Another CMJ Music Marathon has come and gone, but if you missed out on the panels this year, or if you’re curious of how this conference gets on, let me piece together my adventures, showing just how easy it is to be fully immersed during such a stay in NYC.
Day 1, Tuesday | My plane lands at JFK at 9:58am, leaving enough time to trek through Brooklyn to drop my things at my host’s place near Prospect Park. Badge pick-up and the daytime panels are held at NYU at Washington Square, so I arrive there in time to get my press credentials before getting settled at my first panel, Galleries Are Venues, too! I’m out of luck at this one because the room is at capacity. Bummer.
At 2pm I score second-row seats for Advanced PR Techniques For the Digital World. When discussing what is the most critical of all promo material, Jon Ostrow of Cyper PR suggested it’s the bio that still reigns king. Mark Satlof, Senior VP at Shore Fire Media, believes an artist should have a variety of fifty photos that really pop to get a consumer’s attention. We are told Kickstarter has now become a device for obtaining press, more than it is a tool for securing funds. We are warned that many journalists today are overworked and underpaid, so getting people to just spell band names correctly or getting the right promo shot for an article is becoming another hassle for publicists to deal with.
At 3:30pm I walk over to another panel, Modern Merch: Beyond the Tour T-Shirt, where we hear that 45 billion songs are streamed each month, and $2.2 billion in merch is sold each year, with 85% of that sold at venues. Mary Sparr of Print Mafia recounts how Mumford & Sons recently made their tickets resemble passports, and that fans could get an original stamp at each show they attended, creating almost a tribal following in the last year. Musician Alexandra Starlight shares her passion for vinyl, releasing to her fans never-before-made clear vinyl made with rainbow glitter.
Around 5:30pm I find myself at the official CMJ Press Mixer. I still don’t see myself as a writer, though I do write for TVD, so I feel obligated to unapologetically walk up to random people, introduce myself, get some cards, and drink for free. I’m here for all of thirty minutes.
I end the night at the Easy Apple, The Vinyl District, and BBiB Records showcase at Arlene’s Grocery. There’s video of some of the performances online, shot by FirstLive Studio. We had such a successful night, incredible turnout, and seriously my favorite lineup at any showcase I have been a part of.
Day 2, Wednesday | I wake up a little worse for wear already, and get invited to some mysterious outing for Daughter. Kris of Black Taxi and I get picked up in a Mercedes-Benz bus along with about 20 other people, which takes us into New Jersey to a pier. We get on some crazy-old boat where we participate in the shooting of a video for MTVHive and Yours Truly with Daughter performing stripped-down versions of “Landfill” and “Youth.” So inspiring to be in an intimate setting with this band, potted plants, wooden chairs and all. Can’t wait to see the video!
Back to NYU for more panels, this time for Fan-durance: Sourcing Funding From Fandom. Benji Roberts, Founder of PledgeMusic, reminds us that it’s all about giving your fans things to do, not just stuff to buy. Examples are given to keep things fresh with consumers, like offering hand-written rewards and mystery boxes and playing living room shows.
We are reminded that all Kickstarter campaigns need to have realistic goals, and we can accomplish this by calculating what 5% of our newsletter and Facebook fans would be, because statistics show only 20% of these people will open your email, and 5% are likely to click through. Some pointers include asking fans to share Kickstarter links, instead of asking them to “purchase” or “donate,” always thanking each person on their personal page, and asking for collaboration, not for help.
I bounce on over to my resting place for a nap before running over to Union Pool to catch up with Team Clermont for their showcase featuring Matthew E. White, Twin Tigers, and Opossom. It proves difficult finding anyone in the packed venue, but I still somehow manage to bump into their Director of Radio Promotion, Shil Patel, for a quick, “Hello.”
My night ends with a repeat performance from The Revivalists at Rockwood Stage 2. I am not surprised yet another crowd is eating this band up, so much so that even Governors Ball tweets about their set. Wow. I still have three more days to go. My feet hurt.
Day 3, Thursday | On day three I land at the panel Replacing the Record Label around 2pm, where Amaechi Uzoigwe of Official.fm emphasizes, “The first mistake you can make is spending all your money on the album. Spend that making one great track.” This was in response to the practice of bands exhausting all their funds on making a full-length, then having nothing to help promote it or to get them on the road.
I don’t know that I agree, personally, with doing everything you can to make one great recorded song, but maybe recording an EP rather than a 16-song record is a good compromise. This is also the second panel to reference the recent Grizzly Bear article, a must-read.
3:30pm and it’s time for what will end up being the most entertaining panel of the conference, International Hop-Scotch: Touring Outside the U.S. Of all of the panels I have seen in my years in this industry, Eric Longley, the Director of Taxation for Prager & Fenton London was the most insightful, humorous, and engaging moderator to see. Basically we are walked through the entire process of touring in another territory, from how to decide where the demand is (using analytics from FB, Youtube, Bands In Town), to measuring your budget, figuring out taxes, and securing visas. Musicians who are reading: go to Australia.
Thursday night calls for a plethora of mini-meetings with new and old friends. I won’t highlight these for you, but just know all the running back and forth from Brooklyn to Manhattan for a drink here, a meal or coffee there (sometimes in the rain and carrying a laptop) is brutal. I sink into a slight depression around this time.
I stop by the Google Musician’s Gallery event, where they’re taking free headshots of artists, Little Green Cars performs, and we learn how to sell music using Google Play. Somewhere an unflattering picture of me is floating around the internet from this gathering.
The bands I manage to catch include The Canon Logic, The Stationary Set, and a very good friend of mine, Kent Odessa. I used to work with Kent in a former band, and was so proud to see him doing something on his own, with fresh eyes, and with the same fully-developed vision I have known him for. With two pretty girls (see “Simply Irresistible”) and some new players, I would highly recommend ducking across town to see his show for yourself.
Day 4, Friday | Are you still with me? The next two days just run into each other, so I will keep it to the point. 12:30pm and it’s Modern Barriers To Entry. The most interesting part of this discussion is the debate regarding different approaches for online sensations like Kreayshawn and PSY. “Gucci Gucci” versus “Gangnam Style.” Ugh. By the way, 70% of Lady Gaga’s Twitter followers were bought for her. You’re welcome.
A&R=Arithmetic+ Research is a slight yawn for most of the audience, it seems everyone excluding Travis Rosenblatt from Warner Records upset some section of attendees at one point or another, simply for being in a business involved with mixing music and money.
The 3rd Party: Hiring Out Help is a decent way to end the panels, being that I am technically the owner of a3rd party. The most important thing for the musicians in the room comes from Tiny Monster‘s Jess Beston, who says, “Every Get allows you to get a bigger Get.” Perfectly spoken and very much true. Roy LaManna of Trendsetter Media & Marketing referred to the previous A&R panel when stating, “I disagree with everything the last panel said. With all this “sending of smoke signals” artists are spreading themselves too thin. They are now being too social.” No one said the experts would not contradict themselves.
Friday night I hang back at Rock Shop to catch Matt Singer followed by Casey Shea, whom I had been wanting to see live for some time. This was the only night I actually got to sit back and have some fun with friends, whom I do not regret getting sloshed with for a minute. I needed it.
Day 5, Saturday | I thought I could see a couple shows and turn in early, but I spend the evening seeing Swayback, Barcelona, Aunt Martha, and a repeat performance of The Midnight Hollow, who as of this week are the new Stereogum “Band to Watch.” I cannot stop telling everyone about these guys, and I am so eager to get my hands on their first recording I could cry. I catch a drink with a couple friends back over in Brooklyn at Spike Hill and manage to catch my plane at 6am, twelve minutes before departure.
CMJ 2012: Success.
