As Head of Music at Creative Scotland since 2016, Alan leads the team that provides funding for all genres of music in the shape of recordings, touring, festivals, artist research and development, and industry sector support. Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across Scotland by distributing funding from the Scottish Government and The National Lottery.
Previously, Alan spent more than 25 years in arts journalism. With an initial specialisation in film, he has held the positions of Editor of The List, Associate Editor of Total Film, Reviews Editor of Empire and film critic of The Daily Record. As Group Arts Editor across all titles in the Herald & Times Group, he spent the better part of a decade championing the Scottish arts scene in print, particularly music in the Sunday Herald and The National. He instigated the Sunday Herald’s cross-genre Top 50 Scottish Albums of the Year list and spent many years on the jury selecting unsigned bands for the T Break at T in the Park.