THE RETURN OF THE CLASSIC PRACTICE HOURS
Many have implied, even outright stated that the internet has essentially killed the music industry in the same way the Bugles attributed the death of radio to videos. Early file sharing software like Napster took all of the teeth out of the income flow that kept artists and labels sustainable & flourishing for decades. There are indicators now that the internet may offer new hope in reviving the music business. Rinse FM have resurrected Practice Hours with help from Casio GSHOCK, the program which gives an inside look to the lives and rehearsals of music artists and presents exclusive performance footage of them is attracting the attention of true music fans, sometimes at no cost to them. Offering exclusive access to fans and well as original content in a production part reality TV and part live performance may just be a way to bring validity back to the business part of the music business. Practice Hours revisits an idea which may be more promising now than at the time it was originally presented. As the music industry searches for new revenue streams, productions like this seem very promising.
The original Practice Hours was presented in the Early 2000’s to showcase grime artists. The series was one of the highlights of grime's early history, combining documentary footage with freestyles from artists like Wiley, Kano, Skepta, JME, Crazy Titch, and others. The newly revived Practice Hours explores different contemporary artist in a vignette of their working/studio life and personal life. Each episode also features an exclusive Freestyle performance by artists such as D Double E, Abra Cadabra , Novelist, Mist, and P Money.
Producer Jessica Piper worked with Rinse FM and Casio G-shock to create a five-part series which premiered across numerous prestigious sites including Fact Magazine, Noisy, Dummy Mag, Mobo, Link up, Kings media, and Reddit. The accompanying launch events were live streamed on Casio G-shock social channels and Rinse FM social channels with a dual purpose: as premier events for each episode as well as to allow each artist and their fans to interact via performance. The calm at the center of the entire endeavor was producer Jessica Piper who spent eight months leading the Practice Hours in association with this Casio Gshock campaign team alongside Rinse FM Co-founder Geeneus. With multiple artists and creative perspectives in the mix, it was Piper’s talent and experience which coordinated the series and live events into its eventual manifestation. Her work alongside the Rinse FM founder Geeneus and liaising with the Casio G-shock team negotiated the balance of how brand and art could meet and was essential to its ultimate success. The conclusion of this grand experiment was an incredibly warm reception by a host of media featuring and championing the content plus an almost instantaneous selling out of tickets for the premier events. The fact that the closing event received such a high demand for tickets that a larger venue had to be procured indicates that not only is Practice Hours back but is likely leading the way for other productions of the same kind.
