Kiplet says,
>On Tue, 16 Feb 1999 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
>> Despite what y'all say about SXSW or any event like it, I think that when
>> playing a showcase, or any CSRF like it, it is up to the artist to make the
>> most of what's available. You *do* have the opportunity to get important
>> people out to see your band/act if you take the initiative to let people
>> know you're out there.
>
> Again, if you go into SXSW with a buzz on your band, then sure,
>you might realistically expect some "important people" to come to your
>show, chat you up afterwards, etc. etc. But I suspect if you're in the Joe
>Blow Band from Scranton, PA and you try to convince a rep from Hightone to
>make your set, it's probably not gonna happen.
As an ex-weasel and one-time band manager, I'd say that Kip is exactly
right about this. Letting people know you're out there only goes so far,
especially if you haven't been to whatever the last CSRF on the calendar
was and thus haven't had an opportunity to chat up the A&R guys at the
labels you're hoping will sign you. It's all about buzz, really, and bands
can't do all that much to manufacture a buzz (other than being a really
great band, and God knows that doesn't always make a difference); it's
either there or it isn't.
Label weasels are people like anyone else (well...sorta <g>) and they want
to go to the shows their friends are going to, go to the clubs that are
supposed to have the coolest bands playing. Some have every intention of
trying to take in as many bands as possible on a given night, but it
doesn't always, or even often, work out that way, particularly not at CSRFs
like SxSW, where there are so many good choices at competing times. Even
if a band does all the self-marketing stuff right, there's no guarantee and
not that much likelihood that they're going to get seen by anyone who can
make a difference to their careers.
It's probably true that the bands who pay the most attention to
self-promotion and are the most marketing-savvy are fairly often the ones
that come away from events like SXSW with contracts. Maybe that's because
that type of band is also marketing-savvy enough to have come up with a
commercial sound. But I don't think it's the case that simply doing a good
job of self-promotion is going to lead to a contract or to the big-deal
weasels showing up at your gig at SxSW. There are too many other
intangibles involved.
>> These things are really about networking, getting the word out about what
>> makes you different or better than what else is out there.
>
> I agree there's worth here in the sense of meeting other
>bands, trading shows with them, meeting some lower level
>label reps, d.j.'s, yadda yadda. But all of the emphasis here on
>schmoozing and networking and "taking it to the next level" and so on...I
>dunno, I think it would behoove a lot of these bands to simply concentrate
>on their music and spend less time trying to figure out how they're gonna
>get the attention of A&R.
Indeed. Not that that will guarantee future success either, since it's
painfully obvious that talent and skill don't automatically lead to success
or recognition.
>
> Look: SXSW sells a dream. That's why all those bands make the
>drive (well, that and it can be fun to hear all the great music, depending
>on how superhuman you're feeling that week, as Junior Barnard once said).
>And let's not forgot there's a group of people making an *enormous*
>amount of money off that dream. The actual musicians are not among this
>group, for the most part.
Which was Nancy's point, I think, or part of it, and I don't think it's
unreasonable to suggest that the founders of SxSW could do more to make the
event band-friendly, even if that meant higher expenditures on their part.
But bands also need to go into any CSRF with their eyes open. If you're
expecting it to be the music-biz equivalent of winning the lottery, you're
right only in that the odds of your winning are so microscopic as to be
virtually nonexistent. (And why any band would want to score a big fat
contract with a big label in today's completely unstable biz is somewhat
mystifying, but that's a topic for another day.) Unfortunately, Jim's
statement:
>
> If you go into
>
>> it thinking that you've got no shot and no one cares, your probably right.
>> If you work at it and actually have something interesting to say or maybe
>> think of different way to grab some attention, the right folks will find
>> you.
>
strikes me as more wishful thinking than anything else.
--Amy
"Ain't no use in hanging around/Emptiness swallows its own path/I watch my
weakness go down easy/And I pray it won't last..." (The Damnations TX)
