Tom Gray (activist)

Tom Gray
Gray performing with Gomez in 2006
Occupation(s)Musician, composer and activist[1]
Known forGomez, The Broken Record campaign,[2] political and creator activism.
Notable workBring It On (Album, 1998)
Political partyLabour

Tom Gray is a Mercury Prize-winning British songwriter, composer, and activist. He is a founding member of the rock band Gomez,[3] the founder of the Broken Record campaign.[4] and the elected Chair of the Ivors Academy. He is an elected Council Member of PRS For Music and sits on the board of UK Music.[5] He is a UK Labour Party activist based in Brighton & Hove,[6] and a member of the Musicians' Union.[7] He was the recipient of the 2022 Unsung Hero Award presented by the Music Producer’s Guild UK.[8]

Musical work

Gray is a founding member and one of three vocalists in the UK indie rock band Gomez.[9][10] With Gomez, he won the Mercury Prize in 1998.[11] In 2016 their winning album, Bring It On, was voted BBC Radio 6 Music listeners' favourite ever Mercury winner to date.[12] The band went on to enjoy five UK Top 40 albums.[13]

As a composer, Gray has worked in film, theatre and television. He wrote the score for the first season of In My Skin, a comedy-drama series on the BBC and Hulu.[14] He has also composed for the adaptation of Danny Champion of the World as a stage musical.[15]

Activism

With the band, Gray made one of the first attempts at completely carbon-neutral touring in 2006 [16] and is a signatory to the 'Music Declares Emergency' climate declaration.[17]

He founded the Broken Record campaign in March 2020 to seek fairer remuneration for music creators, especially from streaming.[18] The campaign helped to initiate a UK parliamentary inquiry into the 'Economics of streaming'.[19][20] In April 2021, Gray wrote a letter to the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, requesting better rights for creators and for the industry to be referred to the UK Competition and Markets Authority. The letter was co-signed by other 200 notable individuals in UK music industry, including The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Kate Bush and Chris Martin.[21]

In February 2021, Gray was elected as the Chair of the Ivors Academy, the British association of songwriters and composers. He led several campaigns through the academy, which has resulted in an international conversation around reform of the streaming market.[22][2] He is also an elected Council Member of the Performing Rights Society.[23]

Gray's campaigning provided impetus for the creation of the "Brennan Bill", a bill brought by to the UK Parliament by the Member of Parliament for Cardiff West, Kevin Brennan[24] to improve pay and conditions for working British musicians.[25]

On 9 June 2022, Gray was awarded the Unsung Hero Award by the Music Producers Guild UK.[8]

Politics

Gray beat Eddie Izzard[26] to become the Labour Party candidate for Brighton Pavilion in the 2024 general election but failed to win the seat, taking 27.7% of the vote against 55% for Siân Berry, the winning Green candidate. He increased Labour's share of the vote by 5.1% relative to the party's performance in 2019.[27]

References

  1. ^ Noah, Sherna (30 October 2018). "Gomez singer Tom Gray: Major record labels are not developing new artists". independent.
  2. ^ a b Eoghan, Lyng (2 February 2022). "Gomez guitarist Tom Gray elected Chair of the Ivors Academy,". faroutmagazine.co.uk.
  3. ^ Petridis, Alexis (7 March 2002). "Alexis Petridis meets Gomez". the Guardian.
  4. ^ "Tom Gray from Gomez on why the record industry is broken - Double J". Double J. 28 January 2021.
  5. ^ "UK Music Members".
  6. ^ Green, Daniel (9 March 2023). "Brighton singer Tom Gray to consider bid to replace Caroline Lucas". the argus.
  7. ^ Pohl, Naomi (21 December 2021). "Tom Gray, featured artist, songwriter and #BrokenRecord campaigner lends me his backing". naomiforgs.
  8. ^ a b "MPG Awards 2022: Full Winners List". headlinermagazine.net.
  9. ^ Lambeth, Sam (1 November 2017). "Gomez - Interview". Louder Than War.
  10. ^ Brian F. Johnson. "Guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist Tom Gray".
  11. ^ "The results of the 1998 Mercury Music Prize album of the year". NME. 17 August 1998.
  12. ^ "BBC Radio 6 Music listeners vote Gomez's 'Bring It On' their favourite past Mercury Prize winner". BBC. 14 September 2016.
  13. ^ "official charts". Official Charts. 14 September 2016.
  14. ^ "Insta AMA with Tom Gray of #BrokenRecord campaign and Gomez". The Music Producers Guild. MPG News. 10 February 2021.
  15. ^ Able, Sane. "Sarah Tipple". The Agency.
  16. ^ "Gomez rocking out on entirely green fall tour". Auto Blog. 9 October 2006.
  17. ^ "Music Declares Emergency".
  18. ^ "Gomez singer Tom Gray claims streaming payments to artists are 'pretty horrific'". www.newschainonline.com. 24 November 2020.
  19. ^ Savage, Mark (15 October 2020). "MPs to investigate whether artists are paid fairly for streaming music". BBC News.
  20. ^ "Economics of music streaming". UK Parliament.
  21. ^ Savage, Mark (7 June 2021). "The Rolling Stones and Tom Jones call for streaming reforms". BBC News.
  22. ^ Skinner, Tom (1 February 2022). "Gomez member and streaming campaigner Tom Gray appointed Chair of the Ivors Academy". NME.
  23. ^ Stassen, Murray (22 May 2019). "Antony Bebawi, Tom Gray, Crispin Hunt and Philip Pope appointed to PRS for Music Board". Music Business Worldwide.
  24. ^ "Bill that would have hit record company profits in the UK rejected by British Government".
  25. ^ "Copyright (Rights and Remuneration of Musicians, Etc.) Bill" (PDF).
  26. ^ "Gomez's Tom Gray beats Eddie Izzard in bid to be Brighton Labour candidate at next general election". NME.
  27. ^ "Live: 2024 UK General Election Results for Brighton Pavilion". Bloomberg News. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.