How to get on college radio

This article isn't directly related to music scenes or live music, but it is the best discussion I have seen on the workings of college radio.

I've never been quite sure why you have to pay a promoter to get your music on radio, and whether paying one will produce tangible results. This article suggests that radio airplay is hard to come by unless you have the right label support behind you.

The Bwog: "A band or label employs a promoter to push its albums to radio stations and handle press. Promotion comes at a steep price—around $1,000 a month on the cheaper end—and bands that can't afford it don't have anyone sending free CDs and records to stations, and thus aren't getting airplay before their albums are released.

"WBAR doesn't have the money to buy 50 or even 10 new records a week, and neither does almost every other college radio station in the country. Instead, they rely on freebies bestowed by the promoters. In short, the stations need the promoters to be able to play music and the promoters needs the stations to play their music. It seems like a happy symbiosis, but it depends totally on a third party—CMJ.

"Chris Baio, C'07, and Chas Carey, C'08, are the college rock directors at WBAR. They sort through up to 100 albums per week, deal with nagging promoters who want their artists to move up in the charts, and process the new acquisitions. When I asked Baio how he chooses what to add, he told me it's often a 'superficial choice' based on cover art, press releases, a few minutes of listening, and a feeling of what the DJs will want to play. As for unsigned or unpromoted bands? 'There is a glimmer of hope, but it's unlikely,' he said."

cmj
music promotion
radio promotion
college radio
indie

Why so many British bands showcase at SXSW

This is a really good article about governments which fund rock bands and other musical acts as part of their national economic development strategies. Festivals like SXSW and CMJ have turned into marketing opportunities.

Government-subsidized rock bands - New York Times: "In a little-understood chapter in the history of cultural exchange, nations from around the world have been choosing musical outfits and sending them to the biggest music markets abroad in hopes of raising their international profile and generating export sales. In a way, it makes perfect sense. ...

"From outward appearances, it might seem that the cultural compass just spins at random from one country to the next. But more and more the 'next big thing' title may reflect the deliberate efforts of government trade and culture officials, who routinely attend American music festivals, organize junkets for critics and record executives, and arrange coaching and subsidies for their homegrown acts. In Canada, which has one of the most established programs, artists can apply for an array of grants or loans to finance up to 75 percent of recording costs, advertising, marketing or touring expenses.

"Heather Ostertag, chief executive of Factor, the public-private Canadian agency that oversees music funds, said it controls a budget of roughly $12.4 million and handed out awards to one-third or more of the 3,800 applicants who sought support last year. Broken Social Scene and its label, for example, have been offered more than $140,000, she said. The Arcade Fire and Stars were also beneficiaries. ...

“'The government recognizes the importance of a cultural spend for a cultural identity,' Ms. Ostertag said. 'I think that we struggle as Canadians for our own Canadian identity. American dominance is so prevalent wherever you go.' Part of maintaining the nation’s place on the cultural map, she added, 'is happening through identifying ourselves through the success of other Canadians.'

"In Australia state and federal governments offer a series of programs. The country’s main export program offers to cover up to 50 percent of an act’s costs above the equivalent of $11,600. Over the last year trade officials provided roughly $1.8 million in grants to 80 recipients aimed at exporting their music. Past recipients included the Wiggles, the phenomenally popular music group catering to children.

"New Zealand has for several years helped cover recording costs, and recently created subsidies, overseen by music and broadcasting professionals, for artists and labels aiming to sell overseas. One recent grant went to Michael Tucker, who wanted to open a United States office for his independent label and marketing company, Loop Recordings. A fast-talking former hairdresser and fashion photographer, Mr. Tucker recently oversaw a show by one of his bands, the funk-reggae outfit the Black Seeds, at a swanky Los Angeles lounge. But not long ago he found himself at a government function hobnobbing with his government’s top ministers. 'I can shave,' he laughed. 'I can play that game.'"

economic development
sxsw
cmj

Live music is where it is at

Since there are so many tricks in the studio that just about anyone can be made to sound commercial, and since fewer and fewer people are spending money to buy recorded music, the focus is shifting to live performance. That's where one band can stand out from the rest.

The CMJ Big Break? Not Such a Big Deal - New York Times: "The do-it-yourself circuit was once a patchwork of live shows and sporadic college-radio exposure, but the Internet has changed that. Now, the most obscure band can put up a page on myspace.com and have its music streamed on any Internet connection, any time. So a showcase at CMJ or its springtime counterpart, South by Southwest, is no longer such a make-or-break moment.

"But a live performance, something more tangible, hi-fi and sloppy than a faceless MP3 file, can still make a band vivid."

cmj
indie
live music

Why music festivals are popular

Each year I monitor press coverage of SXSW and CMJ. Right now, with CMJ, I'm reading even more blogs.

And I've come to realize SXSW and CMJ are growing in popularity because they give endless numbers of bloggers reasons to write about themselves.

Lots of blogs with: "I went hear to this band." "I went to hear that band." "Here's a picture of me at this party." Etc.

Some long-time concert-goers have started to note that at some of today's concerts, fans seem to be more interested in calling or text-messaging their friends to tell them about the concert, and sending them photos of the concert, than to actually listen to the music.

The future of live music may be in giving fans more and more opportunities to turn themselves into stars. Give them ways to participate in the concert and generate their own publicity and they will come.

How about putting fans on the big screens rather than the band? Or at least one big screen devoted to the audience? There are already experiments in allowing interactive posting at concerts.

Perhaps a music festival should call itself, "F*ck the music. It's all about ME!!"

music festival
live music
cmj
music promotion

Something better than MySpace for local bands

A new music site is debuting at CMJ.

Listening Post: "Here's some of what artists get with a free account:

* An import tool for grabbing your fans emails from whatever format you have them in right now (Outlook, Gmail, etc.), so that you can get started easily. All bands keep email lists. All of them.
* An email list management tool for sending out show information, announcements, or thoughts on the human condition to all of your fans -- or just some of them. The example I saw demoed today was a message sent only to 'female fans within 5 miles of such-and-such venue.'
* The ability to network with other ReverbNation artists, cross-linking, and setting up shows and tours.
* A Yahoo Maps touring mash-up that works equally well whether your shows span the country or the city. Not only can you access it as an artist, but you can post it anywhere on the web to show a little line move across a map and hit each of your locations, with a little pop-up bubble indicating show details.
* Charts and graphs showing how your fans break down * demographically (age, location, sex, etc.)....

"I saw a lot of ReverbNation today, and it does more for bands than MySpace does in just about every arena, except for the one that really counts: audience exposure."

cmj
ReverbNation
MySpace

Lots of niche musical experiences

This article talks about the fact that music has splintered so much that you have many different sub-communities which don't overlap much with other sub-communities, but within those communities there are lots of bands, most of which sound pretty much alike. An indie band is an indie band is an indie band.

The big question for the music industry is whether having fans sub-divided so they can become connoisseurs of narrow genres rather than samplers of many genres is a good thing.

In a World of Cacophony, Experience for Sharing - New York Times: "The rock critic Robert Christgau gave an interview last month to the Web site popmatters.com. Mr. Christgau, who was recently dismissed from The Village Voice after 37 years, talked a little bit about recent history. But he also talked about an old obsession of his: the decline of truly popular music.

“'When I grew up, there was a monoculture,' he said. 'Everybody listened to the same music on the radio. I miss monoculture. I think it’s good for people to have a shared experience.'...

"That’s the mixed blessing of a 'narrower and deeper' age. For listeners willing to dive in, CMJ is probably easier to enjoy than ever before. And for listeners who don’t take the plunge, it is probably easier to ignore.”

cmj
indie
music festival
live music
music scene

Still no substitute for a live concert

Still no substitute for a live concert - Newsday.com: "... what do you call someone who discovers an unknown band, then spreads the music to a larger audience? A few years ago, that person was called a full-time record executive. These days, he's a part-time blogger. Or he might be just a teenager who spends a lot of time on MySpace.

"That's where CMJ, now celebrating its 26th year, faces a challenge. With MP3 streams, bit torrents and up-to-the-minute Web sites, who needs a music marathon to get hip to the next big thing? Fans are as well-informed, if not more so, than the professionals who are supposed to be driving the trends. It's a shift in power that's roiling the music industry: Radio is struggling to stay relevant, retailers are closing shop and the Internet continues to confound profit-minded record labels. Does the venerable CMJ marathon still have a place in this new-fangled world?"

music scene
music festival
live music
cmj

New York City isn't dead after all

According to this NYTimes article, even though CBGB closed, all sorts of new clubs are popping up.

CBGB - CMJ Music Marathon - Cake Shop - Studio B - Union Hall - New York Times: "... in the next few months, at least five major spaces are set to open, giving the city’s rock infrastructure its most substantial expansion in years.

“'Right now there’s a renaissance of venues in New York,' said Adam Shore, the manager of Vice Records in Brooklyn and a veteran club trawler. 'This is a great time. It’s going to be pretty cutthroat for promoters, but it’s great for bands and agents and fans.'...

”There are no reliable statistics about the flux of the quantity of clubs over the years, but in general the ashes-to-ashes principle applies: when one closes, another opens. The biggest growth area is Brooklyn, which had few major clubs before Northsix planted its stake. Since then it has developed into a world that almost rivals Manhattan, with enough spaces — from tiny rooms like Pete’s Candy Store and Barbès to roomier places like Southpaw and Galapagos Art Space — to accommodate a range of acts and audiences.

"One promoter, Todd Patrick, a k a Todd P., has built a devoted underground following by mostly avoiding the clubs and putting on must-see shows in galleries, warehouses and vacant lots.

“'People always move to New York and say, "I wish I had been there for something like CB’s was in 1976, or the Factory in ’66, or whatever,"' he said. 'I hope that what I do is a part of something like that as well — that the people and the places I work with now make a scene that people will look back on in 20 years and wish they had been part of.'”

cmj
cbgb
music scene

Shifts from New York to elsewhere

Here's an article from two years ago talking about the decline in importance of the NYC music scene -- and the rise in other scenes around the country.

Gotham Gazette: Has The Music Scene Died In New York?:

"When Bob Dylan moved to New York to make it as a singer-songwriter, he was acknowledging something that he helped define – the city was where pioneering musicians had to be. But if Dylan were starting out today, would he stay in Minnesota?

"For decades, the city nurtured the alternative music scene and the artists who bloomed – and crashed – here, in famed locales like CBGBs, the punk club on the Lower East Side, and the corridors of the Chelsea Hotel. The names of past heroes rattle off the pierced tongues of the cognoscenti: It was here that Iggy Pop held court, here that John Cale, after studying with Aaron Copeland, settled down on Ludlow Street and formed the Velvet Underground with Lou Reed. Patti Smith dropped out of teacher’s college in New Jersey and got her start reading poetry here at St. Mark’s Church. And it is here, of course, where Dylan sets his new bestselling book Chronicles Vol. 1.

"Neither the music scene nor the music industry has completely disappeared from the city. The major music publications Rolling Stone, Spin, Punk Magazine and newcomer Blender Magazine are all based here. The major bands still routinely perform in the many music venues here. For the past 24 years, the College Music Journal Network has sponsored its annual Music Marathon in the city, unleashing 10,000 artists, professionals, fans, and even some public officials onto daytime panels and nighttime concerts at over 50 clubs and local concert halls.

"But, even panelists at the latest Music Marathon itself made it clear they do not think New York is what it used to be, thanks in part to changes in the music industry as a whole."