Longing for the day ...

Keeping fans' interest

At IMC, one of the more unexpectedly interesting perspectives came from David Cooper, who's an accountant. He specialises in making stuff to help artists at the back end - the accounting and management jobs that most artists struggle with. We were discussing the mechanics of fan bases and David mentioned that his software is used by U2 (among others) to manage their fan base and subscription lists.

The key, according to David, is to give fans an extra reason to pay attention to you - especially immediately after a show while they're still warm with you. Doing things like posting pictures of fans with band members are very effective, give fans a reason to come back to your website and ALSO to tell other about their experience with the band. But the one he thought was best:

"Never underestimate an e-mail from a band member to a fan."

Of course, this requires a little extra work the morning after a gig, but if you can pick a few people who recently signed up and send them a *personal* e-mail, not the standard broadcast ones, that refers to something particular about them and how you met, it can work viral marketing magic ...

How to stand out in the crowd

Jim Fetzer was great for a quote at the Independent Music Conference. At one stage we were discussing the difficult issue of how a band can get people to notice them in this world that is flooded with acts doing the same. Jim's recipe was both simple and difficult:

"Word of mouth, in your face, get out and play."

What he means is that word of mouth is the best form of promotion - for shows, songs or CD releases - and that the way to tell people about them is to get in their faces and personally bring it to their attention; and that you then have to deliver on the promise - every show has to seriously rock their worlds.

MySpace great for some purposes but it is not gonna do it for you unless you tell people about who you are and what you do. The best way to do that is one-on-one, or at least one show at a time. Now, that sounds like the old-fashioned way to do it to me ... hard work and dedication.

Have the confidence to be rejected

Got this one from Derek Sivers' website. Derek's an incredible guy who I had the honour to meet a couple of Big Sound Conferences ago. He knows what it takes to be in independent artist and delights in helping indies out - that's why he started CDBaby and HostBaby (and soon-to-be promobaby). Anyway, he blogged this statement, which I reckon is spot on:

"If you really believe in your music, have the confidence to put yourself into those places where MOST people get rejected.(radio, magazines, big venues, agents, managers, record labels, promoters...)"

I aspire to that confidence ...

Keep your eyes on the prize ...

One of the more ... energetic ... panellists at IMC07 was James Fetzer of Fetzer Music Management. I learned a lot from talking to Jim, but I learned as much from just watching him in action. Let's just say he's an interesting character ...

At one of the panels, the issue of covers bands and the animosity that originals bands have towards them came up. Most of the panelists agreed that this was pointless and that you should consider paying covers as a way to pay for originals, but Jim had a unique response. He argued that covers bands are an originals band's best friend. He put it like this:

"The goal is to walk into a bar and hear someone playing your song."

Sage advice and a great way to keep all of this in perspective. Of course, there are a few ways to make this happen ...

Made it into Fretfest!

Got an e-mail last night confirming that I passed the audition and made it into the first heat of Fretfest in the Middle-age Farts category. I played my latest song, "When it's Over" (slightly reworked after IMC07), and got some good feedback about the one-song performance that I've already tried to implement into my act.

The heat is on Saturday night some time after 5pm this Saturday. If I make it from the cut of 30 to the cut of 20 I'll be on again next Saturday at the same time ... and then maybe, just maybe, the Saturday after that. We'll see ...

This is a lot of fun and an interesting exercise. I'm using today's show at QUT's Kelvin Grove Guild Bar as a rehearsal ...

Confidence to be rejected

Got this one from Derek Sivers' website. Derek's an incredible guy who I had the honour to meet a couple of Big Sound Conferences ago. He knows what it takes to be in independent artist and delights in helping indies out - that's why he started CDBaby and HostBaby (and soon-to-be promobaby). Anyway, he blogged this statement, which I reckon is spot on:

"If you really believe in your music, have the confidence to put yourself into those places where MOST people get rejected.(radio, magazines, big venues, agents, managers, record labels, promoters...)"

I aspire to that confidence ...

So, Melbourne V Manly?

The two best teams all year end up in the Grand Final! Very appropriate and just what I wanted to see ...

Go the Storm!

I don't care who beats Manly or by how much ...

Why should people care??

Jim Fetzer has a unique approach to managing Indie bands ... or any band, for that matter. He has an interesting take on life. But in one of the IMC07 panels, he made the point that for all the new technology and changed environment in music and media over the past few decades, "some things in the music industry have not, and will not, change."

Specifically, he was talking about the reasons people pay attention to your band or act, and what you have to do to get noticed amid the huge volume of interesting entertainment that's available on there. He said if you can't answer one simple question, then you don't have anything to offer:

"What, apart from your music, makes people care?"

This is what I call "third leg" marketing. You need a back story, and a compelling one at that. People will understand your music better and relate to your act and your art better if they know where it's coming from. The back story gives them access to who you are and what makes you special. Understand your own back story, hone the telling of it and put it out there for fans to find.

Words you will never hear ...

At the IMC07 I attended a session on song arrangement run by Lawrence "Gelboni" Gelburd. It was very informative. He basically just showed us how he had re-worked a song by a band he was helping. The song was already quite strong but needed something to take it from "this works live" to "this works as a recording", which also makes it work better live ...

I won't give all of Lawrence's tips away but one thing he said, which was readily agreed by other producers there, rang true and addressed a key flaw in many indie productions. He said that these were words you would never hear spoken:

"Gee, that introduction is too short ... "

Get to the most important bit of the song - the vocals - and get there quickly.

Music discovery

Just found this post from Hype Machine. They asked readers "How do you discover music?" and, not surprisingly, the top answer was from online editorials, followed by friends' recommendations. The lowest rating was given to "Online Mechanical", which means via recommendation bots of the Last.fm or Pandora kind.

The authors attribute this low response to the newness of these devices but I'm not convinced. I suspect that these devices are simply not accurate enough (yet!). They don't have credibility as a service that points you to interesting music, so people don't trust them. If/when they improve, I'm sure they'll be taken up with all the gusto of a lot of fads ...

But the most interesting part of this post is at the end: the "other" list and the comments. One comment I found particularly interesting and probably underestimated was the first one, which notes that music discovery does NOT mean NEW music discovery - sometimes the most interesting music is older - classic rock or classic performances.

I think this is one of the undervalued realisations of the online environment: the Music Industry is paying the price for hitching its wagon to fashion/trend/novelty. Teenagers, the driving force for popular music differentiation in the post-war period, were invented for the purposes of marketing and they differentiated themselves by rejecting the old in favour of the new/young. This, by definition, encourages disposable product and long-term dissatisfaction, and requires a continual demand for new high-quality product, which is notoriously difficult to meet.

But there are some musics that still work a long time after they were new and novel, and these are often denigrated by the machine, but extremely profitable. The artists who focus on delivering long-term relationships and cultural value will be the ones who can sustain a career in this new environment. The novelty acts may make a lot of money in a short time, but will not sustain it. (Not that there's anything new about that ...)

Me in Philly!

Thanks to Rachel Rocks at the Pennsylvania Musician magazine, here's a photo of me in action at the Independent Music conference in Philadelphia on August 30. It's always interesting to see yourself as others see you .. not that you can ever get the full effect. Not sure about those pants ...

Hopefully more to come, with a review as well. Gotta work on getting some gigs around Brisbane before the year is out and build from there.

The Big Picture

The Independent Music Conference in Philadelphia was such an eye-opening experience that I want to blog most of what I learned there, so that everyone can benefit from it. I'd encourage anyone with an interest in independent music to attend ...

But this quote from the conference organiser, Noel Ramos, sums up the entire focus and philosophy of the conference and the most important lesson to emerge from it. I wish more music conferences would follow this lead:

"Independent does not mean alone."

Noel said this lots of times during the five days and it's important for artists to get their heads around. A vital tip for all concerned.

This space left blank ...

for Hannah Ethel Bonfield and Lydia Mae McLeish-Edwards who were victims of a house fire last night. And for their parents, Claire and Chard, who are shattered.

Such beautiful children, close friends, lost so tragically. But for the grace of God it was my daughter, too.

I am in Hollywood and I am numb.

Now in Canada

Since I last posted I have had my mind blown by the IMC at Philly, been driven to New York (unexpectedly) by Mike "Lapdance" Lapke (thanks, maaate) and am now at Ottawa International Airport, Canada. This trip has been a blast but very draining. I missed my interview with Jonathan Coulton (he was on tour and got back the night I left) but caught up the fabulous Tah Phrum Duh Bush instead. He's an amazing artist and a great guy, who took the time to show me around New York and drag my sorry ass to La Guardia airport.

I'll catch up with Jonathan another day and I've caught up with Brad, who graciously turned up at Adam's Airport Inn to listen to my drivel and tell me what he thinks. He's another great guy and interesting artist, who was recently cited as an inspiration by William Gibson, "father of cyberpunk".

So, now I'm in Ottawa airport, having a beer and burger and waiting four hours for my flight to Vancouver, where hopefully I will catch up with my brother and dad for a few days. While there, I hope to catch up with the fabulous Tracey Saxby, if she's up to it.

Regardless, I hope to catch up on lots of sleep soon .... and then I'll post the details of what I learned at the incredible IMC.

Greatly relieved

Popped the cherry last night at the IMC07 peer-assessment show. I was on very late and very tired, but the crowd seemed appreciative and I got some valuable feedback. This conference is great value and I'm learning a lot and meeting some great people - thoroughly recommend it to all independent artists.

I'm on again tonight and my voice is really struggling. Have to warm up properly and thoroughly tonight ...