Dig Deep, Indie Slime
Yeah, that’s how it feels, for the most part.
Indie music is the segmented equivalent of the diet industry, preying on the hopes and idealism of the starry-eyed creatures who dare to dream. Every time you turn around, there’s another site or another bunch of twitter followers who claim to have the magic bullet that’s going to get you in front of the right people.
Of course, it’s all for a price. Music XRay, ReverbNation, MusicOps, Taxi (the most established but still a cash grab), SonicBids (which actually charges you to submit for gig opportunities) … the list goes on and on. and what it amounts to is a slightly larger hole in your pocket each month, for the potential to reach the right people, the people who will give a rats ass about your music. Which brings me to the next point:
How do you get people to care about your music?
I had a conversation with my cousin yesterday, another indie musician, but also a successful studio owner and purveyor of music for commercial use. He joked that if he wrote a book about being an indie musician, the first seven chapters would be on how to get people to care about your music. Personally, i think this is how that would look:
chapter 1: make really fucking good music
chapter 2: ummmm …
chapter 3: uh, what? hello?
and etc. you get the picture.
The basis of all of this is that the music has to be amazing. That is, in a nutshell, the only way you’re going to have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting people to care. Unless — and here’s the caveat, because most indie musicians don’t have this — you have a very large bank account and can afford to pour endless amounts of money into marketing and publicity. Even then, there’s no guarantee.
I committed to a pile of money for publicity for my new album this year, and i was sadly and greatly disappointed in the results. Where once there was a good chance that you could get people to care by being in every magazine on the planet, and thereby spark enough interest for people to seek out the record, now you have to be dating a Kardashian, or have hate-fucked Jian Ghomeshi to get anybody’s attention. Once upon a time, a publicist could put your face in all the big mags, Creem, Circus, Kerrang, to name a few, people actually bought up those mags incessantly, and every month were treated to a hand-picked round of newcomers as well as the tried and true. These days, there are no magazines because it’s all on line, the articles last about a nanosecond on the web before you click on to the next stupid thing on TMZ, and what about the music? oh, you make music too? if you can’t hold the attention of those you’re trying to reach, what makes you think they’re going to go so far as to buy your record/single/whatever … there is no endgame here, unless it’s just to rise above the incessant voices screaming ‘Look at me! Hey! Look AT ME!!’
Used to be that you could pile your band into the van and hit the road, venues would put you up and feed you, and they would do their dangdest to get people to come and see you. Now, you have to be ready to sleep in the van unless you want to go broke, venues could not care less about you unless you are guaranteed to pack them in. Money talks, and that is the bottom line. I have to say, there are exceptions to this, venues who are willing to take a chance on something they know to be a quality act, and thus will put themselves out to risk it — for quality, for art. But these are fewer and farther between, so if you do get lucky enough to be booked by one of these, make the most of it. Be grateful, and be nice.
Coming back again to the question of quality: you have to be really really good. On top of that, you have to be nice, engaging, humble, and willing to make your fans one at a time. Play your set, then get out there in the audience and talk to people. Make them feel special, find out what they do, who they are. This is your audience, after all. How can you expect to succeed if you don’t know them? It’s like any product, before you begin a marketing strategy, you need to know who you’re selling to. If you think you can survive solely on the merit of your songs, you’re fooling yourself. That connection, that personal touch — that’s what’s going to do it. Being nice is the new hot commodity. I play this little place in Kemptville, Ontario called the Branch. It’s an awesome venue, and i always pick up new fans there, i love the staff, and it’s always mutually beneficial. One of the servers there told me about a popular Canadian band who played there on one occasion and were complete assholes, full self-importance and hubris. This made an impression — a really bad one. And relaying this story to me, now i don’t like them much anymore either. You want to think the people you admire are at the very least, nice. Used to be that the ‘stars’ were so unreachable that you’d never get to know them, never have access to their personal life, their peccadilloes, and so you would always hold them in awe, somehow. This is not the case anymore, and fallen heroes are everywhere. Even my brother has fallen a few notches in some peoples eyes due to public interpretation of his personal choices. Without background or justification, it’s just seen as an image-shattering disaster: “i thought he was a nice guy, now i’m not so sure i like him at all.” at that level, it might not matter so much, but down here in the indie trenches, it is everything. Be a jackass, be labeled as a jackass, and that is what will follow you around forever.
And what does this have to do with music? not a lot. Not unless you are making music that is good enough for people to care about it. Then, you have something to cultivate.
Until then, be kind to yourself, others, club employees, children and animals. And don’t waste your money on anything that promises you more clicks, more likes, more meetings, more consideration. if it’s really, really good, you’ll have it all.
Back to the woodshed.
