Introducing 'Support Action'

Hi there - my name is Adrian and some of you might have come across me before through my main blog, Specs, perhaps on Twitter, or even in real life at a concert or opera - back when they were happening.
It might not have immediately occurred to you - it was a steep learning curve for me - quite how precarious a living in the arts can be. Confronted with instant cancellations and no guarantee of substitute income, our musicians, artists, composers and venues are all immediately and, in some cases, dramatically affected.

I realise it's a drop in the ocean, but I started a list on a Specs post of CD/download releases (either relatively recent or pertinent to the event, all readily available) by, or featuring, musicians that I know have been hit by sudden loss of work - mainly through their tweets and announcements. Even in the time since I uploaded that post, it soon became apparent that this is going to impact more or less everyone in the performing arts.

So I'm wondering if it might be a bit more useful as a separate blog, with one entry per recording, rather than buried in the middle of my other writings. The aims are as follows:

• Each recording gets its own bitesize post.
• I'll give artist and title details, of course, with a short description. (I'm also tagging the posts to help anyone with genre or style searching.)
• I'll also post a video clip or relevant link if I can find one. (I will only embed an excerpt from Spotify as a last resort - see below...)
• Finally, I will post a link to purchase a download or CD - ideally the record company, or the artist's Bandcamp page - as close to the source as possible.

I'm hoping that the site will be as simple as get out (long-form writing will still be on Specs) but also diverting and interesting to search, browse and zip around. Spotify is all well and good, but it's like trying to look at the contents of a record shop through the keyhole... and we all know that just streaming the music on that service - while useful for sharing and trying out new things - does not put a decent income the artists' way.

If you like or follow a performer of any kind, and especially if you were going to hear them in the near future and now can't, please consider buying a recording of theirs. I know this is an imperfect enterprise - but even though tracks and albums don't necessarily generate an instant financial return, anything to (a) help, (b) keep their sales up and (c) maintain their profile will hopefully support them towards making more music and getting more work... and so we keep on.

I'm in the fortunate position of being able to work full-time at the moment, temporarily at home of course... but it means I can only move at a certain speed and do updates every evening or two. Also, I obviously can't include 'everyone'. Art song will feature heavily, for example, because those are the musicians I hear from and about most readily. Plus I do range around genres a bit (as you might have come to expect from Specs).

But if you read this and you're a musician with a recent recording, or you want me to add an artist you feel passionately about, please get in touch - Twitter is probably best, where I'm @Adrian_Specs. Also, I'm not alone in this venture - m'learned friend and colleague Frances Wilson, a.k.a. The Cross Eyed Pianist, is pooling information with me and she can help feature wider information and publicity (for example, if you offer online gigs, teaching or other kinds of professional support) than I can do on here.

OK. (Deep breath.) Let's go!