Johnny Mercer wrote a song called Accentuate The Positive:
You gotta accent-thu-ate the positive,
E-lim-inate the negative,
An' latch on
To the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between!
The music business is a soul-crushing endeavor for almost anyone who decides to make music a career, especially for bands. We've all conditioned ourselves to hear the word "no" on a semi-regular basis. We've all learned to forge ahead on minimal pay, with few accolades in return and a life of servitude to late nights and heavy mileage with a transient mindset.
Hunter S. Thompson is probably most widely quoted when it comes to a career in music:
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.”
We know it. We live it. I've personally experienced it dealing with a few people whose collective efforts fell incredibly short of the results promised. I stress the word efforts. Everybody talks a big game. Few deliver.
And there are so many choices for bands. At least once a day I am sure you get an e-mail or a Facebook message indicating that some service can take you to the next level. The reality is that only talent and perseverance and a lot of good luck can get you to the next level. So instead of chasing that star, it is important to affiliate yourselves with those who can help drive revenues. This is a career - and that means that at the minimum you need revenue for sustainability. No doubt.
It is aggravating. It is defeating. It is an endless journey with ever-present roadblocks.
Hunter S. Thompson also said this:
“Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.”
There is a message of positivity in there, of going the extra mile, of not giving up.
It's festival season and a lot of bands submit for a chance to play music in front of new fans from Delaware to California and most submit with a preordained attitude of defeat and disappointment. We are trained that way. And though not everybody gets accepted, there are positives that come with every submission.
- You expose your music to new people.
- You expose your music to industry professionals.
- You get your name/brand out into a professional community.
Sustained success for a music festival in the United States is a recent development. Prior to the permanent launch of the Coachella Valley Music and Artists Festival in 2001, no American festival (other than Milwaukee Summerfest) with the scale and impact of the large European festivals maintained an annual presence in a single location. Since the year 2000, there has been a considerable increase in the presence of massive music festivals in the United States.
There is a demographic dynamic that should be considered as well, especially in trying to find a match between your band and select music festivals. It is important to skew the odds in your favor, so when submitting consider the following:
- 42.7% of festival goers were male, and 57.3% female.
- The percentages of audiences aged 18-44 is 71.2%
- The percentage of audiences aged 45 and over is 20.5%
Music Festivals must carefully consider which bands to hire for their annual production.
Successful operations land the appropriate mix of known and unknown bands that create enough current demand and enhance their reputation sufficiently at costs low enough to remain profitable from year to year. In order to maintain the optimal lineup these festivals must be able to minimize the costs of their headliners that will drive much of their demand, as well as recognize the quality of unknown bands ahead of the wider base of music customers.
Hiring decisions are are based on one primary consideration. A festival must hire unknown bands which their consumers will enjoy but have not yet been exposed to. These bands benefit a festival because they can enhance reputation and customer experience at a lower fee.
Here are a few tips to solidify your opportunity submissions that will maximize consideration:
Is The Festival A Fit?
Do your research when it comes to which festivals you’ll apply. Take a look at historical lineups. Read reviews from past festival attendees. Is the fest geared toward a certain audience? Closely examine any music festival before you spend your time and/or money submitting to it. Is your band a good fit for the festival's overall goals and theme? If it’s not, don’t try to ‘make it work.'
Niche Festivals
Instead, seek out fests that align with the genre in which you most comfortably fit. There are more festivals than ever before and many are micro-focused on niche genres. These niche fests provide a great opportunity for bands to play in front of captive audiences. The big league music fests are for the ‘big leaguers.’ It’s great to dream, but remember that time and money are finite resources – so set realistic goals and shoot for what’s attainable.
Budget Appropriately
Aside from the cost of submission (around $30 - $50 on average) you need to consider what it will cost to market your band at the festival, as well as any costs you might incur from attending the fest yourself. Some high-profile music festivals will cover costs such as hotel (or at least offer a discount), but you certainly won’t receive this with smaller fests.
Submit Early
I know most bands will tell me that I am wrong on this point. I'm not.
You’re free to submit throughout any submission period, but the truth is the later you wait the harder it may be to land a spot. Festival schedulers may (and likely) begin viewing and choosing bands before the end of the submission period. As time goes on the slots will fill, therefore making it more competitive for late applicants. If you’re confident enough in your music to be submitting to festivals, than you need to submit early – when the judges/schedulers are fresh and less stressed. As an added benefit, many festivals offer a discounted submission fee for early applicants.
Don't Neglect Your Digital Press Kit
It needs to be current. Period. Also, a poor sound mix and/or design is a sure sign of amateur status. Generally, sub-par photos are more forgivable than a poor sound mix but why risk it? Try to use high-definition photos, impeccable sound uploads (CD quality or better) and ensure that the audio levels are mixed within acceptable ranges. Use professionally shot videos as well that feature great sound and graphics. Smart phones have come a long way, but a better representation is absolutely necessary. Most judges/talent buyers go right to your video. Make sure it stands out.
If You Snail Mail A CD & Press Kit
We do NOT recommend this method of submission, but unfortunately it is sometimes necessary.
No sticky labels – Sticker labels can wreak havoc on CD players, automatically guaranteeing your band won’t find a home in a festival's lineup.
No hand-written content. If your CD is sharpied out, accept that you will probably not be accepted.
Compression - Maximize the quality. Poor compression and encoding will get you immediately tossed out.
Keep it simple. Nobody is going to read through a press kit that is more than two full sheets in depth. Also start with your current activity and work your way back, just like a resume. In most cases, what you did five years ago will not get you into tomorrow's festival, but what you did last month will.
Follow The Rules!
Every music festival has different rules…..how they’d like media labeled, how they’d like to be contacted, what info you need to provide. The list goes on. Just follow the rules. It may seem elementary, but it’s just too easy to let a simple oversight ruin your chances for entry.
Additionally, don’t send any more information than what is asked for (this includes extravagant press kits as mentioned above!) Resist the urge to bug the festival programmers about your submission. If you weren’t contacted about your entry there is a reason! Suck it up and submit elsewhere! Don’t get blacklisted as an annoyance, thereby ruining your chances for submitting to any future opportunities.
Don't Be A Sore Loser
The point is, rejection is not the end of the world and the key is to stay positive. If you believe in yourself, soon others will as well. Keep submitting to new festivals and revisit the old ones the following year. Accentuate the positive. Eliminate the negative. Latch on to the affirmative. Don't mess with Mr. In-Between.
THIS WEEK'S TOP FIVE LIST
The five most popular music festivals in terms of total attendance :
1. Summerfest
2. SXSW
3. Ultra
4. Coachella
5. Bonnaroo
THIS WEEK'S FACEBOOK FRIENDS
Wally Dogger gives way their music for free. And they made a video to help me woo Heather Graham as part of their Kickstarter campaign. That's pretty cool. But don't take my word for it, check out what others have said:
"Modestly clever hooksmithery."
- Time Out Chicago
"An engaging group from Chicago who fans of artists from Fountains of Wayne to Neil Young to Randy Newman to The Rolling Stones are sure to appreciate! Their combination of humorous lyrics, mid-song shifts from glorious harmonies to folky singer-songwriter style to powerpop to rock and back again, and energy is hard to resist!"
- David Bash, International Pop Overthrow
In our latest attempt to compete with Dollar General, you can now own the new record "Keep Going" for $0. Please visit www.wallydogger.com/keepgoing& tell those beautiful friends of yours!
Facebook friend them here: http://facebook.com/wallydogger
Then go get your free album. Tell them Michael from Jivewired sent you, please and thank you.
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Wally Dogger helps me woo Heather Graham with Sugar In The Kettle.
Sugar in the Kettle - From Jivewired to Roller Girl from Matthew Donehoo on Vimeo.
ABOUT THE MONDAY MIX
The Monday Mix airs from 12:00PM to 5:30PM CDT each Monday and is designed to help you get through that brutal after-lunch, energy-sucking span that kicks off every work week. This particular show will be a mix of old, deep album cuts and new indie music with a lot of genre crossover. No Adele. Sorry.
What else does The Monday Mix do? Well, it helps you discover new indie music by combining some really great under the radar tracks with more established songs that were, once in fact, under the radar as well. The hope here is that the culture shock of discovering your next favorite band won't be so enormously imposing if we surround the new stuff with some of your old, familiar friends.
Jivewired supports independent musicians by paying royalties for airplay on Jivewired Radio. Please help us support indie artists by listening to our station and by purchasing indie music. Thank you.
The links on the radio player will give you download options if you really dig on the music and some of the songs are offered for free.
To listen, just press play on the radio widget to the right or use this link to open in a new window that will allow you to listen when you navigate away from this page:
Launch Jivewired Radio
MONDAY MIX PLAYLIST FOR 04.22.2013
01. Little Too Late by Nicki Bluhm & The Gamblers
02. Dark Horse by Laura Marie
03. Before We Run by Yo La Tengo
04. Space Jazz (Dust Up Version) by Spindrift
05. Dreams I'll Never See by Molly Hatchet
06. Already There by The Dustin PittsleyBand
07. Come Downstairs & Say Hello by Guster
08. Shine by Star Anna & The laughing Dogs
09. Mayor Of Simpleton by XTC
10. Laid by James
11. Bulls#!t by Well Hung Heart
12. Take It Off by The Donnas
13. Sex by The 1975
14. Busted Up by The Replacements
15. Sorry About Last Night by Wally Dogger
16. Waitin' by Caitlin Rose
17. Cut My Strings by Kree Woods
18. Stranger by Lovebettie
19. Sunday by Jet West
20. In Your Way by Bobby Long
21. Everything You Took by Lee Bains III & The Gloryfires
22. Nightfall by Hollis Brown
23. Gone, Long Gone by Left On Red
24. Combat Baby by Metric
25. Beyond The Grey Sky by 311
26. If You Only Could by Donna The Buffalo
27. Let Me Get Down by The Quick & Easy Boys
28. Uh Oh by Super Water Sympathy
29. Dixie Brothers by Bear Ceuse
30. The Pursuit Of Happiness by Ben Sollee
31. Whirring by The Joy Formidable
32. Devil by Well Hung Heart
33. North Side Gal by JD McPherson
34. Charmer by Aimee Mann
35. Hipster Kids/Sexy Beards by Dr. Pants
36. Dear Madum Barnum by XTC
37. All The Way In by Sassparilla
38. Jagged by The Old 97s
39. Sex & Candy by Marcy Playground
40. I'm Writing A Novel by Father John Misty
41. Without You by Jesse Aycock
42. Home by Phil Phillips
43. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face by Coldplay
44. March Of Fools by Gram Rabbit
45. Santa Cruz by Foreign Talks
46. Only For You by Heartless Bastards
47. Milwaukee Man by Hugh Bob & The Hustle
48. Girl Like You by Russell Stafford
49. Simple Beauty by The Jane Carrey Band
50. Drunk In The Day by Wally Dogger
51. Lazy Eye by Silversun Pickups
52. Hold That Thought by Ben Folds Five
53. Everyone's Alone by Josh Doyle
54. Entertainment by Phoenix
55. We The Common by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down
56. Sun by Two Door Cinema Club
57. Electric by Luscious Jackson
58. In The Dark by The Iveys
59. Miranda by The Imperial
60. Big Love by Matthew E. White
61. Meet Me Where The Crows Don't Fly by Water Tower Bucket Boys
62. Headlines by Shannon Labrie
63. Everything Is Embarrassing by Sky Ferreira
64. Wrapped Around Her Finger by Mikey Ohlin
65. Just A Ride by Jem
66. I'd Rather Die by Fiawna Forte
67. Drinkin' by Holly Williams
68. Ramblin' On My Mind by Left Lane Cruiser
69. Ivy Covered House by Ducktails
70. California by Hydra Melody
71. Do You Realize?? by The Flaming Lips
72. Cold October by Escondido
73. 32 Flavors by Alana Davis
74. Careening Catalog Immemorial by Frontier Ruckus
75. Hoka Hey by The Outer Vibe
76. Spoon by Cibo Matto
77. Curtains Drawn by Crown Point
78. Atonement by Kilto Take
79. Body & Soul by Goldenboy
80. Electric Daisy Violin by Lindsey Stirling
81. Float On by Jennie Arnau
82. Home by Marc Broussard
83. The Travels Of Frederick Tolls Part 1 by McDougall
84. Friends by Uncle Mingo