How Tony Wilson Changed Music

Tony Wilson, the music mogul who has died at 57, leaves behind an enormous musical legacy.

Tony Wilson had been suffering from cancer before his death. He played an integral role in establishing Manchester as a cultural centre, signing bands such as New Order, whose distinctive sound turned them into a global success.

The Factory label and the Hacienda nightclub were two of his best-known projects.

However, he was also recognised for his talent-spotting ability and his foresight in predicting the popularity of downloaded music.

Here are five ways that Wilson changed the music industry.

BRINGING PUNK TO THE MAINSTREAM

Wilson, who had been working as a reporter at Granada TV, gave the Sex Pistols their television debut in 1976.

He had seen the punk pioneers' legendary gig at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall that June.

And he booked them for the second series of his Granada music programme So It Goes.

The audience also included future stars such as Morrissey, Mark E Smith and Mick Hucknall, who were inspired by the event to form their own bands.

Only about 40 people were in the crowd, according to author David Nolan, who wrote a book hailing the concert The Gig that Changed the World.

"What those Mancunians did was astonishing," he told the BBC last year.

"They sent club culture around the world; they sent the independent record scene around the world; they took a style of music around the world."

SETTING UP FACTORY RECORDS

Joy Division, New Order and Electronic were among the acts on the roster at Manchester's Factory Records.

New Order's hits included True Faith, World in Motion and Blue Monday It has often been said that Wilson wrote contracts in his own blood, saying the artists owned everything and the label owned nothing.

Whether this story was true or not, the principle certainly was.

It was a powerful and revolutionary statement of creative freedom - but it was also financial suicide.

Albums were overdue and over-budget when they were delivered.

New Order's Blue Monday became the biggest-selling 12" single in UK history.

But Factory lost money on every copy sold because of the intricate die-cut design of its sleeve, which looked like a floppy disc.

Wilson also claimed that Factory was on the verge of signing Oasis and Pulp before it went bankrupt in 1992.

ESTABLISHING THE HACIENDA NIGHTCLUB

Rob Gretton, who was the manager of Joy Division and New Order, decided there should be a venue that played the kind of music he liked to hear.

The Hacienda was an integral part of 2002 film 24-Hour Party People
The Hacienda was funded by New Order and Factory Records, and as well as being a magnet for clubbers, it also hosted gigs - such as Madonna's first UK appearance.

"The Hacienda changed Manchester forever," said Vaughan Allen, chief executive of the city's Urbis centre, which is currently hosting an exhibition about the club.

"It did 25 years ago what MySpace does today, bringing together creative people to create something new," he told the BBC last month.

The venue was officially opened by risque comedian Bernard Manning.

He departed quickly, however - some accounts say he left his fee behind because he was so unimpressed by the sound system, while others claim it was owing to the fact that his act went down badly with the crowd.

RUNNING THE "IN THE CITY" CONFERENCE

Set up in 1992, it is the UK's largest and most influential forum for finding new talent and discussing the future of the industry.

Oasis played at In the City before they had their first hit, Supersonic It allows the music industry to run the rule over the cream of the UK's new and unsigned bands.

And it has helped launch the careers of almost every major British act of the last 15 years.

Oasis, Radiohead and Suede played at the first In the City.

Muse and Coldplay appeared in 1998; Snow Patrol performed in 2000; and The Arctic Monkeys put in an appearance five years later.

Wilson was renowned as "one of the great spotters of music talent", said Alan McGee, who founded Creation - the home of Oasis and Primal Scream.

"He was a complete inspiration," McGee told the NME website following Wilson's death.

PIONEERING LEGAL MUSIC DOWNLOADS

Wilson was one of the first people to realise the full implications of the illegal downloading revolution that Napster ushered in at the turn of the millennium, and to turn it into an opportunity.

Napster had let fans download songs without paying royalties
Back in 1999 - four years before iTunes was launched - Wilson was preparing a site called Music33, which sold tracks from local labels for 33p each.

He said the 33p price-tag was based on an honest assessment of the costs of digital delivery.

However, the site failed to take off and the cost of digital music was set much higher by the major players in the coming years.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

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