mikeeteevee wrote:I'd be really interested to know what you think can bring to the table. If you think the market in the UK is untapped, you likely need to do some more market research. There are plenty of artists in the UK, resellers of mods and gaming stores that carry pro sound/backlit gameboys. I've had to leave a shop empty handed cuz the retro gaming shop I went to was already modding their own.
I applaud you for coming in dry here, but the chiptune scene isn't 'untapped' - if anything, it's thriving and alive. The problem is, there's no money in it. If there was, they wouldn't run Kickstarters, fundraisers etc just to have a fucking knees-up. If you come in thinking modding is easy, you'd be right, but being good takes enthusiasm.
As Jellica says, the beauty of the scene is for those who musically want to make something out of nothing. If you can't afford a Fender, you pull a gameboy out of the attic and buy a chinese cart. Many people with years of deep electronics experiences struggle to make a living off of it and they already have an established fan base and mind-blowing, ground-breaking ideas. Kitsch beat me to the punch but the way to get ahead in the scene is to be really, really into it (or drink the tears of your enemies helps) You can't fake enthusiasm. Although don't let that stop you. Just don't think that people aren't 'trying' hard enough. Commercially, there's no value. Socially and emotionally: sure.
I recently returned a couple of gameboys to someone who had bought them stateside. The pro sound had gone on one, the screen had a bubble on the other. I took them apart, fixed them up and returned them. He asked if I wanted money. It was actually too much bother to even hook up a brother with a paypal account for a simple job. I'd got enjoyment out of it, and was happy to help. I'll bump into him at Superbyte and we'll have a beer and bond. This is pretty common in the scene so no amount of market research and two decades of running a business is going to allow you to undercut 'free'
Miketeevee your words are exactly the kind of debate I need 
What I can provide, isn't written yet, nor do I claim to be any kind of marketing saviour or anything of the sort..
My goal is simple.. raise awareness of this fantastic way of both writing and performing.. and with awareness will come growth.. that's the starting point i'd like to address.. By establishing the market (which you have so helpfully done mike, thank you) I can look at ways to help create sustainability.. those fund-raisers and things might be a thing of the past if we could just generate enough interest- leading to bigger venues, which essentially could support a touring group of artists.. Thats the thing people find it easy to forget; that you are only as good as the audience you are playing too.. and if we can change our surroundings, the audience will follow.. larger venues breed higher wages, enough to build a mortgage and a life.. Its easy to dream a dream, but it's better to live that dream, the one where you get to do what you enjoy, and be the best you can be without restriction.. an elite club of comrades who stick together through thick and thin without all the keyboard warrior nonsense.. I belonged to a record label that was very much like that,, we toured for the hell of it and we got by because that is how it was... but we never worried about our kids, or how we were going to eat, because we planned ahead... People, with awareness we could make waves!
What I would like to do is get involved with the supply of equipment, I'm too old to be a rockstar now and I'm too ugly to be a poster boy of any campaign.. My job is in the backroom, making sure that everything ticks over and that everybody has what they need.... Which was one of my questions in fact..
You know, I'd happily give out modded gameboys if I knew that the person recieving it was going to enjoy it and that it would nurture their ability to either write music or programme a game
Like I said, the intentions are only good... 
Peace out
-breakphase
