Sandie Shaw, who chairs the very worthwhile Featured Artists Coalition, told the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee at the end of March that finance "was the biggest barrier for emerging artists," adding that the best music "comes from challenging backgrounds."

She's half-right about the...

If you currently work in or aspire to work in media, music, fashion, arts or any competitive creative industry, you're most likely used to people expecting your labour for free. For freelancers it's called working "on spec," for people seeking in-house roles, your golden opportunity to work for free comes...

The government this week announced that it would introduce independent medical panels to assess potentially fraudulent whiplash claims. This is a distinct improvement on the idea that floated just before February's insurance industry summit; a minimum collision speed threshold of 15 mph.

While such a threshold would have...

In February this year, I was the victim of a humiliatingly rudimentary scam. In fact, saying scam probably lends what happened to me an undeserved kudos, as if the scammer was a snappily dressed confidence trickster who stole my heart before stealing my savings. What I fell for...

In 1999, T.V Smith, founder of the pioneering punk band The Adverts, sang "And I pay more for my food 'cause the supermarket's too far... It's expensive being poor because everything costs more." He had a point.

In America there's a name for the collection of inconveniences and expense associated...

I started to fall out of love with football about three years ago. A general apathy would wash over me after games, even when my team won. Beating Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool (away), and Manchester City (this all happened in one season) had started to feel no different to when...

We have an outrageously expensive rail network in the UK. Regardless of which franchisee operates the West Coast Mainline, this is unlikely to change any time soon. In fact, unless you are lucky enough to be able to book in advance, it's often cheaper to take the car.