RADAR: Reverb
RADAR Festival is more than just an event. We want to help make significant changes in a positive manner in many aspects of the music industry and what we do. We’re happy to lead by example, and although we are a small cog in the wheel, everything positive that impacts others is a start and may just inspire positivity that can be passed forward.
While it always feels a bit awkward to shout about what you’re doing, here are some details of some of the projects that we are currently involved with with causes we are proud of representing.
If you have ideas of something you’d like us to get involved with or to join any of the projects, get in touch as we’d love to speak to you.
RADAR: Next Generation
Every year we take on students from educational facilities around the country to give practical and real-life experience to those looking to enter the industry. Check out our page on the student success stories we have had so far, and get in touch if you’d like further information.
Educational links
Since our inception, creating a path for young people to gain experience in the music industry has been an important goal for RADAR.
Since 2019 we have worked with educational facilities such as but not limited to: Alton College, Treloar’s College, BIMM, ACM and Salford University, allowing us to connect with students from across the country.
If you would like to get your college/university involved, contact us through the Next Generation page and let’s see if we can link up!
Tickets for Good
RADAR is delighted to again announce a partnership with @ticketsforgood after partnering in 2024.
They are a community organisation that offers free & discounted tickets to UK live events for NHS, charity workers and cost-of-living recipients.
We don’t want finances to be a barrier to entry. RADAR is committed to making our event as accessible as possible and we’re delighted that today will see the launch of our day tickets on their platform.
MVT / Liveline Fund
We are pleased to announce that a percentage of tickets sold to RADAR Festival 2024 have been donated to the Liveline Fund. This makes RADAR the first UK festival to contribute to the Liveline Fund, created by @musicvenuetrust and @saveoursceneuk to support venues, artists and promoters and thus strengthening the future viability of the UK grassroots ecosystem.
RADAR organiser Catherine Jackson-Smith, who also owns @loungebaralton in Alton, said:
“I’ve seen the journey in my own venue of young artists playing for the first time and stepping onto a small stage that they know has previously hosted artists that they admire and want to emulate. Moving up to that next stage requires learning the craft and preparing for those larger challenges in a safe environment of artist development.
The link between grassroots music venues and festivals is intrinsic- and I know it is because I’m living the symbiosis daily. If we don’t look after each other then we’ll not be sustainable. Whereas we all share the struggles, hopefully we can start to share the benefits of a system such as this, which is why we want to pioneer and highlight why it matters.”
MVT CEO, Mark Davyd, said:
“We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to RADAR festival for taking this bold step as the first festival to champion the Liveline Fund. Their support is a strong commitment to the heart and soul of the UK’s music scene, nurturing its roots through the vital network of grassroots music venues, artists and promoters.”
Read more about Liveline:
Association of Independent Festivals
The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) is the UK national not-for-profit festival trade association representing the interests of over 200 independent UK music festivals.
Member festivals range in size from audiences of 500 people to 80,000 people. Most are delivered by professional teams and organisations, some by local authorities, and some of the smaller events by unpaid volunteers. Festivals include green field festivals, multi-venue festivals, and a few events run overseas by UK based teams. AIF also represents a handful of carnivals, including Notting Hill Carnival, which attracts over 2,000,000 people.
Our unique network of promoters and operators enables festival organisers to connect with each other, learn from each other, share problems and share solutions. We also support our members in growing and developing their businesses, with access to training, resources, webinars and experts, including a free legal helpline.
AIF represents independent festivals and their operators. providing a collective voice for the sector to government, media and the wider music industry. AIF has runs many impactful campaigns – either to the public or to industry – including Safer Spaces at Festivals , First Festival and Five Percent For Festivals.
We host the largest gathering of independent festivals in the UK at our annual flagship Festival Congress conference and party; alongside an ever changing programme of formal training and informal social events throughout the year. AIF is also a founding member of Live Music Industry Venues & Entertainment (LIVE), the umbrella organisation for the live music sector.
Supporting Artists
We have always committed to paying every single band that steps on to the stage at RADAR, bands don’t come and play for ‘exposure’ – everyone has costs and it’s only fair to compensate for them.
In addition to this, we negotiated with the venue to ensure that no merch fees are taken from any bands selling their merch at the festival. We take a small fee to cover the merchant fee for sales but no percentage of the merch itself. Every item of merch you buy from a band supports solely the band itself: keep doing it, we love to see the bands’ happy faces when they collect far emptier boxes than they delivered!