Joe Sparrow – artist, editor, podcaster, etc.

Joe is an artist, journalist and broadcaster.

His art and portraiture are over-saturated, under-complicated, and dreamlike. You can read his artist statement here.

Joe’s also managing editor of the music industry news, research, and analysis platform Music Ally, and hosts/produces its podcasts. He works with emerging artists in their development, marketing, and strategy. He also co-hosts a podcast with Eddie Argos from Art Brut about forming bands.

In the past, he ran the influential-ish and maybe-too-self-explanatory music blog ‘A New Band A Day’ from 2008-2018, and also worked in UK radio, music PR, and radio plugging.

Joe has helped organise and operate events at SXSW, The Great Escape, Most Wanted: Music, and Tech Open Air, and lectures at BIMM University in Berlin, where he lives.

Go on, contact Joe – life’s short, you only get one go on the ride:

Email Joe

Art

 Artist statement | Art | Portraits

I make digital collages that mix images pulled from the doomscroll, snatched screengrabs, spam email text, societal anxiety, serene fields, ragebait, the climate emergency, the urge for peer-approval, photos of flowers, and nuclear explosions – with over-saturated colours, 90s club visuals and greasy newsprint.

The idea is to create something sort-of dreamlike, sort-of psychedelic, sort-of sloshing with serotonin and anaesthetic and colour.

Contact me for a chat about exhibiting work, buying stuff, or commissioning a portrait.

Recent work

Some other projects

Here’s a few other things I’ve got going on at the moment.

I Formed A Band

Co-host of mostly self-explanatory podcast with Eddie Argos

Music Ally

Managing Editor of Music Ally, the industry-leading music biz news & analysis service

Most Wanted: Music

Strategy and Communication consultant (until 2026)

The Price of Music

Producer of the weekly music biz analysis podcast, which was hosted by Steve Lamacq and Stuart Dredge (until Steve left, and then I took over from him as host.)

Music Ally Focus

Producer & host of Music Ally’s marketing-oriented podcast

Conference moderation

As seen at Reeperbahn, Music Ally NEXT, MW:M Berlin, Un-Convention, BIMM Berlin, etc.

JOEFAQs

What does your art mean, yeah?

I make digital collages that mix images pulled from the doomscroll, snatched screengrabs, spam email text, societal anxiety, serene fields, ragebait, the climate emergency, the urge for peer-approval, photos of flowers, and nuclear explosions – with over-saturated colours, 90s club visuals and greasy newsprint. Here are the art and the portraits, and my artist statement.

And what about the I Formed A Band podcast, eh?

I Formed A Band is a podcast that talks to people who formed bands about the part before they got famous: why did they do it, what did it take and what was life like then? 

It’s hosted by me and Eddie Argos, who formed a band called Art Brut and sings a song called Formed A Band. You can subscribe to I Formed A Band on: Apple | Spotify | RSS feed | Zencastr

What does being editor at Music Ally mean?

I strategise and oversee all the stuff that’s published online, like the music industry news, and all the stuff that is sent to Music Ally’s large subscriber base, like the Quarterly and Sandbox reports.

So what’s the Music Ally Focus podcast then?

Focus is a leading weekly music industry podcast that analyses important topics in detail, as they emerge, with expert guests, in about 25 minutes. I book the guests and record the interview and edit and then publish it. The Pete Tong episode is very popular. You can subscribe here:  Spotify / Apple / YouTube

And what about the event stuff?

I’ve got a background in making events happen: top-line planning, communication strategy and tone of voice, booking panels and artists, running around trying to find speakers, carrying heavy objects at 4am, and so on.

Oh, and what about the conference moderation thing?

I also do a lot of interviewing people on stage at events, and moderating panels in a way that keeps them moving along and interesting.

Wait, what about that A New Band A Day blog you did for about 10 years?

Soooo… I hit update on the ancient WordPress installation and there was a loud bang and a puff of smoke and it all collapsed and fell offline. I’m trying to rescue it ‘cos there’s hundreds and hundreds of posts about mostly forgotten indie bands in there, and keeping them online seems important to me.

Hold on, are you the Joe Sparrow who’s an illustrator / animator?

No, that’s the other Joe Sparrow. There’s loads of us.

JOEFAQs just means “FAQs about Joe”, right?

According to this backronym generator, it means “Jabbers Outtowering Espanol Futtocks Artfully Quarterns”, so let’s just say you can believe what you prefer.

Get in touch with Joe…

  • Go on, there’s a medium-to-high chance that it’ll be fun
  • He likes talking about cool ideas, especially if they’re creative, new, and if you’re interesting
  • If it’s to do with music, art, writing, broadcasting and/or podcasting, it’ll probably be worth both our whiles (whileses?)
  • If not, you can just listen to him talk about 90s drum ‘n’ bass until the call – or what by then is probably an awkward coffee meeting – ends

📩 So send me an email:

It’s joe at terelinck dot com.

Don’t tell the spam bots, please.