Chicago is a thriving music mecca filled with brilliant minds looking to connect and develop the future of the industry. Until recently, the city lacked a group willing to take responsibility for bringing the many niche communities of the greater Chicago area together, but then Beyond The Music came along and things began to change at a lightning pace.
Beyond The Music is all about connecting people to Makers, those who make the music industry happen besides the musicians themselves. Whether you are a photographer, journalist or graphic designer, we know you have a story.
Creating opportunities in the music industry is our number one goal. We hold events to provide people with the ability to learn from and build professional relationships with Makers. This also allows Makers to create their own opportunities amongst each other and grow their network.
On May 19, Beyond The Music will be launching a brand new ‘Industry Workshop’ series at Treehouse Record Studio. The day-long event will feature a series of panels, fireside chats, and presentations from Makers that have paved their way in the industry. Brad LaPlante, Britt Julious, Alex “Fucking” Smith, Emilee Keiffer, and Haulix’s own James Shotwell have been confirmed to speak. Additional speakers and presenters will be revealed in the weeks ahead.
Proceeds to the event will go to Chicago music charities:
As many of you know, we here at Haulix spend a lot of time and money every year making appearances at music festivals and conferences, as well as a number of college campuses across the nation. We do this both to raise awareness for our work behind-the-scenes of the industry and to help aspiring music professionals find their own paths to success. Our experiences up to this point have been nothing short of life-affirming, and with each new event we find another reason to believe in the future of the entertainment business.
After three years of working to build a reputation on the industry speaking circuit we have found one area of the industry that is almost completely overlooked in the world of conferences: Journalism. Whether you’re a music blogger working for free from the comfort of their parents’ house or a paid contributor to Rolling Stone, finding a panel or event that caters specifically to your work and interests is almost impossible in 2016. There were less than three journalism related panels at SXSW this year, and that event is considered to be the largest annual industry gathering in the world. Smaller conferences often only have one, if any, panels or events built around the world of journalism.
Our big question is: Why? Artists depends on writers to help expose their work to potential new fans, just like labels rely on writers to help maintain brand awareness. Writers rely on both of those groups in order to develop their publications, and they often attend conferences or festivals to help those events get more recognition on a national/international level, so why are they so underserved?
We continue to pitch panels on writing and the relationship writing has with music promotion to any event or school willing to hear us out, but we have come to the conclusion that the best course of action may be to give bloggers/journalists/writers of all varieties an event of their own. A blogger conference, if you will, where the topics of ethics, monetization, industry growth, career development, artist relations, and more can be discussed at length by writers for writers.
Here’s the problem: Conferences are expensive and they require months of planning, not to mention sponsorship dollars, in order to make a reality. On top of this, we would have to convince people to come. We are passionate about the idea of such an event existing, but we fear wasting a year of our lives on a project that only interests us and the circle of industry friends we have surrounded ourselves with over the years. Something like this requires the interest of thousands with the hopes that hundreds end up participating.
So we have to ask – Do you think a blogger conference is a good idea?
2016 is shaping up to be a wild year for the Haulix team. In addition to releasing a fully revamped version of our platform, our team will also be making a record number of live appearances at music conferences, festivals, summits, and the like. We’ve already told you about SXSW (in March) and Launch (in April), but today we’re here to share the news we will also be bringing a conversation on digital distribution and the ongoing war on piracy to Music Biz 2016 in Nashville this May!
Taking place on Wednesday, May 18, Haulix will present a panel titled ‘Promotional Distribution & Digital Security.’ Here is the full description from the Music Biz schedule:
In 2016, knowing how to securely share your new and unreleased music with industry professionals and journalists alike is one of the most important things you need to understand in order to succeed. There are a number of methods currently being used to share promotional music right now, from cloud storage services, to digital promotional platforms, streaming services like Soundcloud, and even file transfer sites. This panel will cover the status of the war on piracy and the best methods for promotional digital distribution today. We will also touch on which services allow for customization of presentation, as well as digital security (watermarking, automated takedowns, etc.).
The panel will be lead by Haulix Marketing Coordinator James Shotwell. The additional panelists, as well as their roles in the industry, will be revealed in the comings weeks.
We are thrilled to announce that we will be returning to LAUNCH MUSIC CONFERENCE this April 21-24 in Lancaster, PA. We will be bringing with us a new discussion on the best methods for promotional distribution, as well as an update on the war against piracy. We will also be showcasing the brand new version of Haulix, which we hope to launch in early March 2016. You can find ticket and travel information on the conference website.
Need more reasons to go to Launch? Here’s just a taste of what lies in stores for those who attend this year:
The 8th Annual LAUNCH Music Conference is set for April 21st – 24th in Lancaster, PA. The jam-packed event, full of panels, seminars, parties, events, and performances, has welcomed heavy hitters such as Panic! at the Disco, Atreyu, twenty-one pilots and Foxy Shazam, as well as 180+ more artists annually over the last seven years across 11 venues and 15 stages, all happening in the beautiful Lancaster County Convention Center and surrounding venues. The conference covers topics such as artist management, publishing, festivals, touring and more giving artists and attendees a well-rounded look at today’s music industry.
This month, LAUNCH Music Conference revealed Bayside, Ice Nine Kills, Intervals and The Weekend Riot are set toperform at this year’s conference. New panelists have also been announced, including Finn Mckenty (CreativeLive), Dan Rozenblum (Circle Talent Agency), Christian McKnight (LiveNation New York), Mike Ciprari (SJC Drums), Eric Osman (Bands With Management) as well as returning panelists, Randy Nichols (Force Media Management), Jason McMahon (Substream Magazine), and Jen Appel and Chrissy Borsellino (The Catalyst Publicity Group).
More announcement and lineup details will be revealed in the weeks and months ahead.
Working in the music industry has provided me with the opportunity to attend numerous industry conferences, panels, and events. I’ve spoken at some places, but more often than not I’ve sat in the same crowd alongside many of you, hoping something would be said on stage that related to my career. What I have found however, is that the vast majority of music conferences do not put much time or effort into engaging music writers, despite the fact a good portion of these events are attended and covered by people currently trying their best to make a living with words. I think a change is needed, and I’m writing this today to see if I am alone in my belief.
I believe we need a yearly music blogger conference. This event would start as a one day gathering, but in time it would ideally become something much bigger. The day would be filled with panels, workshops, and a keynote from an influential industry figure, as well as a few performances to cap off the night. I have brainstormed a few topics/events to provide a better idea of what might be covered at this event:
Monetization Is The New Selling Out: Making money without betraying your readers
How To Handle Controversy: A beginner’s guide to breaking news, checking facts, and telling the whole story.
You’re Here To Work: Maintaining professionalism at shows and events
Tour Sponsorships: What are they, what do they entail, and why should I care?
Embracing Video: A crash course in creating great visual content
Branding: The Dos and Don’ts of Marketing Your Blog
Keeping Exclusives Exclusive: Making the most of every premiere you get
Conflicts Of Interest: How to keep your projects separate, yet equal
It’s Bigger Than Me: Building a community with your readers
Stop Asking Bad Questions: Interviews tips, tricks, and pitfalls
These are literally the first things that came to mind, but I think it provides a good range of topics and possibilities. Given the number of controversies that have arisen in 2015 alone, the need for a formal workshop on properly reporting such stories is very much needed in blogging right now. Likewise, I think we all have seen a blogger who was less than professionals when covering a live event. Maybe they want a selfie with the band, or maybe they blow off interviews to catch their favorite artists’ set. Whatever the case, we need to try and stop that trend before a select few make us all look like fools.
Having given almost a decade of my life to music blogging, nothing bothers me more than when people treat my chosen career path as a hobby or something to be laughed at. I have dedicated myself fully to this craft for a very long time, and though I am still not where I want to be I take great pride in everything I have accomplished. I know many of you do as well, which is why we should find a way to come together as an industry and push for real, meaningful change. I know not everyone who needs a conference like this will attend, but simply have the option available to people would be better than what we have now, which is essentially nothing.
I understand that the beauty of blogging stems from its ability to give anyone a voice, but as music writers trying to make a living with our words we need to hold ourselves and our peers to higher standards than simply doing whatever makes us happy. If we want people to take us seriously then we need to be serious about what is happening in our industry as well as what we as individuals are doing to make it better. So far, I see a lot of people complaining that things need to change, but no one is actually doing anything to make a difference. I want to change that, but only if you are willing to help me make it happen.
So tell me, what do you think?
James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.
