I have always been one to say I would play any opportunity I got. This included charity gigs, parties in my friend's basement, shows I booked myself and, of course, battle of the bands I entered. It didn’t matter if I made or lost money. I just wanted to play. This should be the attitude of every band. Just play. It doesn’t matter if it’s for two people or two thousand people. Play for the love of playing. Now for those who read my little rant on "Playing in music festivals", you’ll notice that what I have to say about BOTB is somewhat similar, but keep in mind, this is not an article written for the Globe & Mail. I speak merely from experience. No real research has been done on my part. I’ve played in a lot of battles in my time. I’ve won a few and lost many. I didn’t necessarily agree with the whole BOTB vibe. Bands competing against bands? Bands are supposed to pull together and help each other out, not go to war with one another. I realize that now, but at the time all I wanted to do was play and have the chance to win some studio time because none of us had enough money to book studio time on our own. One thing to remember is that the people judging these things are not necessarily authority figures of any kind. They may not be the president of Universal records. In most cases they are just friends of the organizers. This becomes even more so the case for BOTB that are organized by small local bars. From what I’ve seen sometimes they are musicians, owners of studios, or people who work at music stores. I remember one time I was asked to be a judge just by having been in the bar when the battle took place. And who am I to judge? I tend to believe that bars are merely taking advantage of the bands. Chances are they are gaining more than what the bands could win. They don’t need to pay the bands and they know that any band that participates will bring in all their friends to watch the show and drink beer. Don’t forget, a bar’s primary function is to sell booze. If they don’t sell booze, then they will go out of business. As much as I would like to believe that bars are set up to give struggling musicians a place to play, no one can be that generous. Still, aside from the obvious negativity I’m dishing out, it is a very rewarding feeling to win a BOTB. To know that your music and stage performance is better than everyone else’s is a sign that you’re heading for stardom, right? Well, it might mean that you’re on the right track, but just because you won a BOTB doesn’t mean you’re the best band in the world. At most it means you’re the best band that entered the competition. It’s easy to build an ego when you win these things. It’s also easy to lose confidence when you don’t. Having lost some and won others, I can say that there are no sure bets in this business. How is one really supposed to judge a band anyways? How do you compare a hardcore metal band to an acoustic folk duo? So what if another band has more friends? Why should that count for anything? Well, remember what I said about bars? If part of the judging is based on crowd response, then the more friends you have in the crowd the better your chances. The more people in the crowd, the more potential beer sales. See where I’m going with this? Now I know what I’m saying here is not going to really make a difference, but I just wanted to share my insights with you all. BOTB will remain to be a music scene reality. They do serve some good. If it weren't for BOTB then some bands may never get their foot in the door to play shows. One battle of the bands appearance got our foot in the door to playing on a regular basis at one bar. Another got us studio time to record a demo. And another one got us radio airplay which got us media attention, which then lead to a record deal. Many friends of mine have participated in BOTB that brought them to play in front of thousands in This post was not written in attempt to stop or make you enter into any band competitions, but a little light shed on the situation never hurt anybody. Until next time….
POSTED BY KEIF, November 30, 2005 | 15 comments
POSTED BY ELI, November 30, 2005 | 4 comments
POSTED BY ELI, November 28, 2005 | 12 comments
I good friend of mine recently had a dilema. The deadline for a music festival was coming up, but he didn't have a demo to submit. He wanted to rush into the studio and record something really quick. Problem was that he didn't have the money to book studio time and he was getting very frustrated at the fact that he'd be missing out on this opportunity.
Having participated in these festivals with Chris, I tried to explain to my friend that it was not the end of the world. Then I got to thinking that you guys could benefit from the same advise.
First let me start by saying that if you do not get chosen to play in the festival, do not let it get the best of you and, not for a second, think that you're not good enough to continue playing music. My band has been both selected and refused to play at the same festival during different stages of the band's life span so go figure.
If you do get selected, do not let it get to your head either. While it might sound like an opportunity of a lifetime do not forget that there are hundreds of other bands playing on the same night you are, but in different venues across the city. Venues are not always all close together. Industry execs can only be in one place at a time. And while some execs will go to these festivals with the intention of trying to find the next big thing, many are influenced by hype and follow buzz bands just for the sake of being where everybody else is going to be. This is called smoozing.
In most cases what these festivals are good for is for the possible chance that the A&R people who you've been shopping your demo to (and that have express an interest in your band) are going to be there and now's your chance to finally meet them in person and potentially play for them. This is what we call a showcase. The interest from people towards your band is called buzz and you'll need a lot of it. Buzz is key. If you haven't generated any buzz up to the point of your band playing in the festival, then there's almost no point in playing.
A great example of generating buzz is Sum 41. Before getting signed they filmed a short EPK (electronic press kit) that they shopped before getting signed to Island/Def Jam. While I don't want to get into the details of the EPK, let me just say that my stomach was hurting from laughter after having seen it. They clearly got my attention and I'm happy to say that they are doing just fine a s a result of it.
Most bands set up showcases outside of the festival scene. You might here a few success stories here and there, but overall, most discoveries and record deals are unrelated to these festivals. You'll here a lot of festivals claim that such and such artist played at their festival. While this is true, it doesn't mean that they got signed during the festival or as a direct result of having participated in them. So if you think the only chances of ever getting signed is by attending and playing at these festivals, then it's time you checked back to reality.
This is not to say that these festivals are a complete waste of time, but in my opinion, they are partly set up to make money. Here's a fact - Thousands of bands submit their demos for $55 dollars, but guess what? Only a few hundred get selected. Someone's racking in the dough and it ain't you. It only takes a few seconds to judge whether or not a band is worthy of playing at the festival. Can I get that job?
Don't get me wrong. Chris and I have had plenty of fun attending and playing at festivals like CMW. In fact, many of the details are a little blurry to us. That's got to be an indication that we had a good time.
And as much as I know the harsh realities of the festival scene, I would still take my chances and submit my music even if it did cost me $55.
But as with most bands, money is an issue. Select the festivals you want to enter carefully. Remember, there are other things to consider. How will your band get out to the festival? Where will you stay? Who do you know that's going to be there? What venue are you playing at? If you've been selected to play some crappy bar out in the middle of nowhere, then it's not worth your time. But generally speaking I would play any opportunity I got whether it be a battle of the bands, a charity gig, a basement party or a music festival.
FYI, the music festival in question was Canadian Music Week and they are still accepting submissions from international bands. While the Canadian deadline has already passed, bands outside of Canada have until November 30th 2005 to submit themselves.
Like many other music festivals, Canadian Music Week was set up in an attempt to pull people within the Canadian music industry together. CMW is a once-in-a-year opportunity to get your band in the face of over 3000 movers and shakers in the industry. You could be among some of the hottest new independent bands that will hit Toronto.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE YOUE MUSIC FESTIVAL EXPERIENCES WITH US.
Please Note: The views expressed in this blog post are that of myself and probably thousands of other musicians out there. Please take it with a grain of salt.
POSTED BY KEIF, November 23, 2005 | 15 comments
POSTED BY CHRIS, November 17, 2005 | 14 comments
In order to improve security, we've recently done some re-organizing on our servers. As part of this, we've taken the opportunity to improve the way that your Bandzoogle web addresses work.
Currently, if you do not already have a domain name registered for your Bandzoogle account, your site either has an address like http://www.bandzoogle.com/users/bandname/
or
http://www.bandzoogle.com/bandname/.
Your new address is http://users.bandzoogle.com/bandname/.
Your old address will continue to work just fine--your fans will be re-directed to your new address automatically.
If you already have a domain name set up, this change shouldn't affect you at all.
POSTED BY ELI, November 17, 2005 | 7 comments
POSTED BY CHRIS, November 16, 2005 | 10 comments
POSTED BY CHRIS, November 15, 2005 | 12 comments
POSTED BY CHRIS, November 11, 2005 | 10 comments
Bandzoogle members AM Glory, opening for Hanson tonight!
Our support goes out to AM Glory who have won the chance to open up for Hanson (known for their *clears throat* hit Mmm Bop)tonight at the Kool Haus in Toronto, ONT. The band was hand picked by Hanson from thousands of bands that submitted their demos.
POSTED BY KEIF, November 10, 2005 | 7 comments
POSTED BY CHRIS, November 09, 2005 | 8 comments
POSTED BY CHRIS, November 08, 2005 | 20 comments
POSTED BY CHRIS, November 04, 2005 | 33 comments
