Lenny Love (founder of Sensible Records in 1977) and Bruce Findlay (Zoom Records – also from 1997 onwards) owe these label trailblazers a massive debt of gratitude." [Ronnie Gurr, Music Industry Manager & Book Publisher & Rip It Up Exhibition Consultant]

"People don't pay for recorded music anymore, which is a little heartbreaking. I used to get the train into town on a Saturday and go round record shops and bump into other music pals. Where does that happen now? Does it only happen online?" [Francis Macdonald, Teenage Fanclub]

"The growth of digital media has had a huge impact on the way people consume and discover music. It’s a great thing – it keeps the industry fresh, makes sure we never rest on our laurels and gives people access to an unlimited pool of talent. Social media, in particular, is constantly changing and improving its offering as a platform for artists, it means they need to think bigger and often work harder – but, by the same token encourages healthy competition and offers the chance to be more creative with the product than ever before. Looking back to when I first started out in PR, I’d have around five journalists that I phoned to ‘break’ a band in Scotland – that simply isn’t the case anymore. The people, along with the industry, have become the tastemakers and in my opinion, that can only be a good thing." [Aarti Joshi, DF Concerts]

"I guess the chaos feels a bit more organised now. Nowadays venues are expected to be full, especially at club time, and the costs involved in running a venue are so high that the room has to be full all the time for the business to survive, so there is a bit more professionalism and business-ness about the way venues operate. I think it's important to remember that a lot of the best gigs and club experiences are in rooms that are only half-full, where a promoter and performers have been given the freedom to fail, rather than some sense that they are having to hit targets.

"Also, when I started, all the best music venues (The Venue, Cabaret Voltaire, The Liquid Room) were being run by powerful women and sadly that's not the case anymore. Bring those days back." [Nick Stewart, Sneaky Pete's]

"One thing I'm noticing now though, and I don't know if it's just because I'm older – there are a lot more bands with girls in them. I think the same can be said all over the UK, and that's great. I don't go to see that many bands these days, but I've seen Girl Ray and The Orielles recently and my god, it's so exciting to see to young women playing music. I never really had a problem with sexism myself, but there was a period where it was all very male-dominated. You'd maybe see the odd girl. I think people are realising that girls do more than sing the songs or go out with the guitarist." [Tracyanne Campbell, Camera Obscura]


Click the numbers to continue reading the answers to Questions 1, 2, 3 and 5

Photo credits for lead image: Lauren Mayberry by Eoin Carey; Aidan Moffat by LUCUSj Photography; Johnny Lynch by Beth Chalmers; KT Tunstall by Piper Ferguson; Emma Pollock by Jannica Honey; Nick Stewart by Holly Brown; Tracyanne Campbell by Anna Isola Crolla

https://www.nms.ac.uk/ripitup