The Business of Live Music & Events with Dan Tsu

What does it take to build and produce a live event from the ground-up? There is a definite legacy and influence to the cultural zeitgeist that events produced in the UK spark, with the organisation of decades-long festivals such as Glastonbury an annual collision between artists and a dedicated team behind-the-scenes. Whether it’s in curating artist line-ups, preparing stages, or organising security, the meticulous work that goes into production cannot be understated.

For this week’s Blocks2Bags episode, we sat down with Dan Tsu, who amongst many other ventures is an event producer and creative director. The co-founder of Glastonbury venue Rum Shack, which has been running for over a decade, and founder of Lyrix Organic, a live events and education organisation using cross-disciplinary approaches, such as the intersection between rap, poetry, and music, to amplify social action-based initiatives. Lyrix Organix is “for artists who think like activists”, with Dan working directly with artists such as Akala, Ed Sheeran, Lowkey, and ENNY to be at the forefront of social change. 

Sit down with us this week to explore using art to build a legacy — and curating events that connect.

KEY BLOCK GEMS FROM DAN TSU & LYRIX ORGANIX

1. Cultivating change through art — As is the foundation for Lyrix Organix, Dan’s work is steeped in a subversiveness that displays the power of art to start discourse. Change isn’t a one-way street; using art as a medium to connect with larger messages can be incredibly impactful and a pertinent way to cultivate change reciprocally with your audience.

2. Understanding the business of music and live performance as a new artist — As we regularly discuss on Blocks2Bags, there are multiple ways to get to the bag, and this often changes under new and varying social landscapes. With music, for example, live performances today supersede products such as merchandise, and understanding these subtle shifts can be key in intermingling artistry with business. 

3. Globalisation and humility — The desire to take your product — whatever this may be — globally, is not a unique one; but understanding how best to approach this can be a confusing journey. For Dan, whose work with Lyrix Organix has seen him go to emerging creative economies on an international scale, he emphasises the importance of approaching global environments with a level of humility, as opposed to asserting your perspective as the only valid one. 

4. Harnessing digital landscapes authentically — The digital world is something we’ve discussed at length on Blocks2Bags; it is inexplicably intertwined with almost everything we do. For any new artists who have been witness to now-popular artists coming-up through social platforms, Dan advises using these platforms with a level of authenticity that speaks true to your comfortability with them — the people you’re ‘selling’ an artist persona to will catch on to how you truly feel.