SBBA in Main Stream Music Media
The Scottish Brass Band Association is delighted to highlight two significant features in the mainstream music media - Arts Professional magazine and Classical Music magazine. Further to the TV, radio, local and national newspaper coverage towards the end of last year, it is encouraging to see the momentum continue through such high-profile publications, furthering a widespread understanding of SBBA's Youth Development Programme. This extended media interest offers an extremely positive focus for brass bands in general, expanding across a more diverse readership to gain further awareness of the musical genre and building a greater understanding of the structured development approach being taken by the Association in nurturing and protecting brass bands for the future.
Arts Professional magazine includes a full two-page feature which focuses on the Association's structure and management of its Youth Development Plan and The National Youth Brass Bands of Scotland, highlighting the structure, experiences, challenges, aspirations, achievements and maintenance of the programme so far. This monthly magazine includes a wide variety of stories and news on national and international musical organisations, policies and performers, so the inclusion of an article in this prestigious publication is an important acknowledgment of SBBA. The nature of the feature also provides a benchmark reference for the publication's diverse readership, offering a valuable insight to the many facets involved in SBBA's responsibilities to Scotland's brass bands. The article has been featured in both their printed magazine and as a link from the homepage of their website at: www.artsprofessional.co.uk.
Classical Music magazine is also anticipated to feature SBBA's Youth Development Plan, and has been compiled through the writer's own research, supplied support documentation and an interview with Andrew Duncan, Development Manager for SBBA. This is due to appear in the April issue of the magazine, with expectations of an online presence too. Details for accessing a printed and/or online copy can be obtained from www.classicalmusicmagazine.org. Once again, this monthly magazine has opened its pages to brass bands, a music form not normally featured in the publication, but through the on-going interest-generating developments of Scotland's brass bands, April's article should be a clear indication of the growing appreciation and understanding of the important musical role played by brass bands.
Clair Tomalin, Press & Publicity for SBBA commented: "I am obviously delighted to see a continued uptake of interest in Scotland's brass bands and SBBA's work from the non-brass-band ‘external' media. These two particular publications are especially exciting as it has enabled Scotland's brass bands and the Association to be acknowledged in new media arenas, offering a focus on the many different aspects of Scotland's brass band infrastructure, and all on an even basis with other music forms that normally appear in these magazines. It has taken some time to grab the attention of this sector of the media, but through perseverance, regular contact, and generating opportunities to explain the activities being developed by SBBA and its member bands, there definitely now seems to be a greater awareness and genuine interest in finding out more of the benefits, challenges and achievements of brass bands and the ways organisations are able meet these. This additional type of publicity is extremely helpful to SBBA and bands in general in developing new initiatives, collaborations and funding streams for their future work."
