sxsw, rome burning or something being born? - la times’ ann powers
Pharrell at the Fader Mag Party, SXSW 2008. Photo Nilina Mason-Campbell
I didn’t need to attend any of the music panels at SXSW this year to feel the malaise that is sweeping the music business. One five minute trek through the trade show proved to me everything that I already know - the cornerstone of this conference and the business upon the back of which the music conference was originally founded, the recorded music industry, is being swept aside by a tsunami of technological advancement - that’s not hyperbole by the way, no the hyperbole lies with the companies who are promising to be the saviors of the music business by helping you, the musician, make a living making music - if you are willing to take the snake oil that’s being sold.. Let’s call them the www.we-can-save-your-career.coms.
Here’s a list of just a few of the companies promising untold riches or something to bands and musicians (add .com to the end of each name here..) SongNumbers, Myxer, ArtistXite, BandFarm, mTraks, SonicBids (the one I dislike the most), Muzu, Gydget, ArtistForce (SonicBids part 2), aaahhh the list goes on and on. They offer up a mix of opportunities that include getting your music sold as ringtones, getting a gig, getting your music in to the hands of A&R folks, although last time I checked an A&R person was a rare sighting perhaps going the way of the Dodo, etc, etc…. The bottom line seems to be that if you are happy to pay these companies then you join a lottery and wait for your winning ticket to come in, or you could have a free MySpace and Facebook page and save your money and work hard for yourself. I believe the latter is a great option.
I have been busy writing up a piece about my week in Austin and I’ll post it soon but meanwhile the LA Times’ Ann Powers, who I respect immensely, has her say about the festival here. It’s an oddly ambivalent take on SXSW and the future of the music business as the first two sentences of her article suggest - “At times, this year’s South by Southwest Music Conference felt like Rome burning. Sometimes it felt like something being born.” And she goes on - “And much of the time, it felt like pop music culture as usual — striving artists, supportive or indifferent listeners, and plenty of talk about cash and creativity, everything blurring within the sound bleed of an unabsorbable number of performances. More than 1,700 acts tried to get noticed over five days — and that’s just what was happening on the 80 participating stages.”
Absorb that for a minute - “1,700 acts tried to get noticed over five days…..” Now think about the snake oil merchants. And then think about the future of music and what is really the heartbeat of those five days in Austin as Powers points out but doesn’t really elucidate or comment upon further - “A whole second festival of unofficial, semiprivate parties gave several of the long weekend’s most anticipated acts a chance to impress crowds several times, ultimately taking much of the buzz out of any one performance.”
Next year I figure I can save the $800 I paid for a platinum pass this year by just attending the unofficial parties. I don’t need to sit through a panel or go to a trade conference to sense which way the wind is blowing….to be continued.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:17 am
the “companies” will still roam around the head of the long tail when all the action is at……well…..the end of the tail.
March 18th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Did I read this right? Did someone say Austin Powers?
March 18th, 2008 at 8:58 am
@Robb, nice one!
March 18th, 2008 at 9:14 am
I went to SXSW for the first time this year. Yay. I was at a loss to figure out who any of the speakers on the panels I went to intended to be speaking to. What I learned from the Music Director’s panel was that music directors don’t have a lot of control over the music they choose anyways, and that music directors like to tell lots of anecdotal not-that-funny stories. I learned from the song publishing panel that (gasp!) licensing songs is becoming a more stable income stream for people than selling albums. Of course, when it came to HOW it all works, it was self evident; have a hit song. So perhaps the panelists assumed that everyone in the audience had just struck it big in the radio charts but where clueless as to what master rights were? As someone who thought he was up to speed on what they were saying, but didn’t exactly have a chart-topper to lend Pepsi for the next superbowl ad, felt a bit belittled.
The shows were great of course, but I agree with the Ann Powers article. This is a major scramble, but its less clear what everyone is scrambling for.
March 18th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Ha! I’m glad you made a dig at Sonicbids. I was looking for some support in my dislike of the culture that preys on eager musicians.
March 18th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
@Justin, you hit the nail on the head. For many years I’ve been going down to SXSW and after being on many panels and having tapes (yes tapes!) and CDs thrust into my hands afterward I realized very quickly that, just like Sonicbids, SXSW was selling a dream not a reality for $400 admission. I then took to being a little harsh on my panels whenever someone asked me “how do I get a record deal?” or “how do I get an agent?”…I would reply that if you had to pay $400 to come and listen to us panelist spout hot air about how to get this and that out of the music industry then you should go home and look in the mirror and ask yourself - “do I have talent?” Maybe being a musician wasn’t the right thing to be doing for those folks but falling for the myth that you’d get a deal by going to SXSW was unfortunately the price they had to pay for their stab at fame…
March 18th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
well there is plenty of content out there that needs music. You definitely dont need a chart topper to make some money in music licensing. The biggest problem is when you position yourself to have your music licensed through an administrator/music licensor and they dont do a very good job quantifying the value of the license and rather than make 3000 for a license they say, no thanks the song is worth 10k…and some other dude ends of getting the cash. So yeah …and performance royalties..I am a big proponent of performance royalties, its the gift that keeps on giving in the music licensing world. If you are a writer then sign up with a PRO like ASCAP or BMI they are there for a reason.
March 18th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
my above post was directed @ justin.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Dave, you and others are correct in your analysis. The sheer volume of acts simply drives the point home. Regardless of your talent, even if you have “buzz”, your odds of making a living in music are miniscule. It’s similar with writing novels or screenwriting. While the distribution channels for those media have not change as much as the models in the music industry due to technolgy, the odds of making a living are miniscule, and talent is not determinative of much-many talented people fail, and some hacks prevail. In publishing and screenwriting there have always been agencies and companies that will take your money and “promote” you, and there have always been (expensive) seminars and “conferences” that purport to give you a way to get on the inside track.
So it is not surprising that the same market forces are coming to bear on indie music-if people want an avenue to the fast track (even if it is a chimera) there will be someone who will create a an on ramp for them, and take their money. Sad, but it was ever thus….
March 20th, 2008 at 9:29 am
I\’ve heard a number of good constructive criticisms about the Sonicbids platform, as I happen to work there and used to manage their Artist Relations customer service team, and we\’re always open to discuss ideas and concerns directly with artists, but in this case I think some of the critics are missing some of the point. Yes, it\’s expensive to attend SXSW as a badge holder, but if you go into it with a business plan for your ROI (return on investment), which I think Panos (the sonicbids founder) did a good job covering in his panel, tracking out, \”how am i going to manage this conference so that i make the right connections to earn my $500 back,\” then you\’re going to have a lot more success then simply going in with the idea that the worth will be handed to you. I understand the feeling that it should, but that\’s not how any sort of business conference goes.
SXSW actually provides an online directory of all badge holder attendees PRIOR to the conference starting, and many use that as a way to make initial connections and set up meetings, but way to many artists and agents and promoters fail to utilize that tool and come unprepared to capitalize on all those folks being there. Of course there are criticisms that SXSW does not work in the same industry capacity as it used to, where a band could come play and get \”discovered\” on the spot. I think that SXSW doesn\’t work that way, but I don\’t think the conference bills itself as that either. But the deeper point about an event not meeting expectations is a solid one, and one we deal with at Sonicbids a lot.
As for preying on the dreams of artists, one call to our fantastic artist relations crew — to find out more about the service and good ways to use it and constructive ways to perform due diligence and potentially NOT use it in certain/many situations — will go a long way to dispel that myth, I think. So many listings and opportunities are extremely tempting, of course, but there are ways to determine prior to making a submission if it\’s going to be the right thing to try to go for rather than treating submissions like lottery tickets.
As for ArtistForce, I spoke with them a bit, and they seem to be primarily about the contracting end of performance arrangements. To be fair, calling it “Sonicbids #2″ is a bit off as we haven’t even seen their service in action yet. I’d encourage you to be patient on the comparisons there. I\’d encourage you to be patient on the comparisons there.
As always, if you ever have ideas or concerns about Sonicbids, feel free to share them with us… we\’re happy to listen, and we always want to keep improving the service for artists.
Benjy
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Benjy Kantor
Business Development Representative
Sonicbids
Artist Relations can be reached at http://www.sonicbids.com/support/
March 20th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Hi Benjy,
Thanks for jumping in and thanks for your well-reasoned post. Yet I do have to take you up on your comment about SXSW falling as you say into the hopper of “business conference.” In the 17 years I’ve attended the conference it has never explicitly posed as a business conference and even the PR that was sent out by the SXSW folks this year still pushes it as a music conference and still promotes its ability for you the band or artist to “be discovered” at SXSW. My point is simple, all the buzz bands year over year have always arrived pre-anointed by the powers that be in the music industry. I can not give you one single example of an undiscovered band rocking everyone’s world so much that they got signed on the spot. It would be great to dispel the myth that that is a remotely possible outcome. [You probably read the Ann Powers and Jon Pareles' SXSW round up articles, they are unsure of where the conference is going I believe.]
I would argue that dispelling that myth is not part of your business model at Sonicbids, you *do* the sell the dream. As a professional musician I know exactly what it takes to get my band, Gang of Four, in front of anyone, from our fans to music business types, to filmmakers for soundtrack work, to getting on festivals - it takes a small army and we are still not successful at attaining all that we desire. One thing I do know that works well is always putting our money in the right place. We never had to pay anyone to do anything for us and again I would argue that if you have to pay for a service that may or may not give you a leg up then something is wrong at the most basic level of one’s career - the talent part.
The obvious choice for unsigned artists is to market themselves heavily through music blogs such as this one, leverage anything they have to get on to one of the unofficial parties at SXSW and then hope for the best as nothing is guaranteed and you certainly can’t buy a guarantee. For me personally the heart of SXSW is all the parties surrounding it - I believe much can be learned by networking those, see how other bands do things first hand and be exposed to both sides of the experience…the panels at SXSW have never provided anywhere near that kind of exposure. And the parties are free.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:37 am
Great point about the parties. I’d agree that those are great ways to see great bands or get a chance to get a showcase. But I think it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the only folks to see are the “buzz” bands that do seem to be “pre-anointed.” For those who are really looking for off-the-beaten-path type of stuff can easily see tons of great music that isn’t label/agency-buzzed. One of the best groups I saw this year was Harley Poe, a crazy punk-americana (for lack of a better term) from Indianapolis, and I certainly “discovered” them that night as a fan without the buzz… I was there for a great avant-garde art-rock band before them, Everthus the Deadbeats, and another fan of theirs suggested I stay, and it was great. That kind of stuff is everywhere at SXSW, and doesn’t mean you have to stand in line for the R.E.M.s or Band of Horseses, etc. If you’re only there to see the buzz-bands, you’re missing out.
Though I also admit that you can get a lot of business work done there as a musician without even having a showcase, it’s true. To say that just because it’s a “music conference” doesn’t mean it’s not a “business conference” would be a little shortsighted. For many, music is their business, and I’d encourage artists to think about theirs that way, too. I don’t mean artists should sell out if given the opportunity, but ideally you’re able to treat it like a business to meet your musical goals (either part-time or as a career).
If you feel SXSW is misrepresenting themselves, let ‘em know. The folks I know there seem open to constructive criticism, though patience is important as the event/organization has been around a while.
Benjy
March 21st, 2008 at 9:28 am
Benjy,
I certainly don’t believe for one minute that SXSW is misrepresenting itself, just that the PR spin and the way the PR is picked up points to the conference as a Music conference and a way for bands to maybe get a deal. I think that’s been an unwavering position for many years. That will only change when the music business becomes a second thought and the unofficial parties become the “official” conference after all…..
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:05 am
Great discussion. It seems that “getting a deal” has become too much of a focus too quickly for young bands/musicians. When Nirvana went uber platinum the whole model suddenly changed. Remember when the line between DIY and major labels was clear and defined? I’m curious, did Gang of Four come out of the gates with a business plan or were all these considerations brought up after the band had enjoyed some success? Is this a relatively new phenomenon or is it as old as the business?
It seems to me that the fundamental issue is that young musicians see music as a career instead of an artistic endeavor. The fact that SXSW is a household name instead of an industry insider convention says a lot about the state of things. Your points about talent ring true indeed
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:27 am
@Matthew,
Yes the focus is all wrong…bands are now in the T-shirt business not the music business, they need to act accordingly. I can only wish that Gang of Four had come out of the gate with a biz plan….
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Mr. Allen you said it yourself - in another thread I believe - if you’re trying to be the cool kid on the block, you ain’t… something like that. Anyway, the point is, you need to be GOOD or at least entertaining. True talent is often overlooked, not by an audience, but by the musician. I’ve always held the adage “If you are good, the audience will come” maybe not enough to support your iced mocha habit, but an audience nonetheless. Few bands can make a career on shtick alone (anymore). So why worry about the biz plan? Wait until you can fill a room in your hometown before setting out to conquer the world. Gas is too expensive, anyway.