UK Music brought together an all-star music industry line up for a special ‘Introduction to the Music Industry’ event on Friday 25th September at New River Studios in Tottenham. The event in partnership with British Black Music was designed to engage young adults aged 18-25 into considering careers within the music industry.

New River Studios was opened in October 2014 with support from Beggars Music as part of UK Music’s national Rehearsal Room scheme which now has a network of fourteen music rehearsal spaces open within the most deprived areas of the UK. The first of its kind in London, the studio was set up to encourage local youth to become more involved in music through affordable rehearsal studio access. The scheme is designed to help develop talent as well as social skills by means of group participation, building good social relationships and confidence within young musicians.

The focus of this event was to provide a series of workshops that will deliver the necessary information detailing how to make the first next steps in the music industry. Local MP for Tottenham David Lammy introduced the event, which saw talks hosted by a variety of high-profile industry figures including DJ Semtex (Radio 1Xtra/Sony Music), Alec Boateng/Twin B (Radio 1Xtra/Atlantic Records), Keith Harris (PPL), Maya Jama (Rinse FM) and pianist Nikki Yeoh (The Roots/Courtney Pine). Diversity in Visual Arts (DiVA), who create apprenticeship opportunities for young people presented a workshop on CV skills and how to prepare for interviews.