The BT Goes On

Gil Scott-Heron had it wrong. The revolution will be televised – and also available on podcast! That’s the digital revolution, mind, rather than the messy, bloody kind the French and Russians are so good at.

Given the veritable explosion in digital music technology over the past 20 years, it’s fitting that those who are sailing aboard that online ship should be honoured for their pioneering (and occasionally piratical) efforts. Known as the Interactive Music Awards until 2004, BT have been running this show for three years now.
The Camden Roundhouse is packed out with an odd mix of media and music industry types. Wannabe pop stars and burgeoning TV personalities rub shoulders with nervous-looking record company execs and the kind of pale-faced techno geeks who consider the iPod to be an ancient artefact. Outside, the tabloid vultures are circling, ready to pounce.
The sponsors certainly haven’t skimped on the ceremony. A veritable army of white-gloved waiters are on constant call. The food is delicious, the wine is adequate and the free digital radios are pretty neat.
The man from BT informs me that the Roundhouse is a building of serious historical significance. “Really?” I say, looking at its impressively high walls. “Were traitors imprisoned here during Elizabethan times or something?”
BT man gives me a funny look: “Er... no... The Sex Pistols gigged here back in the ‘70s. And The Clash played as well.”
Hot Press is seated at a table right next to the stage. Close enough to see that presenter Sara Cox isn’t showing yet (she recently announced her second pregnancy live on air), but also to be slightly deafened by the speaker bins.
Natasha Bedingfield is sitting near enough to flick peas at. Just behind her, there’s a full table of Big Brother relics (2FM’s Jenny Huston points them out). You can almost smell the rapidly decomposing celebrity status.
Former Sugababe Mutya Buena opens proceedings fairly inoffensively and then, at embarrassingly high speed, the award dole-out begins.
You can gauge how seriously awards are taken by seeing just who shows up to collect them. Worthy and all as the whole digital thing is, very few people you’d actually recognise came in person. Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmore sent his bass-player to collect the award for ‘Best Music Blog’. “Hi, I’m David’s bass player and he wanted me to tell you how much this...”
Having said that, the legendary Thomas Dolby flew back from LA to collect a well-deserved ‘Outstanding Contribution To Digital Music’ gong.
Coxy and Alex Zane did their best to keep it fun, but really the awards were like the boss’s mock awards at the company Christmas dinner. “And the winner is... Jenny from Accounts!” Undoubtedly conscious of this, the vast majority of recipients kept their speeches to a minimal, “Thanks!”
Interspersed between the awards, there were a few live performances, but it was hardly the most intimate or suitable setting. Amy MacDonald and Newton Faulkner are both promising singer-songwriters, but this wasn’t the time or the place. The Hoosiers and The Rakes – whose sublime ‘The World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect’ features the most addictive guitar riff in years – delivered the stand-out performances of the night.
Natasha Bedingfield closed the show with a stripped-down rendition of her forthcoming single and many wiggles of her impressive bottom – and that was more or less it.
So t’was a good night, but not a great one. For all the fine food, wine and music, my fellow media professionals and I were all agreed on one thing – it was going to look absolutely farcical on TV. Seriously, does anyone really want to see the guy who runs Keane’s website making an acceptance speech? Will anybody be surprised to see iTunes win the ‘Best Music Store’ award? Will they care?
But, hey, what did we know? Three nights later, I watched C4’s coverage of the event and it looked amazing. Precious little of the actual ceremony was broadcast and most of the show was composed of live performances, award highlights and pre-recorded interviews with many of the nominees who didn’t show up on the night (David Gray, Nicky Manic, Paul McCartney, Tom Robinson, Bruce Dickinson, etc).
So the revolution will be pre-recorded, heavily edited and stylishly digitised – and then broadcast 72-hours later. Watching it, I thought to myself, “Fuck, I wish I’d been there.