another rant

as it has now been reposted and emailed around quite a bit, i figured i might as well post it here. this is a rant i wrote to bob lefsetz, a writer who has a music blog/email blast that a large portion of the music industry reads. he has been talking about how the music industry is going to fail because of no innovation coming from labels/bands, etc. this was my reply:


I gotta admit, reading your articles over the past few weeks, I've wanted to tear my hair out. Though you do have very many good points on some of the older, more established bands/record labels, you forget that in this economy one group of people is still spending money just as they did before: high school students. They don't really see how the economic problems affect them, they're still getting $20 a week from mommy and daddy for taking out the trash or running the dishwasher. And that money is going the same places it always has: music, movies, and clothes. Now, most of these students probably are downloading their music illegally, but they're still going to concerts, and they're still buying merch to get signed. And I have not heard one person complain about a $20 t-shirt, let alone another 5 for the band's bracelet, 10 for the shades, 2 for the pins, and a tip for the merch guy for the poster. And I think a large part of this is because younger bands work for every fan. The best example that comes to mind is a band I've been following for a few years, All Time Low (Hopeless Records). Valentines Day of their senior year of high school, they signed to Hopeless, having already done a few northeast tours (that their parents had to chaperone)....over summer break. The first time I saw them was a few months after, when they won the chance to open HFStival, the DC alt/indie rock stations big summer festival. After this show, they spent *over* their allotted hour signing autographs, asking fans to come to their CD release show in a few weeks, etc. When I went home and looked on their myspace, they had tour blogs, video journals, and other ways to get to know each and every one of them. There has not been one show in the almost 4 years I've been watching them that I have not seen them hanging outside the venue, signing autographs and taking pictures. And recently, those lines have been a few hours long. Alt Press Magazine just named them band of the year after several sold out headlining tours, and this spring they're going on tour with Fall Out Boy. They didn't get there by writing amazing, life altering music. They got there because their fans willed it to be. Currently, I'm doing PR for some older bands, and I wish every day that they would try as hard as the smaller bands did to gain and keep fans. If you want to be a successful band right now (and I judge successful as you can afford go on tour and not have a restaurant job when you get back), take a look at how some of the younger kids are doing it: interact with fans, sign autographs, take every opportunity you can to meet people and get your name out there (including taking every interview, talking to fans at shows, doing private concerts in fans basements...anything), set up (and visit) message boards, do shout-outs at shows for loyal fans. There are very few fans who care about the quality of the copy of the CD, audiophiles are one in a million in those under 20 or 25. And fans don't want Beatle-mania: if a band gets whisked from backstage to a car, they're going to be throwing eggs at you, not their bras. Forget the age of the untouchable rock star. If you want to make it today, be a part of your fanbase, be cool to them, and they will promote you for free.