On PWR BTTM, controversy, and the incredible power rights holders wield in 2017
It took less than a week for the career of PWR BTTM, a two-piece punk band from New York, to unravel. After months of digital hype and an outpouring of support from some of the industry’s biggest influencers, accusations of sexual abuse and predatory behavior brought against PWR BTTM member Ben Hopkins spread like wildfire just two days before the group’s Polyvinyl Records debut was due to be released. As word continued to spread, people and brand associated with the act began to distance themselves, including Polyvinyl Records and any label that had worked with the group prior to the alleged incidents. By Friday, the damage was done. Polyvinyl pulled all promotion for the record, as well as any options to purchase the record online, and all upcoming tour dates were cancelled. The hype train was dead, and so was the career of PWR BTTM.
The fallout from the accusations made against Hopkins happened much faster than has typically been the case in similar instance where allegations were brought against a member of the alternative music community. There reasons for this have already been discussed at length, but the fallout itself is pretty typical. First fans revolt, then any associated acts (tour support) and professionals (management, booking, etc.). From there, labels typically issue a statement and announce their plans to sever ties with the talent. Venues may or may not follow suit as well, depending on the band’s level of success and the aforementioned outcry from fans.
The one new twist in the fallout from such allegations being made did not come to pass until the beginning of this week, several days after the allegations were first made. Polyvinyl, having already pulled all physical copies of PWR BTTM’s debut album as quickly as they could, also scrubbed any digital downloads and streams of the record from the internet. Unless you were someone who received a preorder of the album prior to the events of last week, which likely includes anywhere from several hundred to a few thousand people, you have virtually no way to experience PWR BTTM’s album. More importantly, Polyvinyl has no way to recoup any investment they made in PWR BTTM.
The reason Polyvinyl is able to do this, and as a result make PWR BTTM’s catalog virtually unavailable, is because they own the rights to the music. Most labels own all or at least some of the rights to the music the artists on their roster creates, which gives them final authority on how or if that music is available to the public.
And this is the game-changer. Historically speaking, while many labels would pull an artist’s releases from their store and/or cut ties with talent accused of wrongdoing, most label chose to keep the accused musician’s catalog available on streaming services. This means those labels were quietly making money from any streaming royalties connected to that artist’s music while publicly stating they were distancing themselves from that artist. These actions contradict themselves by placing importance on money and recouping costs rather than doing the right thing by consumers and victims. How can you claim to not be associated with a sexual predator if you are cashing checks that resulted from their art? Everyone knows controversy tends to lead to a bump, so if anything these labels are making more money (at least in the short term) because of these incidents.
By expressing their power as rights holders over the music PWR BTTM made Polyvinyl has taken a stand against abusers and sent a strong message to all other artists worldwide. In a time where the vast majority of musicians are creating everything in the digital space it’s important to understand how handing over control also empowers someone else to delete, erase, or pull your work at their discretion. The alleged actions of Hopkins were unquestionably the lynchpin to PWR BTTM’s undoing, but by erasing their work from the internet Polyvinyl has made what would typically be a short, yet forced hiatus into something that feels much more permanent. Will more labels follow suit? I hope so.
The only thing more annoying than bandwagon fans may be bandwagon haters. People who feel it is their duty as fans of a particular sound or genre to tear down whoever is currently dominating the charts because they believe it makes them unique or edgy in some way. We who embrace the hitmakers know better, as we understand there is a reason certain artists see their star shoot into the stratosphere while others must work incredibly hard for every tiny bit of success they achieve. The reasons for this are as numerous as grains of sand on the beach, but one thing that is almost always true about real music stars, and by that I mean those who are able to hold the public’s attention across multiple albums, is that they always find a way to connect with people in a way that feels personal.
To be clear, what I just said is far easier to grasp than it is to recreate. We all follow our own paths in this life, experiencing practically every aspect of existence in a way that is wholly unique to ourselves, yet for some reason there are certain songs and/or artists who have the power to make us feel as though we are part of something bigger than ourselves. Call it a community, or a culture, or a way of life, but there is something to the biggest material in history that connects with people in a deeply personal way. You may have never experienced the situation being described in the song, and you may never know the story that inspired the lyrics, but something about the way emotion is being expressed cuts through the noise and strikes you right in your soul. It moves you, as it does others, and as soon as it’s over we long to feel that connection again. That is the sign you’ve found something truly great in music, and it’s something that is completely achievable by pretty much every artist working today. That is, if they work hard enough.
The big star of the moment is Adele, and by now you’ve no doubt heard her single “Hello” between one and one-hundred times in your daily life. Her music is everywhere right now, and her new single “When We Were Young” seems poised to push her exposure even further. The production on these tracks is undeniably gorgeous, and Adele’s powerful voice is something that will be praised for decades to come, but what makes these songs work at Top 40 radio and beyond has little do with those factors and far more to do with the feeling you get when the music plays. Adele, like Drake on tracks like “Hotline Bling” or “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” has the power to make you miss people and situations you have never actually known. Something in the way the music compliments the lyrics, which are typically pulled from a deeply personal place, creates an atmosphere of turmoil and heartache that listeners take upon themselves to connect with events in their own lives. It doesn’t matter whether or not the events that inspired the song are the same as the events the lyrics are being applied to by the listeners, and it never will. All that matters is that the performer is able to capture a feeling, or perhaps a better description would be a sense of being, that translates on a massive scale.
What I’m trying to say is that the reason these artists skyrocket into the music stratosphere while others fight over lower chart positions is because people feel like the know them. When you hear the music of Adele and Drake, or even smaller acts like The Hotelier or Modern Baseball, you feel as if you are hearing an update from a close friend about what has been going on in their life since you last spoke. It’s entertaining, yes, but it’s so much more than that as well. You long for those updates, and when they arrive you click play with all the hope in the world that you and this person or group, whom you’ve never met, have been experiencing similar situations in life. You hope there is something in there story that relates to your own, and that kind of connection is incredibly hard to break. Even if the quality of the music begins to suffer, and the radio songs can’t crack the top 10, people who have connected to an artist on an emotional level will continue to follow them for as long as they are able.
I cannot tell you how to create songs that connect with people the way the latest singles from Drake and Adele do, but that is okay because writing material like that should not be your goal after reading this post. Writing music that would work for Drake or Adele is not guaranteed to work for you, at all. Your goal, or better yet your mission, should be to find a way to create the music you want to make in such a way that it connects with people like the material released by your musical peers. It’s not about copying someone else’s formula, but rather finding a way to tap into the same set of relatable emotions that has established countless artists as household names over the last hundred or so years of pop music. Even if you’re writing metal, the goal remains the same. You want to create something that is both personal and universal, which shares a part of you in a meaningful way while still allowing others to add their own meaning to the material. There is no recipe for that kind of creation, nor are the any guides I would suggest you spend time reading. The best way to make material like this is too simply keep creating, and in time you will learn to refine your skills. As your songwriting improves, so will the reach of your music, but you cannot allow yourself to get lost in thoughts of what a song could potentially be or do for you. As soon as you take your focus away from creating great songs that actually mean something to you, the artist, your chances of connecting with listeners begins to drop. Stay true to yourself and people will notice. It might take time, but that’s perfectly okay.
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.
Later this month I will turn 28 years old, but before that happens I will be purchasing a copy of One Direction’s new studio album, Made In The A.M. Before you ask, no, I don’t have a daughter or a little sister with a birthday on the horizon. I don’t even have a female cousin who still swears by 1D, or if I do she hasn’t made this information known to me. The reason I am going to be buying a copy of Made In The A.M. is because I, James Shotwell, am a One Direction fan myself. I’m also a straight male, and for whatever reason our culture still feels there is something weird about that.
Just for the record, I don’t call myself a Directioner. I didn’t even know that was a term until long after I knew of One Direction, and that was probably two years before I even took an interest in the group. Furthermore, I don’t think I fit the description. I’ve always believed a Directioner to be a fan who sees every show, buys merchandise other than albums, and those who spend an untold number of hours making signs/outfits for concerts even though their seats are hundreds of feet from the stage. I’m not that kind of fan. I enjoy the music, I write about the music whenever applicable, and I once attended a concert. Once. And it was free (for me).
My journey with One Direction started almost by accident. I had heard the group’s songs on the radio, and like anyone with taste I knew “Live While We’re Young” was the kind of tongue-in-cheek goodness no one could deny, but it wasn’t until I watched Morgan Spurlock’s documentary on the group, ‘One Direction: This Is Us,’ that I began to appreciate them the way I do now. Assuming that many of you reading this now are not One Direction fans yourself, I’ll tell you what is probably obvious and explain that the film follows the members of 1D on the road during the height of their celebrity. Viewers watch the group doing their best to stay level headed while being chased by throngs of fans in cities all over the world, and you get a real sense of their appreciation for the position they find themselves in. The members were chosen by chance during reality show auditions, and they appear to understand just how easily someone else could be in their shoes.
I didn’t walk away from This Is Us feeling like a newly devoted follower of 1D, but I did have a new appreciation for what they were doing in music. I remembered this when their next album was announced, and I decided to embrace that release (Midnight Memories) with an open mind. The first single won me over on its first play, and I decided there would be no harm in seeing what the rest of the album had to offer. To my surprise, which in hindsight is silly because the group’s massive level of fame should make this fact obvious, the material was good. In fact, some of it was undeniably great. I didn’t expect to keep singing the songs after my initial spin, but I did. A lot. I sang the bits I remembered so much I had to revisit just to learn more words so I wouldn’t drive myself crazy, and by that point I had purchased the entire album off iTunes. This meant there was now a record of me supporting One Direction, with money I hard worked to earn no less, and I had to admit to myself what I am telling you today, that I am indeed a fan of One Direction.
Fast-forward to the following summer and an online ticket retailer offers me two tickets to see One Direction at Gillette Stadium in exchange for some tweets about the experience. Being a broke music journalist with a thirst for unique experiences I almost broke my laptop trying to respond in a hurry, and for some reason still unknown to me my fiancé, Lisa, agreed to go along. We ended up sitting in the second row of the highest section of the stadium, nearly as far away from the stage as possible, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about in person, and I am here to report it became clear very quickly why people shell out $100+ per ticket to see 1D live. Their stage production filled the floor of the stadium, which was hosting 60,000 people, and nearly every song ended with a fireworks show that would put most small town’s Fourth Of July celebrations to shame. Add to this throngs of screaming fans who would dance and singalong with every song performed, as well as those played between sets, and you have the recipe for an unforgettable experience.
Before you ask, yes, I did see other guys in attendance. Most were accompanying their girlfriends/sisters/daughters/cousins, but every so often I spotted one or two who appeared to be in attendance because they chose to go. We didn’t speak, but we did share a typical silent head nod of acknowledgement toward one another. These moments were brief, but they did come coupled with a guarantee that if we were to ever cross paths again neither one could mention having seen the other at Gillette that night.
By the time One Direction announced Four my fandom was in full swing. I was eager for each single reveal, and I made it a point to pre-order the album early in order to have access to new tracks as the were released. I tweeted about my excitement, but my followers largely thought I was being sarcastic. It wasn’t until my praise-filled critique of the album debuted on Under The Gun Review that people started to take my mentions seriously, and the backlash from those who had long followed me for rock criticism was immediate. People told me I was being dumb, stupid, and that I had simply lost my way as a music journalist. Friends, and by that I mean people I know in real life, told me I had probably fallen victim to ‘Freaky Friday’ syndrome and traded souls with a tween without realizing it. Even my parents laughed when I told them I thought Four was a great record.
To their credit, the one group of people who seemed to get me at this point in life was Directioners. My review came out ahead of the album’s release, and it brought a ton of people to Under The Gun for the first time. Comments poured in from people all over the world that they too loved the record, and for the first time in over a year of enjoying One Direction I felt like maybe I could belong to their fandom as well. That is, until the general public got ahold of my thoughts. I thought in 2014 we were past generalizations like the idea only gay men can enjoy boy bands, but I unfortunately found the opposite to be true. Friends and strangers on the internet alike had disparaging remarks to make about the adult male who liked a group they considered to be manufactured to please young girls. Admitting their sugary, high-gloss sound won me over as well was viewed as a weakness, and to be honest I still struggle with understand why that is/was the case.
Made In The A.M., the fifth and potentially final studio album from One Direction, is set to be released this Friday, November 13. My review of the album was posted online earlier this week, and even though I have been carrying the One Direction torch with some semblance of pride since 2013 I have encountered the same inexplicable put downs and dismissals from my peers that I endured when I first mentioned my liking the group’s music over two years ago. For example, one publicist was quick to message me that his sister was sure to enjoy what I had to say about 1D. This is the kind of dismissive crap that reveals more about the person talking than the person they’re speaking to. For this publicists, who will remain nameless, liking One Direction was something reserved for girls. To him, they were not meant for boys, and therefor any boy who enjoyed it was somehow weird or flawed. It’s not unlike the demeanor of those who believe Barbie dolls are strictly for girls and G.I. Joe dolls are strictly for boys. They’re both dolls and they’re both completely acceptable for anyone to enjoy.
A social stigma is defined by Webster’s as the extreme disapproval of (or discontent with) a person or group on socially characteristic grounds that are perceived, and serve to distinguish them, from other members of a society. For many men and some women, being a guy who enjoys boy bands and/or even female pop artists like Katy Perry is considered a social stigma. They perceive these men as enjoying something that they believe was never intended to entertain them, and because they feel those men are in the wrong they also infer something must be wrong with them. Maybe they have a different sexual orientation, or maybe they are simply more feminine than your stereotypical alpha male, but whatever the case this perceived stigma leads many to put down those who are willing to admit they enjoy music from groups such as One Direction. I’ve experienced it all my life, from being the so-called ‘faggot’ in high school who enjoyed the same music as many of my female classmates, to being asked “where if your vagina?” when caught singing along with top 40 radio in a public place. I used to internalize these thoughts, and for a while I questioned if maybe something really were wrong with me, but as I grew older I learned you cannot let the outside world dictate what you enjoy. You have to be yourself, always.
Here’s the thing: If I had listened to every person who told me it was uncool or unacceptable to like the things I liked then I would never have the career in music I do today. The life I have today was built by staying true to myself, and though it was never easy to be the only guy in Southwest Michigan who knew every word to the Backstreet Boys’ catalog it was worth every insult endured to be where I am today. You might not want to work in music marketing and you might not even have ambitions of getting into the world of entertainment, but I can promise you wherever you go in life will be infinitely better if you learn to stay true to who you are no matter what. This may sound cheesy or old fashioned, but you are an incredibly unique being that will never be replicated and that is something you should take great pride in. Your personality is entirely your own, and you should embrace it. Friends, love, and success will all follow.
I don’t expect my journey to inspire others to begin taking One Direction more seriously, even though I would love it if that were to happen, but I do hope that you understand why I felt compelled to share my experiences as a male fan of music made by boy bands with the world. There is so much wonderful art and music to be experienced in this life, and the vast majority of it is not made with any one gender or sexual orientation in mind. It’s made because someone felt compelled to share their experiences with the rest of existence, and like all of us those creators are simply hoping to connect with someone who is willing to listen. One Direction may connect largely with females between the ages of 12 and 22, but that doesn’t mean those are the only people who can enjoy their music. Everyone is welcome to enjoy what they create, and if you approach their albums with an open mind I have a hard time believe you will walk away having had anything other than a good time. But even if you did, at least you would have given the group a fair chance, and that is more than most are ever willing to do (mostly because they are afraid of how other will react).
Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and cannot enjoy. Explore everything you can get your hands on, form your own opinions, and never be afraid to stand up for yourself. If outsiders don’t get it, that is on them and not you. Never forget that.
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.
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.
>By harnessing its massive data set, which it gathers from more than 100 million users worldwide, Shazam can determine what song will hit No. 1 over a month in advance.
If you didn’t believe in the power of big data before, you will now: according to a talk given yesterday by Cait O’Riordan, Shazam’s VP of product, her company can predict nearly every successful pop song ahead of time. The Shazam app, which allows you to identify songs with your phone, has 100 million users worldwide, and people use the app approximately 20 million times a day. This gives Shazam a huge data set, and with lots of data comes forecasting power. O’Riordan says that “with relative accuracy, we can predict 33 days out what song will go to number one on the Billboard charts.”
That’s not all: Shazam can watch as songs begin to blow up in different regions and snowball into global successes. O’Riordan traces the rise of Clean Bandit’s “Rather Be"—the most Shazamed song of 2014—and suggests that its 2015 equivalent might be the remix of Omi’s "Cheerleader.” Possibly coolest of all, Shazam can tell exactly what moment in a song causes people to reach for their phones and get the app going. For O.T. Genasis’ “Coco,” the famous exclamation, “baking soda, I got baking soda!” sent people scrambling for their devices. And when people were listening to Kanye’s “Monster” back in 2010,Nicki’s verse was the one that got most of the Shazam’s. Disputes about who had the best rap verse will never be the same again.
We have written a lot about data in the past, but this is one of the first times a music discovery company has revealed how its data can be used to predict the future of our industry. What I found the most fascinating about the video above, which I highly suggest you watch in full, is that it seems most songs only have about ten or fifteen seconds to grab someone’s attention before the likelihood of being Shazam’d begins to fall at an alarming rate. I would hope people give new music more than the length of an Instagram video to prove their staying power, but at the same time I know when using Spotify on shuffle I often skip from track to track within three or four seconds.
What I want to know is whether or not Shazam has any plans to make this data available to labels, or even the public, at some point in the future. There is a lot of power to be wielded by understanding the flow of public interest as it relates to popular music, and I am sure there are already people doing everything they can to gain access to that information. Knowing who is going to be big next would allow labels, as well as the artists themselves, to know how and where to allocate their marketing funds. If I know for certain Artist A is a month away from the Billboard chart, then my focus for the next four weeks will be doing everything I can to facilitate that artists ability to reach number one. If I don’t have that information, I might not think to focus any special time or attention on that talent until they’re already charting, and by that point you’re already behind the curve.
Do you think this data has real applications in the real world, and if so, do you feel it should be made available to the public?
For the second time in just three years, Kid Rock has announced plans to embark on a multi-month summer tour with tickets priced no higher than $20. There are fees included for those who buy online of course, but thanks to a deal with WAL-MART fans can also purchase tickets free of service fees at participating stores across the country. That means a true $20 ticket to a show at a venue with a capacity somewhere between fifteen and thirty thousand is possible in 2015, and for whatever it is Kid Rock who is leading the low cost revolution.
But why?
This probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone, but the last time Kid Rock promoted a tour with a $20 price tag he played to sold out crowds across the country. In fact, many point to the success of his 2013 tour as one of the main reasons his career has received so much more attention in recent years than those prior. The tickets for his 2015 dates went on sale this week, and many cities across the country are already sold out, or at the very least well over halfway towards being at capacity. Rock has a single out right now (“First Kiss”), as well as a new album in stores this week, but neither can take credit for drawing fans to this tour. It’s the price.
You see, Kid Rock knows his audience, and he’s catered his live experience to mirror the buying habits of his fans. Rock knows a good portion of his audience shops at WAL-MART, which makes his decision to partner with them an obvious choice. He also knows that if they shop at WAL-MART they likely don’t have, or would prefer not to spend $60-200 per ticket to attend a concert. If they do, they won’t spend money on merchandise or food, as many will have blown their entertainment budget for the month simply getting in the gate. That in turn makes them view the live experience in a negative light and, over time, will likely lead them to stop seeking out Kid Rock concerts. If that happens, Rock’s career will hit a wall.
With the launch of his $20 ticket tour in 2013 Kid Rock also instituted a new contract for live events. Instead of keeping his cut of ticket money and whatever merch sales he could earn, Rock now splits every sale at his shows with the corresponding venue 50/50. This includes ticket sales, merchandise, food, and beer. The $20 ticket is priced low to get people in the door. Rock knows if he can get them in the gate without feeling gouged by prices that they will be more likely to buy alcohol, eat overpriced fried food, and even buy merchandise. His fans might not be willing to spend $100 to get a ticket, but they will buy $20 tickets in February for a show in June, and then when the show arrives proceed to spend $80 or more once at the gig.
What Kid Rock understands and so many others do not is that creating a sense of value not only encourages people to spend more, but also makes them feel good about spending their hard earned cash on live music. Many artists try and squeeze every cent they can from people on ticket prices alone as they don’t want to risk merchandise not selling, or at least selling under their expectations. There is security in knowing you’ve made X amount of money before you have even hit the stage, but the truth is that not every band’s audience is willing to accept steep ticket prices. By keeping cost of entry low, more people are able to afford live music, which in theory makes it easier for more people to be exposed to an artist’s work. Kid Rock may have spent over a decade in the spotlight as is, but if he wants to continue his career he needs to keep bringing new people into his world. Low prices encourage people to bring friends and family who otherwise would never consider seeing Kid Rock to his shows. Once they’re in the door, all Rock has to do is perform to the best of his abilities, and that may be the easiest part of all.
As I write this, Kid Rock tickets on sites like StubHub have already broken the $100 mark. There is an argument to be made about how low cost tickets for high demand events only further incentivizes the work of scalpers, but that is a very negative way to spin what Rock is trying to accomplish. This is an artist who is so in tune with his fans and their spending habits that he has found a way to keep his career afloat despite not having chart-topping hits. It’s as if he’s managed to bring the excitement of small room shows and the promise anything could happen as long as you made it in before capacity to venues that usually host artists with global appeal. If you want to party with a live band who has more than proven their ability to work crowds of any size without feeling like you have to save your pennies there is no better ticket this summer than Kid Rock. There may be more talented artists on tour, as well as musicians with far larger fan bases, but as costs for those shows rise the disconnect between performer and audience widens. It may still be a party, but it’s one only a small portion of any artist’s fans could ever attend. There is an appeal to the exclusivity of something like that, but I would rather party with the diehard fans of a performer than the ones with enough money to afford their high priced shows any day of the week. Wouldn’t you agree?
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the latest installment of our ongoing Journalism Tips series. This column is dedicated to helping the next generation of music blogging professionals advance their career, and for this particular article we have decided to highlight the work that must be done in the days, weeks, and months immediately following college graduation.
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.
The vast majority of music bloggers get their start in the industry while in college, and it’s not hard to understand why. College allows young minds the time and space they need to explore the various paths open to them in life in order to find a career field that is best suited to their skill set. For those that believe music writing is their calling, that same time allotted for self-discovery can be used to create content. As time goes on, the student makes more and more time for blogging because they realize it’s a far faster way to connect with the music business than whatever access can be achieved through homework or long hours spent studying. This is not a bad thing necessarily, but it does set a precedent for that person’s ability to create timely content in large quantities that is almost impossible to maintain in a post-graduation world. Once the freedom of being a full time student has become a thing of the past, every single music blogger begins their own unique journey through what I like to call ‘the patience test,’ and today I’m going to explain what you can do to navigate these often troublesome waters.
Here is something no music writer currently in college wants to hear: You will probably not have a paying job waiting for you in the music business, let alone in music writing, when you graduate. The odds are immensely stacked against you, which has been the case for every person who has ever attempted to enter the entertainment business without family ties, and the sooner you are able to face that reality the better off you will be. The problem is, most do not seem to grasp this concept, and once their final internship comes to a close they are faced with the difficult decision of how to support themselves while continuing to pursue a dream that shows no signs of providing income in the immediate future. For some, this is a breaking point. I’ve come to believe that those who give up at this point in their journey were never all that dedicated in the first place however, so for the sake of moving forward let’s just assume everyone reading this now will not let a silly thing like their first post-college setback make them abandon the dream they’ve kept for years. Good? Good.
When you find yourself on the other side of the college experience with a degree in hand and a growing blog following online it’s important to understand that there is no way for you to continue posting with the same frequency you maintained in college unless you sacrifice the pursuit of a real world job. That is not an option for most people, and I am going to wager the same can be said for you. We all need to work in order to make a living and support ourselves, whether that be covering basic needs or paying off all that wonderful student loan debt you acquired over the last few years. Whatever the case, the first thing you need to focus on is finding work. The ideal situation would be something that keeps your nights and weekends free while putting you in front of a computer with little supervision during the week days. These jobs exist in every town and city nationwide, but whether or not there are openings that apply to you is something only further research will reveal. At the very least, you should try and find something that allows you to take time off whenever its needed for coverage or additional ‘dream job’ related events. Can you take off for Warped Tour? What about NAMM? Think about the demands of the industry you want to be in and consider them when seeking jobs in other fields. If you want to keep pursuing music, you will have to make time to do that, and grasping everything that continuing those efforts entails is key to properly preparing for your next move.
Once you find a job, be it full time or part, you will need to outline your new work schedule and see how your week shapes up. Some jobs will have rotating schedules, which makes planning far more difficult, but most will be the same or close to it from week to week. If seeing this schedule causes you to stress about your ability to pursue the music industry then try and take a little pride in the fact that your drive for music continues in spite of the less than ideal situations you find yourself in while trying to reach your goal. Most don’t have that kind of drive about anything in life because they never had the opportunity to find what really speaks to them. You have, and though it’s not coming your way as fast as you would probably prefer you are taking the steps necessary to be the person you hope to become. That’s more important than almost anything else in life as far as I’m concerned, and if you can remember how fortunate you are to possess such self-awareness then you can also find the strength to push ahead and begin your new – hopefully temporary – role outside of music.
I spent two years after my initial college experience trying to find a job in music, and in all the time in between those two moments I was working jobs I’d rather not admit to having worked. The tasks asked of me were never all that difficult, but they were also not at all fulfilling in any way. I simply showed up, did my part, cashed my check, paid bills, and then went back and did it all again. I could support myself and buy whatever I wanted to, but I wasn’t doing anything that I felt held any kind of significance in the world. Anyone could do what I was doing, and the only time that was not true were the moments I made an effort to create content for my music blog. Time was rarely my friend, as I was able to find full time employment that required long hours, but anytime I sat down with a blank word document it felt like every other task I had to complete to get to that point was worth it. I had a platform and a voice and it was being put to use. I was saying things I wanted to say that reflected the way I truly felt and it was making an impact on artists and music fans alike. My efforts were not as constant as they were in college, but in some ways they were more rewarding because of the release I felt being able to focus on something I loved.
Making time to write was not easy for me, and it probably will not be easy for you. Once you begin a new job you will have a new world of things to think about and focus on, which in turn will pull you further away from music. If you want to remain connected it’s almost entirely up to you to make an effort to stay an active part of the industry at large. I cannot tell exactly you how to do that, but I can say that making it a point to write and create every single day is incredibly important. As Brian Clark once wrote:
“Write. Write more. Write even more. Write even more than that. Write when you don’t want to. Write when you do. Write when you have something to say. Write when you don’t. Write every day. Keep writing.”
There are going to be a lot of days when you wake up and want nothing more than to relax until the workplace beckons for you, but those who choose to live that way never reach their full potential, let alone achieve their dreams. To make your dreams a reality you must make sacrifices, and that begins with setting aside time every single day for content creation. Be it a feature or a news post, create something everyday that can be posted in the immediate future. This keeps your name out there and gives people a reason to check your site every day, but it also strengthens your abilities as a creative person. When that dream gig does come your way, the skills you refined during this time will be very important.
Speaking of your dream gig, never stop looking for opportunities to get your foot into the industry you desire. The hunt for jobs is tiresome and often leaves people feeling defeated, but unless you’re constantly on the prowl for opening good opportunities will pass you by. Check job boards regularly, join sites like LinkedIn, and ask everyone you network with to keep you in mind should they learn of any new positions within the industry. Skills are only second to connections in this business, and if you have both you might as well be unstoppable.
I decided to call this period in life the patience test because that is the one thing every writer needs to keep in mind when going through this period in life: Patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and unless your resume goes viral for some random reason your career in music will also take a while to take shape. That’s just the way things are in music writing today, and truth be told the competition will likely on grow more cutthroat in the years to come. The best thing you can do right now to ensure you have a more successful future is continue to write, every day, without fail. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but as time goes on that commitment is harder to keep, and you will find it necessary to make various sacrifices in order to continue making time for creativity. If you slip, that’s okay, but you must get back into your routine as soon as possible. When the industry does call they will expect you to be informed, skilled, and ready to begin working immediately. Getting into the habit of writing every day, whether you feel like it or not, will aide you in prepare for when that day arrives, There will be no question of if you can do something, only how soon they want it to be accomplished.
The length of the patience test is different for everyone, but with constant dedication to your craft the industry should begin paying attention to what you have to say a lot sooner than most. Remember: It’s not about the destination as much as it is the journey. Work hard and stay focused, but don’t keep yourself from enjoying all the good that comes with each level of personal growth. Take in the sights and sounds at the bottom, so you can reflect on them as you rise to the top. I know it feels like it will take forever to get there, if you ever reach those heights at all, but trust me when I say that good things do indeed come to those who work hard and remain patient. You can do this. I believe in you.
Hello and welcome to the beginning of a brand new work week. We have spent the past several days trying to develop the best content we could possibly image and this afternoon we begin sharing our favorite ideas with all of you. This particular article takes aim at the latest social networking trend and what, if anything, it has to offer the music community.
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.
This morning my mother called me and asked if I had an invite to Ello. The platform, which rose to popularity in recent weeks, is the latest social media craze. It’s invite only, but only in the sense that if you know no one else on the planet you will have a hard time receiving an invite. Artists and companies alike are trying to decide how to approach the system, if at all, and we thought now would be the perfect time to take a deeper look at what this new site does (and does not) have to offer the music industry.
If you have somehow missed the countless headlines and constantly trending topics that flooded Twitter and Facebook over the last seven days, Ello is the world’s latest trendy social media network. The site promotes itself as everything Facebook is not, which means no advertisements, no rules about what your screen name can be, and an invite only platform. It’s also in beta, with the promise of ‘bigger and better’ things to come in the future. Whether or not there will be a community present when that time comes however, has yet to be decided.
Ello is picking up users at an alarmingly high rate, but as it is still in beta there are not a lot features. You can create a profile and connect with people, but beyond sharing updates and images there seems to be nothing else to offer. This will change in the weeks and months to come, but the company has already made it known that they plan to generate income by charging for certain ‘premium’ features. Here is a list of the upcoming features the company has already announced:
I highlighted the one feature the will likely apply the most to musicians. It’s unlikely that this feature will be something the company charges a premium for, but again – that information has not been made public at this point.
As an artist trying to market yourself online, it can be very tempting to hop on the latest social media trend in hopes of making a greater impression online. The first question you need to ask yourself before doing so is how joining a new network will allow you to better connect with fans both new and old. Facebook has a timeline of your entire career, Twitter allows for direct engagement and quick news updates, Instagram captures images from the stage and studio, but what does a site like Ello provide that its competition does not? At this point, the answer seems to be (at best) its minimal design and lack of advertisements.
Speaking of advertisements, artists choosing to approach Ello need to keep in mind that the company is known for its lack of corporate marketing and any profile existing solely to promote is likely not going to be received well. Netflix, for example, launched a profile less than two weeks ago and quickly became the laughing stock of social networks after posting an update directing people to Facebook.
It is possible to promote your work without trying to sell your fans on something, but that skill is another discussion entirely. If you are having success promoting yourself online in 2014 it’s because you have found a way to connect with your fans that does not come across as advertising. If you can capture that feeling again on Ello, it could lead to additional success online. But again – is it anything you are unable to achieve on the networks you currently use?
Artists also need to consider the way news feeds work on Ello. Unlike Facebook, users are able to separate the profiles they follow into two groups, ‘Friends’ and ‘Noise,’ which are then separated into separate feeds on each users’ homepage. Some users may choose to allow their most beloved artists a space in their friends feed, but it seems safe to assume most forward thinking consumer will separate people and brands/bands in a much more straightforward manner. This means even if you do have great posts, they might not be seen because your content is in a feed rarely viewed.
Last, but certainly not least, Ello needs to solve its privacy issues before it will be able to sustain a large user base. Right now, all profiles are public, which means everything anyone shares on the platform can be seen by anyone with a working knowledge of the internet. This may not seem like a big deal for a company with very little user data and next to no content for the time being, but if Ello wants people to feel safe sharing their lives through their service a privacy system will need to be implemented. Without it, users will look for somewhere else to share their latest updates.
While I do believe Ello offers a nice change of pace from the often overwhelming look of a crowded Facebook newsfeed, the platform has yet to develop any unique traits that can help artists further their connection with fans online. In time, that may change, but as it stands right now there is nothing users can do on Ello than cannot be done on another, far more popular, social network. In fact, the list of things Ello cannot do is far longer than the list of things that make it unique, which only further hinders its potential for longterm growth.
There is something to be said for being an early adopter, and if Ello proves to be a sustainable social networking platform in the months to come there could be a nice benefit to having a great profile already developed, but right now it’s simply too early to tell. If you cannot fight the urge to signup, by all means create an account and reserve your screen name. Keep in mind however, that doing so means one more network you need to update regularly. Facebook and Twitter may be frustrating at times, but right now there is no evidence to indicate that they are going to suddenly become irrelevant anytime soon.
Hello, everyone. We are thrilled to have you join us. This post is more of an editorial than a column dedicated to advice, with a focus on the NFL and the way they’re trying to change live music through contract negotiations over the 2015 Super Bowl halftime show. It may not seem like the kind of thing that applies to bands working out of basements, but it does, and if nothing changes it could make an impact on festival and large event planning moving forward.
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.
Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported on a new development surrounding next year’s Super Bowl halftime show that sent a bit of a chill down my spine. I didn’t plan to write about it at first, but the more I thought about it the more it drove me insane.
The NFL has not paid the acts who performed during the annual halftime show for many years, but this year they’ve also begun asking the talent under consideration for the high-profile gig to pay to play, according to people familiar with the matter. The acts currently being considered are Coldplay, Katy Perry, and Rihanna, but none of that really matters right now because the offer being presented is a far more intriguing story. In my opinion, it is not only a bad idea for the Super Bowl, but if carried out it could set a very dangerous precedent in live music industry.
Since 2012, the annual ad revenue the NFL receives from the Super Bowl has been north of $240 million. In 2015, it’s likely that number will swell to $300 million or more, and it’s not hard to understand why. Every year, without fail, the biggest game in the NFL is also the most watched sporting event every single year, drawing over 111 million viewers in 2014 alone. Viewership like that equates to historically high ad rates, which in turn leads to growing income.
This year, 30-second advertising spots sold for $4 million. When Bruno Mars and Red Hot Chili Peppers hit the stage for the halftime show, they commanded the screen for about twelve minutes, which equated to almost $100 million in exposure (based on the advertising rates). In the mind of the NFL, that is lost potential revenue, and now it seems they want to make a change.
To quote WSJ direct: “While notifying the artists’ camps of their candidacy, league representatives also asked at least some of the acts if they would be willing to contribute a portion of their post-Super Bowl tour income to the league, or if they would make some other type of financial contribution, in exchange for the halftime gig.” There is no mention of how much that percentage will be, nor is there any mention of using the money received for anything other than widening the NFL’s income stream.
This is a clear cut example of corporate greed, and it’s not all that different from the way many labels take advantage of artists. The idea that ’the company does more for the talent than the talent does for the company’ is the same kind of backwards thinking that has ruined countless careers and relationships over the last 60 years. Katy Perry, Coldplay, and Rihanna are not artists in the mind of the NFL as much as they are untapped revenue streams. They’re not people, just commodities, existing to fill a demand the league apparently feels is taking away from their right to advertise. It’s not enough the performance happens under a title like ‘the PEPSI super bowl halftime show,’ even though Pepsi Co probably paid far more for that placement than any other advertiser buying a spot that particular year.
The most absurd part of this entire offer is the request that artists consider sharing a portion of future tour income. It’s no secret that appearing on the Super Bowl leads to an almost immediate jump in sales on tour revenue, but that does not mean artists are indebted to the NFL as a result of that boost. If someone got on stage at halftime and fell flat on their face, resulting in lost future profits, would the NFL be responsible for recouping the lost sales? No. And they would counter sue if anyone who tried to claim something different. That’s how bullies work. They lay claim to what is not theirs and go out of their way to ensure everyone around them feels as small and insignificant as possible.
One could argue that these new requirements help ensure the world never experiences another Janet Jackson fiasco, but that event happened ten years ago. Could the NFL still be so frightened by pop music that they feel such requirements must be implemented to ensure the cleanest, most family-friendly event possible? If so, why are Rihanna and Katy Perry contenders for next year? Coldplay are the only artists on the current short list who offer the kind of generic pop sound the league seems to desire, but they’re also the furthest thing from a ‘football band’ at radio today. Their music is good, but it’s not exactly the kind of thing that one would listen to when headed into battle (or celebrating a major victory).
What concerns me even more than the offer being presented by the NFL, however, is what will happen to the live music industry in the event no one fights back. It’s not hard to imagine major festivals and events taking cues from the NFL’s negotiation tactics and seeking new ways to raise revenue. Festivals may not have the millions of viewers the Super Bowl presents, but it can put artists in front of well over a hundred thousand people who may otherwise never see them. That reasoning is already being used to not pay many mid-level artists, so why not extend it to the headliners? Some may fight, but if they want to play in front of those crowds they will have to bend to the will of the people booking the event.
It’s almost terrifying to think, but it’s entirely possible that the fate of live music negotiations moving forward could be in the hands of Coldplay, Katy Perry, and Rihanna, but in a way it’s also true. If they do nothing and allow the NFL to steamroll their future revenue in exchange for twelve minutes of screen time they are not only selling themselves short, but making it okay for other corporations, sponsors, and booking agents to take advantage of talent. It’s up to them to take a stance, and something tells me they will. I hope so, at least.
Hello, everyone. Thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day to join us for a little music industry discussion. We were not planning to run this particular feature today, but life has a funny way of telling you what needs to be done when you least expect it (as you will soon learn). 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.
I was halfway through an editorial on stage lighting today when a new post from our friend Anthony at The Needle Drop caught my attention. In the clip, a fan wrote to Anthony asking him about his thoughts on cell phone usage at shows, and what he remembers from attending performances before smart phones. I was both fascinated and made to feel extremely old by Anthony’s response, as I had never thought of my life as having been lived in an era now known as ‘pre-smart phone,’ but I was also incredibly intrigued by the notion that such technological advancements have forever changed the way people experience live music. Before I ramble on, however, it’s only right that I share Anthony’s video first:
Most people discuss concerts and the age smart phones by beginning with the issues it presents, so that might as well be where we begin too. It’s no great secret or shocking revelation that cell phones causes light pollution, and any setting where a lack of lighting is used to set the mood is almost instantly ruined by the use of phones. Movies theaters are a common place to encounter this problem, but it can apply to concerts as well. When you’re waiting for a headliner to go on and the venue finally drops the lights, what is the first thing you notice? Phones. Lots of them. It could be any date of the tour in any city and there are at least a few people in the crowd that feel they absolutely must have the first few moments captured on their phones. Why? Who cares! It’s [insert band] and they were there, that’s all the reason needed to block the view of whoever is seated/standing behind them. Do people even watch these videos? If they do, does anyone ever ask themselves why they tried to film a clip while jumping up and down and holding a beer cup with their teeth. or do they simply hit delete and move on with their lives, never giving a second thought to the impact their actions had on other concert attendees? I hope for the former, but I assume the latter is far more often the case.
It’s not just light pollution, however, because if it were there would be far less people constantly complaining. Light is the tip of the iceberg of problems people have discovered in the age of smart phones, and it’s followed by an endlessly updating juggernaut known as social media. Between tweeting updates from the show, sharing photos on Instagram, capturing videos and pictures for Snapchat, checking email, texting with friends, and ever so often ignoring a phone call it’s not uncommon to see several people spend entire performances with their fingers wrapped tightly around a little glowing rectangle that refuses to go dim. You may even hear them complain to their friends and family about a lack of 4G, or that their ‘phone’s battery totally sucks,’ even though it’s simultaneously running a dozen apps that each require different bits of information to be shared from the device, bounced off a satellite, received by a computer, sent back via satellite, and returned to the phone within fractions of a second. Stupid, lazy technology. Why can’t you be perfect already?
Anthony talks about this a bit in his video, but there was a time not too long ago when none of this was common place at concert venues. The first sixteen years of my life I attended shows without ever seeing people with phones in hand, and even when they began to appear it wasn’t until closer to 2010 that their presence reached a point that it was, at times, overwhelming. That said, there have always been assholes in this world, and I am willing to wager that as long as there have been concerts there have been those who go to shows for all the wrong reasons and end up ruining the experience for others. Before phones, some of the common complaints overheard at shows dealt with noise levels from other people’s conversations and the pseudo tough guys who felt they could only express their excitement about the show be attempting to start mosh pits that never full took off. Instead, those tough guys ran into people who didn’t want to be covered in other people’s sweat, which gave that stranger a story to then convey to all their drunken friends, thus causing the aforementioned noise problem.
The worst noise problem I ever encountered was the first time I saw the band Mewithoutyou following the release of their sophomore album. It was a great release, but far more subtle and atmospheric than their raucous debut. As a result, several people in the audience who came with hopes of hearing music worth mousing to found themselves faced with an evening of acoustic instruments and sing-a-longs. They were respectful at first, for the most part, but as the evening carried on the number of random conversations taking place throughout the crowd began to build, which in turn considerably raised the overall noise level. You could see the frustration on the band’s face, but they powered on as all great bands do, and the moments I was able to make out through the white noise of distracted concert goers was sublime.
Noise pollution is still a problem today, but often it takes a back seat to smartphones because people are too caught up in their glowing screens to attempt a conversation with anyone by their side. That is one unintentional bonus to peoples’ obsession with their phones, I guess, but nine times out of ten I would gladly take a few loud voices over a room of glowing phones. You may disagree, and that’s okay too. Link me to your blog on this very topic and I’ll share it.
I’m not sure the music world will ever find a solution to the problems caused by smartphones, but there are those in the industry who are trying their best to curve its impact on the overall concert experience. Neutral Milk Hotel, for example, asks fans to not film or photograph any part of their performance. People still do, of course, but the number of people doing so are far less than they would be in a situation where no one had asked anything of the audience. People can follow instructions, believe it or not, but it’s needs to be presented in a way that does not come across as being too stern or threatening. As an artist, you have the power to try and downplay phone usage through leveraging similar tactics, but at the end of the day people are going to behave however they please. Treat fans with respect and ask them to do the same for each other, you never know what might happen.
For those of you reading this who stand in crowds instead of performing on stage, you also have the power to make a difference in these situations. Bullying or otherwise taunting those who use their phones extensively will get you nowhere, but taking the time to politely ask those around you to put their phone away is completely fine. They might not listen, of course, and in some cases they may even say some rather nasty things to you, but at least you will have expressed your opinion on the matter. You can also try to get to the show early enough that the number of people between you and the stage is low, which in turn lessens the likelihood of phones blocking your view later in the night.
I do think it’s important to note that not all cell phone use is bad. Back in April I had the opportunity to see Miley Cyrus perform at TD Garden in Boston, and at one point in the evening she asked everyone to pull out their phones as a way of illuminating the room. The visual that created, as I witnessed thousands of tiny screens bouncing up and down to booming top 40 production, is one I will never forget. Similar effects can be achieved in smaller venues too.
Additionally, several artists have begun developing apps that can enhance an individual’s concert experience. Dan Deacon, for example, created an app that syncs with and responds to his live show. A video of that application in action can be viewed below:
There may be days when it seems smartphone technology has backed itself into a creative wall, but I think we have only scratched the surface of innovation as far as the crossover between music and the little devices we all carry in our pockets are concerned. The problems caused by cell phone use at shows is bothersome, yes, but the possibilities for how those phones could be used to better the future concert going experience is almost too enticing too resist. The best thing you can do is take it upon yourself to be conscious of your own phone usage and encourage others to do the same. Some will listen, others will not, but at least you will have made an effort to better the world for everyone else.
