Fitting in managing the virtuoso fingerstyle guitarist, Eric Roche, Alison became the main booker for the Concorde 2, one of Brighton’s major venues where her many responsibilities included gig programming, artist/management/agent/independent promoter liaison (including dealing with many major artists, record companies and their representatives), event production & promotion (including radio, TV, online and local, regional & national press).
Since forming the BiGiAM, Alison has, amongst many other things, been responsible for the PR, promotion and publicity for Brighton venues, including supervising press for album launches, online promotional activities for festivals and marketing for local and regional events.
Alison has coordinated numerous aspects of a major Brighton music festival, as well as the much-loved and well attended (25,000+ festival-goers)
Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival in Lancashire, from sourcing funding and delivering sponsorship packages to artist liaison and maximising reach via extensive marketing and PR campaigns.
Alison currently oversees the event, festival and business promotion side of BiGiAM, working on brand identity, brand placement, digital marketing packages, SEO and social media strategies for growth and increased reach.
She also helps to teach the Marketing & Branding, Digital Marketing & Social Media and Artist Development & PR modules at BIMM Brighton.
Mark Ede – Partner
Mark is perhaps best known as being personal manager to international recording and touring artist Jo Harman, which he continues alongside his consultancy work as a partner in BiGiAM. His partnership with Jo has seen her progress from an ‘open mic’ singer to a successful, award winning, BBC play-listed artist, renowned for running and controlling her career, on her own terms. Indeed, Jo is cited as a significant figure in the rise of the ‘uber-indie’ (albeit one now attracting major industry support), helping pioneer the ‘brave new world’ of new music industry models.
Prior to joining BiGiAM, Mark was both a promoter and a publicist who has helped any number of bands; signed and otherwise.
His media experience includes producing and presenting independent music radio shows across a number of stations and platforms, writing regular columns for ‘BN1′, ‘Guide2 Brighton’ and ‘Whats Happening Magazine’, as well as being a music reviewer for Latest 7 (print) and BBC Introducing (radio).
Mark is also an experienced panelist and facilitator at music seminars and events, as well as being a guest lecturer and module leader on music related matters at the University of Brighton.
On a creative and artistic level, Mark was the man behind the ‘Soul Reality’ a musical collective which included some of countries finest young talents; players who subsequently went on to professional careers playing for the likes of Emeli Sande, Jessie J, Iggy Pop, Incognito, Boy George, Professor Green, Lisa Stansfield and many other household names.
In 2009 Mark was appointed programme co-ordinator for Brighton Live (effectively booking all 150 bands for the festival) and in 2010 this role was extended further to oversee the whole festival administration. In the same year he helped industry figures David Courtney and Paul Mex to establish the ‘Brighton Music Awards’, attended by such luminaries as Jimmy Page and Roger Daltrey, in support of Teenage Cancer Trust.
Mark’s wider musical portfolio includes not just festival administration but also long-standing experience in running, planning and promoting live music nights and residencies in London (including the Noble Rot club in Mayfair and the 606 club in Chelsea) as well as promoting many hundreds of individual shows in London, Brighton and beyond.
In 2015 Mark was appointed as Chair of the multi-venue, multi genre, ‘Worthing Live’ Music Festival (ticket capacity potential of £1m plus).
In recent years Mark has worked in a professional capacity with a wide range of international artists, including Grammy winning acts, including album and touring marketing campaigns, in his capacity as a senior partner with BiGiAM. These responsibilities also extended to promoting and programming a number of music festivals, and venues, as well as offering general music related consultancy to emerging acts.
Mark is currently European representative for Motown Song Writing Legend Lamont Dozier (a man who has co-written over 50 number 1 hits), overseeing the European release of Lamont’s ‘Reimagination’ album, in partnership with V2 Records, and related touring.
Prior to his current situation working full time in the music industry, Mark enjoyed a wide and varied proven track record in business and communications where he rose to ‘Communications Director’ for the multi-billion, multinational company, O2 Airwave. He also has a number of other current business interests, including managing a significant property portfolio and, in his younger days, Mark was a keen sportsman, and, even now, he continues to represent his County, Essex, at cricket at senior level.
