History of Readipop.

Readipop was formed in August 1998 with the intention of promoting and developing Reading based music and arts. Our first project was the Readipop no.1 CD which featured 17 Reading based acts. With sponsorship from John Madejski we produced and distributed 10,000 free CDs to local people, Reading Festival goers and the music industry. The CD was hailed a great success and was followed up by a series of popular gigs.

The success of the no.1 CD resulted in Readipop winning a commission from Reading Borough Council to deliver a project which created the Talic CD. This CD promoted music of black origin created by Reading-based artists. The project involved music production workshops with newer artists as well as promoting the work of established acts. 5,000 free CDs were distributed to the public at Reading Carnival in May 1999. Readipop also ran a series of PR workshops enabling the featured artists to learn about promoting their material.

In August, with support from the Madejski Stadium, Readipop released the Readipop’99 CD, once again distributing 10,000 free CDs around the time of the Reading Festival. More gigs and events followed.

Check out what the local press made of Readipop and the Talic project or read more about our history