I became The GigBoss seven years ago on Myspace as a way of keeping myself busy after leaving the mergers and acquisitions business. Music has always been my passion and first love, and it quickly became clear to me that the local music community, although quite artistically talented, had a lot to learn about the business end of music. As I started writing blogs about how to move a musicians career ahead or steps to avoid, I also started searching for available shows and open slots at venues in the area to post for bands to give them a little help... which soon became the Available Gigs In SoCal blog on Myspace. Before too long, I had venues, promoters, and talent buyers... ultimately reaching about 400 in number... contacting me and asking me to post gig openings for them. Over the span of a couple of years and before abandoning Myspace in favor of Facebook along with everyone else, that page had become the 7th-highest ranked music blog out of over 29 million blog pages posted on Myspace. I personally invested hundreds, and possibly thousands of hours maintaining and updating that on behalf of local musicians, and never took a dime for my efforts... it was all about helping the local music community. I heard tons of comments during that time from musicians about how screwed up the local live music scene was. How pay-to-play was ruining the scene, how difficult pre-selling tickets was for many bands, how promoters were only in it for themselves, and how shows werent shows anymore but rather showcases of several mismatched bands and fans that didnt help any of the other bands on the bill grow their own fan bases. So when Live Nation contact me in September of 2011 asking me if I would do shows for them at House of Blues Anaheim, I jumped at the opportunity to do it the way musicians wanted it done. No tickets to buy or sell, just give them out to fans of the bands and of live music. Shows with bands that deserved to play on a first-class stage, and that had some continuity from one band to the next, therefore allowing fans to discover new bands and their music and become new fans. Bringing in a band or two from out of OC so that the bands could network with them and potentially play in those bands hometowns, thereby growing their fans geographically. Taking care of the bands from show number one by providing some sort of snacks in the green room so that they could be more comfortable while waiting for their turn on stage. And all the time, trying to be the best promoter that I could be on behalf of all of them and the fans of live music. In these past 3 years of doing HOB shows and trying to be the best I can for local music, I can tell you that Ive spent over $20,000 more than Ive taken in to do what I do. Attending other shows around the area to find new bands and promote the shows that Im doing (and possibly having a beer or two while there to support the venue), driving to radio stations to promote the shows, having show flyers and posters printed and distributed, delivering tickets to retail locations that help get the word out and pass out tickets to their customers, purchasing food and other supplies for the shows, donating a wristwatch (retail value $600) as a raffle prize to a benefit show I hosted for some other valuable members of the local music scene who needed financial support after losing their home and possessions in a fire... even helping bands get booked on other shows at other venues with other promoters. Ive done all of these things simply because I believe theyre the right things to do. Theyre the things that youve collectively told me youd like to see from others in this business. All of this brings me to the part that Im sure is going to cause several of my Facebook friends to click the un-friend button. But thats okay... many of you have never met me in person anyways. Those who have met me know I speak my mind and do so with honesty and passion. The reason that there are so many bad venues, promoters, and shows out there is largely because of the musicians themselves. The sheer number of musicians that want a great scene is staggering, yet the number who actively make an effort to support the good guys in the scene is abysmal. Just like turning your back on a purse snatcher mugging a little old lady, your inaction allows the bad guys to get away with what they do and sends the message that its okay for them to keep doing it. For any given show that I have at HOB, I might see anywhere from 3 to 10 musicians from my 2,600+ Facebook friends in attendance... and believe me, I appreciate that those few take the time and make the effort. But that obviously leaves a lot more who look the other way instead of making a stand for the way they tell me that things should be done. You want things done right for your sake, but you wont invest the effort for the sake of all. To me, thats not just disappointing, its also selfish and hypocritical. For example, I posted a message on Facebook yesterday about having an open date at HOB in November, and in less than 24 hours have received almost 100 likes and over 60 comments from bands and others suggesting who should play that night. Now when that night comes around, do I think that all of those same people will actually be in attendance at the show? Maybe a couple will, but most will be busy with other things. You want to play the show, youre available to play the show, but if you dont get on the bill, you wont show up to support the show, the promoter, the other bands, or the venue. You want to play a show for that promoter and at that venue, but you support neither. If this is how you show your support for those who truly support you, then the bad guys are going to continue to win. And as Ive already stated, Ive invested a lot of time and capital in fighting this fight for you, but if you dont want to be a part of the solution, then I dont want to keep wasting my time and money to fight a losing battle on your behalf. However, I still believe that relentlessly doing and supporting the right things and speaking out against and avoiding the bad guys ultimately sends a message to them that, in order for them to succeed, they also need to do the right things. They learn to do things better or they fail... simple as that. If just 5% of my 2,600 Facebook friends each made the effort to go to one of these shows and each brought along one non-musician friend, co-worker, or family member, that would be an additional 260 people at the show. If 10% of you did that, wed have 520 more people. And if 20% of you did it, wed be at 1,040 additional people at a venue with a capacity of 1,050. Not only is it great for the bands that play these shows and a way of showing the venue that local musicians deserve to be on their stage, but youre helping to expose people to new bands, new music, and build positive experiences for them that could create new fans of local live music shows... the people that support everyone else in the system. By putting nothing into it, you get back exactly what you invest... nothing. By asking your friends and fans to attend your shows and then showing them by example that you dont attend shows yourself, you become part of the problem... yours and everyone elses. And you have to be the one to do it, not the one who thinks that the others will do it for you. By being the leaders, the role models, and the visionaries that can see beyond today and yourselves, you can change the direction and habits of not only the fans of todays live music scene for yourselves and others, but for the future of those who havent even picked up a guitar yet. Stop waiting for the other guy to fix things for you. If change for the better is what you all want, then its up to all of you to change it. Or let the bad guys win.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 19:16:16 +0000
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