First edition
Welcome to the first ‘edition’ of the Aureate Laureate, a blog by me, Simon Barker, about my life in the heart of London’s media. You can read about what I do on the About Me page. I hope you enjoy your stay.
Today wasn’t so amazing. I spent 40 minutes on the Tube going to see my record label-owning friend about my band, XXXXXX, remixing tracks for a cover CD on NME. It sounds like a good idea, but I’m not sure if I really want to sell my soul to the corporate whores at IPC. My friend Kramer says that music is all about art, and if you can make money from art, then that’s a bonus. i probably agree. Spending that hellish 40 minutes on the Tube didn’t exactly do my pleasant demeanour any favours, but I managed to scrape through until lunch, which was with some guys who are starting a digital content delivery company who specialise in lossless audio. This is through and through an awful idea. I can’t think of anyone who would be interested in this and I feel quite sorry for the guys. Still, I have to wish them the best of luck. They’ll need it.
After lunch, I met with a film director who wants to stage a production of a classic opera and give it a new media edge. My ears pricked up when I heard this as Carmen is easily my favourite opera and new media is my middle name. One of the ideas we’re playing with is to bluetooth the main aria as a ringtone to everyone in the theatre so they can play it when Carmen comes on. It’s an incredible idea which should really resonate with inner city kids. Hopefully we’ll have kids from Brixton getting into opera in a big way, like I did when I was a teenager.
Interesting news about BAE Systems in the Guardian today: apparently a company called BAE may be involved in bribery with some Saudis. I don’t really follow this stuff, but I think it’s all a little odd considering that this company is worth £13 billion. Why would they need to bribe anyone?
Must dash
Simon
