Hello there… I’m a writer, broadcaster, publisher, communicator, trainer and entrepreneur.

I founded and co-own the UnLimited Media Group, a London-based group of companies which own media, and provide training, creative and intelligence services to the media, music and communication industries.

I am Co-Publisher and Business Editor of CMU, the biggest news provider to the UK music business, which I co-founded in 1998. The CMU Daily is read by over 20,000 music professionals every day, while theCMUwebsite.com has over 75,000 unique users every month. I also co-host the weekly CMU podcast.

Having written about the music business daily for over nine years I am a leading expert on the sector, and often comment on developments in it for other media, most notably the BBC.

I also develop and run the acclaimed CMU Training courses for music business professionals, and often speak at universities and conferences on music and media industry topics.

As CMU Business Editor, I also programme the convention side of The Great Escape, Europe’s leading festival for new music and the UK’s premiere music business conference.

I am also co-Publisher and co-Editor of ThreeWeeks, the biggest review media at the Edinburgh Festival, the world’s biggest cultural event. I co-founded ThreeWeeks in 1996 after two years running venues at the Edinburgh Fringe, in a bid to give media coverage to the new and grass roots talent that performs there but which is often ignored by the mainstream press.

Sitting behind ThreeWeeks is a unique journalism training programme for young writers, which I help develop and run. Participants in this programme then form the biggest review team at the Edinburgh Festival, and contribute to a weekly magazine, daily reviews sheet, eDaily, iDaily podcast and ThreeWeeks.co.uk.

As Co-Publisher of ThreeWeeks, I was a founder member of the Festival Media Network, bringing together and promoting excellence in the independent media that cover the Edinburgh Fringe.

I also head up UnLimited’s creative and consulting divisions, and have managed creative projects for clients as diverse as Orange, Motorola, Tiger Beer, Bass, the Virgin Group, Sony VAIO, Sony PlayStation, HMV, MUZU, the National Union Of Students and Unicorn Jobs. I am also an Associate Editor of Unicorn Jobs’ weekly e-bulletin and website for PR and corporate communications people, esPResso.

I have also been involved in a number of high profile music marketing projects through an alliance between UnLimited and marketing partnership experts BigTime. This included creating and delivering a series of CD and digital promotions with national newspapers, including the Mail, Mirror and London Evening Standard, involving artists as diverse as Brian Wilson, Oasis, Moby, Soulwax, Blondie and Pete Tong.

More recently I have been working with BigTime to launch Play For Life, a US-based charitable initiative raising funds and awareness for various non-profit organisations, working in partnership with Clear Channel Radio and other partners.

I also more recently launched UnLimited’s training division - UnLimited Insights – and have developed and continue to deliver a range of courses on media, communications and the music business.

Through Insights, I have also been involved in developing and delivering an award-winning training programme for the Taylor Bennett Foundation, which aims to encourage and help black, Asian and ethnic minority graduates pursue a career in comms, with the support of communication companies like Brunswick, Talk PR, MHP and Edelman.

In addition to my UnLimited projects, I also regularly write and speak about the media, music and communication industries. I am also working on a novel and a book about the British constitution, both of which I might finish, one day!

I have an MA in English from Edinburgh University, where I was also president of the student theatre company, a management committee member for the students’ union, a presenter on student radio station Fresh Air, and editor and publisher of various publications for the Edinburgh University Students’ Association.

More recently I gained an LLB in Law from London Metropolitan University, where I wrote a first class dissertation paper on protecting music rights online.

As you can see, I keep busy, but when time is available I enjoy watching and listening to stand-up, sketch and panel show comedy (live, or more commonly via Radio 4), while I follow new trends in music professionally and for pleasure. I have eclectic music tastes, including pop, rock, indie, jazz, breaks, hip hop and some classical, though my favourite artists all play piano: Ben Folds, Regina Spektor and Chilly Gonzales. I am also an experienced (if lapsed) church bell ringer, should you ever need such a thing!

I work from Shoreditch, East London, and spend my Augusts in Edinburgh.

PS: In case there is any confusion, I am NOT the sometimes contentious Tamworth councillor, the manager of Procul Harum, the Edinburgh University lecturer, the independent film maker, the South African cricketer, the Financial Times journalist, the music merchandise maker, the ‘Acoustic Lounge’ presenter,  the actually quite good actor who generally appears in terrible telly dramas, the accountant, the interior designer or the gay porn star (you can find your own link for that). I keep busy, but not that busy.