James Moore's Blog, page 90

Tour Markets And What They Mean For Your Band

One thing that I regularly try to do with this blog is to help you guys look behind the veil of industry elitism that so often excludes people who are trying to break into the music industry. This week I’ve spent and am planning on spending even more time hooking up a tour for some clients of mine and I realized that I haven’t really addressed the question of touring markets on this blog, as well as how to decide which ones to hit, when. There’s a lot to this question and it should shape how you approach touring and your music career as a whole – and this isn’t something you can straight up ignore. If you want to go on the road for more than two weeks, understanding your markets and how they work is vital.

The fundamental concept here is that we have A,B, C, D, and (arguably) E markets sorted by the potential audience size for your type of music in the town in question. For example, Philadelphia with a population of over a million people is widely regarded as an A market city regardless of genre. Nearby Allentown with a population around 120,000 is more often labeled a B. Wilmington, with a population of 70,000 but a strong scene is the largest city in Delaware and is often labeled a C. A D market would usually be a tiny suburban town that has some sort of venue or art space. D markets rarely have legitimate venues. E’s are even smaller than that (If they aren’t just lumped into D’s) and usually revolve around one band who the edgy high schoolers like to go see when they play their bimonthly show.

Now, as far as I know there isn’t a definitive list of what towns fit into which category or market but you can generally ask around to get an idea. Some towns can surprise you, West Chester, Pennyslvania for a long time considered a D (And rightfully so) had, until recently, a venue named Fennario’s that regularly drew crowds just because shows happened there. Things like this are important though – you need to regularly ask around and figure out if the venue you are playing is ‘the cool spot’ or if the one cross town is where you should be asking. Due to the fatefully fickle nature of independent music, especially in a live setting being able to figure these details out is crucial.

You might be saying, “Why would I ever want to play a C or D market city? Shouldn’t I exclusively focus on the A’s?” While yes – there is some validity to that remember that C and D markets can connect you between your A’s and B’s. Beyond that – sometimes it’s good to do C and D markets simply because you don’t want to wear out your A’s and B’s. You can play a A market at best twice in a given year, but if you want to go through and tour again then maybe it’s worth playing a suburb. Alice Cooper is doing that on his latest tour for example, choosing to focus on major outliers than any of the biggest cities in the country simply because he had already played them in 2015 with Motley Crue.

There are two big exceptions to these rules of markets. I’m sure you know them already. Odds are you have visited and played there. I am talking of course, about New York City and Los Angeles. These are the only two US cities with more than ten million people in them and they are kind of in a class of their own. You can organize special events in these cities, like Killswitch Engage playing five nights in New York or residencies for famous artists in Los Angeles. That’s just how they flow and where they fit into the independent spectrum. You can (And should) expect to make more money here but you should also be ready to deal with a lot more bullshit, because after all – just about everyone wants to live and play in these two cities.

This is one of those keys that a good booking agent will be able to make you fully aware of. Some cities might be a B despite a huge population and others might be an A despite a small one. A lot of it depends on how the market for a given genre is in a given town. For example we know that doom metal bands do better in Portland and indie rock can make a killing in Pennsylvania. A lot of this is derived from demographic information that is really only decipherable by a resident of these cities or a booker who has spent years at it.

In the end – routing your tour is ultimately going to depend on the kinds of shows that you can set up and how long you are willing to spend in your van. That doesn’t mean this shouldn’t be taken into consideration. It gives you an opportunity to figure out budgeting, price points and where you should be aiming to take your band. After a while though you will be able to work it out to the point that you know precisely how much to ask with each given city and what season is best to play there. Touring is one of those things that gets exponentially easier the more you do it – so understanding things like this, and doing it a whole hell of a lot, will help move your band forward.

Independent Music Promotions’ (www.independentmusicpromotions.com) revolutionary music PR campaigns are the most effective in the industry. Submit your music to us today.

The post Tour Markets And What They Mean For Your Band appeared first on Independent Music Promotions.

What Your Band Should Expect From Your First Record Label

With a lot of the bands I handle one of the things I have to focus on is managing expectations. I guess this makes sense – there’s a lot involved here and depending on your awareness of the scene and your place in it, we should be able to figure out where each and every one of us fits into the larger scheme of things. I was hoping to use this piece to talk about what you can and can not expect from an indie record label. Remember that this is all relative and really depends n your place in the label in relation to the other bands. Still – there are some general truisms that I think that we have an obligation to recognize and discuss so that you can get some idea of what you’re getting into.

I think that a lot of people undervalue the sheer PR power of being a young band on a label. Being signed to someone like Napalm Records, is good not just because of their PR team but also because labels like them function as curators of taste. So yeah, you will probably get some good coverage simply for being on a label, but it also helps to cement your place in the scene. People know that PR costs money and if they see you getting lots of press coverage but having never been on a real label they might start to get a little suspicious, and for good reason. In the internet age there’s a lot of crappy bands buying PR. That is not to say your band is crappy for getting PR and having no label – but it is something you need to be aware of when handling your image.

You also need to be aware that very few labels offer any sort of salary these days. The primary, and most tangible financial benefit that you are going to see is going to almost always be the advance which is meant to be used for recording. Making maximum use of your advance is important. I usually encourage my bands to record relatively cheaply and then use the money as a sort of ‘nut’ of cash. You can use it to fly out places, make the money back on tour and then find yourself back at home with the same chunk of change still available for touring purposes. Obviously this won’t always work, but the point remains – getting that kind of financial boost from your label and using it wisely can help bring your band to the next level.

By extension – some labels will offer tour support and you should always make sure this is at least an option for you. While tour support definitely dried up for a few years it seems that, as a general rule many labels are becoming more willing to offer it because they see bands selling far more merchandise on the road then when at home, so it makes sense as a financial investment. Everyone makes more money when the band is on the road. (Balancing how much you should be on the road is a lot harder, but that’s a story for a different day) If you’re signed to a label that could afford a decent sized advance you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for tour support – just be aware of what you’re getting into.

Beyond that you can expect the label to help fund at least some merchandise and CD’s/vinyl. Usually with t-shirts and the like, the label has a couple of designs they have exclusivity on and they allow you to do everything else on your own – which I’ve always viewed as pretty fair. As for CD’s and vinyl… well if the label essentially funded recording and printing it makes sense hat they get most of the money from that. Again though – this is a great financial relief for the band. Especially on the indie level the less you have to spend the easier that your life is going to be. The point I’m trying to make is that labels are largely product oriented, and you need to be aware of this going in.

Of course – this isn’t all just magical money that comes out of nowhere. By getting an advance and tour support and merchandise printed you are going to be in debt to the label. The more you ask for the more you owe and the longer it will be before your label derived pursuits start to make you and your band money. Consequently you need to be very careful with the execution. If you know what you’re doing though and you’re careful and smart about it you can usually turn around and start making money again within a year by carefully parsing money from advances and live shows to fund the band until then. It is by no means a perfect system, and people are often outraged when they see how much they can owe labels – but that’s just how it goes – it’s always been this way and no one has really come up with a better option. Even the coolest indie labels are going to ask for some chunk of your debt to be paid before they switch to percentages.

I know that that last paragraph seems kind of doom & gloom and I totally see why you would perceive it that way too – it is indeed kind of terrifying to think about. That being said – there is a reason that most low and mid level bands want a label. Sure some bands make do without and yes, management and booking agents are arguably more important, but having a label to help fund your pursuits is crucial, an important venture that drives us all forward. Labels aren’t made up of people trying to hurt you – instead it’s dudes like you and me who just love this stuff so much that they can’t do anything else and are trying to bring the entire world of music forward. It’s a brutal life, but one we all need to take part in – we have no choice.

Independent Music Promotions’ (www.independentmusicpromotions.com) revolutionary music PR campaigns are the most effective in the industry. Submit your music to us today.

The post What Your Band Should Expect From Your First Record Label appeared first on Independent Music Promotions.

A Proposed Bill In Philadelphia Could Change Live Music Forever

I’m honestly surprised that THIS bill hasn’t gotten more mainstream music media attention, it certainly deserves it. For those who don’t want to click and read it, it’s a bill proposed within the city of Philadelphia that will not only raise the price for a venue license, but also create a registry requiring performers and DJ’s (Among others)  to submit their addresses and contact information so that they can be reached in case there is an incident at one of their performances. Oh, and the police need to be told about every show that has more than fifty people. In other words – the city of Philadelphia is going to damn independent music if this bill passes and it will go from being one of the nations premier cities for live music to one that… simply doesn’t have it.

This speaks to a larger trend in live music- desires for regulation make the whole thing suffer. The point being – part of what I feel that not enough normal people understand about live music, especially on an independent level is that it is by nature chaotic. You’re playing tiny clubs and probably don’t have a backstage. Dozens if not hundreds of strangers crammed into new spaces every night – it’s just how it goes. What does this mean? Simply that you are going to be in the action non stop. Now, there is no escape, you are going to be sacrificed on an altar of government. This is not a question of anarchism or conservatism but rather the very human nature of live music.

The reason that it’s hard to make people who aren’t actively involved in the scene aware of what independent music is and how it functions in the world is because the experience is so alien and bizarre when you look at it objectively. You have these groups who maybe a few million people at best care about, but who in that little world are icons and have accumulated praise across the globe. They got ‘famous’ by doing something no one actually values anymore and play tiny rooms to a handful of dedicated patrons every night. This isn’t really something that you can regular because it exists outside of the traditional human experience. While yes, some of these proposals in the bill might make sense for larger shows I don’t think they realize how huge underground music is – is a tiny band from Portland on their first US tour supposed to know about this when their buddy Pretty Boy hooks them up with a show at Kung Fu Necktie? Though it is a local bill, it has widespread ramifications.

So essentially, if this bill passes the DIY community is going to have to expand. Illegal shows will become the norm, which in all honesty is already pretty common in Philadelphia. The strict limitations Pennsylvania already has on live music make it quasi-miraculous that the city has had such a good scene, but in my experience attending college there a lot of it was DIY focused already. This will only further the scenes DIY ethos.  Of course – this bill was not meant to help the DIY world, and could have some potentially scary ramifications for independent shows if it were to pass.

I think that the outcry against this bill is important because it shows us that not only do people care, but also how hard it is to really restrain live music. If you don’t have experience in the field it might seem like an easy thing to do, but considering that in a lot of genres people are reticent to even reveal their real names (Matt Bacon isn’t mine) I hardly imagine that addresses would be readily given out. I mean, asides from the governmental oversight and intrusion that would imply we all know that that would leak and lead to thousands of fans hanging out outside of Mike Patton’s house in the hopes of a selfie or two. Not only is it an invasion of privacy – it is simply unfeasible in a modern state.

I’m obviously not a policy expert, and I barely consider myself a music one. What I do know though is that regulation has never done well with independent music and it’s up to people like me and you to sign THIS petition in order to help make sure that the work we love doesn’t gets shut out by people who I was never really meant for in the first place. There is minimal crossover between government officials and musicians and one shouldn’t try to dictate what the other does.  I apologize that this as been quite different than the usual posts here but – as I think you are aware, this is a really important petition, not just for Philadelphia but music has a whole. Seriously though – SIGN IT.

Independent Music Promotions’ (www.independentmusicpromotions.com) revolutionary music PR campaigns are the most effective in the industry. Submit your music to us today.

The post A Proposed Bill In Philadelphia Could Change Live Music Forever appeared first on Independent Music Promotions.

CASH Music – A Step Forward In The Growing Revolution?

One of the weirdly fascinating things about the music industry, and really the world at large, is how you periodically stumble across really important things that are for some reason kept secret. There’s always a sense of surprise and a weird sort of bliss when you come across one of these things. You could almost compare it to Christmas morning. That’s how I felt when I found out about CASH Music, a new totally free and opensource platform used by everyone from Run The Jewels to Relapse Records. If some of the most hip and happening folks in the industry are using and developing this tool (The team at CASH Music features members of L7 and executives from a few trendy labels) then maybe we here at IMP should be finding out a little bit more.

What’s really interesting to me is that CASH Music is totally free – and from what I understand pretty much everyone on the team is a volunteer. They are using their diverse fields of expertise to bring the music back to its DIY roots and understand that we shouldn’t be doing this for the glory but rather the art itself. They are coming out and helping to create a service that exists for no other reason than to benefit artists. Why? Because if the CASH Music team is to believed (And I think they are) they feel that the artists deserve it. This is not just a product, it’s part of a movement.

Of course – I’m sure a lot of you are trying to figure out what the hell CASH Music actually does. This was a question that took me surprising amount of time to figure out, because as it turns out CASH Music does just about everything and anything in relation to your digital presence. Furthermore my research shows me that it isn’t only easy to use but also extremely attractive. Essentially it functions as a sort of tool to unite all of your social media platforms, webstores and other internet based content. If you update your tour dates on CASH Music it updates them across the board. If you change merch prices on your account, you don’t have to go through and change them on every service you use – rather you have instant updates. It doesn’t just do that though – CASH Music also provides you with valuable tools that go beyond mere unification. It offers you tools to expand your webpresence and mailing list, it gives you suggestions on how to deal with our mailing list and will even help set up some cool DIY marketing opportunities.

This might sound to good to be true. And I don’t want to come across as someone upselling CASH Music to much – because I’m not. While I agree with what it says on their Kickstarter that, “That stuff [Establishing a web presence] isn’t hard. it shouldn’t take a ton of programmer money to make it work, and it’s not even really a business. All those things should be readily available so musicians can spend their money on hiring help where they need it” This is a tool that sets up the foundation – it’s not a completely immersive one (Though it is getting there) and it is not going to suddenly start making you money. What it is going to do though is give you a jumping off point. A place where you can say, “Look, we’re professional and we know what we’re doing” so when the time comes to ask for money maybe you won’t be quite as screwed as you initially might think. Why? Because people take noe when it looks like you have you crap together.

CASH Music stands for a whole lot more than just a jumping of point though. The entire attitude and ethos behind the brand is about independent music, and moreover a revolution. One where there aren’t hidden costs draining you of money, but rather emphasizing what I always do – community, hard work and mutual trust. CASH Music has an open source component too meaning that if you need an extra widget you can just get someone to build it for you. This may not be super evident right off the bat and will require money, but odds are, with such a rapidly growing userbase you could find some people interested in investing with you if nothing else, and figuring out how to pull in money is crucial in this industry.

The point being – CASH Music isn’t just a great service, with a lot of handy features, it is a proof of concept. It is evidence that people in the upper echelons of the independent music world aren’t there to make bands suffer but that they too ‘get it’ and they too want us all to succeed. This isn’t a question of hard work or deserving as much as it is one of realizing that we belong to a community and we need to all bring our skills to the table if we want to succeed. Like I said – CASH Music isn’t the be all and end all of the music industry, and neither is it going to kick off a revolution on its own. What it will do though is prove that the new, more sustainable and smarter model that we are developing towards can happen and will lead to a better future for all of us.

Independent Music Promotions’ (www.independentmusicpromotions.com) revolutionary music PR campaigns are the most effective in the industry. Submit your music to us today.

The post CASH Music – A Step Forward In The Growing Revolution? appeared first on Independent Music Promotions.

Why You Should Never Forget DIY Ethics

Napalm Death have been a band for parts of five decades at this point. It’s weird to think that about the grindcore pioneers, but they can trace their roots all the way back to 1979. Of course – they don’t have an original members (Although all the early members seem to have gone on to play in amazing projects) but they still maintain their original ethos – even after years on the road playing to hundreds, if not thousands of people every night. They remember that above all else you need to keep your DIY ethics intact if you want to get anywhere as a music industry professional.

The more I work with bands the more I realize that it’s the ones who stay true to the promise of Minor Threat and D.R.I that really get to go places. It’s the guys who know how to stay sober if they have to, the guys who divide up the work, hire a manager and then set up countless exciting opportunities. A big part of success in a DIY community is just showing up, doing something (Anything really) and not being a jerk about it. Like I said – until you make people care by going out and doing stuff, then they are simply not going to care – that’s just the way that it is – and if you try and couch this in some sort of rock star mythos that you actually believe in then you will probably crash and burn.

Here’s the thing – it’s totally fine to have a rock star ethos on stage and even a little bit when interacting with fans. It can help to conjure up an aura of mysticism about your band. For a while at least the only person who will be building up your legend is you. The thing is – you can’t hold that against industry people. If you are late for a meeting, you fucked up – no matter how many times the industry person in question was late. They have the power and you’re just a band – they have dozens if not hundreds of bands contacting them every day, and your mistake could potentially cost you thousand of dollars. I know it sounds brutal – but as I’ve said time and time again – in the new, leaner, meaner music industry that we all face we have to embrace the fact that the people with power are busier than ever before.

Most people simply don’t understand that the music industry has no place for fat – there is no culling here because that implies some sort of flab got put on in the first place. The people who make it are the ones who remember that hey need to work the hardest if they want to get anywhere. Some will tell you that DIY ethics will only take you so far – and this is kind of true. You definitely do need management and booking agent and a label and all that good stuff if you really want to move forward in the music industry. That being said – even if you do have those things – you should not forget the DIT street punk ethos that has taken so many of your favorite bands so far – even huge bands do a lot of stuff for themselves, not just because it saves money, but also because it just makes sense.

A lot of bands in this day and age chose to deny DIY – they think that they can do it all through management and labels because they have never had to put the work in themselves in the old model. That is no longer the case. Despite growing awareness many people still don’t seem to understand that a record label can’t do that much for you. This isn’t because the label are money grubbing assholes who hate musicians but rather because in this day and age the way the music industry works simply means that a lot of us can’t expect labels to take care of everything. They can help you put out records and figure out your place in the scene, but they probably aren’t going to be able to invoke the genre breaking power that they need. You need to do it on your own through hard work, spending money on PR and realizing hat in the end – it’s the bands who show up and prove they care that matter.

I know that you claim to care – but again people in this industry only care about results, and if they tell you otherwise then they are misguided and wrong – or trying to scam you. This is not an industry of passion, though it is driven by it, this is an industry of results and no one knows that better than the DIY crowd. You need to be willing to trust people to build towards a better tomorrow. This isn’t a damnation of bands as much as it is a statement asking people to realize that not only are we all far more stupid and screwed than we could possibly imagine, but also that nobody is going to help us out until we reach out and do things.

Am I a bitter and tired old man who wants you to be miserable like me? Kind of. That’s not what I’m trying to get at though. What I’m trying to get at is that as long as you’re not creating, being respectful and generating stuff that people will want to care about once they are exposed to it then people simply are never going to work with you. As a band you have literally no power, everything needs to be done on your own until you start to prove who you are and what you’re worth. Together though, with this knowledge in hand, I know that we can move forward.

Independent Music Promotions’ (www.independentmusicpromotions.com) revolutionary music PR campaigns are the most effective in the industry. Submit your music to us today.

The post Why You Should Never Forget DIY Ethics appeared first on Independent Music Promotions.

Opening Up – The Key To Advancement In The Music World

One thing that’s really struck me over the past couple of years since becoming a music industry professional has been my wider appreciation of music. It’s been really great – not just because it expands my own palate of tastes, but also because it expands my options – not just professionally either, it gives me a sense of openness that I can use anywhere in life. Fully immersing yourself in music, and not just music of one type, leads to a sort of transcendence brought on by art that is almost destined to help to bring your career and band to a whole new level – fusing together ideas and breeding an openness that is crucial to survive in this industry.

When I was a youngster first starting to interview bands and hang out with rock stars I was shocked at how so many of my favorite musicians who played truly abrasive and aggressive music were deeply in love with what they called ‘crappy pop punk’ or better yet ‘douche-country’. It was a struggle for me to come to accept their music tastes – after all – they played music that expanded my mind – why bother with silly stuff that they knew was derivative? Well – when music becomes a lifestyle that type doesn’t matter as much as how it makes you feel and what it stands for. Odds are that there are people in genres that you might perceive as diametrically opposed to your own that you would get along super well with. In fact, the more I dig into the music industry the more I find that the people who really make stuff happen are all the same, regardless of whether they like rap, death metal or show tunes.

The music industry has traditionally moved forward through unity. Now note – I’m not saying polymerization necessarily as much as I think that people from different backgrounds should be interfacing with each other to help build towards a better future. A lot of this openness is important because it helps to you to connect with new people and grow the potential sources of income that you have for your band. That might sound like a tired and antiseptic way to view the music industry – but that’s how a lot of it works, making friends with people you might not normally reach out to and then mutually benefiting – some would say it’s the only way to move forward.

I’ve ranted before on this site about how there are so few people in this industry who really ‘get it’ and who are trying to build a better future for the collective, not just themselves. In your specific genre or subgenre the more you stay boxed in the more you are going to keep yourself from being able to access opportunities that can move this whole thing forward. I mean, there is definitely some validity to that and staying true to a very base or core idea can be important to some bands. If that’s your thing then so be it, this isn’t the conversation for you. If you are trying to build towards making your band a full time professional entity though, the odds are that you are going to need to reach out beyond the common imitations of your genre, and work with people you might not normally consider in order to succeed.

The point that I’m trying to make is that you need to take every advantage that you can get in this industry – and a big part of that is embracing music of a sort that might not normally fit into your wheelhouse. This doesn’t make you a poser – in fact it makes you less of one because it shows that you are confident enough in your love of music to be able to reach out and explore brave new soundworlds. You are expanding your sound, because you, unlike many, are unafraid of change. There’s a whole lot of uncharted territory out there and I think the more we interface with people from different subgenres the more we have a chance to come out and grow not just as musicians but also as people.

I manage a couple of bands for a living and I see this playing out almost every day. My bands that are the most economically viable are the ones who are not afraid to hop on bills that might seem a little alien to them and have sounds that, while certainly their own thing, have the potential for a much greater appeal. If you check out most of the groups on my roster you find bands that aren’t afraid to break the rules and, in the words of Kyle Juett of Mothership ‘create their own void’. In doing this they reach across boundaries and find people they might not normally work with to help create art that resonates across experiences and speaks on a very human level.

Crossing genre barriers and opening up with the people you work with is in many ways the most artistically valid thing that you can do. Music is about community and love at its very core. This was meant to bring people together – not alienate others. Sure – your style of music can be alienating, but you don’t need to be alienating as an individual, and the more people you are able to charm and incorporate into your work then the more you will succeed. This isn’t rocket science – it’s merely being willing to look at the dude with a industry pass at NAMM in a backwards baseball cap and baggie pants and reach out a leather jacketed forearm to shake their hand and ask – “Hey man, what do you in the industry?”

Independent Music Promotions’ (www.independentmusicpromotions.com) revolutionary music PR campaigns are the most effective in the industry. Submit your music to us today.

The post Opening Up – The Key To Advancement In The Music World appeared first on Independent Music Promotions.

What Other Genres Can Learn From Doom Metals Lack Of Sexism

I remember when I first started going to doom metal shows in high school. I would sneak out my parents apartment and watch bands like Indian and Cult of Occult tear up one of my favorite venues in the world, Glazart. I interviewed dozens of bands there and still work with the main booking agent. One thing that really got me though was the fact that at these shows, unlike at a lot of the death metal shows I would go attend, there were actual girls and beyond that there were girls in a lot of the bands too. I remember being a little confused at first – while I never wanted metal to be a ‘no girls allowed zone’ it had always felt that way – it was just the way it was supposed to be… right?

I think one of the things that has helped to remove sexism in doom metal is the genres clear ties to both classic rock and punk. Furthermore, while yes, there is a culture of exclusivity and secrecy around doom metal it isn’t as focused on traditionally male attributes. Death metal or thrash have always concentrated around traditionally masculine traits like speed, anger and brutality, and often pulls girls with a tomboyish streak. Meanwhile doom has always seemed to place the emphasis on slowing down and being at peace with your inner sadness, it is far more emotive. Though more traditional metal subgenres place an emphasis on getting wrecked, doom metallers have always seemed more likely to want to light a jay and chill out with their buddies.

The musical themes in doom always felt more universal anyway. Even someone like my mom, a pretty normal white woman in terms of music taste, can get behind a band like SubRosa (Except when they do ‘the scary demon singing’) and their powerful lyrics. When I first met the band I drunkenly rambled about how I loved the way that their music was inherently feminine but not especially sexy, and I still do. A song like Blood Ceremony’s Witchwood is a whole lot easier for the casual music fan to identify with than Cannibal Corpse’s Hammer Smashed Face (Also doom has no real history of lyrical content that encourages violence against women, but that’s a tale for a different day) or even Metallica’s One. This isn’t just because Blood Ceremony, unlike Metallica, are actually a good band, but rather because Blood Ceremony and bands of their ilk deal with far older and more potent concepts than many of their metal peers.

Beyond that – ever since the early days of the genre, with bands like Coven and Black Widow, there has been a place for women in the music. This inherently occult musical tradition has always had women involved – but it feels like the genre has only really come to embrace the role of women in the last few years. There has been a rapid shift in the culture, embracing bands like Jex Thoth and SubRosa alongside or even over their longstanding male dominated peers like Pentagram and Sir Lord Baltimore. While yes – a lot of this could be attributed to third wave feminism think that there are things at hand here that speak to the power of the entire genre.

It seems to me that females in doom, as well as punk and grunge music seem to be more tied in to a sort of pagan Goddess type image rather than a sexual one. While there are no real clothing standards for women in doom, those who cultivate a grandiose and feminine, but not sexual image seem to be the ones getting the praise. Instead of frankly creepy pictures of frontwomen splayed across t-shirts (I recently went to an Epica show that featured some of the neckbeardiest merch imaginable), doom seems to place more of an emphasis on the role of the actual musician and the image of the band, not the individual members – which is really how it should have been in the first place.

In the rest of the music world if a band has a female member who isn’t a vocalist it’s a big deal, largely because women aren’t really encouraged to learn rock instruments. It sucks, and there are really cool initiatives helping to move us away from that. (Also Nita Strauss, all hail Nita Strauss) Doom metal has a much smaller gender gap largely because the genre so steadily relies on nonconformity. I mean – all of the music can be traced back to about five Black Sabbath albums and this means that people have always had to push the boundaries in other ways. It create s a much more open environment similar to what we see in punk rock. But even punk rock (And more specifically hardcore) emphasizes some very masculine ideals and has a tendency to attract creepy neckbeards. Doom has always been a tiny community and as a result has wound up being a welcoming place for people of all creeds. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that doom also sees a greater racial diversity, outside of course for thrash, but that’s a whole different story.

What does this mean for your band though? Simply that you need to be willing to embrace concepts that may feel strange and unfamiliar in order to grow your audience. While we are gradually experiencing this kind of shift, in doom the change is pretty much there. It shows that there is a place for women in rock music and it’s rapidly growing A band like The Moth, one of my favorite live acts out there, prove that badass hard living women can play some kickass doom metal and if you’re trying to block them out with elitism or abuse then you should leave the hall. Beyond that, even The Moth, with their burly riffs and bellowed vocals have a certain femininity to them that doesn’t feel gimmicky. Doom musicians have come to embrace the fact that this whole scene needs everyone it can get – and the more talented people the better it will be.

Maybe there is something about your sound that inherently makes women not like it – but that seems kind of sexist to me. What doom shows is that if you place a focus on the power of your songwriting, not just in a sonic sense but also a quasi-spiritual one then you can find a much deeper sense of meaning. Doom comes from a world where the only boundaries are those laid down by Black Sabbath nearly fifty years ago . You need to acknowledge you own boundaries and break down those that shut others out. Maybe the best way to bring women into music is to stop thinking of them as ‘women in music’ doom certainly seems to have done that. Music is about inclusion, not discrimination, and if you can’t get past that and have your bands work, aesthetic and perspective not reflect that – then you may want to re-evaluate your position in the scene.

Independent Music Promotions’ (www.independentmusicpromotions.com) revolutionary music PR campaigns are the most effective in the industry. Submit your music to us today.

The post What Other Genres Can Learn From Doom Metals Lack Of Sexism appeared first on Independent Music Promotions.

Kickstarter: The Most Important Thing Your Band Will Ever Do?

Kickstarters are rapidly become a key aspect to any young and hungry bands record release cycle. Even more established bands like Protest The Hero and Anamanaguchi who have multiple world tours under their belts are coming to rely more on Kickstarter as a tool to release their music. And this is great. A lot of bands have been able to use this with great aplomb and some of the great art of our age has been supported by the geniuses over at Kickstarter. Of course – everyone wants a piece of this pie – the real question is figuring out the best way to execute. As with everything else in this industry, you need to keep your expectations low and above all realistic.

One thing that drives a lot of Kickstarters into the ground before they are even started is having goals that are way too high. If you’re an established band with a following then maybe it makes sense to set a thirty thousand dollar goal to get a truly top flight product. Of course – if you are really at this level then it makes sense to ask for this much. Beyond getting top notch producers and promotion you’re probably used to getting a little bit of money in advance for your work. This is fine, that’s how big name labels work. The thing is – if you’re a smaller band trying to make a name for yourself asking for that much money is only going to get you laughed at. The bands who ask for tens of thousands of dollars are probably investing a lot of their own money for the PR campaign for their Kickstarter putting them in the hole before they even really get going – trusting that their fanbase will help them recoup their investment. So first and foremost – while figuring out the scale of your Kickstarter you should not consider your own needs, but rather what you think your fanbase would be willing to give. Yes ten super fans might fork over five thousand dollars between them, but it’s best to make sure you have ten super fans before embarrassing yourself.

What I’m trying to say is that if your band is on a local level or maybe has a national tour or two under their belt it’s frankly ridiculous to ask for that much money. Unless you recently had a viral video that is making your popularity explode or some similar sort of peak then you are simply dooming yourself to failure before you even start. Why? Because people know how these things go – they don’t want to invest in a project that they know will fail. That’s part of why it’s crucial to have a professional looking page and pitch video – one that makes you look like a real group of musicians and not a couple buddies who are scared to put their own money into their work.

Tied into this is the crucial notion that you need to have a lot of different options for your fans. Anamanaguchi, in their massively successful campaign had multiple options at almost every price point each with very different appeals. Some catered to nerdy fanboys, others to rich kids who really identified with the music and still others to the casual fan. They took advantage of every aspect of their image in order to craft an ideal campaign. People want to support the arts – but they want it to be in a way that is easy to do and caters exactly to their needs and desires. It’s crucial that you realize that the fans, not you are the priority whilst organizing any sort of crowdfunding campaign to support your group.

A lot of the best Kickstarters that I’ve seen feature everything from a one dollar single download, to a ten thousand dollar performance at your house for you and all of your friends. Some people are willing to quickly chip a buck in, other people are superfans – you need to embrace this, and remember that the superfans are going to help generate a large percentage of your income. You also need to remember that people often go to Kickstarter because they hope to get a deal on exclusive merch and feel like they are a part of a special club. Having Kickstarter specific merch is crucial because it helps to provide incentive to fans to donate now rather than say that they will just buy a shirt when you go on tour.

As a final note – it can also be a good thing to set up some really cool stretch goals, especially if you are afraid you might not hit your target. Maybe if you make an extra 50% on your initial goal you will put out another Kickstarter exclusive EP. Or perhaps you can use the extra money to fund a tour. If you can help to provide incentive to go above and beyond your initial goal then you might end up making more money than in your wildest dreams. The initial goal should be a baseline – it’s the stretch goals were you can start to envision some truly ridiculous stuff and help to drive your music over the top. They say slow and steady wins the race and nowhere is this more true than in the music world.

Simply put – you need to bog down your fans with reasons to donate. You need to offer discounts, cool packages and once in a lifetime opportunities you can’t just expect your Kickstarter to end up getting listed as one of their “Projects We Love’ and ending on that. You don’t necessarily need an expensive PR campaign either – if you structure you Kickstarter properly and run it through a few journalists who you are close with then you should be fine. Just remember – a failed Kickstarter will have people making fun of you and leave you up a river of excrement with no means of locomotion. You CAN make a lot of money off of this and help to propel your band to new heights – you just need to be careful in execution and realize that this could be one of the most important things your band will ever do.

Independent Music Promotions’ (www.independentmusicpromotions.com) revolutionary music PR campaigns are the most effective in the industry. Submit your music to us today.

The post Kickstarter: The Most Important Thing Your Band Will Ever Do? appeared first on Independent Music Promotions.

Emails: The One Thing You Can Do That Will Revolutionize Your Music Career

There are a few easy things that you can do to garner almost instantaneous respect and authority in the music industry. One of the hardest things you can do that pays off the most in the long run is being constantly accessible. This can be blessing and a curse. If you’re constantly accessible then people will come to trust you more. If you can answer your emails in a timely manner and stay on top of Facebook messages people are going to want to work with you more. However – this burden of responsibility can be crushing, and you need to be ready to handle it because in an industry where millions are trying to make it, it’s easy to drown under the swamp of emails.

I know that some people like to think that they only need to check their email once a day and don’t have to leave Facebook open all the time. Those people are wrong, especially in the music industry. I mean – I get that from an efficiency standpoint it might make more sense – but I can’t tell you how many people have reached out to me to contact other people for them because they know that I am easily accessible and might have an inside route to getting in touch with someone. Simply put – if you want to become a top level freelancer in the music industry this is what you need to do. You need to be able answer every relevant email within an hour because the people who ave money aren’t going to want to work with someone who dilly-dally’s.

To work with this I have developed what I call ‘freelancer sleep’ which is where you roll over and check our email a couple of times a night just to prove that you are that on top of hit. Is that healthy? Probably not. But if I need to trade a few years off of my life for my burning ambition then so be it, at least I can sleep easier at night this way. Maybe after you get your big break you can evade this – but for a long time this is going to be the way that it has to be. It’s not by choice it’s simply how this thing works – people demand instant gratification, and if you’re not delivering this the they might just get bored and move on. In an industry driven by communication and results you need to be very careful in how you comport yourself and act efficiently.

This might seem bleak – but once you tap into the high speed world of freelancing you find that those who can’t keep up are just annoying and the ones who are on top of things are going to want to work with you more than ever. I have people who contact me for things that I can’t do simply because their normal guy hasn’t replied to an email in four hours and they need someone to respond and help them out. Their is a dearth of perpetually active hard workers who know how to follow up and who are easy to work with. None of those things are hard to do – but for some reason people don’t do them. I’m not sue why – I’ve always been this way and most people are not – but if you open those doors and remember that you get out what you put in, things will get better.

This isn’t an easy goal by any means – to be instantly accessible means to be almost constantly stressed and perpetually working hard to fight back the waves of suffering that define so many of our lives in the music industry. People often take you fir granted and won’t care about how hard you work to stay on top of this stuff. That being said – people are also frustrated easily. And if they realize that you’re the kind of person who doesn’t leave them frustrated then they are going to eventually start wanting to work more and more with you.

These things aren’t hard. But the ability to answer emails quickly in a friendly, clear and concise is going to win you favors across the board. IT doesn’t tangibly manifest itself usually, but it does help to create a solid reputation and prove that you deserve to be where you are and go further. In a world where we have hundreds if not thousands of competitors you need to take every edge you can. We are under siege right now, and if we’re not doing our best to stand out from the crowd even in the quiet and simple ways then we are doomed to fail even before starting.

I screw this up a lot too – as will you. I’s easy to let an email fall through the cracks or lose out n an opportunity because you weren’t on the gun enough .It happens. You just need to know that you are trying your hardest to stay on top of things. The stress brought on by this ind of lifestyle is insane, but in my experience it eventually starts to pay off. Yes t takes a while but piece by piece you too will eventually find the world bending in your favor, for no other reason than that the law of averages means that if you work hard enough you will eventually start to get the attention you deserve – even if it does come after years of sorrow.

Usually with the closing paragraphs of these articles I try to give you some sort of call to action. Of course – this entire piece has been a call to action. I guess what I really want you to do is just leave your email open and your phone connected. These things are important because when people see that you are someone who is constantly in demand, or at least appears to be so, they will realize that you might be someone they want to work with and give money too. I don’t want to make it all a money thing, because DIY ethics are key – we’re all scratching by here. Rock and roll is more than just a full time job, it’s one that needs you to be ready to communicate all day and all night and if you’re not ready for this, then you should leave the hall.

Independent Music Promotions’ (www.independentmusicpromotions.com) revolutionary music PR campaigns are the most effective in the industry. Submit your music to us today.

The post Emails: The One Thing You Can Do That Will Revolutionize Your Music Career appeared first on Independent Music Promotions.

“Blackstar” is Bowie’s everlasting wink from heaven

As I listened to David Bowie’s new album Blackstar for the first time, the artist himself, unbeknownst to me at the time, was ascending into eternity. Bowie’s 25th album, and now his last, arrived January 8th on the icon’s 69th birthday. Two days later it would be announced in the night that Bowie was dead. He juked us all again. A surprise album. A surprise death. A true artist through his life’s final breath.

Instantly the dynamic of the music on the album changed. Blackstar couldn’t be more fitting in tone and timing. It’s extravagant, ghostly, teetering on the outskirts of what is considered to be a traditional rock and roll album. It swivels and sinks into the poorly lit backroom of the musical mansion Bowie built over his fifty-plus-year-career.

Blackstar is a seven-song voyage, a trek through the panicked headspace of someone too aware of their mortality. It shifts in moods and tempos, wandering, but never too far.

The title track is a near ten-minute ride alongside the Thin White Duke as he passes through the layers of Heaven. The song wears many faces, turning inside out and evolving with the minutes. At the midpoint of the song the instruments start to lose their beat, pacing around one another in odd rhythms slowing down. It’s the sound of our artist exiting earth life and throttling into the next. “I’m a black star,” he sings, catatonically.

After slowly being peeled during the first track, Blackstar picks up with “‘Tis A Pity She Was A Whore.” A heavyset drum and bass union churns through the song as it progresses into a perpetual Coleman swirl, horns gone akimbo. Bowie hits the high notes with a twisted sadness, a hidden anarchy while singing the title line. You can see his chiseled grin slowly rise with each word.

“Lazarus” is when the listener begins to really ache. The song, backed up with an authentically creepy video, saunters in with a clean, melancholic guitar scale and steady drums. But, then these soft devious horns slither in just slightly offbeat. When Bowie enters he sings, “Look up here / I’m in heaven,” and your heart skips a beat. In his slow drift outward he’s catching the wind currents like the bluebird without misgiving.

The album continues its seesaw with “Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime).” Opening with a scattershot drumbeat, the song flails wildly. Genres are taken apart, thrown onto the floor and resculpted. Everything falls on the offbeat with Bowie weaving vocals in a posthumus quiver. “Sue, the clinic called / The x-ray’s fine,” he sings. The listener’s head ping pongs into full force headbanging by the finish.

Bowie gives some of his strongest, most outlandish, hair-raising vocals on Blackstar and “Girl Loves Me” represents that best. Lost on the calendar, Bowie sings, “Where the fuck did Monday go?” The song works on hypnosis, pulling the listener into a trance. The final song, “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” finishes the album on an upbeat, celebratory note.

Blackstar is a lasting statement to not only David Bowie’s artistry, but to how he lived his life through that artistry. He worked hard through the end of his days to give us a product he’d be remembered by, a final soundtrack to the epilogue of a life lived in constant creation. Your man did us proud, Iman.

Independent Music Promotions’ (www.independentmusicpromotions.com) revolutionary music PR campaigns are the most effective in the industry. Submit your music to us today.

The post “Blackstar” is Bowie’s everlasting wink from heaven appeared first on Independent Music Promotions.