Archive for the ‘songkick hq’ Category

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Songkick pink, above the sink

by Emily

No chance of us ever forgetting what the official Songkick colour is!


Songkick’s Day Out!

by Elliot

Last week the Songkick team closed their laptops, powered down their iPads and relinquished their ping-pong paddles to hit the streets of East London for our quarterly day out. We had a lot to celebrate after a busy few months, so instead of the usual five-aside football/pint down the pub, we explored some of the other gems the area has to offer.

It all kicked off in the morning with freshly baked pastries in the Songkick office. Yum.

A short walk through the lanes of Shoreditch led us to Dunne Frankowski for a coffee ‘cupping’ session. Vic & Rob – possibly the coolest guys in the entire city – taught us about the importance of aroma (taste is 70% smell) before laying out a stunning selection of coffees from around the world for us to smell, spoon and slurrrp.

Needless to say we were buzzing by lunchtime. Next stop was The Wapping Project, a disused hydraulic power station converted into a stunning restaurant and gallery. In it’s prime, the station would power lifts all over London including Tower Bridge. Delicious food and wine ensued, finishing with a freshly baked (and still warm!) chocolate and hazelnut cake.

Then it was back into Shoreditch and to The Aubin Cinema for armchairs, blankets, champagne, cocktails and popcorn. The film choice was the inspirational Benda Bilili, which was a perfect fit for really highlighting the importance of live music. If you haven’t seen it, it comes highly recommended with the Songkick seal of approval! Check out the trailer below.


 

Final stop – The Book Club, for Modello beer, nachos and ping-pong. All in all, a pretty spectacular day out!

If you fancy joining the Songkick team in time for our next quarterly away-day, be sure to check out our jobs page. Over and out!


Say hello to our new Songkick intern!

by Emily

We have a new friendly face to introduce today – Brittany, who’s our latest PR intern at the Songkick London office! Here’s her quick-fire get-to-know-you:

Brittany Bosacker

Tell us a little bit about yourself

Self-described music enthusiast, currently studying abroad in London through Boston University and taking courses in advertising and marketing. I write for a Boston-based music blog (AllstonPudding.com) that reviews local shows. I absolutely love going to gigs, and finding new music is my daily hobby.

What’s your role at Songkick?

Songkick’s marketing/PR intern!

What was the first concert you went to (that you’re not embarrassed to share..)

I saw Good Charlotte in Hartford, CT – I bought a horribly ugly black XL Good Charlotte T-shirt and wished I had enough money to get the pink one that said: “Girls don’t like boys, girls like cars and money”… In retrospect, both were pretty ugly. But hey! Who didn’t love “The Anthem”?

Any particularly awesome/interesting concert memories/stories to tell?

I bought last minute tickets to see Sufjan Stevens at the Orpheum in Boston a couple years ago and not only were my tickets SUCH a good deal, but the show was spectacular. The performance, the costumes, the lights – everything was brilliant. And at the end, hundreds of gigantic colorful balloons and confetti fell from the ceiling. Quite picturesque! OH and I will never forget how much fun I had dancing/sweating on stage during a Girl Talk set at a summer festival in Connecticut.

What upcoming concerts/festivals are you looking forward to – any recommendations?

The Shins @ HMV Forum, The Strange Boys @ The Garage, Daughter @ Islington Assembly Hall, Bombay Bicycle Club @ Alexandra Palace – just to name a few!

Over the summer, I’m thinking of heading into NYC for the Governor’s Ball Music Festival, which has a great line-up!

Thanks Brittany!


Staying classy: Songkick HQ movie night

by Emily

We have a movie night every so often here at Songkick HQ, sometimes it’s more intellectual or music relevant but today it’s all about Ron Burgundy! He’s kind of a big deal.

Anchorman ftw.


Happy Pancake Day!

by Emily

Our pancake making/flipping attempts here at Songkick HQ. Yum.

 


Friday Cocktails @ Songkick HQ

by Emily

Every Friday, we indulge in little bit of cocktail making to accompany our weekly show and tell session. This week, Charlie and Elliot concocted an interesting mixture of tequila, ginger beer, blood orange juice and lime. Tasty! Here’s the link for how to make it if you fancy giving it a go yourself.


Say hello to our new Songkick intern!

by Emily

We have a new intern to introduce today – Charlie, who’ll be with us for 2 months working hard to keep our listings top notch! Check out our jobs page here for more info on working at Songkick.

Charlie Beharrell

Tell us a little bit about yourself

I was raised in the leafy town of Wimbledon (where I continue to reside) and recently graduated from Bath University. I have been obsessed with all sorts of music since I first sat down at a drum kit aged 10.

What’s your role at Songkick?

Data Warrior!

What was the first concert you went to (that you’re not embarrassed to share..)

I think it was Incubus at Wembley arena when I was a wee teen. Jose Pasillas II (their drummer) was a hero of my mine, mainly because he had “II” after his name. I wonder how good Jose Pasillas I was.

Any particularly awesome/interesting concert memories/stories to tell?

Fever Ray at Brixton Academy last summer was the best thing that I’ve ever seen. The stage was dressed in creepy old lamp shades, her band were wearing goblin costumes and I’ve never seen a smoke machine work so hard. I also heard something about Jimi Hendrix setting fire to his own guitar in ’67 which sounded sweet, but I wasn’t here yet.

What upcoming concerts/festivals are you looking forward to – any recommendations?

I’m planning on going to see Nicolas Jaar at the Roundhouse in February – I think he’s making some really exciting music at the moment. I’m also going to watch Fink at Koko a few weeks later. That man is a genius – if you haven’t heard him, you’re missing out.


Winding down for the holidays

by Emily

This is what the last working week before Christmas is all about…

Ping-pong tournament*!

Here’s Jo taking on Robin with her ninja table-tennis skillz (although to be fair, Robin did put up a very good fight):

*Beer pong tournament tomorrow…


Giving Back to Britain: Helping the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

by Dan C
For a startup, Songkick is actually pretty old. We were founded in 2007 and are one of the original startups in Silicon Roundabout. With age comes wisdom and a sense of responsibility, just ask Keith:

Photo courtesy of Dr. Noe 

One of the bits of wisdom you pick up is finding out your problems are shared with others. You also learn its good to give back to your wider community.

There are now several hundred tech startups in the Shoreditch area. Many are still small, employing two or three people, while others have dozens or hundreds of people working for them. Several thousand new jobs have been created in the area in the last four years and thousands more will be created in the coming years.

So we need lots of people to come work at startups like Songkick – skilled, entrepreneurial folk who want to build awesome products and amazing companies. Finding the right blend of technical skills and business acumen is challenging. Historically, Britain’s education system hasn’t been good at turning out students with both deep technical mojo and the skills to be great business leaders.

A few weeks ago, I spoke at the first Guardian TechCity debate with David Willetts, the Minister for Universities and Science. He’s announced a new trial initiative called Behind the Screen which teaches programming at GCSE level. Yesterday the government said it would consider teaching programming more widely in schools. These are good steps forward, though why we didn’t do this twenty years ago is beyond me. Teaching strong maths and programming skills in school is essential if we want to fuel the technology boom that started in Silicon Roundabout.

As well as teaching 21st century tech skills, we need to get more students equipped with the business skills required to create great companies. Building a product that people love is really exciting. Growing a company that builds and delivers world-class products is also a huge thrill. We need to inspire the upcoming generation to start their own companies; its certainly much better than going to work at a bank.

Another of the panelists at the Guardian debate was Professor Jeff Magee, the head of Imperial College’s faculty of Engineering. Imperial is leading the way in getting students exposed to the world of startups. I’ve been working with Imperial to help with this. Recently I gave a talk to their Executive MBA students about startups and I’ll be back at the end of the week to talk to their full-time MBA students.

Photo courtesy of anaru

I talked about my experience working at five startups in Silicon Valley, at Apple and Google, and now back in London at Songkick. I’ve learned some painful and fun lessons along the way. Hopefully I can help these would-be entrepreneurs avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made along the way.

I’m also delighted to be supporting Entrepreneur First, a non-profit organization that provides training and mentoring to a select few new graduates to help them start their own company. Songkick’s own Pete Smith is one of the founding mentors who will be advising participants as they build their startups.

Last week I spoke at Southampton University at an EntrepreneurFirst event. I talked to students from the university’s FishOnToast entrepreneurs society. They’re enthusiastic, motivated and very smart. They have lots of great ideas for startups and many already have fledgling businesses. It was a pleasure to talk with the next generation of startup leaders and hopefully pass on some ideas and encouragement.

At Songkick we love to find ways to help other startups. We organized Silicon Milkroundabout to match developers with cool jobs at startups. We continue to be involved in the debate on education and skills for the next round of digital entrepreneurs. We’re actively involved with student entrepreneurs. And we never stop finding new ways to help fans experience awesome live music.


Say hello to a new Songkick intern!

by Emily

This week we’re welcoming our new PR intern to the Songkick London office, she’s met Slash, so she’s already considered awesome:

Rachel Vacca

Tell us a little bit about yourself

Born and raised in Reno, Nevada. Unabashed country music fan. Attend Boston University as an English/Journalism major, studying abroad in London for the semester.

What’s your role at Songkick?

PR/Communications Intern

What was the first concert you went to (that you’re not embarrassed to share..)

The first REAL concert I went to was Van Halen when I was 12 in Las Vegas. Listening to Eddie play Eruption…Magical.

Any particularly awesome/interesting concert memories/stories to tell?

Hmmm…when I was 14 I walked out of an indoor hardcore festival partly covered in a random drunk dude’s urine with a swollen shut black eye after being kicked in the face and a huge smile on my face. I had an awesome time. Holding Steven Tyler’s hand at an Aerosmith concert is up there. The highlight of my concert-going career was meeting Slash before a show. Too bad I was sobbing too hard to say anything.

What upcoming concerts/festivals are you looking forward to – any recommendations?

Wiz Khalifa! Also wanting to see Foster the People, Gillian Welch, and Against Me!

Thanks Rachel!


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