The brand new event taking place in Manchester has had to change its name with less than two weeks to go. The original name ‘JD Presents: The Brit Project’ was objected to by The BRIT Awards.
The BRIT Awards – which is run by the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) – got all het up and threatened to sue The Brit Project unless they immediately ceased all use of its name. This also included advertising, ticketing, social media, websites, email addresses, venue signage, etc. and they were also to pay The Brit Awards’ legal costs. It meant the complete re-branding of the event with little time to go before its debut on Saturday 24 September.
The aim of The British Sound Project is to create a platform for talented, up-and-coming British artists to play and be heard alongside the likes of established British names. The event’s inaugural line-up includes Primal Scream, Black Grape, Badly Drawn Boy and Reverend & the Makers. The Brit Project’s team assumed that people and organisations within the music industry – including The BRIT Awards – would support and endorse this project, rather than hold it back.
Steven Wood, the man behind the idea, said: “We think that The Brit Awards are great at what they do but they are a music awards ceremony – we’re an entirely different concept. We’ve been putting together an indoor festival featuring British legends alongside future stars, giving these new artists the chance to play together in front of big crowds in a cool, warehouse venue – it’s our own unique event.”
People championing the event include Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays/Black Grape) and Alan McGee (Creation Records, Oasis). Alan recently told BBC’s North West Tonight: “I think it’s a great idea – every city needs a Brit Project.”
A spokesperson from The Brit Awards said: “The BRIT Awards do all they can to support British music, both at home and around the world. ‘BRIT Awards’ and ‘The BRITs’ are registered trademarks. The name is a well-known and an established brand in music and raises millions of pounds for charity so it’s important the public doesn’t get confused.”
Disappointed, but positive, Steven sums up: “Although we’ve had to change everything that we’ve worked so hard to build up, we’ve stayed focused and now have a new name for the event – JD Presents: The British Sound Project. Hopefully, all the people who have bought tickets for this event will not be confused by the name change, which we’ve had no choice but to do. We’re looking forward to moving onwards and upwards and we thank everyone for their support on this.”
THE BRITISH SOUND PROJECT Official | Twitter | Facebook
COMPETITION NOW CLOSED
WE HAVE A PAIR OF TICKETS TO GIVE AWAY FOR THE EVENT: If you want these tickets just follow this link over to Twitter and give us a retweet and follow us too. We’ll put all the names in a hat (yes we’ll use a real hat) and contact the winner via Twitter on Thursday the 22nd.
