Of course, if you do plan to go into gig promotion in 2005, think twice before you flypost - especially in North London. Yep, 2004 was the year the local authorities found a new legal tool for tackling flyposting – their past methods having been somewhat laughable (by the time they'd sent you a letter someone had covered up your posters anyway, meaning you were no longer liable).
The new tool was the Anti-social Behaviour Order. The logic, according to both Camden and Westminster councils, is that flyposting constitutes anti-social behaviour. When you issue an ASBO to someone, if they subsequently partake in said anti-social behaviour they face immediate fines or prison sentences. Both councils started threatening to issue ASBOs against any company associated with a flyposting campaign - and that meant a lot of people working in music.
Keen to unite and stand their ground against this dubious use of new laws designed to stop genuinely anti-social behaviour, the major record labels and media companies immediately caved in and promised to never flypost ever again. In the end it was left to street marketing agency Diabolical Liberties - who had more to lose than most in the crackdown over flyposting - to stand their ground and fight the local authorities in court. While a judge agreed to issue temporary ASBOs against key personnel at the marketing firm, effectively stopping them from flyposting in the Camden area, that particular fight is set to continue into 2005. The argument as to whether flyposting actually constitutes anti-social behaviour is yet to be resolved. If the courts decide it isn't, those major labels are sure to refill their buckets with paste and rejoin the battle for wall space.