Young entrepreneur launches initiative to help struggling musicians

A young entrepreneur who set up his own record label has established a new initiative to give young musicians a helping hand.

Stewart Platt, 25, runs his own record label and artist and event management company, R House in Newcastle.

But after seeing some of his DJ friends struggle to find work in the music market, he decided to create ‘Future Proof.’

The company aims to find advancing artists, who are finding it difficult to find gigs and give them the opportunity to perform live and market their music.

This exposure can then be used as a stepping stone to break into the North East live music scene and enable the musicians to establish themselves as performing artists.

Stewart, from Heaton in Newcastle, was granted £300 funding from the O2 Think Big initiative in October 2012.

The project is aimed at helping 13-25 year olds launch ideas and programmes that benefit their areas.

Stewart said: “A lot of my friends struggled to get work, which in turn, meant that they couldn’t gain further experience or get their names out there.

“I decided that if no-one would give them a chance, then I would put my own events on. That’s how I came up with the idea of Future Proof.

“I launched the first Future Proof with the funding that I won from O2 and it was a great success. Over 100 people attended and it gave me the desire and confidence to do more Future Proof events.

“The events now take place on the first Friday of every month at The Globe in Newcastle.”

Stewart launched his career in the music industry following a 13 week course at Gateshead College.

The course, entitled Managing a Music Business Enterprise, was developed by strategic partners Gateshead College and music development agency, Generator.

Music lecturer at Gateshead College, Mark Hobrough said: “It’s fantastic to see Stewart carve out a career for himself.

“He has gone from helping his friends to launching his own record label, a major feat for anyone.

“This is exactly the kind of success story we were hoping for when we teamed up with Generator.

“There are so many opportunities in the region and this course delivers the skills, know-how and confidence to help these careers happen.”

Stewart has also been shortlisted by Virgin Money to sponsor Newcastle United against Liverpool at St James’ Park in April.

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