http://glassceilingmusic.com/blog.html Glass Ceiling Music: Blog Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:20:53 -0700 http://glassceilingmusic.com/blog.html/reality_check_check_one_two_check
Are you band or are you a brand? Successful bands will always seek out new and creative ways (with respect to those ways that already are working) to create brand awareness. As an artist you have to realize that your band is a brand. Just like Tide Laundry Soap or Pepsi Cola. Any person with the slightest level of marketing education knows that brand loyalty is one of the largest keys to the success of any product. Your band is no exception. Staying with the Tide example, Safeway may advertise a sale on Tide to help bring consumers into their store. But if no one has any idea what Tide is... why would Safeway advertise their product is being sold at Safeway. They would choose a different product that people know. Why? Because Tide is marketing the product and Safeway is marketing where consumers can get that product.

The same is true in the music industry. You are supposed to market your band and let the show promoter promote the event itself. Show me the band that relies on the event promoter to promote the band and I will show you a band not worth promoting. Show me a promoter spending thier resources to promote a band and I will show you a promoter that is working with bands that do not deserve to be on the bill. But wait, it is not always the bands that are delusional. Show me the promoter that spends their resources promoting the venue and alcohol sales and I wil show you a promoter that is nothing more than an extension of the venue's marketing plan. Finally, show me the venue/bar that will let you on the bill, sight unseen, sound unheard and I will show you a venue that sees you as that nights potential alcohol sales, nothing else.

Most of you may not remember 80's local artists like Culprit or Rail, but you could learn a lot from their plan of attack. They played a circuit of roller rinks and race tracks to get exposure. They promoted themselves to everyone, everywhere, every chance they had. They did not need alcohol served at their events to get people to listen to them. They actually had music you could listen to sober. Bottom line is that they busted their asses and at a local level it paid off. To learn more about the history these two local bands made, stop by the EMP in Seattle (where they are encased in glass).

Ok, so I hope that point has been driven into your artistically challenged brains (that is actually a compliment). Here is point two of this story. Opportunity.

When a company comes along and offers you an opportunity to play, you have two choices. Take it or leave it. The one choice you do not have (if you want to keep getting offers) is to drag your feet on it. If you accept a show, be it in a bar, a theater or a festival, please do everyone a favor and bust your ass to promote it. If not the event, at least promote your band and that you will be there. If you do not know how, ask. Chances are that whoever gave you this opportunity will give you plenty of suggestions. As a band you should do everything you can possibly do to ensure that you will be looked to again for future shows. Also, your ability to attract a crowd should lead you to bigger opportunities with even more companies in the future. Though you may argue this, if you can manage to get 500 to actually come to an event to see you play (consistently), then and only then can you demand your own terms of compensation (time for your own attorney). Anything less may be a result of any combination of outside factors and does not entitle you to anything unless you have a contract or agreement otherwise.

Moving on...

The last point I want to hit this time around is called devaluation. Devaluation is the loss of value associated with your band. Using the Tide case above, should it be found that tide is actually not as good as they say, people will choose an alternative and the desire for Safeway to mention that they sell Tide will go down. Likewise, if your band is not really what you make it out to be, consumers will likely choose from the thousands of other bands over you. Furthermore, should it be found that Tide is doing their own sale (below cost at that) at some little store down the street the week before Safeway has their sale (just above cost), then Safeway would be very foolish to consider using Tide in this or any future promotional advertising. Plug this into your translator and you may finally understand why booking your own small show just a week or two before the big opportunity you already committed yourselves to is devastating to the company putting on the bigger event. Why would anyone pay a premium to see your band next week when they can see you this week for next to free? Any band that devalues their own brand does not deserve the respect of future opportunities from the company offering the bigger opportunity and should not expect to get offers of that nature any time soon. For some reason many bands think they can do everything themselves. If that were true, then why are nearly all of them still playing in the same bars years and years later? Why are so many of them without a real label, or air play on even a college station or local hour, or invited to the big local music events (not paying to be a part of them)?

I was told many years ago, “If you keep thinking like you always thought, you will keep getting what you always got”. It is time to re-frame reality people. At least that’s what I think. As always, your feedback is always welcome.

-T]]> http://glassceilingmusic.com/blog.html/reality_check_check_one_two_check Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:00:10 -0800 Glass Ceiling Music - Glass Ceiling Music - Blog http://glassceilingmusic.com/blog.html/lessons_learned_in_2009
GCM started 2009 with a six month signed venue contract to provided entertainment services at a struggling bar in a distant town. We transformed that venue from a run down 70's Chineese Disco into the premier Rock Venue in the area (a very remote area). The company brought in more than $30,000 in equipment and spent another thousand on stage modifications and a sound booth. Every week GCM spent close to a grand on promotions for the venue. Sadly, the venue breached the contract just four weeks into the entertainment schedule. Adding to the breach was legal threats including the initial refusal to allow GCM to remove thier equipment from the venue (claiming it now belonged to them) and threats to have us arrested by someone who had nothing to do with anything (but she sure thought she did). In the end, GCM did remove all thier equipment and restored the venue to its original condition prior to our arrival. What did we learn?

For starters, we learned that you can not trust anyone in this business, contract or not. We also learned that thinking otherwise was our error. In this business you really have to learn to accept things as they are and move on. Though this specific venue owner graduated with me from the UW with a B.A. degree in Accounting, she still managed to play every card from race to gender to a lack of education to everyone that would listen and take pitty on her as if she were the victim. I would nominate her for an Academy Award if they had a category for "Best Venue Screwing of a Service Provider". Lesson learned. No more bars (unless we own it).

Learing lesson number two. I call this one, "the Greatest Show that never happened". After 11 months of emails, phone calls and meetings an event was to take place to benefit someone besides GCM and the artists on the bill. This un-named party claimed that the 1300 person location would sell out in advance. They set the price and they handled the promotions. All GCM had to do was make sure every detail of the event was handled. This included arranging "meet & greet's" where and when possible, making promotional CDs to give away and paying for all the staffing needed to ensure the safety of the patrons as well as the quality of the event. Again, GCM shelled out a couple thousand to make everything solid as a rock. However, the event was cancelled by the party that would benefit most just 32 hours before the actual event was to take place. What did we learn?

Never let anyone do your promotional work. We got screwed once before (in Bellingham) on this sort of deal and we take full responsibility for being stupid enough to fall for it again. Second we learned that everybody likes to think they know how to put together an event of this nature, but very few of them actually have any clue at all. Despite all of thier excuses and attempts to avoid responsibility for thier lack of action, the facts are the facts, they dropped the ball and GCM got screwed once again.

Those two stories alone more than support the new GCM in 2010. I did not write this blog to bitch and moan like a baby (though some may think that is the case). I wrote this to explain to all of you that it is not the screwing, but what you can take away from these bad experiences that allows good companies to adjust and adapt. These experiences allow GCM to build an even stronger base to stand on and provides even more incentive to continue doing what we do best. In the end, we all get screwed by someone sometime. Learn from it, as we did. Make the most of what you learned from the experience.

Take care and we will see you at the show!
-GCM Mangagement]]> http://glassceilingmusic.com/blog.html/lessons_learned_in_2009 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:52:38 -0800 Glass Ceiling Music - Glass Ceiling Music - Blog