Nosheen Iqbal

Hello.

Now, you're a music journalist who focuses on the business side of things, which is the industry itself, basically.

And you've spent decades analysing how it works and how it's evolved.

Could you tell me firstly, what are the primary challenges for indie artists trying to get noticed today?

And you've mentioned all of that without even factoring in, you know, the absolute decline in music sales, the difficulty of touring supply chains, all the rest of it.

I mean, there are like multiple facets to what makes it more and more difficult today as an indie artist than it was 30 years ago.

And so, Eamonn, in your experience, what does a good music PR campaign look like these days?

We love a bit of jargon.

But what does it look like now?

Who has broken through with an impressive campaign?

Coming up, can you escape the algorithm?

Given everything you've said, why do you think it is that people have been so upset or irate to learn that bands that they love, like Geese in this instance, have paid firms to boost them on social media algorithms, you know, with these sort of faked, almost manufactured hype on Instagram and TikTok and so on?

Eamon, is there a worry for music fans that the algorithm is flattening out what we're listening to and what gets noticed?

And I'm thinking of the fact that platforms count a stream if we listen for 30 seconds, which means a lot of modern pop is sort of front loading the hooks or reaching the climax before you've barely even settled in.

And then, you know, there's My Pet Hate, which is the...

banding together of music under these sort of tediously unimaginative playlists called chill mix or workout playlist.

So that, you know, it homogenizes the sound until it's all background filler, encourages musicians to write to a certain tempo or production style just to get on those playlists.

How much do you see it affecting music making and music taste today?

So to conclude, you can't really escape the algorithm.

You're fine to like geese and maybe listen to a music critic or two if you want to find out what's new, what's good.