What would we do without Andrew Jones? The mastermind behind Checkered Owl, Andrew has been contributing to our blog for well over a year at this point. His day job involves being hands-on with promising new talent, and through his posts on this site he hopes to extend his reach to artists big and small around the globe. Enjoy.
Facebook is ever changing, and that means your strategies on Facebook need to be ever changing. In fact a blog I wrote only a few months ago encouraged using graph search heavily when inviting your fans & friends to events, but graph search seems to have been dropped by Facebook since then. Luckily this first tip fixes that issue, but it does require a slightly new approach.
TIP #1: Inviting Targeting Fans
First, I have to give credit where created is due, this tip was passed on to me by the very excellent Alberta band Boreal Sons (www.borealsons.com), so try it out and then with the time you save go check out one of their excellent music videos.
As I pointed out in the aforementioned article (One Great Way Artists Can (Not) Annoy Friends And Facebook Followers!), there are few things more annoying on Facebook than constantly getting invited to shows all over the world that I’m clearly not going to unless the artist is also buying flights. I’m sure the problem is more rampant among people who are friends with lots of artists, but either way you don’t want to clog up your friends notifications with shows in Amarillo when they live in Kelowna. However if you have 1400 friends it can be a pain to go through the list and try to remember where all of those people live; here is a sneaky way around that.
Step 1: Make “where you live” private Step 2: Change what city Facebook thinks you live in to wherever your big event is. Step 3: Now, when you go to “invite friends” one of the auto-select options will be the city Facebook thinks you live in. Select them all and you will be good to go!
TIP #2: Inviting More Likes
This one is less of a “hack” and more of a WAY under-used feature that can make a BIG difference to your stats, and it’s super simple! Facebook allows you to invite anyone who “likes” one of your posts to come “like” your page! This is great for converting people who are interacting with your content but haven’t yet “liked” your page; it also can make posts that you have payed to promote noticeably more effective!
Step 1: Find a post that enough people have “liked” that Facebook says “_________, ___________, and ___ others like this” Step 2: Click on that message Step 3: You will get a pop-up with all the profiles that have “liked” your post. Click invite on any of the names that have a clickable button
Thats it! Let me know what are some of your new favourite tips in the comments
Longtime contributor Andrew Jones has some wonderful insight on the world of fan voting contests and what, if any, help they can be to artists. If you enjoy Andrew’s work and you want to learn more about his life in the music business, please make it a point to spend time on Checkered Owl every single week for the rest of your life. Thanks!
I started this post awhile ago, before my site was attacked and subsequently taken through an overhaul. At the time we were just headed into “Searchlight” season, in which your Facebook feed fills with friends who need votes for their entry in popular the CBC contest. The contest is driven almost exclusively by fan voting, which means that the battle rages again. People who love it, people how hate it. People encouraging you to vote for their band, people who don’t want to participate in something that feels disingenuous, or “not about the music”.
The core argument against was well put by my friend Steve of the band Barefoot Caravan:
“Music isn’t a sport, it’s not supposed to be about competition, I believe more emphasis should be about collaboration… Let’s have a competition on which band contributes most to their respective music scenes and touches the lives of those around them…Everyone is best at making their own music“
I can understand this perspective. Collaboration is one of the cornerstones of great art. Do these contests drive us apart rather than bring us together?
On the other hand my friend Lauren Mann (who won last year’s Searchlight contest) had this to say to the “PRO” camp:
“Artists generally aren’t inclined to self-promote and ask their fans for much. But since we rely on people listening to and purchasing our music and coming to shows in order for us to continue doing what we do, we have to find ways to creatively engage people so that they want to be a part of all the things we have going on. Voting contests such as the CBC Searchlight competition can put a negative taste in some people’s mouth because of the constant appeals to their fans for votes, but I think that with the right perspective, it can be a great opportunity to strengthen your fanbase. The key is to find creative ways to engage your fans and get them excited about what you’re doing.”
At the end of this cycle and watching many other fan-vote driven contests cross through my bandwidth, I am left at a loss.
At these contests best I completely agree with Lauren, they can and should be a chance for bands to engage their fans and get them excited, and at one time it was…but now I wonder. Let’s strip it down here are some thoughts and advice for fans, sponsors and artists:
FANS: The reality is, I in principle I love fan voting. I love it as a fan of bands, if I can in someway help determine that fame and fortune goes to the “good guys”. I like that and you should too. I promise you, you have no idea how much these votes can matter to an artist you support, it’s worth your time, your 10 seconds can honestly be a game changer.
SPONSORS: The problem arises when you want too much from these contests (and end up getting less because of it). More and more sponsors demand that the contest goes on for too long, that fans have to vote every day, that you have to sign up for their mailing list…etc. The cart has again gone before the horse.
Let people get excited and share. I promise you, if you are supporting their favourite bands, people will know and appreciate it. I get it! You need obvious turnaround from your ad investment and prize money, but there are better ways than making artists send people to your website every day. I suggest checking out The Peak Performance project, there is a little voting, but it’s tasteful and only a portion of the project. and trust me EVERYONE in Western Canada who loves independent music LOVES The Peak, their name comes up plenty on it’s own organically the excitement of the contest itself.
ARTISTS: Ultimately, you are in the tricky position. You don’t want to cram your newsfeed and emails with content pleas, but you need the prizes. I get it. If the contest really fits you, go for it! If you can build new community of musicians go for it! But be careful, read all of the terms and conditions, make sure you understand the timelines and ONLY enter if you are really going to go for it, don’t waste your favours.
Hey there, everyone. We are thrilled to learn you chose to spend a few minutes of your day browsing our blog. The post you’re about to enjoy was written by our friend Andrew Jones, founder of The Checkered Owl, and it’s something both artists and writers alike can learn from.
This site exists to promote the future of the entertainment industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your entertainment-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found onTwitter and Facebook.
The music industry, like much of our society, can become obsessed with what is new: The new better way to sell music, the new way to connect with fans, the new DAW to record your new album. Many blogs are written, podcasts recorded and conferences held about the newest and most promising options; and this, in large part, is good. In fact you will notice if you look back at the Checkered Owl blog we write often about new tech and strategies. But if you pay attention to culture and society, you will notice a shift…
People are beginning to embrace old. Vinyl records, knitting, film cameras, pot lucks, gardening, simpler vacations, local foods, house concerts, they are all making a resurgence. But why?
I believe, in many ways people are wanting to return to something simpler. To personal connections, to a time with a moral compass, when people knew what was expected of them. We look back to our grandparents and great-grandparents and realize maybe with all our steps forward, we may have left somethings behind.
But what does this have to do with your music? Am I suggesting that you return to recording mono on a 4-track recorder? Probably not, however I think there are many lessons from the past young musicians could learn from, certain things no Facebook analytics can teach you.
Look back. Read about how musicians in the 50’s cut and sold records on the cheap before there was a large established industry. Learn about how labels like Motown and Chess built a community. Understand why U2 intentionally toured in too small of venues for many of their early US tours. Try to get your mind around the psychology of the KISS army. Study why Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins & Johnny Cash would all head out on tours together instead of going it alone. Find out WHY Van Halen’s rider famously asked for all the brown M&Ms to be removed.
Pay attention to new ideas and tech, you need to. But if you are really interested in building a great career, look at those who have already done it…you just might learn something.
This post was written by Andrew Jones, editor of Checkered Owl. It originally ran on his blog, but we loved it so much we felt it deserved to shared once more on ours. If you like his work and want to read more of his writing, or if you want to be super cool and offer him full time industry employment, reach out and connect with him on Twitter.
Hello, everyone! We hope your final week before Christmas is going well. The post your about to enjoy is actually a guest piece from our friend Andrew Jones, founder of Checkered Owl Media. He helps us out from time to time, and in turn we hope you’ll check out his work. He’s quite possibly our favorite Canadian.
This site exists to promote the future of the entertainment industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your entertainment-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
No matter how you slice it booking a tour, is a lot of hard work. It requires time and dedication. However, there are certainly things you can do to make it a little easier on yourself. Here are 6 tools I use on every tour I book:
1. Spreadsheet Adding a spreadsheet to my workflow has been one of the most helpful things I have ever done for increasing efficiency on booking a tour. Many computers have software built in, if yours doesn’t you can always grab “Open Office” for free. I personally use “Numbers” from the Apple iWork suite.
I have 10 columns in mine: Date, Weekday, City, Venue, Promoter, Style (club, coffee shop, church, theatre, etc.), Pay, Confirmed (yes or no), Notes, Media Contacted
It is such a huge help to have that all sitting on one sheet.
2. Google maps
This may sound obvious but Google Maps takes an ENORMOUS amount of hassle our of routing a tour. Put in your target markets, check the distances between them if it’s over 6 or so hours, zoom in look for markets in between your targets, re-arrange until you find a solid route, use that as your template. https://maps.google.com/
3. Indie On The Move
This has probably become my most indispensable tool for booking a tour (US only). It’s super simple to search any decently sized city in the US; when you do, you’ll see a bunch of venues, click into them, see their calendar, contact info and even ratings from other bands. You can even e-mail the talent buyer right from inside their site. I can’t recommend this site enough; check it out! http://www.indieonthemove.com/
4. The Indie Venue Bible
This has long been a favourite of mine and have built several circuits from it. It requires a little more effort than Indie on the move, but includes Canada, it also costs you a few dollars. However you get a GREAT pdf directory organized by state (or province) of a ton of venues, with a small guide to what genres they book. Click on the venue and you are taken either to their web page or contact info. Make the phone calls, and make it happen. http://www.indievenuebible.com/
5. Database
Once you have interested contacts, you don’t want to lose them. A database lets you keep all your contacts well organized for future contact. Some people use the spreadsheet for this, but I find a database to be much more robust. I personally use Bento, everything goes in there, from show evaluations, to promoters, to media contacts, I even print my contracts from Bento. I think it’s well worth adding to your arsenal.
6. Hustle
Ultimately it all comes down to this, if you want to book a tour, get ready for more phone calls and emails than you have made before, don’t give up. Hustle is what separates the pros from the garage bands. If you want this, work harder than everyone else.
This post was written by Andrew Jones, editor of Checkered Owl. It originally ran on his blog, but we loved it so much we felt it deserved to shared once more on ours. If you like his work and want to read more of his writing, or if you want to be super cool and offer him full time industry employment, reach out and connect with him on Twitter.
Hello. Thank you for finding time in your schedule to browse our site. You can go just about anywhere on the web without fear of government issued vehicles raiding your house, so we’re thankful you have chosen to spend your precious time here. The post you’re about to read is aimed at improving the social networking efforts of musicians on the rise, but in reality the tips provided can be applied to almost any individual or small business hoping to further their digital impact.
This site exists to promote the future of the entertainment industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your entertainment-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
If you work in the live music industry, you spend a lot of time inviting people to concerts. Hopefully you are inviting them with a variety of methods, Facebook events being one. Which is great as long as you do it properly.
I get invited to a TON of shows, that the glorious nature of being friends with so many bands and promoters, there is always something going on, there is always too much going on really. The byproduct is that you receive a lot of Facebook event invites, which is great, great FB events get you all the details and can be a perfect way to get show info HOWEVER there is one kind of invite that becomes REALLY tiresome:
Invites to shows that are nowhere near me.
Now, every once and a while someone may be genuinely confused, maybe they met me in Calgary and keep inviting me to Calgary shows, no biggie, I may reach out to let you know but we all get confused sometimes. The thing that will get under your fans skin is the generic shotgun blast invite everyone to everything. I am obviously not got to come to your shows in Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Boston, Portland, Vancouver and Calgary, so don’t invite me, this isn’t confusion it’s laziness.
It only makes your invites less effective.
When you keep seeing the same basic information over and over that doesn’t apply to you, pretty soon you brain stops really taking in that information. Our brains know that they can’t handle every little detail they see in a day, so it categorizes things in order of importance, when your event is continually irrelevant to your listeners, pretty soon…it goes into the wrong bin, it’s irrelevant.
But it’s hard work to invite everyone! It’s slow! I can’t possibly know where all 2700 of these people are from!
Yes, it is harder, but if it’s more effective. It is a bit slow, BUT Facebook has given you the tools to make it not so very painful AND to make sure you can find the right people AND it’s free! If you don’t know about Graph search yet, you are missing out. Here is how it works:
In the search bar you type: My friends who live in __________
Facebook will then display a list of all your friends who live in that city. Killer.
Now, open up a separate window.
You could use a tab, but having two windows side-by-side will make this go much faster. As you go down the list simply type the name of the person and invite. I takes time but it’s really not bad at all. And that’s just the beginning of how musicians can take advantage of graph search…but that’s for another post!
This post was written by Andrew Jones, editor of Checkered Owl. It originally ran on his blog, but we loved it so much we felt it deserved to shared once more on ours. If you like his work and want to read more of his writing, or if you want to be super cool and offer him full time industry employment, reach out and connect with him on Twitter.
We have become big fans of Andrew Jones’ work in recent months, and every week or so we like to share some of his unique industry insight on our blog in order to provide a different perspective on this crazy place we call the entertainment business. Today’s post is a little sillier than the others, but it still has a good message to share.
This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
“So, what do you exactly do all day?”
As an artist manager people ask me this all the time, and it’s always a little complicated to answer. There are a variety of answers to this question, and honestly every manager is different. Even one manager may handle slightly different tasks for different clients or handle something for one season but hire a third party for another.
However to me being a manager ultimately means doing whatever it takes to break your artist. Whatever.
To that effect here are a few of the things I have done as an artist manager:
1. Network 2. Encourage artists 3. Route tours 4. Try to get bands on large tours 5. Invite other bands onto tours 6. Help pick singles 7. Give notes on demos 8. Give notes on mixes 9. Help determine track order 10. Record video 11. Edit video 12. Design websites 13. Consult on social media strategy 14. Apply for grants 15. Deign posters 16. Design merch 17. Book dates (don’t do this if you live in California or New York…) 18. Find sponsors 19. Speak into band conflict 20. Talk to publishers 21. Take songs to music supervisors 22. Find publicists 23. Work with publicists 24. Track songs to radio 25. Stall for time 26. Negotiate into a record deal 27. Negotiate out of a record deal 28. Buy digital advertising 29. Chase down money from promoters 30. Design webpages 31. Find local bands to join bills 32. Work with promoters on advertising 33. Line up radio station visits 34. Line up newspaper interviews 35. Blog 36. Maintain email lists 37. Write email blasts 38. Pitch to agencies 39. Write bios 40. Create presskits 41. Create riders 42. Go to conferences 43. Submit music to podcasts 44. Stay on top of digital trends 45. Edit press releases 46. Write press releases 47. Solicit album reviews 48. Set-up photo sessions 49. Approve photos 50. Approve album artwork 51. Upload music to all platforms 52. Find sponsors 53. Track stats 54. Fill and update calendars 55. Set-up interviews 56. Promote local shows 57. Fill showcases 58. Take the blame 59. Text a lot 60. Increase Hype 61. Build a street team 62. Write letters 63. Work with charities 64. Create pre-order packages
…And most importantly….
65. WHATEVER IT TAKES
This post was written by Andrew Jones, editor of Checkered Owl. It originally ran on his blog, but we loved it so much we felt it deserved to shared once more on ours. If you like his work and want to read more of his writing, or if you want to be super cool and offer him full time industry employment, reach out and connect with him on Twitter.
Greetings, everyone! We are thrilled that you were able to find time in your busy schedule to browse our blog. We typically run podcasts on Thursday, but ‘Inside Music’ is taking a break this week. Instead of letting the day pass by without an update, we decided to share a guest piece from our dear friend Andrew Jones of Checkered Owl.
This blog exists to promote the future of the entertainment industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your entertainment-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
A lot of digital ink is spilled everyday on the “future of music”. Streaming vs. downloads, could Google+ ever matter, will EDM eat itself, can crowd funding last…etc. Quite frankly, I am a big fan of these discussions and I think there should be at least one person on every artist’s team who cares about, and participates in them. However, when we talk tech, engagement, and future; we often miss the one of the most critical pieces of the puzzle.
Making friends with other artists.
We all want to be in a community. Your fans want to be a part of a community. Real fans don’t just want to like a band’s music, they want to hang out with the band, to know their friends, their influences, what they are listening to. If you can invite them into some of that, by showing support for another artist, your fans will fall in deeper love with both. We all want to be a part of something larger; and feeling welcomed into a friendship between two rad bands fits that bill. It gives us a circle of belonging.
I can give a thousand examples, but here is one. When I was in Jr. High, I came across a band by the name of Five Iron Frenzy. It was my first exposure to Ska, and I immediately became a huge fan. As I dug up everything I could on the band I saw that they often toured with a new band called The W’s. So I grabbed their record as well, cool stuff, silly neo-swing that met me right where my little grade 8 head was at. Much to my delight, there was a hidden track (oh the forgotten joy of secret songs) called “Five Iron Frenzy”! Instantly I was a much greater fan of both bands. They were my favourites. Why? Because they liked each other and in some small way, I became a part of that relationship.
But why would I say this is the future of music? Isn’t wearing another band’s t-shirt a pretty old concept? Yes. But in an increasingly crowded noisy world, music fans get tired of self-promotional noise; however as soon as you say “You guys gotta check out ________, we played a show with them last night and they KILLED IT!” people’s ears will perk up.
Bands that support bands WILL shine out in this overly crowded market. People want to know what to listen to next, point them towards your friends, you’ll both be richer for it, and I guarantee it’ll stand out more than merely another post about yourself.
This post was written by Andrew Jones, editor of Checkered Owl. It originally ran on his blog, but we loved it so much we felt it deserved to shared once more on ours. If you like his work and want to read more of his writing, or if you want to be super cool and offer him full time industry employment, reach out and connect with him on Twitter.
Hello, everyone. Thank you for finding time in your busy life to spend a few minutes discussing music marketing with us. The post you’re about to read was written by Andrew Jones, founder of Checkered Owl. The contents highlight common mistakes found in many email marketing campaigns, as well as what you can do to improve your messaging. If you have any questions, please leave us a comment at the end of this post.
This blog exists to promote the future of the entertainment industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your entertainment-loving friends. If you would like more information on the content in this article, or if you know of an industry pro you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Everyone should know at this point that e-mail better be a part of your online marketing strategy. While social media sites can suddenly change their terms of service, re-evaluate their algorithms or lose they user base, e-mail is always there. Not to mention the fact that WAY more people actually BUY things from e-mail than any social media site.
There is a ton of great advice out there for e-mail lists so I don’t feel the need to write “TOP 8 E-MAIL TIPS MARKETERS DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW”. My main two pieces of advice are simple:
#1. Use Mailchimp to blast out your e-mails. They make your life so easy AND IT’S FREE until you have over 2000 subscribers!
#2. Speak genuinely. People want to connect with you not just get a flyer.
Which brings me to my third piece of advice. Something a little different than most of the articles I have read recommend.
#3. Don’t “personalize” the “to” field
On any decent e-mail service there is a section to “personalize” the e-mail with a tag, so you type in “Hey [FNAME]!” (or something similar) and the person opening it sees: “Hey Andrew!”.
Sounds great right? Here is the problem, EVERYONE KNOWS IT’S FAKE! It’s like those sweepstake letters you get in the mail, you know the ones; they have your name on them, they look like they were written in blue pen from the desk of the CEO, occasionally they will even use non-glossy paper or even pretend to cross out a word. But…they don’t make you want to enter.
Instead, at least for me, they turn me off, they are laughable.
If you want to be personal, be personal.
Write me a personal e-mail, I appreciate that. OR Fire me a nice looking HTML update that goes to 500 people and say “Hey Everyone!”.
I’m not offended that your band (or brand) doesn’t write me a personal letter every month, who has time for that? What does bother me is seeing something that says “Hey Andrew” and I think I have gotten a personal note only to discover it’s a mass blast. Just be honest.
Make the personal personal, make the e-mail blasts communal.
A communal blast has it’s advantages too! It (if executed well) can help begin to form a community, talk to everyone, together, as a unit. The KISS army approach works! Let people join your tribe!
And then when a key moment hits that’s worth a personal message, send that, personally. There are no shortcuts to relationships.
This post was written by Andrew Jones, editor of Checkered Owl. It originally ran on his blog, but we loved it so much we felt it deserved to shared once more on ours. If you like his work and want to read more of his writing, or if you want to be super cool and offer him full time industry employment, reach out and connect with him on Twitter.
We try our absolute hardest to bring as much quality content as possible. Over the last year we have upped our efforts from five posts a week to seven, and from there we have been upping our game whenever time allows. I think the most we’ve ever posted in seven days is 10 articles, and I’m not sure we would want to do many more than that. People can only take so much information in one sitting, you know?
Anyways, we wanted to try make eight weekly posts a staple of our content plan, so today we are sharing a special guest blog from our friend Andrew Jones on the topic of whether or not the industry can be saved. This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Nothing in this world can save the music business. Not a piece of software, not a fan initiative, no radio station or big idea. Nothing can actually save the music business.
Why?
Because it doesn’t need saving.
I grow weary of articles talking about this band or that website saving music. Music is fine, and for as long as people have souls, there will always be people who make their living making music to feed those souls. That has always been the case and it will be that way until the end of time. Humans need music, being a great musician takes time, time costs money, and people are willing to pay.
We can look back to even the most ancient of civilizations and find music as a profession. The Bible talks about a professional musician who lived in the FIRST city (Gen. 4). All over the world, where there was commerce, there were musicians under the employ of religious orders, priesthoods, Kings, queens and rulers. By the time of the Roman Empire, rich patrons would hire and support musicians and other artists. It’s hard to say when exactly “ticketed” artistic events began to take full swing, but certainly by the 1500′s it was part of the landscape. And then in the early 1900′s people began to record music onto wax.
And thus in the early 1900′s the recording industry was born; not the music business, the recording industry.
Remember, the music business is untraceabley old. Let’s be very conservative and call it 5000 years. The recording industry is about 100 years old.
The recording industry first looked like it might fall apart in the 1920′s with the advent of radio, but it didn’t. It grew. It grew and it grew and it grew. It grew until it was 100 years old and made lots of dudes in suits lots of money and a couple artists along the way too.
But then the recording industry got old and sick and lazy. Instead of finding creative ways to use the internet (Apple and others did that for them later) they blamed the internet and sued their fans. As a result, the recording industry is in trouble.
BUT how is the music business doing? Well, artists can (for the first time) receive direct support from thousands of micro-patrons, record and sell their music more affordably then ever, bands can interact directly with fans and organically boost live show attendance and audience retention, kids recording with webcams are being flown around the world to perform at festivals AND PEOPLE STILL LOVE AND SUPPORT MUSIC.
So, you can try to save the recording industry if you want; but don’t try to tell me you are saving the music business, it’s not going away anytime soon.
This post was written by Andrew Jones, editor of Checkered Owl. It originally ran on his blog, but we loved it so much we felt it deserved to shared once more on ours. If you like his work and want to read more of his writing, or if you want to be super cool and offer him full time industry employment, reach out and connect with him on Twitter.
Hello, everyone! Thank you for taking a few minutes from your hectic schedule to scroll through the latest content on our blog. Today’s feature just so happens to be the first interview of the month, and I think it sets the bar pretty high for everything that will follow.
This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
If you have been following the blog on a fairly regular basis over the last two months you have no doubt noticed a handful of guest columns contributed by a man known as Andrew Jones. We typically feature our guest writers through interviews ahead of their content’s debut, but Andrew’s schedule has been so hectic we ended up running his work before letting you know anything about the man who brought it all to life. Today, that long-awaited insight into the mind of the man behind Checkered Owl is ready to be shared.
Not long ago, Andrew Jones and I connected over the phone and spent thirty minutes discussion the music industry. Andrew told me about his childhood in Canada, his earliest memories of music, the years he spent making a name for himself in the states before heading back north, and beyond. We talked about his efforts to help independent artists gain the exposure they deserve, as well as the problems with the way labels and management groups approach working with talent today. You can read those thoughts, as well as comment on a number of additional topics, below.
The world needs more people like Andrew Jones. He is a brilliant and passionate music fan who puts the creative endeavors of the artists he supports before everything else. He’s setting the curve for how artist management will be handled in the future, and it’s an honor to share his journey up to this point with you today. If you would like to learn more about Andrew, please follow him on Twitter. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.
H: Before we begin, go ahead and introduce yourself.
A: Sure, my name is Andrew Jones and I run Checkered Owl Media. I do a mix of artist management, artist development, video production, and everything in between.
H: You wear a lot of hats.
A: I think that is the modern manager’s goal, to be able to handle whatever tasks are present. Sometimes you book a show and realize you need someone to do a poster design. It all ties together, so it’s all worth learning.
H: When you think about your earliest memories of music, what experiences come to mind?
A: I was always into music, but the first thing I clearly remember is being at a garage sale and finding a turntable. We took it home and my dad put on The Beatles’ White Album. I knew the band, but I had not experienced a lot of music in depth, and listening to that album just completely blew my mind. I fell in love with music in a big way, and it has been that way ever sense.
H: Do you remember your first concert?
A: My first concert was actually a local band. I don’t know how to pronounce their name, but it is spelled K-Y-R-I-E. They were a band that had members who just so happened to work with my dad and he took me to see their show.
H: When you say local, what are you referring to? Where are you from?
A: I’m from Alberta (Canada). Edmonton is the nearest place people may have heard of. I’ve been here most of my life, though I did spend a few years in Calgary and even worked in Nashville for a while. I’ve thought about going to the west coast, but haven’t gotten there yet.
H: We have not had many opportunities to speak to people from Canada about working in the music industry. Tell me, did you experience any kind of ‘lightbulb’ moment when you realized a life in music was the one for you?
A: I was in high school and I was playing in bands, but I eventually realized that I was not going to be the guy who grew up to play in bands professionally. I still wanted to be involved in music, so I decided to promote a show, and sense I was in high school and didn’t know any better I booked a national touring band called Thousand Foot Krutch. There were flights, a $5000 guarantee, and a huge venue to fill, but for whatever reason I don’t think their booking agent ever caught on to the fact I was 16. Luckily, things were really well. better than most first shows could hope to go, and from then on I was pretty much hooked on music.
H: I started in booking as well, but I only worked with local bands at first. Taking on all the responsibility associated with bigger productions must have been daunting, especially for someone your age.
A: I probably should have started with local bands (laughs), but I was 16 and did not know any better, so I went for it. I’m happy I did. There was a moment before the show when the sound and lights company explained they were double booked and had to pull out. I panicked, but it came together, and it was in that moment I learned that no matter what you have to do whatever has to be done in order to make sure shows happen.
H: Did you pursue any secondary education? Perhaps to study the music business?
A: I did go to college, but my degree is in Performing Arts.
H: That’s pretty close.
A: Mine was mostly in theater. You know, a mix of everything.
H: I’ve interviewed at least four publicists who have degrees in Performing Arts, so I think you’re in good company. Did you continue booking through college, or was it more off and on.
A: It was off and on for a while. I was eventually running a family theater program, and during that time I started booking heavily again. In college I had no money, so that had to wait until I could start working again. One of the bands that came up was fronted by Luke Dowler, who I now manage, and it was there that my journey in that area of the industry began.
H: What is the origin story behind Checkered Owl?
A: I’d been working from Nashville for about a year, and to be honest I was getting tired. I wanted to be more involved than my career as an agent would allow, so I decided to start my own Management group. I spoke with my wife about it, and together we came up with the name.
H: Is there a story or any kind of significance to the name Checkered Owl?
A: Not really. We liked that owls are up at night and the fact the industry is usually most active at night, but that’s about it. My wife thought of it, we both thought it was rad, and we decided then to run with it.
H: I think that was a good decision. Even in the last week there has been at least one occasion when the name crossed my mind and captured my imagination. It’s the kind of name that you want to know more about, even if you cannot explain why. Kudos for that.
A: I like that. Thanks.
H: The reason I wanted to talk to you about Checkered Owl is because I believe it’s built on an idea that many companies will begin to follow in the years to come. It’s not about doing one thing for artists, but doing as many things as you can under one roof.
A: That’s completely right. I think that as labels start to change in the years ahead that management groups are going to become hubs in the industry. Artists are pulling from a number of revenue streams these days, and as we move forward I want to create a place where we can handle a wide array of tasks for artists. If you have a management, publicist, and booking agent there is a lot of down time in those people’s various roles. What I want to do is create a place where all that is happening through one time. Working with artists to develop and grow their career.
H: There is a blog element to Checkered Owl that I also wanted to touch on. Could you tell us a bit about this part of your efforts and what you hope to accomplish through your content?
A: The goals are 1. To really help artists out and give them one more place to learn from a slightly different angle. Everyone has their own preferred writing style to learn from, and I just wanted to add my voice. 2. Is just to connect with artists and other in the industry. It’s a great way to network and meet other people in music.
H: What are your current career goals?
A: I would say my goal is to reach a place where I have all the tools needed to be able to help the artists I discover and want to work with.
H: That’s pretty selfless.
A: What can I say? I want to work with artists and help culture by giving it more of the art and creativity it needs.
H: What would you say is the biggest problem in the music industry today?
A: I think too often, and this is improving in recent times, but too often the business and creative side of the entertainment industry do not always jive as well as they should, and if they don’t the business side of things will take over. That is bad for art and bad for people, as well as bad for the industry over a long enough timeline.
H: Do you have anything in the immediate future should be checking out from you and Checkered Owl?
A: My artists all have releases in the coming months. I will also be releasing a music video from a country artists I am working. There will be more blogging too. I also offer artist consultations and lyric videos, so I’ll do those as well.
H: Thank you for talking to me today. It’s been great learning about your journey.
A: Thank you for the opportunity. I’m sure we will be in touch in the weeks ahead.
