From Underground to Mainstream

I’ve been doing some thinking about what happens to a hip hop artist and their musical career.

There is a pattern I have seen developing when an artist decides to step out of the underground shadow and into the mainstream light. Yes an artist is developing, but the lyrical quality seriously suffers when this happens.  The rawness, the emotional angst (perhaps caused by trying to make it) just is not present within the CD anymore.  Perhaps the difficulties both financially and within the industry fuel the edginess.  And once an artists feels they have made it this is no longer fuel for the fire that creates such heartfelt lyrics.

Lyrical content is a major issue for me, because if you want instrumentals go listen to electronic music or something of that nature. But if you’re a hip hop artist lyrics are a major part of your presence. I don’t just want to hear a beat with booming bass drowning everything out, I want to hear what you have to say over that beat.  I want to hear problems and issues being faced, something that makes me think.  But I feel once an artist goes mainstream there’s just an endless stream of “dumbed down” garbage, with each artists’ message being inherently identical.

So what causes this switch, the artist themselves or the industry?  The need to fit in or the need to express an image of material success? Lyrical content should be consistent no matter where an artist is in their career, the content is one of the main driving factors for whether or not an artist is liked by fans. But it seems as though there is a different filter for underground and mainstream content, and these filters are what help or hinder lyrical content across the hip hop genre.

If Music Is a Need

If music is a need, then there’s a service to be provided.  This is where music promotion plays an essential role. If you enjoy music, festivals and concerts are the best way to experience it. But it becomes a matter of informing people about them.

So what is the service to be provided exactly?  Well, it could be the fact that your favorite band is right in front of you playing live.  Bringing artists to a particular region can be one of the greatest aspects of music for a supporter.  Rhymesayers recently finished a tour around Europe, and the artists under that label could not stop saying how excited, happy, and enveloping the fans were wherever they played.

So is that it? Is live music the only provided service? Of course not, but it is perhaps the most important aspect.  Insomniac Events takes this one step further, as I have mentioned in earlier blogs, by creating a theme for the festival.  By paying attention to every little detail they manage to create a different world for people to experience for three days, thus strengthening the overall service provided, which is why they are so successful from year to year.

So the more you are able to provide for your customers and supporters, the more loyalty they will have for you. The greater the perceived service, the greater the demand for your commodity.

Think differently? Feel free to comment!

And here’s a video that describes my feelings towards music. Enjoy!

Is Music a Need?

I’ve been doing some thinking lately about music, and I’ve come to the conclusion that music is a need for humanity.  Now why is it a need and not a want, because I feel it’s been prewired into our brains just like the need for food or shelter.  Just like there is a variety of food there is also a variety of music, provided to suite people’s needs.

Think about this, remember when you were young, and you needed to be soothed?  Music filled that need, helped calm you down and set your mind at ease.  Does that still not stand today?  You want to get excited for good time, calm your nerves, curb boredom, get inspired, I guarantee music is present in the process. But why is there a need, what drives the necessity for so many people to indulge in listening or creating music?

I think the need for humanity to explore and express themselves in an artistic manner drives the need for creation. But I’m still grappling with the idea of people needing to listen to the music being created, and why there are so many unique genres of music.  Maybe it’s the need for people to be heard that drives the need to listen, or perhaps it’s the need for entertainment and imagination that drives people to listen to music.  Perhaps emotions are what truly drive people to listen to different genres, just like babies’ emotions drive a mother to sing to them.

In the end, I think it’s all about what people want to get out of the experience, so emotions are an intricate necessity for music to exist.  There may be other forces that drive the need for music, but at the core, emotions drive needs, which is why music is needed by everyone.

 

 

Is There a Way to Decide What Artists to Show?

For any given venue or festival, deciding what artists to show is a very important question in relation to the overall process of running that particular venue or fesitval.  Of course the greatest concern for the company would be the cost for each artist but there are other variables involved in the decision that should be taken into consideration.

For instance, location is an important factor to consider when deciding what artists you would like to have perform.  Not only where the concert is held is important but also the people attending.  The willingness of the audience  to travel long distances will ultimately be determined by what artists are performing.  What I’m trying to get at is how there is almost like a triangle between location, audience, and artists.  The location and artists should help you identify and attract the kind of audience you want.  Where your venue is held will determine the immediate demographic which may be readily available. For example, The Knitting Factory’s immediate demographic is University students and ultimately the Reno/Sparks area. However, what artists they decide to showcase will allow them to attract other people from different areas such as Truckee or even farther away, thus allowing them to expand their audience.

So which is more important the audience or the location? I’m not entirely sure but I have been trying to figure this out for quite sometime.  Please feel free to leave a comment about which one you believe is more important.

Music Festivals and Equipment, Is There a Strategy?

The next important decision to be made when considering a music festival is your equipment. What you decide to use will help to better determine the overall cost of the festival.

For instance most festivals are usually outside and I believe this strategy is used so event companies can layout just how the flow of people will be directed.  There needs to be a way for people to move around with the least congestion possible or sit for a while if they get too tired or hot.  This can be very difficult to do if there are 100,000+ attending.  Additionally, holding a festival outside determines what artists will play where in your overall layout.  Utilizing different stages allows for not only more performing artists and variety but also an overall better experience because the music isn’t all clashing together at once; its separated and distinct. Also, hosting an event outside allows you to identify and pick places where art or food tents can be placed. An outside festival also gives you the ability to create your own world.  You may set up stages however you wish, put up sculptures and themed galleries that enhance the environment and theme of the festival, or construct rides to provide greater entertainment, which brings me to my next point.

The theme and layout will help determine what equipment will be necessary to achieve your objectives.  How many stages are required and the size of each will determine how much equipment will be needed such as lighting, scaffolding and speakers.  Also, tents big enough to provide sufficient cover from weather and fencing to keep people contained within that area will also need to be considered.  Also if there is a theme for the festival every little detail of how the festival is constructed needs to be thought through in order to provide the experience you want to give to ticket holders and a reasonable estimate for the equipment needed for that goal. Not much can be done during the day other than having art for people to look at, creative backdrops for stages such as Tomorrowland, or providing something else for people to do like having rides or sculptures to touch. However at night things can get creative, lights can hang from trees, there can be  for people to walk through, there are endless possibilities.

This can be tough, but it is easy to see for ticket holders whether or not thought was put into the process.  This can make or break a festival in certain respects, but if done well can assist in producing a consistently successful festival.  Please share any additional information on perfecting a strategy!

Here’s a montage of video footage shot on location atInsomniac Event’s Nocturnal festival during setup!

Music Festivals and Artists, The Need for a Middle Man?

Once you’ve decided when and where you want to have a festival the next most important decision is likely to be who you want to perform at your venue.  Depending on how you set up a festival there is an opportunity to have multiple stages and a variety of artists or maybe just one main stage where each act performs.

The main contributor to the success of any music festival is the music itself!  The trouble though is actually getting the artists to be at the show; although audio problems are also an issue (but that’s for a later post).  It’s hard to bring big headlining artists to perform because they are well known, thus the more famous the artist the more likely their price will be higher than others to do a show.  I’ve discovered that this is one of the main hurdles for an events management company such as Insomniac Events; the amount of capital necessary to bring in artists with worldwide appeal must be extremely high.

Any headlining artist knows there is a demand for their brand within the music community, so the problem is not within being able to reach fans but within the artists ability to put on a live show. This is why there is a need for a “middle man”, because the artists needs an events company just as much as the festival needs the artists.   Here’s where a company such as Insomniac steps in.  They provide the venue and the equipment (which can be very expensive), the artists provides their music.  However the need for an artist and their work provides significant leverage when price is negotiated for their appearance.  This is why companies need to consider carefully just how the demand for a festival pans out over given geographical areas because if they pay excessive amounts of money for a festival that doesn’t sell out they will not be in business for too long.  However if they sell out year after year this may provide leverage for the company in negotiations so an equitable deal may be reached.

Here’s to living life through music, send any thoughts you have my way!

Music Festivals and Location, How Do They Relate?

Referencing my first blog, it’s always been hard for me to pin down exactly what I want to do with my life.  I’ve gone from wanting to be weapons instructor for the Navy, to a Formula 1 race car driver, to a professional skier but none of these have worked out.

When I began going to the University of Nevada, Reno it was as if I was walking around in a day dream, with no real goal or direction.  Now that I am currently finishing my last year I have had a good amount of time to consider just what I want to do with my life after graduation.  The answer has been becoming increasing clear; I want to run a music festival just like Insomniac Events.

Music has been a part of my life ever since I can remember.  I would like to keep it that way and share with others the powerful effect music has had on me.  I cannot think of a better way to achieve this, other than having a multitude of artists come to a venue and perform for crowds. My education here at UNR has been rather lengthy but I have been starting to see just how what I have learned correlates to the music industry and festivals.

When operating a festival there are multiple steps and actions needing to take place in order to have a successful music experience.  For instance, location is one of the most important aspects to think about.  How many people attend and where the concert is held (i.e. concert hall, club, outdoors) have huge implications on just what location may provide the most benefit for both the festival and the people attending.  It would be beneficial to event coordinators to consider whether they want to negotiate where a venue is held or possibly buy land to have a permanent spot from year to year; like Superfly had to do for Bonnaroo.  Additionally location also determines the ability to provide the experience you want.  Do you want it contained and easily manageable, or a widespread open environment such as Coachella?  For Insomniac, they hosts most of their festivals outside to provide not only entertainment for 100,000+ not able to fit indoors, but also to provide an aesthetic experience for fans by having rides and creating a different world for three days

However you slice it; location is important because it sets up what artists you want to have perform, what equipment will be used, and also dictates the structure of the festival and organization of your company.

Music For the Week 3

I read recently that music affects levels of dopamine in your brain just like drugs and sex do.  I definitely agree because I get “goose bumps” and can’t help but nod my head when a good tune is played because for me; the music I can readily identify with hits me the most.   And one genre I’ll love ‘til death is hip hop, and I draw a fine line between what is hip hop and what I consider rap.  Hip hop is quality music, unique, has to be sought out and makes you think.  While rap is everywhere, sounds identical, and spews shallow content.

 

The Loyalists – Get What You Give

I heard this song about six months ago and ran into it again while looking through my uploaded videos. The Loyalists are described by their Facebook page as having “clever lyrics…weaved over hard, melodic beats to keep your head nodding while demanding a conscious mind from listeners”.

Perfect, my bread and butter.  Their song “Get What You Give” is a good example of just how those clever lyrics wind their way around soft piano chords and wishful violins.  The chorus is particularly appealing to me because these guys actually talk about something useful, something that makes you think.  This is done by crafting creative lyrics like, “We will not lose until we stop trying, these are my views which I’ve been supplying, I lay the frame, you get what you give”.  Definitely a must hear if you’re a fan of true hip hop.

 

ProblemAddicts – Dedication

The next song is done by a five man group called ProblemAddicts.  A lot of hip hop has a pretty melodic feel to it, but these guys bring a little more of a hard style to their work.  Their Facebook page says they pride themselves, “on the ability to kickstart any party while also facing the issues of today”.  I like that because most people kickstart a party with some generic “Lil’ Somebody or Other” radio rap bullshit versus something real like this.

The song also features Edo G, one of my favorite hip hop artists.  He only shows his face on conscious tracks, when somebody actually has some to say such as the dedication it takes to provide quality music, the struggle to find listeners, and the hard times endured in an attempt to make it in a music industry saturated with sell outs.  You want to find out about the hip hop culture, then listen up!

 

Collective Efforts – Touch My Soul

This last tune I have listened to over and over again and is done by a group called Collective Efforts.  “Touch My Soul” does exactly that, starting off with an inspirational quote about considering what role you play in the world.  Then heartfelt chords and soulful lyrics combine effortlessly to help this song really hit home.  How so? By adding little bits of wisdom spread throughout the song with lyrics like,

“One step forward in the right direction, is better than another step setted in the wrong. Keep the ball rollin’ when you try something fresh, and you can find my evidence embedded in this song. Let it alone if it don’t even feel good, there’s so many ways you can look at your life.  So many things you can do if you still could, if only you could step back and look at it twice”.  This is definitely a must hear!

Feel free to comment or share other bands you feel are exceptional in their work!

Viral Videos As an Acceptable Success Metric?

Finger Tips Music wrote an essay a little bit ago wrestling with the fact that some people judge the success of an artist or song by how many views a video has on the internet. The author of the article argues for the position that valuing the success of an artist based on a video going viral is completely ridiculous.  The author uses an interesting point of how valuing viral is “like being guided, for entertainment, from car wreck to car wreck, while the museums and theaters remain empty”.  To me, this sounds as if people are spending more time paying attention to and valuing the latest online video more than concerts and live events, which is where the real value can be seen.  The internet has brought about a new way to distribute music but should it really be valued that highly?

Sure, I can see using internet sales perhaps as a good metric for success, but like the author argues, using clicks or views of a viral video to value the success of your band is illogical.  Furthermore other more reasonable ways to measure the performance of your band and its music could be attendance at shows or CD’s and mp3’s sold. Additional measures that might not be as effective for valuing success but are interesting ways of measuring it could be “likes” on your Facebook fan page, or followers on Twitter.

The quality of the music and the content expressed may also be important aspects of your music you may want to take a look at as well if the level of success is not up to par. Now while a whole lot of weight might not be placed on social media metrics like the ones mentioned above, placing emphasis on the correct ways of measuring success is key in determining how your band is performing and whether or not some changes might need to take place.

But hey, music and business are always changing; it’s all about keeping up! Feel free to leave your thoughts below.

Tough Time Marketing Your Music To the Public?

Music Think Tank has had some great insight into the world of music and the industry that has arisen because of the fact that so many people just love music.  Just recently an interesting piece was written about how a major label would go about marketing an emerging artist’s work.  The author feels the way in which a major label goes about marketing musical content for a new artist is quite; well, apparent for lack of a better word.  It’s a “no brainer” how an emerging artist will give away more for free while an established artist will likely ask you to pay for a mixtape or CD, but the author feels that people don’t readily see this immediately or understand why bands engage in this behavior.

The author makes an important point about how most people do not see how music is marketed for a new artist.  Being fairly new and unknown, perhaps people do not pay attention or look for how music is marketed by the artist until they become famous. The article describes two points in an artist’s career, critical mass and national recognition. The author, Chau, finds it funny how once someone hears of an “upcoming” artist they aren’t really new or emerging anymore, in other words they have passed critical mass.  By this point the artist is transitioning into an established artist and can monetize their musical content more easily due to national recognition.

Chau has been seeing just how much common sense and human psychology come into play within the music scene and has wondered how they interrelate when it comes to trying to market music effectively. And I too have wondered just what happens “behind closed doors”.  How do new, upcoming bands with immense potential actually show and market this to the world?  Should they broadcast themselves on every possible level, do they give out free product?  I am slowly seeing this trend play out; artists post their work on Youtube, Pandora, and other music sites such as The Kollection.  They give out free mixtapes, shirts, and promos such as “get 3 songs free!” all in an effort to create word of mouth marketing.

Well folks, getting your name out amongst all the noise in the music industry is the hardest part, but if done correctly the music will speak for itself.