Con Brio PR

“Rolling In The Deep” works so well for Adele because she delivers the emotion behind words that anyone could have said. She not only delivers she makes you feel it. That is why this song has made such an impact on music over the past year, and why she impressed her peers enough to win six GRAMMY awards.

Before you ask me or anyone to listen to your music you should ask yourself this question: Why is this music important? What is the purpose, and why is it important enough someone should take a few minutes out of their day to give it thoughtful consideration?

As a rule, (there’s always an exception, of course) music insiders do not put much value in the content of ReverbNation and other sites of similar nature. There are good, solid reasons for this.  Music pros are not on a scavenger hunt to hear your music. If you want someone to listen, ask if you can send them your favorite cut and see what the response is.

Further, by relying heavily on sites like Reverb, what you’re doing is building their credibility and their brand over and above your own. As an indie artist, your brand is the priority. Keep that in mind.

Many times a day people ask me to vote on something.  Fans are your primary target within the realm of accumulating votes. When you send a music pro a request to listen, like, vote, or whatever, you have wasted your time and potentially made a weak impression. The intent behind such strategies is to build or accumulate data that you can then take to a music pro. Instead of asking them to join your fan base in voting, ask the music pro if you can give them the data alongside the music to see if it is useful to them.

Both topics addressed above bring up a more important issue. Most of the requests that I get,  (other music pros have expressed this as well) come from people totally out of the blue. They haven’t tried to even say hello. This is a basic infraction that many indies should avoid at all costs. In essence, they are handing me a homework assignment with a pop quiz that I didn’t sign up for. My time is valuable and so is the time of other music insiders. Being respectful of their time will get you much further than arbitrary requests.

On Twitter, there seems to be a misconception about the number of followers vs. the number of people followed. Artists without an established career or name recognition show a great deal of narcissism when they  follow  very few people and expect many to follow them.  This is social media folks, not anti-social media. Engagement is the name of the game.

For every person who requests that I follow them on Twitter and Facebook, I check out their profile, links, location, and their thread. For those that don’t indicate where they’re located, they’ve missed a great opportunity to engage.  I understand that some profiles are written with creative intent. Telling me your location is planet Earth however, is not helpful to me or anyone else.

Time and time again, when asked to visit someone’s website, (I almost always answer the request) there is often a huge disconnect when music is on auto-play entering an artist’s site. Usually I’m already listening to something else and suddenly I have to log out of one or both places because two different pieces of music are bleeding together. The assumption that being hit with your music is somehow going to endear you to me is a double-edge sword. If I am really impressed with what I “choose” to listen to, I’ll get back to you, and you have my word on that.

Above all remember that music is a business, and there is a certain etiquette required before you hit someone up to do you any favors that require the investment of their time. Being polite will put you head and shoulders above the competition.

Today, most club and venue owners are taking that same medieval approach toward music. They hire bands, based not on the quality of the music, but on the amount of money offered and the fan base the band is expected to draw along with any other promotional efforts the band spends time and money to produce.

Several articles are emerging about this situation illustrating clearly the expectation is a one way street in favor of the club or venue. The first post I found was in a  daily email I receive from Michael Brandvold.

A few days later, professional jazz musician, Dave Goldberg outlined a similar situation addressing club owners in Los Angeles: http://www.scribd.com/doc/78468650/La-Club-Owners

Right when we were talking, a group of people interrupted us and said ”you guys sound  great, when is the next time you’re playing here again?” The club owner, said ”they aren’t, they didn’t  bring anyone.”

If you’re a working class musician, I’m sure you understand this situation all too well. Musicians need great clubs as much as clubs need great musicians. They are few and far between on both counts I suspect.

After thinking about this and discussing it with a few musician friends, I can tell you none of us has a definitive answer. We come up with strategies we think might work, but someone has to convince the club owner to go along with the idea. Something tells me that might be easier said than done.

Everyone involved has much to gain by coming up with solutions that benefit both the club and the band. Please pass this on to your musician friends and club owners.  By all means, leave your  comments.

Thought leaders prevail in tough times, and I’m here to tell you, these are tough times for everyone. Without some well-thought out strategies, our only choice may be to go back to something like the disco era, and I don’t think anyone wants that to happen.

Time is running out for many on getting a jump start on their music careers. And the weakest link in nearly every single situation is booking. There are so few competent booking agents available to an over saturated music market, one has to wonder why.

The answer is this: The old model is bound to fail in the current music market.

The old model for booking agents makes it one of the most thankless jobs imaginable due to an antiquated commission-based situation that works for very few. That is to say a booking agent incurs all the expense of phone, fax, internet service, some travel, booking conferences, and going out to see live performances.  When a booking occurs, the agent waits until the gig has concluded, sometimes up to five days before receiving 15% of the bands booking fee.

In this music climate, bands are not getting huge fees to play. So let’s say an agent has booked a band in a local club for $300. Fifteen percent of 300 is 45. Therefore, the agent should receive $45 for this gig. Now let’s say the agent booked 10 gigs that occurred in one month. That’s a total of $450. That’s not much money for all the time, relentless phone calls, and one gigantic whirlwind of activity. No one can live on that kind of monthly income.

The situation has to change. There are lots of people out there who would love to become a booking agent, but many are fearful of failure, not having the right contacts, contracts, and most importantly the behavior of an impatient band. So it’s no big surprise there aren’t a surplus of agents in this market.

Business-minded musicians should therefore take it upon themselves to create a working relationship with someone who wants to do this with 21st-century sensibilities. Here are a few suggestions:

Talk with friends and associates about potential candidates to do your booking rather than spending time looking for an established agent.

Once you find more than one candidate, talk to these people about what your realistic expectations are and what kind of retainer it would take to cover their overhead for one year taking into consideration all the amenities like phone service, fax service, postage, mailing supplies,  printing and copying, travel allowance, internet service, etc.  Once you find a good fit for what you need, sign a one year agreement delineating goals, monthly retainers, fees for actual bookings, and any other information important in the relationship.

Things to be careful of:

Verbal agreements lead to nothing but misunderstandings as a general rule.

Anyone who wants to do booking for the love of music is not a good choice. Yes, there is passion in that person’s agenda, but there is no business acumen. Remember above all, music is a business.

The band must be in agreement with the overall goals you want the booking agent to meet.

Appoint one, and only one, spokesperson for the band to interface with the booking agent. No one other than the appointed band member is allowed to interface with the agent about business.

Do not under any circumstances hound, harass, or otherwise bully the booking agent to get something done. If the agent is not performing well according to the goals you put into a written agreement, determine what the problem is. There are many reasons why things don’t run like clockwork in this situation.

Dedication on both sides of the business relationship should prevail in increased bookings which stimulates the growth of your career. Instead of running in circles, dedicate one year to a truly professional situation to get your performance calendar full. From there just rinse and repeat, or refine your approach and try again.

Remember that anyone providing services to musicians do not have magic wands. For as many struggles as musicians have, these people meet just as many challenges as you do.

1/30/12

For Immediate Release
Con Brio PR
Media Contact: Janet Hansen

Whisenhunt adds,  ”We’re such a diverse collection of blues influences, hell, Peter’s lived in a blues horn section for many years covering all kinds of blues. Richard’s years on the blues circuit with Scott has left him a master of any kind of Americana core groove – the funkier the better. Vic has a really rich texture to his playing having gone pro as a teenager in Ted Nugent’s first band, the Amboy Dukes, and then worked in so many other styles over the years. These guys grew up playing and listening to the same stuff I was doing growing up in Memphis. I don’t know what to call the stuff we’re playin’, but it’s meant to make you feel good. Guess you could call

it feel good blues.”   

Priding themselves on “playing the blues what don’t get played,” Bad Moon performs regularly throughout the greater Nashville area. Described as “smokin’ hot, steamy and sultry’ on the live music review platform http://Scout66.com Bad Moon plays contemporary blues from artists such as Tony Joe White, Robben Ford, Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Keb Mo, and Delbert McClinton.

A regular fixture in the New Orleans music scene, Leslie B. Smith brandishes a long list of local credits including many performances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, supported with interviews on NPR and a variety of local media. She adds theatrical  billing to her credit as a vocalist in  ”Swimming Upstream,” starring Felisha Rashad, Shirley Knight, and Jasmine Guy; directed by Broadway alum, Kenny Leon.   Her recording and performing credits are topped  by projects with Ellis Marsalis and Allen Toussaint.Smith appeared at Bourbon Street with Bad Moon Dec. 10, 2011 on the eve of the Titans v Saints football game to a house filled with gumbo ya ya (everyone talking at once)  among  Titans and Saints fans. Bourbon Street Blues & Boogie Bar is located at 220 Printers Alley, (615) 242-5837.

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This is the first Music Monday feature of 2012 talking with Merynes Cabral, who is in the development stage of RockMeBabyTV. I’ve been curious about her new platform and here is what she has to say.

What is your background in music and where did you get the inspiration for RockMeBabyTV?