Tag: band advice

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What to do when someone writes about your band

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Some claim the age of the music blog is nearing its end, but for the time being there is still a lot blogs and online news publications can do for artists of all sizes. 

It may be easier than ever to access music, but for artists trying to be discovered it is perhaps harder than ever to be noticed. Competition is at an all-time high, and the attention span of consumers seems to be bottoming out. Everyone is everywhere all the time, leaving everyone feeling a bit burnt out, but a few co-signs from the right influencers can still make all the difference.

That said, promotion from sites and people in positions of influence only help if you (the artist) knows what to do when such moments of recognition arise. When you get recognized, here’s what needs to happen next:

1. Celebrate, but don’t get too ahead of yourself

You have no idea how many artists in the world spend every day hoping someone notices their band. The number is likely in the thousands, if not tens of thousands, and right now you may be among them. This is why you should celebrate coverage you receive, especially early on. Being covered is more than most ever accomplish, and you should take pride in the recognition you receive.

That said, also recognize there is a lot of work to be done. Getting covered once is hard, but becoming a band whose every move is covered is another undertaking altogether. Don’t lose focus.

2. Tell everyone in the world about the news (and ask them to share it).

The unwritten rule of exposure on music outlets is that the up and coming artists featured will publicly share and/or promote the publication’s content once its live. Don’t just share link to stories with fans, but ask them to share it as well, and don’t be afraid to request they comment on the post if time allows. Sites that see a bump in traffic or discussions from coverage of your band are likely to cover your band again in the future because they believe there is a value to your content that other unsigned acts cannot provide. 

3. Engage the comments section, but don’t antagonize them.

A lot of sites no longer allow comments on individual stories, but replies to posts on their social networks is another story altogether. Find where the site’s audience is talking and engage with them. 

Do not, under any circumstances, engage with trolls. If people are posting about their dislike of your music your comment will most likely not change their mind. It could even be seen as confrontational or mean-spirited, which would only serve to drive attention away from the news you are trying to promote.

4. Say “thank you” and/or support the publication that wrote about you.

You would not believe the power the phrases “please” and “thank you” have in the music industry. Everyone in music is knows the path to success involves helping others and collaboration, but far too many people take the aide of others for granted. You could make a lasting impact on a writer or site by thanking them for coverage. In fact, the key to being covered again might exist in kindness. Support the site, blog, podcast, or whatever so they, in turn, can continue to support you.

5. Immediately tease your next announcement

You have the attention of your fans and people who may never click on a story about you again, so why not make the most of it? Promote your current news, as well as what lies on the horizon, throughout your channels. Don’t let the moment get away without people knowing what you are working on. Give them a reason to stick around. 

James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also the host of Inside Music, a podcast about the music industry, as well as the Managing Editor for Substream Magazine. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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Please stop leveraging celebrity deaths for your personal gain

We lost a lot of great people over the last twelve months. David Bowie, Prince, George Michael, and Carrie Fisher are just a few of the entertainers who died in 2016, and there are many around the world still mourning their passing.

Social media allows us to grieve as a global community. The first place anyone learned of any celebrity passing this year was most likely Facebook or Twitter, and if you commented at all about any one death you probably did so on those platforms as well. It’s good to share. It’s good to come together to celebrate life.

As a person or group with a little a following of any size you have probably felt compelled to say something in about a celebrity death. You may have even shared a photo or video featuring the departed’s best work. This is healthy and perfectly fine, but it is very easy to react in a way that may lead some to believe you are trying to personally benefit from the loss of another human.

To illustrate this point I found two recent examples of artists exchanging genuine sentiment with a shameless attempt at easy promotion.

First up, Smash Mouth. The pop-rock icons behind “All-Star” and “Walking On The Sun” have made a bad habit of sharing branded photos alongside tweets referencing celebrity death. Take a look at this:

The intent here is fine. Smash Mouth are likely fans of Star Wars, but they had nothing do with the film and certainly are not the people responsible for this photo of Carrie Fisher in her Princess Leia costume, so why slap that wavy logo on the image in this tweet? What does branding have to do with sharing genuine emotion?

This isn’t the first time Smash Mouth have attempted this, either. The band also posted and later deleted a similar tweet about the passing of George Michael:

The second example is one of many that can be found in any corner of the internet where custom merchandise is sold. Take a look at the latest shirt design from a band on Imminence Records, which is currently being promoted on Facebook:

The idea of taking something from pop culture and making it work for your brand is nothing new, but there is something particularly displeasing about seeing it done in the wake of someone’s death. No one from Ms. Fisher’s family will receive any money from this design, nor will the money go to one of the many causes Fisher fought for during her life.*

The goal here is to lure consumers into celebrating one person’s life by promoting another person/group altogether. It’s not illegal, but it is morally questionable and painfully transparent.

The moment you begin to consider the death of another person as an opportunity to promote yourself you have veered away from genuine empathy and strolled into marketing trickery as old as time. If you feel something, say something, but not every feeling you have needs to come with a reminder to buy and support whatever it is you do.

*UPDATE: After this story was posted a spokesperson for Imminence Records confirmed that proceeds from the sale of their Carrie Fisher shirt will be going to support mental health organizations.

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Get Your Ship(ping) together: 5 tips to improve your online store

For the better part of the last half decade I have been running a small record label out of my one bedroom apartment with the help of a few good friends. We haven’t made it big, and to be honest we never really thought we would, but we have had a few successful releases put out on cassette and vinyl. We recently got into CD production as well, but that’s a story for another time.

Whenever someone approaches us with questions regarding record labels and how to start them, we usually list off a series of lessons we learned during our initial releases. We talk about timelines, estimated costs, merchandise, contracts, and – perhaps most frequently – the need to properly understand how shipping works, including the cost of sending packages outside the United States. We like to think we have developed an easy and reliable workflow, but every so often we learn a new trick or path that causes us to regret all the hours wasted following the previous method. I don’t know that our specific setup will work for anyone reading this, but I do have a few basic tips to help improve your standard shipping operation. There are some costs associated, but as your label is a business you should know by now that improvements often require the investment of additional resources.

Buy in bulk. ULine is your friend

If you buy your shipping materials at Target, Staples, or even the post office you are spending way more than you should. Packs of six 4” x 6" bubble mailers can run $10 or more in stores, but if you buy in bulk from online retailers you can receive several hundred mailers for less than $100 total (shipping included). Everything you need to ship tapes, CDs, and vinyl can be purchased for a reasonable price in bulk from ULine. The company has a long history of customer satisfaction, and they have an incredibly quick turnaround. They also allow you to pay after receiving your order, so if you need mailers in order to generate the money needed to buy mailers they can help you with that as well.

Stocking up on mailers also prepares you for any situation. You may have slow sales from times to time, but you could also have a sudden boom in business when one of your artists hit it big. Buying in bulk allows you to cut down on order turnarounds while saving money. What’s not to love?

You can now buy stamps online

If there is one activity that makes me rethink launching a business it’s the many hours I have spent waiting in line at my local post office. I have to imagine other people feel the same, which is probably why the fantastic site ‘Stamps.com’ now exists. For the first time in the history of humans you no longer have to interact with another human when working to send out packages. You simply signup at home, input your shipping information, upload your credit card, and boom! You can now print postage labels from the comfort of your couch. You may use a lot more tape when handling shipping with this process, but I have solution for that as well…

Two words: DYMO Printer

All printers used to require ink, and anyone who has had to print a lot over their lifetime has learned by not that ink is not cheap. DYMO found a solution, and while I could get into the inner workings of their technology it’s suffice to say science can do really cool things. A DYMO printer does not use ink cartridges, but it does require a special kind of paper made specifically for postage labels. You buy a printer, which includes a free roll of labels, and then you only need to buy additional rolls of labels as need. Each roll can produce 200 shipping labels, and I believe you can order 3-packs of label rolls for under $40. Compare that to more than $60 for a single ink cartridge, not to mention the countless hours saved not having to visit the post office when shipping orders, and I think it’s clear why DYMO printers are worth the $200-ish investment they require.

Oh, did I mention DYMO labels are also self-adhesive? That alone will cut your tape-related shipping costs in half, if not more, moving forward.

Thank You notes are never overrated

There is something to be said for adding a personal touch to your shipments. While the consumer is excited to receive the package because it contains something they already paid for, you can further develop the connection they feel to your label with the inclusion of thank you notes and other extras. In the past we have added stickers, baseballs cards, candy, plastic spider rings, posters, and – most frequently – handwritten notes, to all our shipments. Sometimes we personalize the notes with each customer’s name, but other times we write thirty or forty notes in advance and stuff them in packages as needed. Whatever the case, the note is always written by a member of our staff and we always strive to make each note unique in some way. Maybe we add a phrase that is specific to that note, or maybe we draw the customer a picture. Anything that helps them better understand who we are and what we’re about works for us. The same will work for you, but you must figure out what items will best convey your personality to your consumers. Feel free to steal our ideas, of course, because they weren’t really ours in the first place. We were inspired by the labels we felt close to growing up, and it’s a tradition we hope to pass on to future generations.

Prep is everything

Whenever we know a large number of orders will need to be shipped in a small amount of time in we do our best to prepare by checking our mailer stock, writing thank you notes in advance, and generally doing anything in our power to streamline our workflow before the shipping process begins. That way, once we do need to act, everything is ready to go. Our goal is to make the window of time between when an order is placed and when it is shipped as small as possible. Some stuff is out of our control (record production, for example), but we do as much as we can with the power we do have and it makes a noticeable difference.

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How to record your band using only one microphone

The following post is the latest in our ongoing content collaboration series with the fine folks at SonicBids. Enjoy!

Like a luxury car loaded down with options, recording with a ton of gear has some downsides. There’s a lot that can go wrong, and it’s expensive. What about stripping things down, all the way down, and recording your band with a single mic?

The Cowboy Junkies did it back in 1987 for their album The Trinity Session, and the results were solid enough that the record earned a four-star review from Rolling Stone, in which Anthony DeCurtis praises the consistent ambience in which “the entire record seems like one continuously unfolding song.”

But getting a good recording from a single mic seems like a tall order, and goes against everything we’ve been taught. Close mic’d drums, isolation booths, and attempts to eradicate any sort of bleed have been part of the business for recording artists almost forever.

Is it realistic to get a great sound with players gathered around a single microphone, and would that mic need to cost as much as that luxury car in the first paragraph? Yes… and no.

1. Pick a mic

Technology often does us the favor of reducing the price of things we need. You can get this Blue Microphones Yeti USB mic for under $140, and it’s made for just this sort of project. Of course, if you have access to a really nice large-diaphragm condenser mic, try that, too – but it needs to be a stereo microphone, like the Yeti.

If a stereo mic isn’t available, you might have to fall back on two condenser mics in the XY pattern (crisscrossing one another to form an X). Test your mic options and see what sounds best. You’re looking for clarity, even for the instruments that are farther from the mic capsule, and an ability to absorb nearer sounds (like lead vocals) without distorting.

2. Pick a space

The Cowboy Junkies set up in a church. Using a large room is preferred for this sort of project, like a lecture hall or auditorium. If that’s not an option, use a living room, complete with furniture and a TV.

It doesn’t matter where you go, but the room needs to sound good and be devoid of large outside noises like creaking radiators or someone mowing the lawn right outside the window. Avoid rooms with a lot of glass, and keep your single mic far away from any large windows.

3. Get everybody to play quietly

It’s absolutely critical that everyone in your band finds his or her quiet voice, a process that can be harder than it sounds. After all, the instruments need to be quiet enough that the players can hear your lead vocalist, and there needs to be a little headroom so you can all get a little louder on certain passages.

Drummers may want to switch to brushes. Guitarists may go acoustic. Bassists may turn to the upright. Practice something you’ve probably never practiced before: playing below conversational volume.

4. Create balance in the room

Once you’ve found the sweet spot in the room, arrange your instruments and players so that the loudest instruments are farther away. You lead singer needs to be closest to the microphone, close enough to hear vocal details, but not so close that sound from the instruments is blocked. Do test recordings and adjust the placement of your instruments until a good balance is achieved.

This is also the time to check for tripping hazards, tuck cords away, and remove extraneous sound sources from the area – vibrating phones in pockets, jingling wallet chains, or crunchy leather jackets. This will be a live recording, so breath sounds and creaky floors will be part of it. Don’t add any more sonic artifacts than you have to.

5. Record without telling your band

A live recording has to be as pressure-free and fun as possible to get everyone playing well at the same time. It goes without saying that you have to be well rehearsed, but you also need to be having a good time. Once your sound is good and your instruments are balanced, it’s time to discreetly press record and do some “practice” takes that could be the real deal. Work through all of your songs before anyone knows you’re recording. Chances are, some of these will be final takes.

Continue working until you have three takes of each song. More than that and people start to get bored with the material. Now you can sleep on it, leaving everything in position, and come back tomorrow for the enjoyable process of picking the best take. If you go zero-for-three on one of your songs, you can always track it a couple more times.

6. Resist the temptation to overdub

Remember that consistent mood that made the whole album feel like one song? You’ve just created that vibe for your recording… and you’ll ruin it by cutting and pasting stuff, adding overdubs, or editing the track for length (such as adding a fade-out). The beauty of live recordings is their immediacy and honesty. Glory in that, and make a record that will whisper in your fans’ ears.

Jesse Sterling Harrison is an author, recording artist, and part-time farmer. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, three daughters, and a herd of ducks.

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How to make the most out of a single song

In 2016, it can be very easy for artists to fall into a mindset where they believe the fastest way to gain attention is to shovel out as many songs as possible as often as their budget and schedule will allow. While this approach to releasing music certainly works for some, it’s far smarter from both a financial and promotional standpoint to only release your absolutely best material and milk it for all its worth. A song premiere and video release should be considered the bare minimum in terms of promotion, but most never know what else to do with their music. This post, written in collaboration with the band The New Electric, will hopefully help you and other creative minds rethink the way you promote your music career.

Our story is one of a group of hard working guys who managed to push two singles into billboard charting positions independently.

Now the first ingredient was the music! The product, the everything. How do we write, record/make great music? The answer is, we work with great songwriters and great producers. “Well, are we not great songwriters and producers ourselves?” We might be, but everyone needs a co-writer and a producer, even writers and producers themselves.

Once we had music that we thought was great we decided to hire a radio tracking team to push our single for us. It was a pretty penny but ended up being well worth it in the end. The trackers sent us on a radio tour where we traveled across all of Canada going to every station meeting every program director and music director and DJ and at 3 or 4 stations a day.

Knowing we were going on a radio tour, we devised a strategy to make a chart with every stations socials, info and notes about who we talked to and what we talked about. We also planned to look like stars walking in, full wardrobe and hair no matter how early or how tired or worn out we were. We also did vocal warm ups before every radio performance stop. We did our best to charm and make relationships with these radio people in the short time we had with them. As we did this across the country our radio team pushed. We were featured, then some ads but nothing huge.

We started reaching out to fans of other bands on Twitter and started talking and building relationships with them. We eventually had a solid group of fans that we talked to daily so we started holding Twitter requesting contests. The stations were getting bombarded with requests for our song and then with a little luck and a lot of push from our team we won two radio competitions in the same month, Next Big Thing and Future Star. These put our song on the map and it started charting in the top 50! It climbed all the way to #16 over a 6 month period. We made a music video for the single that got picked up by Much Music we also toured give the single as much “Life” as possible.

To sum it up, we did a lot of work! We engaged fully on social media and found unique ways to interact. We looked and sounded our best at all times and always greeted everyone with a smile and a warm heart. I would say that It’s all about relationships and being someone that people want to work with. I can’t say if this will work for anyone else or why it did for us! We’re just doing our thang. Thanks for reading!

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6 Proven Strategies to Resolve Creative Differences in Your Band

The following post is the latest in our ongoing content collaboration series with the fine folks at Sonicbids. Enjoy!

“Citing artistic differences, the band broke up in May,” sings songwriter/pianist Ben Folds. Then he recounts how the band reformed without him and changed their name. This event is far from extraordinary in the world of music and illustrates how far creative people will go just to avoid having confrontations with their bandmates. Bands are like families, but the love and comradeship between you and your musical friends can suddenly become a burden when things aren’t going well.

How do you proceed when you’ve got people with different ideas, and no middle ground presents itself? You don’t want to damage friendships or bruise people’s feelings. But there are ways to keep your artistic integrity and protect those critical relationships. By borrowing techniques from business managers, sports coaches, and psychologists, you can steer through artistic difficulties and come out stronger on the other side. Here are a few proven techniques.

1. Talk in an informal setting

The Boston Red Sox are not a band, but any band would love to parallel their success. Manager Terry Francona, now with the Cleveland Indians, won two World Series titles with the Sox, in large part because he managed the egos and big personalities in his dugout without contributing any additional drama. Francona famously eschewed calling formal team meetings to sort things out, believing that such measures put people on edge and made them defensive, shutting down meaningful dialogue. Instead, team members with grudges or problems would drop into Francona’s office and talk things out informally, one on one, often over a board game or a cup of tea.

Band problems deserve a similar airing. Band meetings should be reserved for figuring out who’s working what gig for the band or deciding on cover art for a new CD. It’s often more productive to sit down in a diner or talk in the car on a drive than to bring everyone together for a formal band meeting. After all, it’s most likely two individuals who are at the heart of the matter. Wouldn’t it be great if those two could be on the same page before bringing it up with the whole group?

2. Be willing to let problem songs go

Creative types are all familiar with the problem piece. It could be a book, a song, a poem, or a sculpture, but the common element is that this one just isn’t coming together. Sometimes it’s just time to set the work down and move on to another project. Writers call this piece a “trunk novel,” something that stopped being fun or just stopped progressing and got locked away in a trunk to be finished later… or never.

When two musicians can’t see a song in the same way, it’s a good time to play the trunk card. It’s not worth having a falling out over four minutes of music in a two-hour set, is it?

3. Pay close attention during the audition process

In business, you’ll often hear about the 80/20 rule. It comes up in all different contexts: 80 percent of your business comes from 20 percent of your clients. 80 percent of work is completed by 20 percent of your employees. And of course, 80 percent of problems are caused by 20 percent of the people in your organization. In any population, drama, backbiting, and resentment seem to emanate from the same handful of people, whether it be a middle school classroom, police barracks, or nuclear submarine. For this reason, it’s incredibly important to be really careful who gets into your band in the first place.

You can use a handful of interactions to extrapolate what someone’s actually like on a daily basis. For example, if someone’s late to the audition and the first two rehearsals, expect to be waiting around for that person on a consistent basis, even if (or especially if) he swears that he’s “not usually like this.” It’s amazing how often the always-late bandmate is also the one who starts arguments about songs and always asks people to buy him lunch. What if that guy just wasn’t in your band?

4. Recognize a “break”

You might be an amazing punk-rock drummer. You’re comfortable with metal and hard rock, too. Maybe you can even play a 6/8 blues. But what if somebody suddenly called a swing tune, or wanted a rockabilly beat? Everybody has something they don’t know how to play, or at least don’t know how yet. This often happens when a songwriter tries something new, when a band plays a radically different feel, or when somebody creates a part in a strange time signature. At these times, musicians often “break” and can’t seem to play the part with the appropriate feel, speed, or technique.

This might be a good time to see item number two on this list and let that song float away… or at least table it long enough for people to practice a little. It’s also good to understand that sometimes people just don’t have the feel to play certain material, and that’s totally okay.Nobody asks Ozzy Osborne to sing “Good Morning, Heartache.” Don’t show up your bandmates by giving them a hard time about it.

5. Find the win-win situation

Everybody says they’re willing to compromise. But are they? How many people view a compromise as giving up what they want? The fact that others also lost doesn’t make this pill any easier to swallow. When you’re an artist with a creative vision, something almost like the vision in your head may not feel good enough. The bandmate who’s standing in your way most likely feels the same.

But in music, anything is possible. Is there a way to let both people win, or to find another option that’s even better than what you both have in mind? After all, you must have moments when one musician expands on and advances the ideas of another, making the music better. Use that collective genius to try new things until everybody feels like they got the win. That magic solution is out there in the universe somewhere. Try to capture it.

6. Try not playing the role you’ve settled into

Psychologists note that family groups and other conglomerations of people tend to fall into established roles. In your band, maybe your bass player always complains about long road trips. Your guitarist always wants to stay at the club for one more drink, but the keyboard player works an early day job and always wants to take off immediately after the show. We all get locked into these roles. If there’s strife and drama in your band, try to identify your role, and stop playing it.

If you’re the one who always tries to mediate between people who argue, try stepping back and just letting them hash it out. If people unconsciously try to push you back into your usual box, that’s a good sign that the role you’re playing could be burdensome and unhelpful, meaning that you’re onto something!

In the end, nearly all of us got into music because it was fun. Let’s not allow creative differences to get in the way.

Jesse Sterling Harrison is an author, recording artist, and part-time farmer. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, three daughters, and a herd of ducks.

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What to do after someone writes about your band

Gaining the attention of blogs and their readers is no easy feat, especially for unsigned talent with little-to-no history. You can write the best songs and have the nicest videos, but if you do not know how to network and pitch yourselves no one will ever learn about your talent. Once they do however, there will only be a small window of time for you to capitalize on having won a moment of their attention, and this afternoon we’re going to learn what you should do in the hours after first receiving media attention.

1. Take time to celebrate, but realize there is still a lot left to accomplish.

I was never in a band that became popular enough to appear on sites like Absolutepunk or the like, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t spend many nights wishing one of the influential tastemakers of the scene mentioned my efforts in their publication. If your music/video/album gets mentioned, celebrate! You’ve taken yet another step towards your goal of a career in music, and while it’s certainly not enough to pay the bills it does serve as a strong reminder other people in the world care about your art. Don’t take that for granted.

2. Tell everyone in the world about the news (and ask them to share it).

This one probably goes without saying, but the unwritten rule of exposure on music outlets is that the band featured will publicly share and/or promote the publication’s content once its live. Don’t just share link to stories with fans, but ask them to share it as well, and don’t be afraid to request they comment on the post if time allows. Sites that see a bump in traffic or discussions from coverage of your band are likely to cover your band again in the future because they believe there is a value to your content that other unsigned acts cannot provide. In order to show them that value you will need the help of your fans, and its up to you to sell them on sharing your work.

3. Engage the comments section, but don’t antagonize them.

If the reason you’re reading this post is because the first article about your music just went live, you need to understand the response in the comments section may be very slow at first. As much as sites love to help expose young talent, people are not always quick to comment (especially in a positive sense) about something they are unfamiliar with. A great way to combat this is to actively participate in discussions taking place in the comments section of articles about your band. Answer questions for people, offer insight into your creative process, and generally speaking do whatever you can to be a decent human being that is open to criticism. It’s not that difficult, but it can make a world of difference in how quickly people become engaged with your art.

4. Say “thank you” and/or support the publication that wrote about you.

You would not believe the power the phrases “please” and “thank you” have in the music industry. From labels, to bands, publicists, and everyone in between you would be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks they hear either of those phrases too often. People tend to do as they please and take what they want without giving much though to the process behind it all, but you can stand out from the countless unsigned artists of the world by voicing your appreciation to the sites that give you space on their front page. It does not have to be anything formal, but it should be sincere. People remember those who are kind to them, and they’re far more likely to want to work with you again in the future as a result.

5. Don’t be afraid to begin teasing your next announcement.

Once people learn about your art it’s very likely they will want to know everything they can about your current efforts. Using social media and the comments sections on posts about your work, take a moment to tell people about everything else you have going on while your name is still fresh on their minds. They might not buy the album or see the tour you’re trying to promote, but at least they’ll know of it and will have the ability to share that information with others if such opportunities present themselves.

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Don’t rely on social media to tell your story

While Googling “jobs at Poler” back in 2014, I came across a quote from Drew Dayberry who does Creative / Product and Brand Development for the company:

"My goal overall is simple, keep the Internet and the digital world a wild place. A place where brands can co exist with everyday people without buying their way into their lives. There is still a lot of it to discover and tons of never been dones so there is no reason we should all hide in those social networks.”

The site doesn’t exist anymore (here’s a cached version), but that quote has stuck with me over the years. As bands, brands, and people, we are filling up social networks with lots of our “stuff.” Photos, memories, travel stories, births, wedding, new songs, your latest video – and for anyone not on a particualr social network, well, they’re hidden.

So here we are in 2016, and there is certainly still a lot to discover. There are “tons of never been dones,“ and not just with whatever hot new social media network of the day happens to be.

Today bands and labels are expected to sit on social networks and clack away with specials and semi-persnonal interactions with their legions of fans. Peopel who work in the field are expected to be experts within a year, and grow, and engage in brand new ways. Email lists bustle with tour dates and links to iTunes and Bandcamp. Epermeral videos on Snapchat and / or periscope, interactions that disappear like sparks in the night.

But where is the nightly podcast from a band in the studio, or stories from the road? Reatlity TV shows thrive because they’re cheap and they’ve got interesting stories. Your band, your label, you art – you’ve got so many stories bubbling inside you. You don’t need to scatter your stories to the social media winds and hope they find root somewhere – you have an amazing audience already in front of you hanging onto your every word. By using the world wide web your stories can remain for fans who discover three years from now, and who even knows if we’ll still be using Twitter three years from now?

Seth Werkheiser is the quiz master of metal trivia at Skulltoaster. He’s also the founder of some music sites you may have heard of, including Noise Creep (2009) + Buzzgrinder (2001). He’s anti-Facebook, anti-clickbait, and anti-growth hacking. You should most definitely follow him on Twitter. Yes, right now.

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How to Make the Most of a Crappy Turnout at Your Gig

This post is the latest in our ongoing content collaboration series with the fine folks at Sonicbids.

It’s probably one of your biggest fears as a musician. You’re pumped for your upcoming gig, you’re ready to hear some noise, but when you make it onto the stage, your heart drops as you see the audience is practically empty. For any number of reasons (weird weekday, bad weather), you have a crappy turnout. Your first instinct may be to jump off the stage and run out of the venue, hoping in vain that no one even notices you were there, but pause for a second, and ignore this urge.

It’s too late to get more people to the show, but as long as you do have an audience, you need to play for them. At worst, it’s still a practice opportunity, and at best, you might make a few more diehard fans who greatly appreciate the effort you put in despite the circumstances. Just because there’s a bad turnout doesn’t mean it has to be a bad show, so here are some tips for making the most of a crappy turnout.

Use it as an opportunity to have more personal interactions with the audience

One of the few upsides to a small turnout is that you can see the individuals in your audience better and personalize the show more than you typically could. Make the show intimate. Treat the few people that are there like they’re a group of your friends, and make them feel special for coming out. If you see a funny shirt, comment on it. Ask someone else what the best bar in town is. Ask if anyone who knows your music has any song requests. The specifics don’t matter – it’s much more about letting your audience know their presence is noticed and valuable. This is a great way to create fans who want to see you again (and maybe bring a few friends next time!).

Take advantage of the low-risk atmosphere to try out something new

Another pro to playing for a small crowd is that if anything you do isn’t received well or just falls flat, you haven’t screwed up in front of hundreds of people, and you can calibrate your act for future, larger shows. It’s actually the perfect space for getting honest feedback without alienating too many people. Now, the content of this “new thing” is entirely up to you. It can be a brand new song you just finished up and haven’t gotten any feedback on yet. It can be a personal story you’ve thought about incorporating in your show. Whatever you do, be honest with the audience members that this is the first time you’ve done it. They’ll feel extra special that they’re the ones getting the sneak peek, which will make them compassionate even if it doesn’t pan out.

Give it 110 percent

It might seem counterintuitive, and you may not be in the right mood given the state of the crowd, but you should actually try and go above and beyond when you’re playing for small turnouts. They deserve your best effort anyway, but even more importantly, everyone in that audience is perceptive enough to know you must be bummed due to the turnout, so if they get a truly kickass show anyway, your attitude and performance will blow their expectations out of the water. Rise above the circumstances and show the crowd – all nine people that may be in it – that absolutely nothing gets you down, and you put your heart and soul into your music no matter who’s watching. This is how you leave a lasting impression. People love talking about a great experience that they and only a few others were a part of, so you may be surprised how the word spreads.

Stick around until every single person has left

This goes beyond just working the merch table after the show is over (though you should definitely still be doing that). This is the point of the night where you can solidify a lasting connection with the concertgoers. If you’ve successfully implemented all the tips above, then you should be catching your listeners in very high spirits, which you can capitalize on. Ask people how they’re doing, what they liked about the show, and what they didn’t like. Exchange as much contact information as you can, and let them know how they can interact with you in the future. If you’re financially comfortable enough to part with a shirt or EP for free, use that to “seal the deal,” as giving away free merch is a sign of gratitude that will continuously remind them of you. Ultimately, show how grateful you are that they gave you your time, and convey that this is the kind of musician you are all the time.

Playing to only a few people is not on many musicians’ bucket lists once they’ve gotten used to bigger crowds. This is still no excuse to not give it your all. If you’re ever in this situation, take a deep breath and use everything in your arsenal to make it a great night. You’ll be amazed by how meaningful that small show might become.

Katarina Underwood is an editorial intern for Sonicbids.

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Location, Location, Location: Why You Should Choose Your Home Carefully

The following post is the latest in an ongoing collaboration with the fine people and artists of Muddy Paw PR.

I grew up in Los Angeles and don’t remember a time without music being in my life. When I was in school we’d spend all our weekends at the Whiskey, Troubadour, Largo, and all the other tiny theaters around. It’s funny that when you grow up somewhere you don’t really see it the same way everywhere else does. So many people move to LA to pursue their dream of music and there I was taking it all for granted.

The thing is, the music industry is not what it once was. The internet giveth and taketh away–and the scene is much more fractured now. Despite LA being a hotbed of music and culture, it may not actually be the best place for what you want to do. Write country? Go to Nashville.  Hip hop?  Tons of thriving scenes there right now–Houston, for example. EDM? Detroit sounds pretty good. Not to mention once you’re making money from your music California is not the most business friendly place in the world.

From a songwriting perspective, where you live and where you are can play a huge role in how you write. I consciously try to avoid it nowadays but I’ll put a ton of LA in my songs because there’s a ton of LA in my head. And by going to other places you can also reset your creative process a little bit and get inspiration for new songs.

Everyone has a different creative process but for me, getting out of the chaos and sprawl that is Los Angeles has really helped me focus on my music and other projects. Yes, I’m that guy. The guy you meet at the bar who says “I’m from California” and everyone rolls their eyes. But at the end of the day, where I live in Texas there’s a thriving music scene–studios, mastering houses, etc. And the best part? I was talking to the host of a small showcase the other day and he started negotiating with me for what they’d pay for a 15-minute set. He was worried their budget was too low. I tried not to laugh. In LA you’d be lucky to get a Pepsi.

Charlie Wolf & The Small Calamities are an indie rock band led by Texas-based singer/ songwriter Charlie Wolf. His unique observational storytelling style was inspired by folk music, though he allowed rock and pop to define his energy and upbeat spirit. By turning everyday thoughts into compelling lyric ideas, he creates what has been called ‘a wry and catchy commentary’ and ‘observational folk pop’. This blend of genres makes for a very special approach to song-writing, as every track feels catchy and accessible, yet deep and thought- provoking all at once. For Fans Of: The Mountain Goats, The Weakerthans

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