It's a post-Empire world. The huge success of Lee Daniels and Danny Strong's soap opera about Empire Entertainment has opened the studio door for other broadcasters.
Cameron Crowe has form when it comes to music on screen, with Almost Famous. His new show Roadies, due this summer, will look at life behind the scenes with fictional arena act The Staton-House Band.
With a cast including Luke Wilson, Carla Cugino and Imogen Poots, we’re told to expect “an insider’s look at the reckless, romantic, funny and often poignant lives of a group of ‘roadies’ who live for music and the de facto family they’ve formed along the way”. Nothing like real life on the road then.
Also due in the summer is The Get Down, Baz Luhrmann and Shawn Ryan's Netflix series about the birth of hip-hop and disco set in a down and out 1970s New York. The series will follow a bunch of teenagers as they journey across the city from the South Bronx to the downtown art scene, CBGBs and Studio 54.
Vinyl, the new drama from Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire) also digs that NYC scene as it revolves around beleagured record label boss Richie Finestra, played by Bobby Cannavale. Don't expect as much soapy residue as Empire, especially with Martin Scorsese directing the pilot episode. The series is due to premiere on HBO on February 14
