Platform One College of Music

Platform One College of Music had a number of bands set to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival. The opportunity itself was strong, but on its own it doesn’t guarantee anything. Early set times, a crowded lineup, and limited attention mean most performances come and go without much impact unless there’s something supporting them around it.

The work focused on building that support properly. Content was planned and created in the lead-up to the festival, with filming and videography handled across gigs beforehand so each band had something to build momentum with rather than starting from nothing. That also meant there was a clearer understanding of what each band was trying to be, which carried through into how everything was shot and put together.

By the time the festival came around, there was already a base to work from. Content was captured across the event itself and used in real time, with social handled during the day so performances weren’t just happening on stage and then disappearing. Everything stayed consistent with what had been built beforehand, rather than turning into a mix of unrelated posts.

A big part of the shift was how the bands approached it. Instead of just focusing on the performance, they had something to lean into around it. There was a clearer sense of how they were presenting themselves, and that carried through both on stage and online. People were engaging with it, commenting, and showing up with some level of awareness rather than coming in cold.

That consistency made a difference beyond the event itself. Content held its value afterwards rather than being tied to a single day, and in one case it led to a student being invited back the following year to perform on a larger stage.

That progression also carried through on my side. I was brought back the following year to support that performance directly, both by the artist and the festival organisers, off the back of the role I played the first time around. It made it clear that the work wasn’t just useful in the moment, but something that had a direct impact on how the performance was perceived and how things progressed afterwards.