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Martin Isherwood
Martin has many years’ professional experience as a songwriter, producer, performer, sound engineer, manager, promoter, DJ and label owner (Pop Recordings). As a songwriter and producer he has had Top 20 UK Chart success, won BBC Song for Europe in 2003, and received a number of awards including: UK Songwriting Finalist award for ‘Take me home for Christmas’ 2015, Song for Europe finalist on 3 occasions (1999, 2000, 2002), received a ‘Honor’ Finalist award in the Great American Song Contest 2006, received the PRS John Lennon Song Award - Commendation for ‘Outstanding Creative Talent’ 1991.
Martin has been Head of Music at LIPA since 2001 and is currently a member of UK Music Skills Academy Founders Circle, a former Board member of the Brilliant Foundation Ltd; Inner City Music Ltd (The Band on The Wall) and Bury Metro Arts Association Ltd (The Met Theatre). He has been active in many creative / urban regeneration projects including: Board membership of the £120m Chapel Street (Salford) Regeneration Partnership Board, a former member of Merseyside Music Development Agency and led an Arts Lottery funded project and feasibility study into a North West Regional Centre for Popular Music in 1998.
Martin has featured in a number of TV and radio programmes, including a BBC feature on ‘Love me do’ in 2012, BBC Radio 4’s ‘Off the Page’ and a CBBC music talent programme ‘The Agents’. He has featured on many songwriting and music industry panels at music industry conferences and conventions including In The City, Sound City, City Showcase and BBC 1Xtra’ Urban Music seminar. Martin has presented papers on song writing pedagogy at H.E conferences in 2014, hosted a conference and published research commissioned by the Higher Education Academy: ‘Sounding out Songwriting in Higher Education– Teaching and assessment of songwriting in Higher Education. He is currently finalising a PhD by Professional Practice entitled ‘Supporting Songwriting’ centred on his songwriting and related music industry practice.
Martin has been Head of Music at LIPA since 2001 and is currently a member of UK Music Skills Academy Founders Circle, a former Board member of the Brilliant Foundation Ltd; Inner City Music Ltd (The Band on The Wall) and Bury Metro Arts Association Ltd (The Met Theatre). He has been active in many creative / urban regeneration projects including: Board membership of the £120m Chapel Street (Salford) Regeneration Partnership Board, a former member of Merseyside Music Development Agency and led an Arts Lottery funded project and feasibility study into a North West Regional Centre for Popular Music in 1998.
Martin has featured in a number of TV and radio programmes, including a BBC feature on ‘Love me do’ in 2012, BBC Radio 4’s ‘Off the Page’ and a CBBC music talent programme ‘The Agents’. He has featured on many songwriting and music industry panels at music industry conferences and conventions including In The City, Sound City, City Showcase and BBC 1Xtra’ Urban Music seminar. Martin has presented papers on song writing pedagogy at H.E conferences in 2014, hosted a conference and published research commissioned by the Higher Education Academy: ‘Sounding out Songwriting in Higher Education– Teaching and assessment of songwriting in Higher Education. He is currently finalising a PhD by Professional Practice entitled ‘Supporting Songwriting’ centred on his songwriting and related music industry practice.
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The final chapter looks at how the City's local live music scene could be encouraged and supported to further stimulate the City's cultural life and night-time economy and makes recommendations that, whilst far-reaching, are nonetheless crucial to sustaining and developing Manchester's music industry.
The paper deliberately focuses within the narrow confines of popular music performed by local unsigned bands in the City centre as to evaluate the whole of the City's live music industry would require a much larger document than paper sets out to be.
Sal ford City Council and Manchester TEC wish to appoint consultants to
undertake a feasibility study into the development of a Centre for Popular
Music in Salford, close to the Regional centre. The centre would provide a
state-of-the-art performance and recording facility, together with rehearsal
suites and managed workspace, providing a focal point for music industry
training and education in the Region. In addition, the centre would act as a
shared resource for the community, the music industry and music
education/training as part of a mutually-beneficial living popular music villag
Higher education courses however, often struggle with the concept of songwriting as distinct from composition. There is little consensus as to what a song is, for example a musical product in a commercial marketplace, a track with or without words in a popular style, or a specific emotional communication combining words and music. Separating out songwriting from composition, from production and arranging, dealing with the specifics of lyric writing and also with the complexities of co-writing on assessed programmes are all major challenges when designing and delivering songwriting modules
Assessing songwriting is also highly controversial due to the high degree of subjectivity involved, the lack of any particular technical ability required to write songs, and the relationship of songs to an ephemeral market. For example, would the three chord and 16 word (mostly monosyllabic) ‘Love me do’ be acceptable on any level of a degree programme? Successful songwriting can be relatively simple, but it is rarely easy, and even with the simplest songs, while there may be little to teach, there is much to learn.
The research collates information on the aims, objectives, learning outcomes, schemes of delivery, assessment, resources and feedback methods in songwriting modules at various levels on key HE music programmes. This report maps what, and how, songwriting is taught and assessed on selected and key HE music programmes. It provides a reference point and a benchmark for the design and delivery of songwriting modules in H.E.
The final chapter looks at how the City's local live music scene could be encouraged and supported to further stimulate the City's cultural life and night-time economy and makes recommendations that, whilst far-reaching, are nonetheless crucial to sustaining and developing Manchester's music industry.
The paper deliberately focuses within the narrow confines of popular music performed by local unsigned bands in the City centre as to evaluate the whole of the City's live music industry would require a much larger document than paper sets out to be.
Sal ford City Council and Manchester TEC wish to appoint consultants to
undertake a feasibility study into the development of a Centre for Popular
Music in Salford, close to the Regional centre. The centre would provide a
state-of-the-art performance and recording facility, together with rehearsal
suites and managed workspace, providing a focal point for music industry
training and education in the Region. In addition, the centre would act as a
shared resource for the community, the music industry and music
education/training as part of a mutually-beneficial living popular music villag
Higher education courses however, often struggle with the concept of songwriting as distinct from composition. There is little consensus as to what a song is, for example a musical product in a commercial marketplace, a track with or without words in a popular style, or a specific emotional communication combining words and music. Separating out songwriting from composition, from production and arranging, dealing with the specifics of lyric writing and also with the complexities of co-writing on assessed programmes are all major challenges when designing and delivering songwriting modules
Assessing songwriting is also highly controversial due to the high degree of subjectivity involved, the lack of any particular technical ability required to write songs, and the relationship of songs to an ephemeral market. For example, would the three chord and 16 word (mostly monosyllabic) ‘Love me do’ be acceptable on any level of a degree programme? Successful songwriting can be relatively simple, but it is rarely easy, and even with the simplest songs, while there may be little to teach, there is much to learn.
The research collates information on the aims, objectives, learning outcomes, schemes of delivery, assessment, resources and feedback methods in songwriting modules at various levels on key HE music programmes. This report maps what, and how, songwriting is taught and assessed on selected and key HE music programmes. It provides a reference point and a benchmark for the design and delivery of songwriting modules in H.E.