Well, I’m delighted to report that thanks to your generosity, I’ll be at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York this October.

zoomA combination of some cheaper air travel deals found through the internet (thanks, Valerie), an incredible amount of financial support from around the world and a significant degree of flexibility at the university means that it’s all systems go. I’m very, very grateful.

Now… the next step is to figure out accommodation. I’m in the middle of a tour around the UK, speaking to musicians and music businesses about what it is they do for a living — and I’m finding the Youth Hostels to be, for the most part, entirely satisfactory — though some are infinitely better than others.

I found this site, which seems helpful as far as cheap places to spend the night in NYC are concerned — and with a bit of research I think I’ll be able to locate something affordable, close to the venue, and not overly perilous.

I quite like the sound of this place… but I’m open to your suggestion on that front.

I have an offer of t-shirt production, and that will be the next step. If you’ve donated, you’ll be receiving an email from me in the next few days, checking to see what you’d like to be credited as (band name, company name, private individual… whatever).

In the meantime, I’m still open to suggestion regarding interesting people to talk to for my research in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester and Liverpool. I have a few leads, but if you want to meet up for a chat, I’d be happy to try and accommodate that while I’m in your town.

I’ll be leaving for Belfast on Thursday. Looking forward to that.

Anyway… that’s more than enough about me. Next post’s a helpful and interesting piece about music business online. Promise.