December 3, 2010 by alunparry

The 15 Second Challenge – Crowdsourcing A Great Pitch

Could you describe me and my music to a stranger in a phrase that takes no longer than 15 seconds to say?

If I adopt anybody’s suggestion I’ll send you a full set of signed CDs as a thankyou (Corridors Of Stone, Liverpool 800, and We Can Make The World Stop).

I want you to leave a comment below with your ideas.

The “Parry Soviet” Give You Some Clues

First off, a big thanks to my “Parry soviet” (as it has been dubbed) of music lovers who are acting as a sounding board for some of my questions about my music.

I asked everyone a list of questions, and to help you out I’ll leave their answers (anonymously of course!)

If you read their views first, it’ll help you come up with a better chance of inventing a good tagline.

Note: the people who volunteered are obviously people who tend to like my stuff, so it’s pleasantly biased in my favour.

Anyhow, here we go:

Q. What artists do you think I sound like?

The artists mentioned in dispatches were:

Tracy Chapman
Billy Bragg
Ewan MacColl
Roy Bailey
John Lennon.

Q. If you had to guess my influences (not just musicians), who would you say?

The people mentioned in dispatches were:

Billy Bragg
The Beatles
the working class
Tony Benn
the people of Liverpool
Bill Shankly
Woody Guthrie
Roy Bailey
Bob Dylan
Arthur Scargill
Tony Benn
the Liverpool dockers
Ewan MacColl
early trades unionists
Frederick Engels
Pete Seeger
Jake Thackeray
Bill Hedgerow
The Wandering Minstrel.

Q. What are all the feelings and vibes that my music creates and conveys to you?

The kind of feelings mentioned back were:

uplifted, catchy, well crafted, passion, honesty, injustice, humour, sadness, reality, comedy, strength, teaches about people and life, moving, thoughtful, happiness, fun, feelgood, sadness, love of Liverpool, a bit inspiring, true, powerful, injustice, controlled anger, hope, humour at adversity, unity, inspirational, challenges myths, an education, integrity, realism, love for humankind.

Q. Complete this sentence to describe me: If __________ was a folk singer.

Here are the people mentioned:
Tony Benn (mentioned a lot!)
Dennis Skinner
Walt Whitman

Q. Complete this sci-fi style merger to describe me: If ________ and ________ merged and became a folk singer.

Here are the partnerships mentioned:
Billy Bragg/Tracy Chapman
Tony Benn/Russell Howard
Tony Benn/Bill Shankly
Tony Benn/Billy Bragg
Bob Crow/Bob Paisley
Abraham Lincoln/Ken Dodd’s Diddymen

Finally – a quick fire round where well known people are assigned to certain aspects of me. This is what the replies said.

My voice: John Lennon (mentioned a lot – flattered!), the people of Liverpool, the soul of Liverpool

My music: The Beatles, Ewan MacColl, Pete Seeger, early Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, mid 90s Pulp, a Scouse Woody Guthrie, The Jam, Billy Bragg

Lyrical style: Bob Dylan, Billy Bragg, Ewan MacColl, Robb Johnson, Pete Seeger, early Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Leon Rosselson, a working class poetry

World view: Billy Bragg, Bill Bailey, Tony Benn, left wing, Clem Attlee, making it better.

The Challenge

So now it’s your turn.

Your job is to turn that information (or your own thoughts) into a memorable tagline that

• takes no more than 15 seconds to say
• let’s any stranger get a really good handle on my music
• is memorable!

If I choose yours, you’ll get the signed back catalogue, and a big thank you from me!! Feel free to send in multiple suggestions!

#15 second challenge#15 second pitch#alun parry#crowdsourcing