Post SX the collected business cards end up in 3 piles:
1. connected with that person, completely remember them, and what they do.
2. remember where I met the person but have to google their company
3. I have no idea who they are or where we met.
Always best to make a connection and impression instead of just flinging cards out like they are flyers.
Being brought to you by HeaveMedia, I Blame Yoko Records, Kilo Records and Fanfound
Wednesday March 14th
12:00 – 5:00
BD Riley’s on 6th street
12:45 Paper Thick Walls
3:00 Netherfriends
4:30 Archie Powell & the Exports
First 250 People = One Free Beer, Wine or Cocktail of your Choice
The first in a series of new panels focused on helping the Chicago music scene. “cough bands” Hosted by Jaime Black (ChicagoVerseUnited / DynastyPodcasts) this 18+ panel focusing on Building an Online Brand. Panel starts at 6 PM at Rock-it and features:
Ernest Wilkins (RedEyeChicago.com)
Jeremy Scheuch (Do312)
Andrew Barber (Fake Shore Drive)
Brittany Ireland (Mode/radio personality)
&
Bob Nanna (Threadless)
Afterwards hang out for a Pre-SX mixer, find out what every is up to, and free up some of your precious time down in Austin. I will more or less be hosting, so come say hi to me, and tell me about what your doing!
Jaime Black is a podcaster, broadcaster, and journalist in Chicago. He covers the Chicago music scene at Chicago Verse United, and hosts Dynasty Podcasts, Chicago’s first music-focused podcast network. Follow him @jaimeblack for the latest on all his projects.
The Sound Scene:
Is there one piece of advice you would give aspiring musicians to propel their success?
Jaime Black:
There’s certainly a million pieces of advice that could be given here, but one thing I’ve seen time and again to make a difference, is to be social. Bands should build relationships with their fans – on and offline. It often seems like artists think because they have a Twitter account, that they’re social. That’s just the beginning. Engage the fans who come out to your shows – it’ll bring them back to your next gig. If they’re following you on Twitter, reach out to them – thank them for the follow. Or, if they mention you, retweet their message. There are a lot of creative ways to engage your audience – again, both on and offline – and a little bit of interaction could make a lifelong fan. Of course, you don’t want to overdo it, but in general, I feel like there needs to be more of a connect between artist and audience – even (or especially) if that audience is just beginning to grow.
Like I said, there’s so much advice that could be given. That’s just one piece – among many – that I think is essential.
Does a newsletter sound like an artifact from an ancient music business that doesn’t apply to your band? Think your fans are keeping track of you every move via twitter and facebook? Think again!
The fact is that facebook is rapidly hitting the saturation point that doomed myspace as being not being effective for bands. Some say it’s already happened. Don’t think that just because you are in a band that you’re seeing more event invites to shows, releases, tours, or videos than the average music fans. Sending out a monthly newsletter cuts through the clutter of social networks and lands in fan’s inboxes. If you don’t feel like your band has enough going on to send out a monthly newsletter make it quarterly. If quarterly seems to often it’s time to take an honest and hard look at what your band is doing.
There has been some great articles advocating the need for bands to have their own website. Having a central hub for all the band’s activity is vital. You can read a few of those here, here, and here. While I don’t know that I can stress the matter better than those articles, I can say with certainty as a manager when I Google a band and the first the that pops up is their Myspace profile, followed by their Facebook profile, and I cant locate their website in the first couple of pages of results than I am left thinking the band is under developed. Beyond my personal opinion with the rise and fall of social networks, having your own hub that has a clean intuitive design is vital.
General Manager, President and Emmy-nominated Executive Producer of JBTV, Chicago’s longest-running, most-respected rock & roll music television show. Founder and owner of Chicago-based artist management and development firm Goldmill Talent (The Frantic, The Briggs, Flatfoot 56, Treaty Of Paris, State And Madison, Urbanites, Koo Koo Kanga Roo), and Founder and Owner of punk rock record label Sinister Muse. Rock committee member of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammys).
The Sound Scene:
Is there one piece of advice you would give aspiring musicians to propel their success?
Christian Picciolini
Success is all relative, so I will offer advice geared towards mainly touring and performing artists, not so much writers or studio musicians who do it “for the love of music.” The best advice I can give any aspiring musician is that once you’ve developed your music, in order to achieve any level of success with your band, you must treat yourself as a brand. Envision a marketing plan for your brand. How can you better position yourself against all the other music out there? What creative strategies can you develop to build your fan base? How can you branch out from your home base and attract new “customers?” How is your packaging better or more compelling than any other band out there? Consumers (or music fans) make decisions based on several factors. The biggest influencer in music is word of mouth from influencers, or people you trust. Find the influencers and market to them. Second, it’s about first impressions and packaging. If your “product” moves people emotionally or if it’s something they can relate to, make sure you can keep them as a customer by continuing to engage them in new and creative ways. No one sells music to support their band anymore. People must be hooked on the performance and the feeling or experience they get when they see you live. Once they are there, realize that in this day and age you are more of a t-shirt company and entertainer than a composer of music. Make products that your clients will buy. They can download your music, but not your t-shirt or shot glass or poster. And, finally, perception is reality. If people believe you are important, then you are important. If people believe you are special, then you are special. That’s not to say to act like a dick or snob, but if you make people believe that you are something they can’t live without, then they will buy your product. Do people really need nice and expensive cars? Of course not. But they believe that when they own and drive these cars they are more important and that the car will fulfill them more. If you want to make money being a touring musician, then work on your brand image and find smart and creative ways to market yourself. If you want to do it simply “for the love of music,” then give away your music for free and find a local coffee shop to get comfy in for the rest of your life. If your music turns out being something people love, then perhaps you will get lucky and the the coffee shop will organically turn into a club, and a club will turn into a venue. The venue into a stadium, and your “band” into a t-shirt company. Best of luck.
With SXSW just over a month away the annual fever has hit. It’s the time of year a lot of local bands start thinking about ways to make the pilgrimage to Austin even though they got the official rejection letter last week. It’s also around this time I start getting asked about ideas of how to get a show down there or do I know of any open slots. I always answer with the same question. What are you hoping to achieve by going and is there another way to achieve those goals without competing against 3,000 other bands? It’s an honest question every band needs to ask themselves.
Truth be told bands no longer get “discovered” by playing SX like they once did, it’s is now where the music industry goes to show the rest of the industry who they are going to be pushing this year.
Instead of worrying about making the big trip, take a chunk of time to comb through the bands that did get accepted. You can gain perspective on what’s happening outside your scene, and hopefully find someone to gig swap, open for, or potentially tour. You can then have a productive year focusing on actionable things that will help propel what your doing. And when you are accepted to SX you can make an impact, not just bet on a lotto scratch off of getting discovered at the mighty SXSW.
Full Disclosure: I love SX and I’m being a mentor for them for the 2nd year in a row for the festival. It’s like summer camp for the music industry, and I enjoy going every year to catch up with friends, and check out new bands. For young bands often it’s better to wait than rush it.
Legos are hands-down my favor toys of all time. Over the holiday break, I started replaying Lego Stars Wars the Complete Saga on the wii. Some business lessons emerged as I played through the levels.
1. Things are always going to be noticeably harder the first time you play. This goes as much for clearing a level on a game as it does booking your first tour, trying to garnish press, or getting the attention of industry that can help you. The second and third time you go to do something, you know what to expect, there is less sense of urgency, and you are more productive.
2. No matter how cool you are you can’t do everything. Your team are the ones who will help you through difficult spots and will see you through the short term finish lines. I am defining short term finish lines as, recording you next release, planning a tour, or setting up digital distribution through Tunecore. The little people and the good jumpers make all the difference towards success.
3. Watch your money and grab it before it evaporates. There is never a shortage of things to spend money on and not everyone is looking out for your best interest. Watch your bands’ finances to make sure you are making effective choices that directly propel you towards your goals. Build a strategy that includes making an impact when you go to release something. Otherwise you are just doing another local show selling CD’s to friends and family.
4. The same players don’t make sense all the time. On some levels certain people make perfect sense while on others they don’t. If you are drawing less than 200 people in your home town, odds are a booking agent isn’t needed yet. I know booking shows are a pain, but focusing your efforts on building up a regional draw is going to get you further than chasing an agent.
5. Not all levels are fun. In fact some of them take a long time to progress passed and there is no guarantee the next level is going to be any easier or more fun. If you aren’t enjoying all the work it takes to finish a game, odds are you won’t like the sequel or the 3rd installment either. If you hate playing the game, take an honest look at what you are doing and maybe there is something else you are passionate about.
Life is short. Make it count!
This is most likely my last post for 2011, but if you can’t go 3 weeks without any news or advice, make sure to follow me on twitter where I will keep you in the know of Chicago happenings, or my google+ where I tend aggregate industry news and advice.
As usually there are a ton of things going on this weekend, and it’s charity show season, so catch some great bands and warm hearts. Since neither The Sound Scene or 4 ohm Group are throwing a holiday party, so this show will double for the end of year blow out, and you can helps some Chicago area kids in the process.
If you are stuck on the other side of town there is a hot show happening over at Burlington featuring The Damn Choir.
