I just got an mail from a band that has played one of the bigger showcase festivals in Europe. Before playing at that festival it was a mark that this artist was going somewhere. I meet the booker from that festival last year at another festival talking about an act that really goes well all over Europe and with easy should make the lineup. The booker had a problem though that only around 20% was curated the rest was bought up by export offices. So, it was hard to even get a band that should be on there. And when I got the link of this artist today, I can really see it. This artist has no value right now. It is not interesting in any way for the festivals. And has no real leverage right now. A typical buy-in for an export office.
And I see export offices with a large amount of money just buy in spots at the festivals. I have seen these artists and they not even ready. In the end, it really lowers the value of the festival. Sure, it takes time for the brand of the festival to fade away, but when it really starts to happen it goes fast. Midem is a great example. A must go in the 90:s and was so powerful you couldn’t ignore it. Suddenly because of really bad decisions in curation, the festival became nothing.
Midem tries hard to turn it around and there are some good things happening but the brand is now almost acquainted to be a place where old publishers that still trade photos and cd:s and drink wine. It’s not, I know that (not all of the participants, in some cases accurate though) since I was there last year, but most of the people I meet in the industry has that vision still. The struggle to reverse that trend is hard.
And I see this problem in several of the big showcase festivals. The curation is really bad, almost non-existing. A large buy up from export offices from very small undeveloped countries thinking that they enter a marketplace where they can export. They are buying a spot trying to shine in the festival brand. This affects the showcases brand and several now seem to be heading the same way as the trust of the numbers on Spotify, straight down the drain. I just saw an offer to pay and play on one handled by amateur organizations in Sweden for a big festival in Europe. The lineup will be not even close to good. The value is definitely gone and in the end, the reputation for the festival is fading away. The real industry people are also talking, that playing on these festivals was before a certain way to get booking now it’s just an expensive adventure.
Then I can also see the point of the festival. Here comes someone with not ready artists but pays half the festival expenses. Showcase is really not a goldmine. The money is really needed. So, at the expense of the quality, you have to do it. And I know everybody is doing that. The feeling I get right now is that it’s has gone over proportion. Two of the biggest ones in Europe is now just "pay and play". What's needed is that at least half is curated or even a bit more.
My reaction is to more or less try to avoid the bigger ones and head for the smaller ones. Many times, better curation. The big favor also is that the smaller ones have much better chances to do business. I rather do really good business than just saying that I sipped drinks at the biggest festival. For those who know if you just attend the big ones you are not important enough for the real industry people. When I write this, I’m on my way to MENT, a good festival with the right size.
And the artist that sent the mail. Yes, the fact that they bragged about playing that showcase festival made me suspicious and probably looked on their stuff with critical eyes. And I just make a mark not to see that show and also take out some festival names out of my band's bio pages.Bigger is not better in this case.
When I'm invited to a festival as the booker of my festival I feel obligated to see as much as possible of the lineup that is presented. They actually make my job as a curator of my lineup easier. Suddenly I get a lot of artists straight in front of me. I get to see the live show and easier can judge if they would fit my new lineup. What I can't really get is the people who don't go on the shows? They just show up for their panel the rest of the time they just do tourist stuff.
You see me often write that I need the doer. I want the decision-maker. I don't need the CEO of a festival if that person does not book any artists. Even if they can affect the process, if they need to go to someone else for permission, well then its that person that gives the permission I need to invite. So my other observation is why does a festival just invite people that okay have some political power but really just reports back what is happening in the industry, not leading it.
The third mistake is that they take on decision makes that are just buyers. The reason why the bigger festivals right now have very bad lineups is because of this. You can see how most of these festivals have paid entrances not curated. A lot built up with hype number then no sense of discovering new things. Getting a festival just because they are big, but not book anything without your export office paying a large fee is just contra-productive.
Just because a festival is big doesn't automatically make it important. Same with people. Too many have the perception that just uses they get the owner of the country's biggest festival you have achieved something. Sorry, too many times I find these persons just jaded to see new artists. They just treat it as a free holiday. More interested to find a good restaurant to have a nice dinner then see new music.
Yes, it not easy finding the new good stuff. Sometimes I just wish everything was just over. I rather would have been down at the local pub with a beer. Then the band that is special just appar and you are excited again. When you don't have the strength to stay until the interest comes up you can just stop working with it.
Also, a reason I like shorter showcases like 20 minutes. If it sucks a new artist comes along pretty fast. Also that the showcase end before midnight. Trying to see a band 3 in the morning when your panel is 10 a clock is just bad.
No, it's really not easy to create a good showcase festival. It's not just to bring people and set up good bands. There are things you need to think of both once and twice. A big problem is also how to get things done and also discover how is important and who is not. At the same time showcases now seem to be a standard and a phenomenon that is on the big rise.
Okay, I'm on my way to quite many festivals in the next weeks. First Swiss music in Bern tomorrow where I'm the judge of their competition, will be great.
The week after that is Monkey week in Spain and we will see some cool rock music.
Then we are checking the status of turbo-folk in northern Macedonia.
and finally, in December I'm going to Greece on Music Showcase Greece witch asked for a video. I got them in my normal style.
Have you ever gone to a high school reunion? If you have I bet you have experienced that the cool kid suddenly has become an average Joe and the geek or the silent kid is doing amazing stuff. The worst part is when the cool kid still thinks they are cool and try to get everyone back in their old roles. It's just pathetic.
Right now USA is that old cool kid that desperately tries to tell us that their old coolness still matters. Sorry, it's just pathetic.
Austin is not weird any longer. It has become just a suite and ties. Not talking music just startups. NYC has no studios in Manhattan any longer since no one can afford the rent. LA put down gig places for condos. CBGB is now a cloth store.
So if you think that USA is your gateway to a career or move to LA or NYC to get closer to the happenings you are on a totally wrong road.
USA is losing much right now. Mainly because they don't have support systems for artists or professionals. Right now even the smallest and poorest countries have it. And it makes a remark in the industry. Suddenly these countries take places on showcases and get cool collaborations with the hottest bookers. Connections to the best industry professionals. Suddenly the new cool sound will come from Asia, Africa or some other place.
You can also see this in the evolution of showcases. The rest of the world these are booming. But in USA they are disappearing.
Another big issue is the visa rules in USA. They are just so imbecile that I rather send bands to Russia because its less BUACRACY! And its costly and to no point. Sorry, just this could put USA in The losing team. Now there is much more to consider that is just bad in USA.
What happened to put yourself in a van and tour USA to success? Ohh that what is over twenty years ago. Can't be done now. Mainly because media is so scattered. Another reason is that the gig places around USA are in very bad shape. You have a bigger chance of getting good updated sound and light in eastern europé. Much because USA bought in equipment in The 80/90:s and since then had few updates especially in smaller places in the countryside.
Also, tickets are harder. USA has a big share of poverty and soon you get out of the big cities the money is not exactly flowing.
Still, USA acts like we need them. With new markets opening up with millions of people to be number one market is soon gone and acting like to cool kid when your tupé is not matching and hanging on the side, well you probably have to do something before you can get honky-tonk back on the chart. The American dream has become middle-aged.
You won't meet your audience on a showcase festival. You meet the people that have an audience for you. Your job is to persuade them to present you to their audience.
That is why I hate when idiots measure their success in how much audience they had on a showcase. Many times they ask me how good is that big place they are booked to. You know what! If you have 250 people in The room but no one can take you further. That is ok but not good. You play for five people but all can take you further, that is a success.
This is the reality of the showcase. On a normal festival if you draw just five people its a disaster. A full room is really good and you might get rebooked.
If your artist has a hard time to make a good show with just five people in the room. Well, your artist is not in for the task and is not ready to move up in the ranks.
I get too many cocky artists that they think they made it just because they can draw a hundred people in certain cities. Suddenly they have their noses up in the air. And that is the end of their career.
Every new city is a new market. Every country is even a bigger market to conquer. You are starting all over on a new market all the time. When you are too lazy or too cocky to do another territory you just stopped how big you can become you will only redo what you have done before.
Also the reason I don't book the same artists over and over. In the end, my gig would just be a stop in the never-ending same tour system for an artist.
Here are the most common errors I see artists do when they get to a showcase festival.
Taking it as a gig. The artist just shows up and play their gig. Then leave for the hotel and then head out. This is probably the best way to not get anything done on a showcase festival. The odds that someone will come to the show and see the show and then take the time to contact that artist by looking them up online and trace them. It's a bigger chance to win the lottery, actually 200% more chance to win the lottery. Most artist thinks it is a gig and thinks that they only have to take care of soundcheck and the gig nothing is more wrong.
At least work the room after the show. This is the next mistake. Very few artists work the room after the show. Many of them just go backstage and drink beer and talk to each other. I can at least tell of a hundred band that missed the opportunity I had for them by not showing up the first ten minutes after the show when I wanted to speak to them and book them. Later on, they were forgotten and the spot went to someone else.
Go to the seminars and network. At least 70% never do that. They think it's boring and they rather drink some beer, go out and see some tourist stuff, hang on the beach, sleeping in. You paid serious money to go on the showcase by missing the conference you more or less are paying for an expensive vacation. The vacation part you can do if you are working hard and get booked again to the same city as a normal gig. In reality, this is not the vacation you network to 3 in the morning get up at 8 and keep on networking. Do that for three to four days. Yes, I had many of many artists complaining that it's hard. You know what I have this tempo almost every week and I'm middle age. Here we have artists in their 20's not coping up what an old man like me is doing.
Your gig is not that important. To many of the artist thinks everything on the showcase is that they do the perfect show on the set. You got that all wrong. It's all about who you have been talking to networking with beforehand. Many of these probably will never show up to the show, still, if they liked you as a person they can imagine what the show was like and that is probably better then your real show. Usually, when they come down to the show they already have made up their mind and it's a formality. Of course, if you do the worst performance that can change their minds, so yes have a good show. Still a lot of shows I attend I already have seen the artist and more or less supporting a business friend.
Hang around and be a nice person. You don't know who you are talking to. many industry people hide behind various titles. So be nice to people, talk to them and try to find the things you might have in common and try to be genuinely friendly and nice. That is the best way to get something, not try to hard sell things.
Thinking that others will do your job. Too many times I just meet the manager, not the artist. Then, later on, I meet the artist with the manager and the artist have no clue who I'm and what I do so they more or less act snotty. Here is the secret for not doing that mistake. Hang on with your manager on the networks. He or she will do the talk, you listen and say hello and just be nice. Then you learn who is who and are not likely to be snotty against a very important person. Yes, you need to be present in this part of the job as well. The manager is try ing to sell a product and if tehy product is there and shine, well that makes the job so much easier. This is only done by a few percentages.
Be prepared. A lot of exposure and chances just happens during the showcase. Suddenly there is a radio person going around doing interviews. And your chance is just there. Or an extra gig suddenly appears. On this big mingle they ask an artist to play a song acoustically in front of the VIP:s. You need to be prepared to just jump in on this. There is no, I don't have my guitar, or even worse you are in the hotel room sleeping or walking on the beach eating ice cream. To get this you need to be down at the conference and just take all the things that are thrown at you. I remember one gig Royal Prospect took on Canadian Music Week. Suddenly the organizer had an outdoor stage and asked them to play. They took it straight away. The gig was not optional. Outdoor without drumkit and semi-acoustic and the wind was blowing. Still, they did it and I managed to get the biggest booker down to the set and he was impressed how they cope with the bad surroundings and just say, If they can do this great here they must be amazing on a real stage. Next month Royal Prospect plays on the biggest festival in the world on the most highlighted stage for newcomers. Just because they said yes to a shit gig and where flexible.
And that leads to being flexible. No everything is not gonna be perfect and that doesn't matter. We look at how you handle crises as well. If you go up and are moody just because it didn't go your way. Then your career could be over. Like the Swedish band, Kent who throws away an international career just to play on small local stages in Sweden just because they fucked up by not being flexible.
Now someone says, well Kent played at Stockholm stadium, that is big. Yes, Stockholm stadium takes 33000 people. Royal Prospect plays on Summerfest, It's a million already here they have beaten Kent by far. No there is no big stages in Sweden. And here comes another error. Don't be afraid to take the chances. Don't say no just because you think you can't make it. Go ahead take the chance that is given to you. I see too many bands telling me when I offer a spot on my festival that they calculate not having the money ( why the hell are they showcasing in the first hand). Or they already have a small gig booked the same week. Try to work that out and just take the bigger opportunity. And no even do someone might say oh let's do it next year. You know what usually they just think that artist is not up for it and the opportunity is actually not coming back.
That leads to stay the whole festival. So many bands are calling is up and say oh we can only play on Wednesday not the weekend since we have a paid gig in our hometown. Of course, the festival agrees on that. Still you are missing out all the networking and get a worse timeslot and in reality, there is no point doing a showcase festival if you can't stay the whole time and squeeze the most out of it. And saying no, well you read below here what happens then.
Yes, this is hard work and I think the most artist is not ready for this kind of work. The ones that are will have a career.
This is the gig that broke Royal Prospect to the big stages. Totally improvised. Look on the drummer using a guitar case as a base drum. A small crowd, but with the right people. This is where the magic happens.
Do you want to play at a showcase festival and get paid for doing so, even if it is just a small amount? If I add accommodation and food? And The chance to be seen by industry people?
If no, showcases are not for you. You want real paid tours. You want full booked rooms all over the world in the capacity of 500 people on each show.
The problem is that you actually do not draw that kind of audience and you have not the money for killing PR to get to that.
Why hell are you turning the first offer down? You just said no to pretty good opportunity?
A mistake like this will probably end your career. The hill down always starts with a no.
What? I just saw this headline "Meet the supervisors!" from a showcase festival. Is this not over done yet? the past years I have tried to avoid this kind of panels or meetings, especially around placements where they industry now has slowed down quite much.
There are really two sorts of panels a modern showcase festival or conference should avoid.
1. Feedback on your demo.
You get a bunch of A&R people sitting and giving feedback on tracks. Many times I have taken a hit from Sweden and played it in those panels and they have told me the song is not a hit. I guess i'm not that popular anymore in these things. You could do a better mastering etc. You can always improve a track. You can improve Billy Jean with Michael Jackson, but why it's good as it is. And it's not certain the improvement is making the track better.
And to be honest these A&R people don't know the answer either.
Still, this is one of the most popular things you can do at a conference. So many people go for it. Of course, you want them to say that your song is the best they ever heard and sign you on the spot. That is though kind of stupid. It never happens, and if it happens it was probably not good.
And today what is a demo? Today you almost have it fully produced when you show it to industry people. No a panel like this is just a show off for the artist and mangers that has lesser clue.
2. Meet supervisors.
Here I really should know. I have been that supervisor so many times. And every single time we talk backstage and agree that is such a slight chance that we find something. It's probably better instead sit outside a movie office and play on the street and hope that a director passes by and finds you.
The whole thing is really not about the music. It's about the right to the songs, how its' been cleared. Can you get the original steams etc. And what's the odds that I find the perfect song that I'm looking for, like 1600 Gypsy music for that TV series I work on?
Not likely so here is the same as the demo panel. This is just a showoff. The artists and the managers have a high hope that this is what it should look like when you get discovered.'
Another problem is that many of these supervisors in the end usually just buy from sources tehy actually know. I wouldn't by a track from a random hip hop artist. Even if they say they cleared the song, they forgot that they just microlicenced the drumbeat and that sample that they other guy did actually come from an obscure 60:s record. Obscured or not I bet you if it goes on a commercial that the obscure managers or record label will call you. And that can ruin your whole career as a supervisor. I bet most of them wouldn't go that way, they mainly sit off the time.
The third is a bugger, not useless but..
The speed meetings, oh yes here is the same I had a fun conversation with a book on this. We were at a famous showcase festival and I know this booker for years. But we were paired together to have a speed meeting.
So when we meet he direct ask me:
- Can you get to my festival and sit in speed meetings?
- Like you do here, what do you get out of it?
- Nothing, of course, I would not book from here. But I get paid to sit here.
- Well, that would be the same for me. I won't book after a meeting, sure it's a good opener to a relationship, still, it's kind of fake.
We both agreed and he booked me to be at his festival at the speed meetings.
The problem is that you pairing people at the wrong level. Too small with too big and nothing happens. And usually, if you are good you don't need the speed meetings you have a network that presents good stuff to you anyway.
One of the bigger annoying things is the questioning of the value of an opportunity. I saw a band the other day that is very hyped. So hyped they already have got and put in diva manners to their roster.
They played on a bigger showcase earlier this year and I heard from the organizer they had been complaining about everything and being real divas thinking that they were the biggest act. Which of course was not true. Yes, they are semi-big in their home country. Now this country is pretty small and even as the biggest artist you are pretty small when you get out on the international festivals. Still, they were quite hyped.
Then my booking team wanted the band. I explained the situation, they still wanted to invite them. They did and got the answer that the band didn't believe in showcasing since it dosen't gave anything and they had stopped doing those shows.
Now suddenly I happen to see them on a normal little festival that was at the same time as a bigger showcase festival.
And as usual with the hyped bands. It was just a hype. The show was barely good. The songs mediocre. Sure I can see that they are local heroes in their country but far away from the things they thought they where.
And here is opportunity gone. By deselecting the showcases they will not evolve and will be placed on the crap pile of local hype bands.
The small details that give it all away. So many think they have the perfect show when these things give it away on a showcase that you aren't ready.
First, you think you would have the perfect sound and keep line check on your gig time and the audience has to listen to half a song. The pro-ready just keep on going and starts the show and keep going, and fix the errors during the gig.
Second, between the songs the whole band stops and start doing things with their amplifier, guitars and god knows. Then an awkward silence is there and the entertainment stops. The pro let the show go on. One entertains while the other do their shit.
Three, the talk between the songs sucks. This is one of the easiest things to notice when an artist is not ready. They do things like present the band, or say "how are you tonight" or "this is our latest written song and it's about..." worst is when they start to excuse the song because they have never played it live. Excuse yourself or your music is never ok.
Then also leave the damn guitar ringing in feedback when they go off is so damn amateurish.
I wanna go out party! The warrior cry of any band going on tour to a big city.
Suddenly the thing that you are there to work is just out of the window.
If you pay a lot to get to a place your there to work not do touristy stuff, still that is what many do as a mistake.
The band comes in and get shit drunk and won't get up to get meetings. And are still hangover when they should play their gig.
In a way, the rock n roll myth comes in. People actually think that the stars that become stars do this kind of things. In reality, no, the new industry is so much harder and stars that would do that won't survive.
Same as just miss things for shopping or other things. You're there on a job and if you aren't able to squeeze the fun stuff in, well then it will have to happen on your own vacation.
I do this every year. A couple of posts to prepare for Live at Heart. So if you have followed my blog you probably have read it before. Still, there are changes from the past editions. And as usual, these tip-off works for any showcase festival.
You can drink beer later!
Yes, we know after a really exhausting show it's really nice to get backstage and grab that cold beer that waits in the dressing room. This is really not a good time to drink beer. Just minutes after the show get back out there in the audience and mingle.
I have been both sides my self. I have seen bands and wanted to get their contact information and answers to some questions. Hey in some cases I wanted to book them to Live at Heart. But they never come out again and I need to get to the next show. And since time is going fast I never manage to write to them and in the end that opportunity they didn't know was there is lost.
One of my jobs as a manager is to actually go backstage and get my bands out of there to mingle some 20 minutes with new fans or industry people. Sometimes it's the beer that keeps them, but in most cases is that friends of them are invited backstage and keep on talking how good the show is and so on. And it's hard to say to a friend, excuse me I come back to you I just need to work the room. In many cases that are my job to be that irritating person that nags them back out.
Some also go back and then they go directly on the stage taking things off. That is necessary. But if you are not a solo artist, send someone to work the room and the rest pick things off and join in when they are ready.
A band that stayed and didn't drink beer directly after is Royal Prospect. This live clip from Live at Heart 2016 is from their first Live at Heart. They stayed after the show and worked the room and got signed on the spot by a record label. You can see them this year on Live at Heart still working the room.
I do this every year for Live at Heart (2 of September to 8 of September). A couple of posts to prepare for Live at Heart. So if you have followed my blog you probably have read it before. Still, there are changes from the past editions. And as usual, these tip-off works for any showcase festival.
Use your stage time.
A showcase festival will give you 40 minutes to play 20 minutes to change over. Prepare a set that really is 40 minutes, not 30, not 45. If you play longer, of course, you eat someone else playing time and that is not fair. Things like that can fuck up the schedule for the whole evening. So clock your performance.
Playing to short is equally bad. Okay, only you are affected by it. A showcase festival is several artists playing at the same time, during Live at Heart it can be up to 25 artists at the same time on different venues. And yes some people want to see artists at the same time. what you do is that you see a couple of songs from one band, goes to the next one. But if you end your show to early there might be people coming in that wanted to see your performance missing it, even if it was just the last song.
The 20 minutes change over. Practice this, I don't know how many times I see artists do change over and run around like chickens and it takes longer than it really should. Practice it so it goes faster. And another thing as a professional I actually look as much on the changeover as I do on the performance, you want to see how the artist solves problems.
And in all cases, it is line check. And when it comes to line check it won't be that perfect. Don't waste time to find the perfect sound on your snare. Don't try to squeeze in a full sound check into these 20 minutes it won't work. Also, everybody that is professional knows that the first song in the set usually sounds a bit strange since some of the sound checks are done there. We know it is your time to shine, still, we are also interested to see how an artist handles these situations, that is why I love showcases you can sort out the professionals from the beginners just by see the changeover.
Whatever you do don't go over these 20 minutes. It's horrible when you get into a show where you want to see the first two songs and they are still doing the changeover. In severe cases, we have left before it starts. If something is going wrong try to go around it instead of changing the fuse of the amp. One time it was a blackout in the mixer during a showcase with the band Like Swimming. All instruments except for the mics without effects went silent. It was during their last song. They could just have stopped and got off. But they were professional and played their 40 minutes by picking up the gear and started to play the last song totally acoustic, it was marvelous. See the clip at the bottom.
If you have some asshole artist that has gone over the 20 minutes and leaves you with only 10 minutes change over. It's critical to do it all in 10 minutes instead and rather start in time, here the practice comes in handy. If it's so bad that it even has taken off time of your set. Shorten the set to help the festival get the schedule on track. Don't think that you should have your time worth of show that you only contribute to the problem the rest of the evening.
Here is a live clip of the Like Swimming song where they played "Go Buffalo" acoustic on SXSW. Also alesson how even in an acoustic gig go out with a bang.
This is a part of a series of a tip-off I give in front of the showcase Live at Heart that is going on in Örebro 2 of September to 8 of September. The tip-off is not just for Live at Heart would work on any showcase festival.
Bring your music
Yes, it's kind of usual that I meet artists that don't have their music with them to give me. Sometimes they want me to listen to songs on a phone right there and then. That never works for me. I want to listen in my office when nothing is disturbing me.
But then you have the people that bring CD:s. I remember when I got to showcase festivals in the 90:s and you got a suitcase full of CD:s, to be honest with you, I never listen to CD:s. mainly because of the only CD player, we have now is on the Xbox that is in the living room. I won't have time to get there to listen to a CD. So they are mainly just lying around.
Here is a picture of CD:s that I got the past year. Last year we went to the land fill with the CD:s I got over the past five years, and just dumped them. Now I try to say no to CD:s
So what is better a USB stick? Well better, but today I took one of these USB sticks and erased it since I needed space on it. Did I listen to it? No! Same with all these download cards I get, also very hard to do, you have to go to pages and put in a hell of a long code and then download it. In reality, I'm lazy and there is to many steps to be worth it.
The most I know people I know in the business prefer to get links. And prefer video links so you can see the band. You get approached by several so you won't remember their names, but if you see them you usually remember who they were.
The trick is to make business cards, cost almost nothing (Vistaprint or similar). Put your contact details there (email, phone, and homepage. Then put a link to your songs (a direct link). Okay, some one says that would be a hell of a long link on the card, that will be trouble to put in for you.
True but do it this way. Do a secret page on your homepage ( yes you need a homepage, if you go on a showcase festival with just a facebook page or Bandcamp page you are out of the game, a homepage with bio and contacts is a most). Then on this secret page, you put in links to secret songs from Soundcloud, better even embedded. So the link would look like
www.rockband.com/LAHsongs. Easy to put in.
And yes put videos there as well embedded.
Another thing you should do is try to get the address of the person you speak with and then send an e-mail with the links to that person on the same evening. Don't expect them to answer, but you got the links in front of them.
If you are really good, put your gig times on the card, but also space for changes. Then you have to print cards to every showcase, still, a low cost to do.
I do this every year. A couple of posts to prepare for Live at Heart. So if you have followed my blog you probably have read it before. Still, there are changes from the past editions. And as usual, these tip-off works for any showcase festival.
Get the most of a Showcase festival.
Live at heart has a conference part to it. Use that! Most showcase festivals have a conference part, most artist never uses it. Okay, some of the panels might seem boring. Hopefully, they will give you new information. But don't think of it just like a panel. It's a chance to see industry professionals. Check them out what can they provide for your career? The best way to find out is actually to see panels. You learn and you find new people that you can easily approach right there afterward or during the whole festival. Not going to the conference is like wasting a good opportunity to find your next person to work with.
Attend the mingles. Yes, mingles can be really boring. But if you have done your homework and seen the panels you will find people at these mingles to ask these extra questions you couldn't ask on the panel. Go up to these people tehy are there to find new artists. Not attend any mingle or afterparty is a good way to not get much done on a showcase festival.
A showcase festival is not just a show. It's an opportunity to get the right people down to see your show. A good showcase festival gig can be for just five people if they are the right five people. To get these people down to your showcase you need to invite them
You are faced against 200 good bands. Probably 20 bands play on the same time slot. So there is no point just to invite everybody. Select the persons you think you can do the most with or the persons you find the nicest when you meet them at the panels or mingles.
Also, the panel is a good way to know what people are doing. Just because they work at a booking agency or record label it might not fit. If you play metal and they work with country music it won't be a match. During the panel sometimes, you find new ways. Maybe this country label has just started a metal division.
Be active. I was on a showcase in NYC a couple years ago where I took care of two bands. One band was the headliner, people loved that band. But they wanted to do some sightseeing instead of going to the conference. The other band I had was unknown but they went to the conference with me. Suddenly I got the opportunity to play two songs acoustically in the mingling part. The band took it. Played a really good two songs in front of all the important people and invited them down to their show. That got them a lot of important people to their showcase that night. The other artist mainly just played on the festival and nothing got out of it.
This method also works quite well even though you are not playing at the festival. The introduction part is a huge part of the success of an artist. I have seen artist being successful just on the conference part, not playing. I have also seen many artists just play and just got a gig out of it.
Think of it as an opportunity to just be chosen, use it.
This gig gave The Magnettes a ticket to play in NYC and their career took off. This summer they played around the world and opened up to KeSha on the worlds largest festival Summerfest.
So read what is a showcase festival. Okay, so this is an arena to get your career forward. You are here to showcase not play a festival gig.
So complaining that it cost you money to go on a showcase festival I can inform you that there are bands taking their career serious enough to go to the other side of the world to play a showcase festival. So you complaining about going a couple of miles in a car are just pathetic.
Also if you start a company (which actually an artist career is) you spend at least the first three years just spending money on PR. Why would this be different just because we are dealing with music? If you don't want to spend money on your career, well stay at the local bar and play there, but don't complain that you don't go anywhere.
And never, never ask the festival how you should find your money.
Also when you only can play on weekends since you much take off time from work. Well just that you won't take time off work is a good sign you are not a proband more a hobby band. And on a Showcase festival, you try to get just pro-bands since the hobby bands are more just a hobby you are not calculating to become something you are just happy to play. That is good but don't bother people that want to take you somewhere with it. Here is more around that theme.
It's hard to fill out to apply for a showcase festival so I rather send a mail asking if I can play.
Oh good, the forms are not tricky, yes they will be tricky since you don't have your shit together. In the field to show a live video and you don¨t have one, well if you don't have one your probably not ready to be on a showcase festival. This is why these fields are there.
On a normal festival, you usually deal with booking agencies that have all this for you. Showcase festival deals with the new ones and a good sorting point is to give some simple questions like, do you have a bio, a video a Spotify link can take off quite many artists that shouldn't play on a showcase festival at all.
PERSONAL:
The backstage passes have also their own story. It started very very long ago that a band that we had on the record label was collecting backstage passes and we compete with them to have the most. They have quit now but we kept going. Over 30 years of career yes we have been on quite many events. The fun is that every pass has its own story and I can just put them in front of me and I can tell you a special story around just that one. After 2010 I have also picked up all pins and other stuff and added on the badge I'm wearing at that festival so in the bigger ones I really look like a Christmas tree.
No, we have never counted them, but they are in around the order we actually got them. These will be a pain in the ass to move when we changing office.
I just saw one of my friend's bands, they were posting on Facebook about a gig they had done. I checked out and they were still doing the same old gigs as they did five years ago when I meet them.
They play gigs all around the world. But never more than 200 people. The fanbase is around the same as before, no growing. Their name is not getting bigger. In a nutshell, they are on the spot as five years ago just some shows done in other countries.
In their beginning, I invite them to some showcase festivals which they played. They played, they just used the festivals as a gig. They didn't do any meetings. Didn't go to the conference, they played their gig drank some beer and went home.
This the worst way to miss out on an opportunity. Don't do the groundwork and just treat everything like another festival in the roster. A showcase is more about the opportunity to meet new people to work with then play a gig. The gig is just a chance to get people to see the show. Not audience, professionals from the business. So if you don't do the groundwork it will be a kind of crappy gig.
Well, my friend's band won't go anywhere and maybe that is fine for them. But they are taking up space for artists that really want to get somewhere and that annoys me.
PERSONAL :
This episode is why my job is so hard. I look for the artist beyond this band. Yes, of course, they asked if I could work with them. In their case, I thought the music was not good enough. Later on, I discovered that they were totally useless to develop. They were thinking that hard work was to do the same gigs over and over and really never aim to be bigger.
So I know that they want more but don't get how to get the things. It's like they do half of the job.
The hard part is to single out these artists from the really serious ones. The ones that will work with you to reach a global audience.
Before we start you can get the latest post in your mailbox just by putting your email in the box up in the right corner.
Showcase festival is the new demo listening. Today the live element is so important that it's on these showcases you find your new artists. Sending demos has almost disappeared. It was years since I found an artist that way. The past ten years it has been through live performances or tip-offs that I have found stuff.
This makes the showcase festivals more and more important and also more and more of them are held.
To build your team you have to start performing on showcases.
PERSONAL: Yesterday's theme was around special days and missing out on things. Even though I live in the way I like I have to sacrifice things. Yesterday I sacrificed a birthday party. That is not that hard really. Still, I know people thinking it was awful that I had to do that.
To do what you really want to do, most of the time you must sacrifice much more.
I get artists crying that they can't be on their partners birthday. The career has taken them on a journey somewhere else and now they are missing out.
If you really want to do it, tough decisions have to be made. I pushed my mother's funeral for a showcase festival I needed to be on. Thankfully my dad got it and changed the date so I could be at the funeral in the end. Still, yes I would skip it, the festival was too important for a lot of other things. Here it was solved, not easy but solved. After that, we usually tell the artists that the only excuse for missing out is your own wedding, children's birth or your own funeral.
It is how many bridges I'm willing to burn to be where I'm now. Yes, it would have been easy to just do the easy choice and skipped the festival. At the same time, I wouldn't have done the things I'm so much wanted to do that the festival got me. It was doing something easy to save a conflict or get the later rewards and take the bumpy road.
I'm surprised that people don't understand what the purpose of a showcase festival is. I thought it was pretty clear, but with last times conversations, I'm not that sure any longer that people get it. Too many think the show is the most important part.
You are not at a showcase festival to do a show. Actually, the show is very secondary. If you take a showcase just to do a show you will be utterly disappointed. I guess this is the main error people do.
A showcase should be treated like a fair. On a fair, you show off your stuff you are selling. The whole thing is to get people to your stand.
It's the same here. You want different people down to your show. So your primary goal is to network as much as possible beforehand. Seek out the best people you want down to see your show to get your career going.
The best showcases I have done has just been several people. In fact, I did a showcase in Canada with just five people. But the most important five people.
Here is where many go wrong, they think that the more people or excited crowd the better. In reality, it's usually not.
On SXSW this year we did a showcase gig for four people. That gig was more important then all the other eight gigs we did for full houses.
And it was all down to network and get the right person there.
So what you have to do is research before who you want to meet. Then hang on and do your homework and be on the seminars and find even more people you want to see the show. Then try to get them down to your show.
So a normal show a bigger crowd is better. These are the ticket buyers and your potential fans. On a showcase, you want the right people that will get your career going. A showcase can be successful if there is just one person if it is the right person.
Personal:
Happy Midsummer. Actually, I'm pretty glad to miss the cow bingo. Yes in our corner of the world is the joy to see a cow take a dump.
Artists:
This Friday is release of Elinda - Dance with me. Check it out on YouTube.
There is just two choices and none of them are easy. But I time from time bump into bands that can't see the logic in this, instead try to cut out shortcuts.
If you think you are good enough, or actually excellent enough to break it big so you start making money showcasing is the thing. Today there is guaranteed a showcase a week somewhere in the world. The good part to be on showcases is that they bring in people from the music industry and that playing on these festivals adds on your story, and as I written before the story is everything today, forget about numbers or cool gadgets, the story is number one. Also, you have a chance to meet new media
On the backside, the showcase never pays for you. Of course, that is the same in the whole business world. If you have a platform where someone can show off their product you don't pay for them to be there. Logically if you pay for bands then you are a festival and then you get the big names and small bands really never has a chance. Also here you are up against other really good new bands.
See the whole thing of it is an investment. Yes, you have to pay to get there and live there but it adds to your story and you can broaden your network.
If you want to take the slow road is that it won't cost that much. You start taking gigs in your home area. Then after 20 gigs, you take the cities next to that area and so on. The good side is that you build up a solid audience that sees you very often and might be superfans in the beginning. and the investment is low, just gas and you are in the same area all the time.
The backside, of course, this takes a long time to bring out the audience and it tends to be the same people. The risk is that your are nagging out the same places. Also is that you re not reaching any bigger stuff in your story.
Trying to do both is totally useless. That is where many think they can do it. If a smaller showcase festival they try to make them pay for the band or just ignore that festival. Instead, they try to get into the biggest festivals and pay heavily for that. Of course, you need the smaller ones to even make an impact on the big ones. Then they try to just take smaller gigs around that. This is never working and I see so many bands gets into that trap. Instead of just going and keep things rolling they put all on one gig on a big one.
In reality, they are on the myth that someone should just stumble in and see the band and start to invest in it. In the real world, they are checking the story and if the band is going somewhere they might invest in it. But the gap from where they start to invest today from twenty years ago is huge. Where bands broke before is today the threshold to start looking into an act.
So the big investment has to be done by the artist. And yes you can take the slow road but it can lead that you won't get forward fast enough to make it. The fast road and then you have to be really good and invest a lot of money and take every chance you get. But never try something in the middle that leads to nowhere.
