On this episode of INSIDE MUSIC, host James Shotwell calls Infectious Magazine and Muddy Paw PR founder Angela Mastrogiacomo to discuss her career in the music business. Angela has been carving her own niche in this industry since her late teen years, and now in her mid-twenties she has found success she never previously imagined possible. Together with James, Angela recounts her journey thus far, and later turns her focus to the future and the opportunities it may hold. If you have ever wondered what it’s like to ‘make it’ as a music professionals, do not miss this episode!
The music you hear in this episode is “Dirty Water” by The Standells.
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Hello, everyone! We are thrilled to learn that you were able to find time in your day to browse the latest content on our blog. The post you are about to enjoy is a guest piece from one of our favorite contributors, and it offers information that can help anyone aspiring to one day work in this crazy business we call the music industry.
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. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
There’s something truly wonderful about finding a community within a community. You know what I mean. You live in one place your entire life, but never really get to know the communities you’re a part of. You never get to make the connections that can ultimately make or break you, and so you never really get to feel like you totally belong.
When I first moved to San Francisco, I struggled to find friends. As a 26-year-old working from home, meeting new people, especially people interested so deeply in what I was (music) wasn’t exactly easy. But within a few months I befriended SF Intercom owner and Balanced Breakfast co-founder Stefan Aronson, and was soon introduced to 30+ new friends, all sharing some part in the music industry. It was brilliant. An incredibly simple concept that I had never even thought of: get everyone within a city’s industry together on a weekly basis to talk shop, network, and help propel one another’s dreams. I was in love.
So when I moved back to Boston after my seven-month stint on the west coast, I knew I wanted to bring all of the ethos and passion behind Balanced Breakfast with me. I quickly began putting together the skeleton of what would become the first east coast Balanced Breakfast.
But Boston and San Francisco aren’t the only places with thriving music scenes and a lack of like-minded community. In fact, I’d venture to guess most cities suffer from a lack of strong community feel within the music scene. So how can we change that? Here’s what I did. Hopefully it can inspire you to start your own music industry meet up. Maybe even another Balanced Breakfast?
Find interested people
Naturally, this is the hardest part. Finding the people that will eventually make up your music community. Although paid sites like Meetup.com are great for a lot of things, they weren’t a site that I used during planning this. In fact, I spent no money at all in putting this together. To find interested people, I posted on just about every social media site I could think of: Facebook, Reddit, Twitter. I scoured existing music industry groups in my city on Facebook, posted in subreddits dedicated to my city, and tagged well known Twitter sites for Boston to let people know that I was putting together a weekly industry meet up, and to ask for their input on location. I even found another industry meet up along the way, and attended. Not only did I meet new people to invite to BB, but I discovered there really is a desire for this kind of thing. It’s a lot of old fashioned grassroots promotion, but in the end, it let people know we existed.
Location & Time
The second hardest part was actually finding a location and time that worked for everyone. Once I knew Boston would be the easiest area for people to get to, I had to find a location that was fairly central, and could accommodate larger groups, because I dream big. Eventually I decided on 2pm (to avoid busy brunch crowds) and a place called Trident Booksellers and Café on Newbury Street. Bonus: It was also a bookstore, so we could peruse while we waited for a table!
Topics
The last piece to this puzzle was just figuring out format and topics. Luckily, I had seen my SF counterparts in action on this one at least a dozen times, and went off their format. But play around with what works best for you and your community. Focus on topics depending on who it tends to attract. Is it primarily musicians? Media? Bookers? Cater your topics to your primary audience, but don’t forget to make sure it’s broad enough that everyone can find interest.
And there you go! It really is that simple, cheap, and easy to put together a meet up of your own. And once you start gaining momentum, the sky is truly the limit. The SF Balanced Breakfast recently put on a one month residency, which featured a ton of bands from the meet up, and not only was it a great way to showcase our own talent, and get to know each other’s passions, but it even attracted outside attention and press furthering the strength of the community.
So what are you waiting for? There’s a whole city of musicians, media, promoters, and more just waiting for their community to be born. Interested in starting your own division of Balanced Breakfast? Get in touch with us here. In Boston? Join our meet up here.
Angela Mastrogiacomo runs the Boston Balanced Breakfast, a group of music industry professionals that meet once a week to talk shop, network, and build a stronger music community. She is also the owner of Muddy Paw Public Relations and Infectious Magazine.
It’s Tuesday once again, which means it’s time to continue our ongoing series highlighting the best and brightest behind today’s online music scene.
Hailing from the border of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, Angela Mastrogiacomo has spent the last few years carving a niche in the music industry by developing the news and opinion outlet Infectious Magazine. Covering everything from rock to pop with a variety of columns and video features, Angela has single-handedly built a blossoming entertainment empire with Infectious that continues to grow with each passing week. Her love for music and passion for writing is only matched by her creativity, and as we learn in our exclusive interview, she has her eyes set on big things in the months ahead.
Read on to discover Angela’s history music, the uniqueness of Infectious, and how this twenty-something plans to turn her hobby into a career by unveiling a new component to her master plan. If you want to see some of Angela’s work, be sure to visit Infectious Magazine and follow the site on Twitter.
H: For those unaware, please state your name, the site you work for, and your role at said site:
My name is Angela. I am the founder/editor of InfectiousMagazine.com. I run and oversee daily operations at InfectiousMagazine.com
H: You are the first female we have featured in our Blogger profiles. What inspired you to begin writing in the first place?
That’s awesome! I first began writing when I was about 6, with a collection of short stories aimed at children. Eventually, that grew into creative fiction, and then once I began the magazine, feature writing (though I still dabble in creative). It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly inspired me—I hate to use the cliché that it helps you work out your emotions, but it’s an incredibly useful outlet, and whenever I’m writing, there’s a sense of calm and accomplishment.
H: Once you realized you wanted to write, how did you know music was the type of content you wanted to cover?
To be honest, this was completely serendipitous. I’ve always wanted to make writing an integral part of my life, but it had a tendency to be more fiction based. After happening across a local band (The Coming Weak) opening for a national act, I was instantly awe-struck. I believe there are instances in life where we will, for whatever reason be drawn to and inspired by certain people and instances, which will end up shaping our life. For me, this was it. I felt so compelled to interview them, review their album, and just do anything I could to get their name out there. This was the birth of Infectious and there was no looking back.
H: Infectious is one of many sites that covers the alternative, or as some say “Warped Tour” music scene. What do you think sets your site and its content apart from others covering the same talent?
I think every site has a selling point in a sense, and I think ours is the interviews we do. Anyone can bring news, but it’s those features (columns, contests, etc) that make a site stand apart. I like to think that in addition to being reliable, and quick to bring our readers the news, we offer a unique perspective in our interviews, with unique, interesting questions. I also like to think that the passion oozing from each and every one of our staff members comes through. We live and breathe Infectious, and it is always on our minds. I believe it makes a difference.
H: Speaking of the world’s largest and wildest traveling festival, do you have plans to cover Warped Tour 2013? If so, who do you look forward to covering?
We do! We’ve covered Warped’s Boston date for the last three years and each year is just such an honor. The entire week or two surrounding the festival date are the most chaotic and fun of the entire year. We have been able to cover some really amazing people in the last few years, and I know this year will be no different. From a personal perspective, I’m really looking forward to Middle Finger Salute, The Exposed, The Swellers, The Tower & The Fool and Action Item.
H: I noticed you have a large amount of video content on Infectious. How do you find readers respond to interview videos as opposed to those posted in text form?
Absolutely. I think in one sense, being on YouTube brings with it a lot of competition, but in another, we’ve found the response to be really positive. The thing with video interviews is that they bring a lot of life and perspective into things. Text is easily misinterpreted, but when you can see your favorite band, watch their emotions and perspectives play out in real time, it’s a truly interesting experience (I think!).
H: When it comes to writing and featuring new bands, what do you look for talent wise?
The thing is, talent and taste is so subjective, and I think it’s important to be aware of that. What I look for most, is passion and drive.
H: Let’s say a band wants to contact you about featuring their music on your site. What advice would you offer bands to help themselves stand out for from the others vying for your attention?
This is an excellent question. If you personalize your email, I am MUCH more likely to take notice and want to work with you. This sort of circles back to the last question, but I’d much rather work with a band that is just starting out and full of passion, drive, and ambition, than a band who may have a larger following but is just totally complacent and only interested in putting in minimal effort.
H: When it comes to receiving music for review and feature consideration, which services do you prefer and why?
Haulix is by far one of the best services for review and feature consideration. It’s incredibly simple, customizable and best of all, it really does help protect against leaks, which I think we can all agree is an industry sigh of relief.
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Ah, this is a tough one! There’s so much I’d want to do, but it all comes back to passion. It’s so cutthroat, and I think that passion and talent gets buried under money and greed much of the time.
H: You tweet a lot about having big plans for the future. Before we let you go, can you tell us a bit about what Infectious Magazine has planned for the remainder of 2013?
Definitely, thanks for asking! In addition to continuing to bring you loads of content and contests, and expand the magazine side of things, we’re just launching a public relations side as well, and currently taking on new clients. You can find out more about that here:
