Platform One and the Isle of Wight Festival

The Isle of Wight Festival is a showcase where each year a Platform One act, earns the right to perform on the main stage alongside the likes of Coldplay, REM, Rolling Stones and this year, The Police.

The Isle of Wight Festival is host to some of the biggest names in rock music since its revival in 2002, it's also helping to educate the popstars of tomorrow. It has developed a unique relationship with Platform One, an independent not-for-profit college on the Isle of Wight, focussed on preparing students for a career in the music industry.

In collaboration with the University of Chichester, Platform One offers the Foundation Degree in Commercial Music and BA (Hons) in Commercial Music (BA starting September 2008).

The driving force behind Platform One is Dave Pontin, who grew up on the island and was dismayed to see the raw teenage talent haemorrhaging from the island. The solution, he believed, was to create a full-time music course. In 2001, he and his brother Peter converted a derelict factory on the outskirts of Newport into purpose-built studios. Now the college has 120 students studying for foundation degrees, diplomas in music technology, audio recording, music composition, DJ-ing and much more.

Platform One focus on live performance, understanding how organised events work, and the industry’s business side. Second year FD Commercial Music students must put on a series of weekly gigs, profits from which fund a five-day tour in Holland, which students help to organise.

The college recently had a grade one Ofsted inspection, and Pontin insists all tutors being music business professionals. Students also benefit from the experience of visiting industry lawyers, producers, record company reps and performers across the spectrum.

Sponsors include John Giddings, who resurrected the Isle of Wight rock festival in 2002. Giddings has plenty to pass on, having managed Iggy Pop, Paul Young and Howard Jones, and organised stadium tours with David Bowie, the Rolling Stones and U2.  “Anything that gives people a heads up in this business is welcome,” he says.  “I’ve done workshops at Platform One and sent bands there. We pay for and provide the stage at the festival, and for auditions. The island is a breeding ground for talent, and I think getting involved is our responsibility.”

Platform One’s festival stage, the Bandstand, has given exposure to more than 100 young acts. Giddings knows promise when he sees it and reckons blues band Jackson Analogue, whose lead guitarist and singer, Rob Homes, is a Platform One graduate, has big-time potential.

“The Bandstand is an amazing opportunity,” says Pontin.  “The relationship with John Giddings and the festival has dramatically raised standards of musicianship and songwriting, and had a serious impact on the college.”

For many students it has been a revelation. “I learned more in the first two weeks than I did in two years studying A-level music”, says Tom Kenyon, who is doing the University of Chichester’s validated foundation degree in commercial music.

Clayton Connor, a second year foundation degree student, says:  “I’m very much into playing live but it’s taught me that there are many openings in recording and promotion,” he says.  “Playing at the festival is a great opportunity – it shows what’s possible.”