Stars to harness young Music Potential in Birmingham

Some of the UK’s hottest creative talent including Ashley Walters, N-Dubz’s Fazer and Akala will be gathering in Birmingham for a unique one-day creative boot-camp.

Music Potential, being held at the Birmingham Ormiston Academy, will be the first of its kind in the region.

Choice FM and Barclaycard’s Music Potential is all about creating amazing opportunities for young people who aren’t at work or studying to help them build skills in the music industry and give them some more support or training to return to education, get a job or set up a business.
Confirmed talent attending the one-day interactive workshop includes Ashley Walters from TV drama Topboy, Akala, Sasha Brooks, KC, Roxxxan, Seani B and DJ Semtex.  The event is being organised by Birmingham-based music outfit Punch Records.Ammo Talwar, who heads Punch, says: “Music Potential is a chance for the creative industries to step up and show they can give back something real to the community people’s lives. Some of these young people may very well have bright ideas that could help boost the region’s economy.”

Louise Guedes, Community Investment manager at Barclays, echoed Ammo’s sentiments, adding: “Music Potential is a great way for young people to learn about the music business. There is a real opportunity to help tackle long term youth unemployment, using music as a hook to engage them in music related education and help them towards a career in the music or radio industries. It will also help them to become financially independent, find a job, or set up a business of their own.Each young participant will be given their own hands-on projects to develop on the day – along with a ‘memory’ wristband on which all their work will be recorded.

They will create their own media content, learning how to write their own scripts and then filming them, recording their own mixtapes and radio promotional pieces. All of their work will be stored on their wristbands, for them to take away.
The Music Potential event will be backed up by real learning, hands-on training and work placements for local young people across the autumn of 2012. 30 of participants from the boot-camp will go on to undertake a structured three-month learning

programme based around transferable skills to equip them for their future careers. There will also be Dragon’s Den-type funding available for any young entrepreneurs who can show that they have marketable business ideas.
In Birmingham, Music Potential is being delivered by Punch, a music development agency, based in the city’s Eastside district. Punch are the producers of the annual BASS festival, as well as last year’s Jamaica Live! Olympic event in Birmingham, attended by over 30,000 people.

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To register for the free Music Potential event, click here.

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