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The Art of the Music Conference
By Amanda Garrigues,
music conference junkie. |
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I just got back from the 1st Annual Rockrgrl Music Conference
(RMC) in Seattle, WA. I've been to many conferences, and it was
by far one of the best ones I've attended in my career. At most
of the conferences I've attended, the men outnumber the women 4
to 1, so it was refreshing to see so many women gathered in one
place. In addition, most of the musicians attending were independent
artists. The highlight for me was meeting, in person, other independent
artists I had either heard about or corresponded with on-line. It
felt like I was at camp, and I was on a high for several days following
the conference.
Some musicians think music conferences in general are a waste of
time. I've heard more than one musician say that the only way to
get in is to know someone, and if you do get invited to showcase,
no one comes to your show. I've been to five music conferences in
my career and have found them to be a great way to become more visible,
break into a market, make excellent contacts and, at the very least,
get a gig that I may not have normally gotten.
HOW DO YOU START?
First, you need to pick your conference. There are many from which
to choose, and they pretty much run the gamut on what they provide.
Carolyn Ballen, of Indiemusic.com
says, "some conferences offer you a large concentration of record
labels and other music industry professionals, while others offer
stronger regional and community support. Many offer showcasing opportunities
and still others, like The Indie Music Forum are strictly educational."
Other things to consider when you are deciding what conference to
attend:
Application deadline: Be sure you know this for each conference
you are interested in attending! It's usually 3-4 months before
the conference takes place. Often the conference will extend the
deadline, but it's best to get it in on time.
Size of conference: Some conferences are very large and geared
toward more established artists - artists that might have a major
or independent label behind him or her. In my opinion, SXSW is one
of these conferences. Location: Where do you want to go and how
much are you willing to spend to get there? Some people will apply
and attend a conference only if it is a stop on their tour. Others
will create a tour based on the location of the conference. Still
others will only play a conference if it is close to home. With
the exception of RMC, I usually try to stick to conferences close
to home. I have been to two conferences in Atlanta, which is only
five hours from my town. Finally, some will fly across the country
if they think it is a good opportunity. The RMC was held in Seattle,
WA. It was well worth the $200+ plane ticket and overall hassle
of lugging my guitar and my CDs all the way across the country!
Reputation of the conference: Ask other artists what conferences
they have been to and what they thought of them. For example, early
on in my career I thought I would apply for SXSW. I had a demo CD
that sounded good, and I was confident I could win over ANY listening
panel with my songs. I remember asking a friend, who at the time
was in a very successful band with a 1,000 person fan list, major
label interest, etc. He said his band had tried five times to get
to SXSW and never gotten accepted. In fact, on the bottom of the
application for SXSW it says, "please remember that we have to turn
down the majority of applications to perform at SXSW". I am not
saying you will never get in, but I stick to the conferences where
I have a better shot at showcasing.
PREPARING FOR THE CONFERENCE:
So you've been accepted into the conference - now the real work
begins!
Identify your goals: What you want to get out of the conference?
Make contacts for future gigs? Are you looking for management? A
publishing deal? A record deal? "Each goal carries with it a
different set of preparation tactics. Decide what your goals are
and do advance planning accordingly. You should be able to get an
advance list of panelists to find out who will be at the show",
(Carolyn Ballen, Indiemusicforum.com).
Most conferences have a Web site that will list the performers,
panel topics and panelists.
Promote yourself: Make press kits and business cards. In
addition, make sure you have plenty of CDs. I didn't want to haul
my CDs across the airport for RMC, so I mailed all my materials
and CDs ahead of time. I arrived in Seattle a day before the conference
and I put everything together then. I mailed all leftover CD and
press kit materials back to Florida before I left.
Promote your show: Make posters or postcards advertising
your show. I usually send a poster to the venue and make post cards
to hand out once I am there. You might also send postcards or emails
to anyone on the list of panels or performers who you want to attend
your show. In addition, the conference usually provides opportunities
to put flyers or postcards in the goody bag although this can be
very expensive. If you can't afford to do that, there is usually
a table where bands can put their promotional material. At the RMC
there was a huge table that had tons of colorful posters and postcards.
I saw one poster on the door of the women's bathroom - good thinking!!
DURING THE CONFERENCE:
Go to the panels. Most of them run simultaneously, so you have
to choose carefully. You won't be able to go to them all, but sometimes
I slip out of one panel early to catch the tail end of another.
You can also swap notes or stories with other musicians who attend
alternate panels.
Have your press kits, CDs, business cards and promotional flyers
ready to pass out. You never know when you might be handed a golden
opportunity. During the RMC the singer of a band from Atlanta, GA,
had the opportunity to talk to Courtney Love (she made a surprise
appearance). During the course of their conversation, Courtney asked
her for a CD. The singer didn't have any with her and missed a great
opportunity. Keep in mind that some industry people don't want to
be burdened with CDs and press kits to carry around. Another option
is to get their card and then mail them a press kit.
Meet other performers and attend shows. My goal for attending conferences
is often to make gig contacts. I might attend a show of someone
who is in my same genre to meet him or her and talk about performing
together.
The most important thing a performer can do is network. Derek Sivers,
of CDBABY, says conferences are "… about meeting everyone. Remembering
everyone's name. Developing relationships. Following up and constantly
keeping in touch. Treating everyone special."
When I attended the Atlantis Music Conference I showcased at a small
café early in the evening. I didn't think anyone would attend the
show. Well, people DID show up. One of those was the editor and
contributing writer for a magazine that is distributed throughout
the Southeast. Six months after I played that conference, I found
myself on the cover of the magazine! When I attended the RMC, I
was a little disappointed that I did not have a longer amount of
time to play my songs. In fact, I was performing "in the round"
with two other musicians, and we only had 45 minutes for our entire
set! Well, it turned out to be one of my best performances. There
was a table of women singer-songwriters, all well connected in New
York and Boston. After my set, we exchanged business cards and traded
CDs, and I am going to be playing a show with two of them in February!
Success!
AFTER THE CONFERENCE:
This is probably one of the most important parts of a music conference.
Most people forget or don't take the time to follow-up.
I think Carolyn Ballen of Indiemusicforum.com sums it up best:
Enter all your contact names into your database. Also, don't forget,
there's usually a registrant list in the directory which can also
provide you with valuable contact information.
- Send follow up E-mail to all the people you met.
- Send CDs to the folks you said you'd send your CDs to.
- Go through your goody bag if you didn't do it at the show. File
the things that look interesting and get rid of the things that
you'll never need again. Try to eliminate clutter as much as possible.
- Consider sending a thank-you note to the panelists that you particularly
enjoyed. It's a great way to stand out among all the people they've
met.
Conferences are what you make them. I've never had a "bad" conference
and I've almost always gotten to another level by attending them.
Remember that conferences are usually NOT about getting record deals
or becoming an overnight star. The deals that do happen at conferences
have been in the works for months beforehand. Set reasonable goals
and make the most out of them. Keep applying!
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Other
articles by Amanda Garrigues include:
Distribution for Indies: How
to sell CD's without a Major Label
Mastering: What Is It Good For?
The Path of the Song: Deconstructing
the Songwriting Process
EQ That Guitar!
Choose Your Acoustic Wisely
In the Booth: Getting a Good
Vocal
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_________________________________
Amanda Garrigues is a singer and songwriter based in Gainesville,
Florida. She runs her own label, Average Sinner Records. For more
info check out Amanda's official Web site:
http://www.amandagarrigues.com
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_________________________________
Amanda Garrigues recently released a 9-song cd titled "Groundswell".
It can be purchased at:
http://www.cdbaby.com/view/garrigues2
or directly through her Web site. |
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