What is the campaign for real music?
  Why did you start it?
  What are you trying to promote?
  What does "real music" mean?
  Do you sell music or are you tied to any retailer?
  Why do you feature only five music categories?
  What are you hoping to achieve?
  How can I get involved in the campaign?

The Campaign for Real Music is here to further the cause of overlooked, forgotten or underrated musical talent. It was started because many of us felt that certain artists, genres and radio shows were no longer getting the profile that they deserve. There are so many great artists who, for whatever reason, no longer get radio airplay; therefore, a whole generation is missing out on a wealth of wonderful music.  Also, there are numerous, fantastic young musicians and singers who haven't had the chance that their talents deserve.  So our aim is very simple really: to raise the profile of such forgotten or overlooked artists.  We do this primarily by profiling them on this site, featuring them in our shows and getting them directly involved - and we encourage those of you out there who love your music to get involved and have your say too.
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The Campaign was established by Radiocafe, which was set up to promote the very best in quality music.  Radiocafe comprises of a collaborative group of individuals with one thing in common: we are all passionate about great music.  Radiocafe consists of quite a "mixed bag" of individuals of various ages: among us are singers, ex music pluggers and music enthusiasts.  We all share a common concern that the music industry is starting to leave behind certain genre because they are no longer fashionable.  This is worrying: music should be about passion, not fashion.  If a piece of music moves you, it doesn't matter if it is opera, or soul, or house, or country, or whatever.  Music should be independent of age, style, class and gender.
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So often we hear phrases being used to describe music, such as "that old fashioned stuff you listen to" or "the old fogey music you like".  This is nonsense.  Music should have nothing to do with age at all.  Classical music is as popular as ever, but no one ever criticises Mozart for being "out of date".  So why should dance bands, or eighties soul, or a classic singer from the fifties, be labelled in such a way?  These days, so many cafes, restaurants and shops play music from the thirties, forties and fifties. And quite rightly so, as there are many gems to be found from these eras. We don't care about trends or fashions.  What counts is the effort, craft and end quality of the music we present. 
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Our campaigning focuses on "real" music, simply meaning music that involves craft.  Music that was created primarily from the heart, by those who clearly love what they do.  So often these days we are given the same selection of music by the schedulers, producers and promoters, too many of whom seem to presume that we are all into the same mix of Coldplay, Beyonce and Amy Winehouse.  We're not here to criticise these artists, or any others.  What we are here to do is to provide an opportunity for some alternative singers and musicians to come to the fore, and to be heard by an audience who didn't have the opportunity that we were fortunate to have. If we can provide some great music to a whole new generation of listeners, then we have achieved our aim.
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This site is not like other music websites.  We don't sell you music, we don't provide downloads, we don't offer access to every track ever made, we don't feature the same old same old. Our aim is simply to promote the cause, not to make a profit.  This means we are not dependent on revenue stream from this site, not are we tied to any particular companies, labels or vendors.  Wherever we can, we provide links to good value retailers that offer the music we present at good prices - indicating the fantastic value that is available. We - along with your input, and those of our friends and colleagues in the music industry - have complete control over the content and shape of this site, both now and what it will become in the future, and we hope to create a happy family of individuals who all share a similar passion: quality, real music.
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We've focused on five areas initially, being those areas that we feel are less well represented on UK mainstream radio, and items which were carefully crafted, and fit so well with the ethos of "real music".  We also feel that many music sites inundate visitors with so much content that they can be hard to navigate and possibly offer too much choice.  We want the Campaign to be a focused one, and easy to understand.  Therefore, we've intentionally decided to keep it as simple as possible.  However, we will not overlook any artist or genre that deserves support or is worthy of profile, as these will be included in our "other talent" category.  As the Campaign grows, we may add new categories to our site, that is provided this does not detract from our aim to provide a clean, simple and easy to use selection of real music gems.
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We hope the Campaign will help radio music schedulers appreciate the many types of music that are not being well represented on the airwaves.  We'd particularly like the BBC, which offers some fantastic shows on some of its local radio stations, to review its DAB and national radio offering, and provide a broader mix of music for all.  At the moment, there seem to be so many stations playing the same mix of music, and many popular genres of music have little to no airplay at all.  A good example is light music, which not that long ago formed a main part of the BBC's radio schedule, and remains popular with so many.  However, this is not represented at all on any BBC or DAB radio station, save for a few items on some local radio stations. Even the one paltry hour a week on BCC Radio 3 was cancelled in early 2007.  Come on BBC, we know you can do better than this!
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If you can relate to anything we've said here, and would like to get involved, please do contact us - we would love to hear from you.  Perhaps you are a musician who never had the chance you deserved; or you would like to write about certain types of music; or simply you feel - like us - that there is so much great music out there that isn't being heard these days. If you want to get involved we would love to hear from you - please contact us using the form below, or if you prefer, you can send us an email at info@radiocafe.co.uk. Alternatively, please visit our "talk" page to leave your general comments.  We'd also love to get more of you involved as music writers, so if you want to have a regular say about music today on this - ours and yours - website, do get in touch.
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