Music Business

John Oszajca’s Insider Circle Reviewed | Advanced Music Marketing

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If you’ve been looking into John Oszajca’s Music Marketing Insider Circle and wondering if it’s right for you – keep reading. I’ve been a member of the Insider Circle since late August of 2011 and will give you my assessment on whether it’s right for you or a waste of time and money. First of all, … Read more

Fast Forward To Fame | Cari Cole

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There’s a launch going on currently for a 12 week coaching program called Fast Forward to Fame by Cari Cole that I thought I’d share with any readers who haven’t already heard about it. I’m a little late in sharing the details, as a week back or so Cari had a bunch of prelaunch videos … Read more

What Your Band Needs To Succeed Online

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Out of the blue I was inspired to write a post called Why Your Band Sucks; however I did some research and read a bunch of other stuff out there about the topic. It threw me off so this is what you’re getting instead – What Your Band Needs To Succeed Online. Keep It Simple … Read more

Battle of the Bands Competitions | Fan Appreciation

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Sacred Tuesday

When it comes to entering a battle of the bands contest, most bands are clearly thinking all about themselves – the prizes, the venue, the judges and all the rest; but what about the fan appreciation?

Yes, the fans…remember them?

When it comes to most BOTBs, the fans are an afterthought and often get the worst of the experience. They become ‘bodies in the venue’ or ‘tickets sold’ or ‘cheerleaders’ as opposed to real people who need to be valued or potentially lost forever.

So what is so bad about inviting your fans to a BOTBs competition? For the last time I’ll say that it depends on what the quality and reputation of the event is. For the most part for a BOTBs gig your fans will have to:

  • Travel farther to see you perform
  • Watch you perform for a shorter set
  • Pay double or triple what they’d pay to see you at one of your own shows
  • Feel obligated to stay and cheer for your band
  • Endure barrage of bands, most of which they’ll have zero interest in

This is especially the case if you live close to a major city where a big time BOTB event is being held. I live about an hour away from the biggest city in Canada (Toronto), and inevitably all the bands within a 3 hour square radius want to do a gig in the “Big City” where they can be “discovered”.

In this instance, they have to travel to the city, pay outrageous parking fees (plus find a place to park) pay the cover charge, wait until “their band” hits the stage, buy food, avoid buying too many expensive drinks, get the heck home as soon as possible afterwards.

And all for what? For the bands to feed their ego to perform on the ‘big stage’ in the ‘big city’ for the ‘big prizes’.

Is it any wonder why most bands have to beg and plead to even sell enough tickets to get some asses in the seats? What’s in it for the fans?

A Night In The Show, 1915Unfortunately, until bands stop looking for shortcuts to fame and fortune and start paying more attention to their audience – they’re going to continue to walk all over the few fans they have to hopefully win the favour of a ‘mysterious stranger’ who will wave their magic wand and grant them a record deal so that they can live happily ever after.

The funny thing is that without the fans, all the showcases and meet n’ greets with the ‘big shots’ isn’t going to get you very far. When you have a pile of dedicated fans that are willing to actually pay for your music and shows, the big shots will start taking notice anyway.

So the next time you’re considering being part of a Battle of the Bands competition, battle of the bands showcase, band wars or whatever name they want to call it next, consider how it will affect the people that you’re leaning on the most to ‘win’ at the competiton

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Battle of the Bands Competitions | The business behind BOTBs

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Siege at their high school's 'Battle of the Ba...
Image via Wikipedia

Okay, onto part three of the Battle of the Bands competitions series. This time we’re going to dig into the business end of Battle of the Bands contests. Hopefully this post will be a bit of an eye opener for those who think that performing at these band versus band competitions is the ‘cats ass’.

In my first post I went over the basics of what a Battle of the Band competition is, well often bands are so preoccupied with what participating in this type of contest can mean for them (prizes, new opportunities, exclusive club, big production/big stage/pro lights and sound etc.) that they don’t think about what lurks beneath it all.

It’s for this reason that many bands are swept away blindly by the opportunity to perform at one of these shows that they don’t even consider the business end of them. Once you do, you may get a bit of a sour taste in your mouth for these events.

The Battle of the Bands Romantic Version

Lets get romantic for a sec and look at BOTBs in the most positive light – the “Hollywood” version if you will. This version is what you see on TV and the movies:

  • Band is getting nowhere fast
  • Band signs up for BOTBs
  • Band performs at a top-notch club against formidable rivals
  • Band has the opportunity to be discovered by hotshot record execs
  • Band wins (somewhere in the top two), gets approached by labels and suddenly their career is on fire

While that certainly sounds nice, the reality behind battle of the bands contests is often rooted in the mundane.

  • Bar/club is suffering from low attendance
  • Bar/promoter comes up with event called Battle of the Bands
  • Bar/promoter announces the competition so bands will sign up, promise big prizes and industry reps as judges to lure in the bands
  • Bands pay money to participate
  • Even lazy bands sell a few tickets because they are motivated by the ‘big event/opportunity’ provided
  • Event is scheduled for a slow night of the week
  • Bands bring in paying customers, prizes money is mainly recouped by entry fees to the bands and by offering advertising in return of prizes to local studios and music stores.
  • The bar gets a shot in the arm and makes good money from the event. It’s also exposed to a lot of new potential customers who wouldn’t have visited the bar before.
  • Winning band(s) collect their loot – bask in their 5 minutes of fame and promptly implode or go on to do nothing particular successful for the rest of their music career.
  • Bar/club/promoter  rinses and repeats this formula anytime their need an influx of cash into their business.

Too cynical? Think that bars/clubs and promoters run battle of the bands strictly out of their love of music and to elevate the profile of the acts in their scene? …can I have some of what you’ve been smoking?

27/365: MoneyMaking money isn’t wrong for the bar or the promoter. Without sufficient money, the venues that cater to live music will close shop and bands will have nowhere to play – nobody wants that.

However, keep in mind what the ulterior motive is for having a battle of the bands. In the best case scenario it’s a win/win situation for both the bar and the bands involved.

In the worst case scenario it’s a cash grab aimed squarely at making money off the inexperienced and the gullible; preying on their hopes and dreams in order to make a quick buck.

So how do you tell the difference?

Telltale signs that a BOTB is garbage

  1. Entry fee is $50 or more
  2. Anyone can enter
  3. Ticket sales are a large part of the final score (in other words, tickets trump talent)
  4. Set times are only 15 minutes or so to cram in the maximum amount of bands in a single night
  5. The style of the bands range from country, metal, jazz to bluegrass in a single night
  6. Names of ‘industry judges’ are never revealed. Bands unable to learn the results of the judges feedback regardless of whether they succeed or fail in the competition
  7. The contest is scheduled in early afternoon, Sundays or any other ‘slow business’ day or time.
  8. Prizes are ‘incomplete’ – like 8 hours of studio time (enough time that it seems ‘valuable’ but ultimately isn’t enough time to create even a finished 4 track EP).

By their nature, just about every Battle of the Bands competition is going to have a few of these points, but if there are 4 or more – chances are the competition is nothing but a cash grab.

Okay, so we’ve looked at BOTBs in general, why bands sign up and the business behind it – however there is still one aspect left – the fans that actually attend these shows. I think many bands would rethink their participation if they stopped to consider what they’re doing to their fans. Confused by what I mean? I’ll explain fully in the next post.

Have you played a “dud” BOTBs competition that was a thinly-veiled cash grab? Leave a comment below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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