Is the Creative Industry in the UK getting the Support it deserves from the UK GOVERNMENT?

This is a question very close to my heart, as Dischromatics established Dischro Creative last year in order to exploit the undoubted opportunities available to any forward thinking enterprise with the experience, knowledge and wherewithal available. Dischro Creative offers filming forevents, showreels, testimonials etc., graphic design, web design, and app creation. 

I read an article recently in the Director magazine that absolutely hit a chord with me as it mirrored my own thoughts and experiences. The article was based on the views of ex Dragon Doug Richard who certainly has the credentials and credibility to make anyone sit up and listen. His views are that the UK actually leads the world in this area but the UK government only pay lip service to it without giving credible and tangible support.

He goes on to say that the creative industry generates over £70,000 per minute in this country and accounts for 10% of exports and this is still a relatively young sector with huge potential for growth in this hi-tec area of our economy. Imagine what a significant financial boost from our politicians would do for the future economy, creating huge profits with a significant increase in exports and in high paid employment which would in itself have a positive knock-on effect for the whole economy.

Our own experience of the lack of support from our politicians is commonplace. Here in Wales. the Welsh Government continually pay lip service to how important the creative industry is to Wales and they have run a series of ‘seminars’ in the country to give the impression that they are being proactive but the truth is that they are offering very little tangible support to the creative sector itself. As far as the WG is concerned size I everything, they very rarely recognise small creative enterprises but this is where the most significant opportunities arise. 

The past is a painful reminder of how our politicians in Wales fail to recognise the future lies with indigenous small to medium enterprises. It’s always about headlines with politician. The failed bid to establish LG in Newport is a poignant reminder of their incompetence, paying huge subsidies to LG and others for that matter only for us to see them fail and withdraw. I remember at the time, all the Ministers turned out for the photo call when the company moved in but they were not to be seen or heard when they moved out again.

What is needed is a body that includes leaders from a cross section of the Creative Industry, from large and particularly small enterprises together with politicians appointed by the WG who fully understand or who are prepared to learn, to get together to see how, collectively, we can progress in order to expand this valuable area of our economy. Instead of looking for publicity to boost their own egos, we need people who are genuinely interested in making this a success, to have the patience and understanding to learn what is needed, to offer support in whatever area is required ensuring there is cooperation with our universities so that courses can be adapted to suit what is required by our young and vibrant creative sector to the benefit of us all!

Google Returned Searches are not necessarily the Best Companies for your Orders

Having completed some recent research using keywords relevant to my own business, it is surprising how many of the results that are prominent on Google are for companies that are no longer viable or may supply sub-standard product due to their low pricing. It seems that regardless of Penguin or Panda updates or whatever they do, Google just can’t get it right, with some unreliable sites still maintain a lofty position whilst other more quality sites are penalised due mainly to not adopting the black hat tactics of these lesser sites.

Further analysis of some of these sites through our financial checker, shows that they are actually trading beyond their means. They are simply not in a liquid enough state to carry on trading. If their customers are placing orders and paying in advance and they could finish up without product or the cash they paid for the goods because they may just be on the edge of bankruptcy.

One company who appears on the first page for the search term CD Duplication is Duplication Centre LIMITED (05279829), they have the audacity to claim to be the UK’s leading CD, DVD and Blu-ray Duplicator but have a working capital of minus (-£103,907), most worryingly for customers is that they also have a company which was incorporated in May 2007 but is not trading yet called Duplication Centre Service LIMITED (06250953). Not long ago, I was embarrassingly caught out like this by a company call Magellan who I had paid a sum of money to for equipment, they went bust soon after, I lost my money and they started trading again under a very similar name. 

Another company called Max Duplication who also appears on the front page of Google for CD Duplication amongst other keywords they rate highly for has tangible assets of £937 with a working capital of minus -£7316. I wish someone could tell me how this works because the whole thing seems illogical. Yet another on the front page called Xpress Duplication Centre cannot even be found under that name at Companies House. Then there is Amstore who seems to have been dissolved and whose site is down still has a prominent presence in Google. TVV Productions also has a minus working capital!

In conclusion, I know it’s normal that you credit check your customers before offering credit but now you’d better check your suppliers too, especially if you pay up front for your product! Having said all this, there are of course sites that do have a high presence that are quality companies, many of these appear on lower pages too so it’s well worth doing thorough research before placing your order, if a similar product is so much cheaper than rivals, there’s a good reason why and it’s usually because the product on offer is sub-standard.

Dischromatics Limitd - Video is the Best Way Forward for Marketing and Getting Your... - Mynewsdesk

Dischromatics Limitd - Video is the Best Way Forward for Marketing and Getting Your... - Mynewsdesk

Dischromatics Releases Documentary on the Future of Physical Media

With the recent bad news of more store chains like HMV closing on the high street, Dischromatics has commissioned a short documentary film produced by Dischro Creative to investigate this important aspect of our lives.

With the increasing popularity of digital downloading of music and games along with illegal copying, surely the end is in sight for CD’s? We have certainly seen the continual year on year decrease in sales of DVD with advent of Blu-ray discs with the ability to hold HD and 3D films as well as some fantastic games with their subsequent special effects and features so that DVD now has no place in future for movies and high quality games. DVD’s will almost certainly be used solely for specialist markets where low numbers are required and DVD Duplication using recordable media will prevail albeit on a relatively small scale.

The documentary film includes interviews with people in the various industries related to these products including Spillers Records in Cardiff, HMV and Music Wales, as well actual artists and members of the public and gives a most interesting insight into people’s thoughts. Furthermore, their opinions are mixed with a certain feeling of loss if music CD’s ceased to be available. There is a feeling that by having the CD with its packaging in physical form there is an added value and that the playback quality is far better than the quality of the same music downloaded digitally over the internet. Equally, for some the convenience and the ability to store great volumes of music on portable devices like IPods have a better value for them.

Is there a parallel here with vinyl and in fact we are experiencing a similar small revolution when CD’s came onto the market almost obliterating the demand for vinyl. Only for the resurgence in demand for vinyl to re-emerge when not only the purists who remained loyal to the product continued seeking out the vinyl alternatives but new demand was generated from a small but growing group of enthusiasts and once again there are various brands of new decks available to play your records on. 

There has been an undoubted drop in the sales and demand for compact discs but unlike DVD where there is an alternative physical media like Blu-ray, CD’s do not have a physical rival. The decrease in demand is purely down to piracy and digital downloads but there can be little doubt that CD’s will see life continue for a good number of years yet. Cost of downloading music from the internet is of course much cheaper than the physical product but as some of our interviewees have expressed they like to read about the artists, have the lyrics at their disposal as well as having the feel of a CD. Bizarrely, many games downloads are more expensive than the actual physical product.

We see the future of CD changing, where similar to DVD in the short term, orders for lower volume Music CD will be the norm, leaving the only alternative to full manufacture to be CD Duplication, we are seeing many groups and bands looking towards this recordable medium as a way of promoting their music and this is set to continue and increase. Smaller volumes also allow them to produce new albums at less cost with much more flexibility. Dischromatics is well placed to work with all these groups and bands as they have the ability to produce the whole package and help to promote through their creative arm Dischro Creative. Consequently we believe CD’s will be with us for many years yet.

Go to:  http://youtu.be/V5daimJ1rqE to see the Documentary