BRILLIANT SOUNDING RUBBISH
Out August 8, 2025
A sharp, thoughtful and ultimately hopeful look at the past, present and future of the music industry - from one of the people who helped shape it.
In Brilliant Sounding Rubbish, Kev Nixon - artist manager, music educator and music industry insider - charts the fall of British music’s global dominance with unflinching honesty, deep affection, and biting wit.
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Drawing on four decades in the business, Nixon reveals how the UK’s once world-leading musical culture has become obsessed with the past, addicted to nostalgia, and increasingly disconnected from artistic substance.
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What began as a phrase Nixon coined while helping students make polished recordings using GarageBand, “brilliant sounding rubbish”, evolved into a damning metaphor for an entire industry. Part memoir, part manifesto, and part behind-the-scenes exposé, the book journeys from Nixon’s childhood musical awakenings in 1960s Yorkshire to the chaos of modern streaming culture, tracing the roots of the crisis in everything from the collapse of artist development to the rise of corporate ownership and the devaluation of music education.
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Nixon expertly details class prejudice in genre hierarchies, the myth of the self-made artist, and the digital structures that now control what the world hears - and what it doesn’t.
But this is not simply a story of decline. Through personal stories, case studies and bold provocations, Brilliant Sounding Rubbish offers a clear-eyed vision for rebuilding an industry with heart, integrity, and risk at its core.
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Nixon believes there’s still time to turn things around. If we bring back risk, nurture real talent, and stop chasing trends, the music business might just get its soul back. The future, he says, could still sound brilliant – this time for the right reasons.
