SXSW on a budget 01/12/2010
 
It's almost that time of the year - the great pilgramage south to Austin, TX for the annual SXSW.  Now before I get started on the subject in the title, I want to start by saying that I do not condone what I'm about to tell you.  If you have the financial means to purchase a badge to SXSW, it is absolutely worth it!  The badge will get you in to see panels, keynote speakers, the trade show area, tons of shows, and more. 

BUT, given the current economic conditions, many of you are probably sitting there asking yourself "Is it worth trying to come up with the money to get to Austin for SXSW if I don't have a badge?"  My answer - absolutely!  It's going to require some homework on your part, but if you plan correctly, it can be a very worth while trip.  Not to mention you can probably manage to stay drunk for at least 5 days straight (again, I do not condone this...and may or may not have done this in the past). 

So, how are you going to do this?  First, let's talk logistics.  Getting there - if you have some friends that are into music, get them to go with you, and drive.  Sure it can be a long drive, but if you're within 15 hours of Austin, probably cheaper for a group of you to drive than for all of you to fly.  Lodging - there are plenty of people that live in Austin that just want to get out of dodge during SXSW, and they rent out their place.  Or in the case that I experienced, a girl rented out the bedroom in her apartment to us and the 2 nights she was there, slept on the couch.  Might sound weird, but it was much more economical for us, and she made some money.  So start checking Craigslist ASAP to try to find a deal.  Eating - get groceries for the place you are staying, and eat some of the pizza on 6th St. 

Next, what are you going to do while you're at SXSW?  During the day, there are plenty of small record labels, publishing companies, other music groups, etc hosting showcases.  Many times you can get into these for free just by RSVP'ing on their website.  This is the part that is going to require a little homework to find the ones you want to attend.  Another great part about these is that they often offer a couple free drinks.  I saw some of the best music I saw at the festival at showcases such as this.  In the evenings, just walk down 6th St.  There is music everywhere!  Sure there are some shows that require a SXSW badge to get in, but there are plenty that do not.  But, be prepared to shell out a little cash to get into some of the better shows. 

Last but not least, the biggest way to make SXSW worth your time is to network.  That means beforehand (see who is going to be there), during the festival (meet up with them), and follow up after.  SXSW is a great time to see old faces and make connections for future endeavors. 

Hopefully I am there to see some of you this year.  After all, Cheap Trick is one of the headliners.  If that's not reason enough to go, I don't know what is. :)
 
 
Sometimes I have a hard time coming up with good topics for my blog, so I recently asked for help with blog topics via my Twitter account.  I got one response, but it was a great one!  Monica gave me several great ideas, and I'm finally getting around to starting on them.  So before I get started, thanks for the help kick starting my brain Monica!!

One topic that was brought up is that musicians have a lot of opportunities to get their music out there through (what I would call) non-traditional sources.  Meaning its not on the radio, on a CD, or on your website.  Monica and I have some common friends in The Nadas who recently did this for an app that the company Monica works for designed.  It's a great app for any snowboarder or skier out there - check it out: 
For The Nadas, it's an opportunity for them to get their music in front of a brand new crowd.  Often times if I'm looking at something like that, and really like the background track, I will dig until I find out who it is.  That often times leads to purchasing new music. 

The same could be done for bands that have holiday music recorded.  Take your music to e-card companies that can place your holiday tune on one of their cards! 

Often times, bands may have to donate their song to applications such as this.  But, by making sure that people can find out what song is on that app/card/etc, there is definitely an opportunity to make money.  Not to say that there aren't occasions where you can get paid by placing your music in things such as this, but always consider the opportunity whether there is immediate pay or not.  Consider it "spending" your marketing dollars. :)
 
Keep It Real 11/30/2009
 
Earlier today, I was reading a article that Artists House linked to Derek Sivers' blog titled "Does your company really want to hang out with me?"
The post addresses how some companies are trying to "hang out" with consumers to get them to use their products, when really they are just trying to sell something to them.  This happens all too often on Twitter especially.  It was a great post that you should definitely check out.

I wanted to briefly add my own two cents on this topic.  There was a particular case with a great band out of Chicago that I know, Snowsera.  Before I knock on them, I'm going to preface this by saying that they are now doing a fantastic job using Twitter, with their website, etc.  When I first started following them on Twitter, I was seeing posts from them probably 5 times a day about their free music.  Don't get me wrong - I love free music!  Especially GOOD free music.  But after a few weeks of this, even I was getting upset to the point that I was about ready to unfollow them.  Instead, I called them and suggested that they stop trying to sell their fans something on every twitter post.  Even though they were giving something away for free, it was still being pushed a bit too hard.  Instead, I told them to tell their fans what they were doing, what music they're listening to...just being more real and transparent.  They have done a fantastic job of doing this, and I would now use them as a role model for other bands.  Every now and then I see them post about some new music, and you bet it catches my attention and I go check it out.  They are getting their community involved by having them vote on new songs that they posted on their website.  They are creating conversation.   They are no longer pushing their product, but are being real and building their community by being involved.  

Just like they were able to do this, so can companies.  Corporate America can learn a lot from music.  

 
 
Recently I was reading a blog that someone wrote about bands being brands, and how that wasn't a good use of the term.  They went on about how bands and brands are very different, don't do the same things, etc.  He then went on to explain that bands need to be building relationships with their fans, getting them involved, etc etc...

...hello any successful BRAND in late 2009!!!  I'm not going to get into how/why I disagree with that blog post (on the band vs brand part).  But he stated some things that, yes, all bands should be doing in order to grow their brand - whether you want to call them a brand or not.  They are an entity that is in the business of trying to make money.  To me that spells brand, but to each his own.  I digress.  There are many brands today that are doing a great job connecting with their consumers and creating loyalty.  That is a huge key to success for many brands out there in the 2009 marketplace.  With the huge growth that word of mouth has had (mainly how far and how fast it reaches, courtesy of the internet, Twitter, Facebook), it is more important than ever to really connect with your consumers.  Brands should be getting these consumers involved, having conversations with them, and growing their relationships with them.  This will in turn allow them to tailor their business and make a better product, which is going to lead to more sales and bigger returns for their brand.  The exact same can be said for bands, so both should be taking notes from each other. 

I know I'm not the first to say this is what brands needs to be doing.  It has become increasingly difficult for both brands and bands to stand out in the crowd - the ones that do the things above best will be the ones that are able the most success.  Yes, I am talking about brands...er, bands...okay, both!  Keep having a conversation and put forth the effort to connect with your consumers, and the future will be much brighter for everyone involved. 
 
Moving On... 11/11/2009
 
After 3 good years at the marketing agency, I am now moving on.  I'm very excited about the opportunities ahead.  There are many things that I'm looking into at this point, including working on a variety of events.  I have learned many valuable things over the past few years and am anxious to put them to use. 

I pride myself on building great relationships, and had the pleasure of making a lot of fantastic acquaintances during my time at the agency. 

Along with the change at the agency comes a change with my website.  Please take a look at the all of the pages to learn more about my experience and to see samples of my work.  Check back here often for updates on what I'm working on.  Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions!
 
Been a while... 03/25/2009
 

I think I write this almost every post, but holy crap it's been a while since I updated this thing!  I'm not going to sit here and make too many excuses, but let's just say I've been hella busy and leave it at that.

So, where have I been?  Well I just returned from an 11 day trip to Austin, TX for the 2009 SXSW.  It was a great time, but very exhausting.  We were working anywhere from 10-14 hour days, then networking at night.  We had a great promotion for our client throughout the interactive, film, and music portions of the festival.  I also met some great people from Revision3 - an online TV channel.  Check it out - they have some cool stuff!  Check out the episode of Scam School with our client's van in the episode. 

By the time the music portion of SXSW was rolling around, I was exhausted!  I was able to catch up with long time friend, Jason Vigil, who (I heard) put on a great performance at his showcase.  Way to go Jason!  A nice long night of 6 hours of sleep got me rested and ready to go for the rest of the music week.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to see nearly as many bands as I had hoped.  Late nights of work restricted the music I was able to catch.  I did get to see Jane's Addiction sound check for the Playboy Party...and got to be at the party (by the way, the bunnies really aren't that hot).   Dave Navarro still knows how to play guitar pretty well.

Probably the highlight performance that I saw was Janelle Monae at the Levi's Fader Fort.  She has a great voice, and her stage presence just blows the whole show out of the water.  Very entertaining to watch, that is for sure. 

We had a great new band from the UK play in our client's vehicle (performance will be posted soon) - We Have Band.  Very down to earth people and humble.  We checked out their show that night, and they put on a great performance.  Definitely check them out! 

All in all, it was a fun but exhausting week.  I think I'm still recovering...hopefully one of these days I can catch up!  Including posting more on here.  If you were at SXSW, share you're favorite bands with me!

 
Music Community 02/19/2009
 

My blog posts have really been lacking due some crazy hectic schedules - seems to be a common theme with my blogs over the last couple months.  I apologize for that....I'm trying!  Speaking of hectic, I just got back from a two-day trip to New Orleans.  I had some great food while I was down there, and was able to catch some of the Mardi Gras festivities. 

One of the highlights of the trip was having the opportunity to take part in a live Ustream chat with the great people of Artists House Music.  I had a great time, and it was really interesting to chime in on the community that they have/are creating.  It's a great collaboration of a lot of different music industry minds, that makes for some very informative content.  If you want to see the video from this week, check it out here.  I recently started talking with them via Twitter (follow them - @artistshouse), and they graciously invited me to take part in their weekly chat while I was in town.  (Thanks guys!!)  I encourage all of you to check them out and become part of the community that they are building.  With the changing scope of the music industry, it's great to be able to hear what everyone is doing and trying out, and be able to throw in your two cents. 

I'm going to keep this one short, but get out there and get involved!

 
 

With the ever changing music industry today, it is interesting to watch independent artists/band experiment with different things.  The Nadas are no strangers to the music industry, having been around for over 15 years.  They have managed to make a career out of music, and establish a following around the country.  They have also started their own label, Authentic Records, and successfully developed several other bands. 

The Nadas constantly strive to stay up with the trends in music, and have greatly impressed me as of late.  There are a lot of online tools available to bands, and The Nadas are doing a great job with the tools they are using.  Almost every member of the band is on Twitter, and posts fairly regularly.  They use Twitter in an effective manner too - not just to promote their music, but to build relationships with people.  They also have their label on Twitter.  They utilize this to mention things that are going on for their artists, and also release a weekly "Ear Snack" via Twitter.  The Ear Snack is a free download from one of their artists that you can obtain by going to the Authentic Records website.  Some of the band members post TwitPics regularly, of sometimes random stuff, but fun.  In addition to Twitter, they update blogs, post live streams of shows on Ustream, and much more.  The Nadas also do a good job of incorporating the online tools they're using with the offline.  These guys put on a great live show, and truly appreciate people coming out to see them and hang out. 

Probably the most unique and interesting thing that they're doing right now is their new album called Almanac.  The album itself is an interesting concept - for the year of 2009, The Nadas are writing, recording, and releasing one song per month.  At the end of the year, they will release the full physical album.  The coolest thing they are doing with this project is allowing fans to be part of the process along the way.  They recently posted on Twitter that they were listening to the final mix of the the first song on Almanac, and were looking for feedback.  This message was accompanied by a link to their live in-studio Ustream feed.  They allowed fans to listen to the mix, and give their feedback live.  They are also offering many other options for fans to be involved in the process, with several different monetary offering varying access.  I'm very anxious to see how this approach works out for them - offering access to something fans typically are not involved in, for a price.  I think this may be the way the industry goes, and am very excited for these guys and glad to see them on the cutting edge.  Check out the different packages they are offering below, and go check these guys out when they're near you - their great music and fun/crazy/sometimes drunken/and often hilarious shows are well worth it!

 
 

This week's AotW, the Josh Davis Band, is from my home state of Iowa.  They play gritty rock/roots/country type music.  The band is on the Authentic Records label, along with The Nadas (who also own/operate the label). 

JDB's latest album, Get Awesome, has been getting a lot of praise, and rightfully so.  Starting with the first track "Tambourine Girl" about the drunk girl in the bar that always has to get up on the stage with the band (I think we all know one), the album keeps you rocking and your foot tapping the whole way through.  Taking some pointers from The Nadas, JDB has some great vocals and harmonies not often seen in rock bands.  The album changes up the tempo with a few great ballads, including "Sweet Suffocation" which features a great acapella part towards the end of the track.  Josh has some unique vocals and some interesting writing. Many of his songs deal with drinking, relationships (and the bullshit that goes along with them), and other sorts of fun topics.  These guys are great live, so check out their schedule to find out when they'll be near you. 

If you make it down to SXSW, these guys typically play an Authentic Records Showcase along with The Nadas and the other bands on the label.  I have not seen any info about it for this year yet, but make sure to check it out, as it's always a good time and great music.  Meanwhile, go pick up a copy of The Josh Davis Band's album, Get Awesome.

 
 

There are a lot of great music blogs out there that offer some really solid info.  But recently, I was reading one that offered some advice that I animately disagree with.  I'm not going to call them out on it, because that's just not nice.  The blog suggested that when an artist or band gets busy enough, they should hire someone to update things such as their Twitter.  This is something that bands/artists should NEVER, ever do!  It all comes back to a blog that I posted a while back about having an authentic  conversation with the fans, and building those relationships.  It's very important that a band's online/social media efforts are giving fans an inside look, not just pushing the latest CD (or another thing of the band). 

Which brings me to my next point...

There is a plethera of online tools available to bands/artists today.  With everything to choose from, a lot of bands try to utilize all of the online tools, and do a half ass job with all of them.  Rather than trying to use all of the online tools, bands should take a serious look at their fanbase and where they hang out online.  Then select the online pieces that you know you can update regularly.  The number of those is up to each band, dependent on the amount of time and commitment they have to it.  Then do a fantastic job with those online tools that you're dedicated to, rather the half ass job with all of them.  But never give up those things and hire someone to do them.  If there is a need to trim back as you move along, that's okay.  But keep the relationships with your fans real.