Marketing Plan Junkie, Sometimes Documentary Filmmaker, Friend of the Indie Artist
Just a quick post to offer a free resource for any musicians who are preparing a budget for their next album release. I continue to work on the 2nd edition of “Your Successful CD Release” and I’ve updated the sample CD marketing budget:
Download the original Excel file: SAMPLE CD MARKETING BUDGET- EXCEL
Download a PDF version: SAMPLE CD MARKETING BUDGET- PDF
Cheers!
Dave
So there was a lot of buzz on the interwebs recently about the Grammy Nominations, notably that 273 “indies” were nominated for awards this year. For a guy who spent 2 years documenting the word INDIE in an effort to find out its true definition, you’d think I’d be thrilled. Indie artists have finally arrived and have been overwhelmingly recognized by the Grammys! Well, not so much. The American Association of Independent Music released their list of members who were nominated for a Grammy, and the list includes, among others:
And in A2IM’s announcement of these Grammy nominations, Taylor Swift is also referenced as an indie artist. Now, these artists are on this list because of associations with smaller “indie” labels. However, as Paul Resnikoff, Publisher of Digital Music News, correctly points out in a great article on this subject, Major Labels are no doubt doing more of the heavy lifting in terms of promotion and distribution for these artists, so can they truly be considered “indie”?
Short answer? No. As much as I would love to say that Paul McCartney is an indie artist and I’ll interview him for my next film, it just doesn’t add up. And Taylor Swift is certainly no Ani DiFranco. But that brings up the same question as in “What is INDIE?”: where do you draw the line? At one extreme you have an artist who is unsigned, has no label, no distribution, and does not engage in fan-funding or seek money from investors, they do EVERYTHING on their own. At the other extreme, you have Taylor Swift, and not to mention all of the many shades of gray in between that we documented in the film.
So what’s the answer? I recently gave this a lot of thought for an interview on Hypebot.com, and the answer I gave was the following:
“If I were to define it myself, an indie artist is an unsigned artist, plain and simple. There are so many nuances, but if I had to define it quickly, that’s what I would say, although everyone has their own interpretation which is totally valid, as I documented in the film.“
And that’s key, indie means different things to different people. If Paul McCartney or Robert Plant win a Grammy this year and in their acceptance speech they talk about how they are proud to be indie artists, then who am I to argue with them? Maybe being “indie” is more of a philosophy/attitude/state of mind rather than a strictly defined term that means only 1 thing.
Or, as Paul from Digital Music News suggests, maybe it’s time to leave that term out of the discussion altogether:
“Meanwhile, the majors lose more power every day, and things are going to look a lot different in five years. So perhaps as the major label power-base withers, so should the antiquated ‘indie’ term. Because under the current, vague definitions, almost every artist will be ‘indie’ eventually – not just Taylor Swift.”
I won’t argue with that.
Cheers,
Dave “Indie” Cool
I was interviewed this week for the Hour, a weekly newspaper in Montreal. Each week they profile someone with an interesting job. They chose me because apparently combining music, film and beer makes for a good story :)
Here’s the link to the interview: http://www.hour.ca/news/news.aspx?iIDArticle=20788
Cheers,
Dave
So Part 2 of my interview on Hypebot.com has been posted. In it we discuss the rapid evolution of online tools for artists, the industry that has been created on the backs of indie artists, and the future for indie artists:
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/11/indie-artists-might-spend-2-just-to-make-a-dollar-.html
Hope you enjoy the interview and please feel free to leave your comments either on Hypebot.com or here on my website, I try to respond to everyone as best I can.
Cheers!
Dave
Hypebot.com is a great blog that discusses music, business, marketing, digital entertainment, promotion, and technology. I read articles and interviews on the site pretty much daily. So I was thrilled when Kyle Bylin, the Editor of Hypebot, interviewed me recently about my thoughts on “indie” and the new music industry. He asked some great questions that really got me thinking, and part 1 of the interview was posted today where we discuss the definition of an “indie” artist as well as file-sharing.
Do I even agree with my film’s conclusion? You might be surprised. And I certainly didn’t pull any punches with my thoughts on file-sharing:
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/11/what-is-indie-an-unsigned-artist-plain-and-simple.html
Enjoy!
Dave
Just a quick blog post this morning to say that I heard back from one of the two granting organizations that I had applied to for funds to make my new film, and unfortunately the news was not good. I had applied for funds to write a script for the new movie (essentially research and development) from CALQ and the Canada Council for the Arts. I received an e-mail from Canada Council this weekend saying that I was disqualified since I didn’t meet their criteria for the grant, which is that I had to be a “mid-career” artist to access scriptwriting funds. Being a mid-career artist meant that I had to have 2 films under my belt, but I only had one. I tried to pad my resume with past experience releasing CDs and working in the music industry to establish that I was a mid-career artist and not an emerging artist, but no dice. I’m actually not surprised, as I knew going in it was a long-shot, but I wanted to go through the process of applying for the grant to gain the experience, and I’m glad I did.
So I’ll wait to hear back from CALQ, and continue to prepare for the next round of grant applications in the Spring for the actual production of the film.
Cheers,
Dave
P.S.- Have you ever been rejected for a grant? What was the reason? Let us commiserate…
Last week there was a “Happy Quit Myspace Day!” which encouraged artists to delete their MySpace accounts. When I saw this happening on Twitter, a part of me said “Yeah!”, and I was about to start putting the word out to all of my contacts as well, when I decided to take a few days to think about what that would really mean for an artist, and I came to the following conclusion: You can hate MySpace, but don’t leave it.
Here’s the thing: I HATE MySpace. I’ve hated it for years simply because of it’s terrible usability. If I had a dollar for every time MySpace crashed while I was trying to upload a song, add a calendar date, update a bio, or do anything whatsoever on the site, I would be enjoying an early retirement right now. The site sucks, plain and simple. But, here’s the rub: MySpace is still an important part of an artist’s overall web strategy that should not be overlooked, and here are the 2 biggest reasons why:
1- Bookers still use MySpace
As program director at the Centre St-Ambroise in Montreal, I still prefer to visit an artist’s MySpace page over their .com, and I’m definitely not alone. I spoke to many bookers at the Folk Alliance and OCFF conferences this year and there was still a consensus that MySpace was the site they went to first when considering to book an artist. Why is that? It’s just easier to quickly (which is key) listen to a song, read a bio, see an artist’s gig schedule, watch a video and see some photos. Bookers are overwhelmed with requests and usually don’t have time to search through complicated artist websites that try to be fancy and unique, but that don’t clearly map out where to find music to listen to (not purchase), a concert calendar, videos, etc.
2- MySpace Still Rules Google Search Results
Great article about this here: MySpace Still Rules Google Search Results for Music Acts
The fact is that when you do a Google search for an artist, their MySpace page is almost always in the top 5 results.You don’t want a booker or your fans clicking on a dead link because you decided to delete your account, or worse, leave your profile there and no longer update it.
For more reasons not to quit MySpace, check out this article: 6 Reasons Not To Quit MySpace
***
So you were hoping to finally rid yourself of the burden of using MySpace, but now realize maybe you should keep your MySpace presence? Here’s the good news: it doesn’t have to take very much of your time at all. Here’s what you really need on your MySpace page:
As a booker, this is all I really need to see. If you want to be a little fancier, you can add:
There’s really no need to spend a lot of time on MySpace. Keeping the calendar up to date is the single most important thing you need to do, but the beauty is that you don’t even have to use MySpace to do it. I actually use ReverbNation to keep the Centre St-Ambroise’s calendar up to date on MySpace. After spending an hour on MySpace to try and add a single calendar date earlier this year, I gave up once and for all. Admittedly, I didn’t put any calendar dates on MySpace for a while, but quickly realized that artists and fans were checking our MySpace page to see what was going on at the venue, and when they saw no dates, assumed that we were no longer booking shows, which of course was not the case. So again, you MUST keep your calendar up to date.
To do this without using MySpace, I would recommend:
***
People have proclaimed MySpace dead many times before, and although it might be dying a slow death, it is certainly not dead yet. That being said, their new logo isn’t going to help matters, wow it’s awful!
Cheers,
Dave
I recently attended the OCFF Conference (Ontario Council of Folk Festivals) as a delegate from Folquebec. Here are a few Top 5 lists from my experience:
Top 5 Favorite things about OCFF:
Top 5 Least Favorite things about OCFF:
Top 5 Showcases I saw at OCFF:
OK, I wasn’t going to make this list, but many people have asked me, so here it is. It is incredibly hard to pick out 5 performances out of so many, and there were a lot of really good showcases, not the least of which all of the artists who performed for Folquebec. But if I were to pick 5 showcases that stood out for me, these would be it:
All in all, I had an absolute blast. A big thanks to all of the staff at OCFF and most importantly, the musicians who really make it all happen. Keep doing what you do :)
Cheers,
Dave
So after blogging regularly while I was on a 2-week vacation from my job, reality once again set in when I returned to work last week. I quickly realized that taking time to blog moved way down the priority list. Just getting through the work day with enough energy to work on my new film; after cooking dinner, responding to personal e-mails and spending time with my girlfriend, was going to be ambitious, let alone blogging. I knew making this new movie was going to be challenging in many ways, but one of the biggest challenges is going to be balancing work on my new film with work at a day job that I actually like. And that got me thinking: what is better for an artist’s career? A “good” day job that you enjoy, or a “bad” day job that you don’t care about?
Let me back up for a second. In my experience, many artists, especially “indie” artists (don’t get me started on the definition, again), have to work a side job/day job to make ends meet, especially to make enough money to invest in their careers. Often times these are bartending jobs, waiter/waitress jobs, teaching, etc.
I experienced this first hand while making my first movie. I was working 4 days/week at a college bookstore. It was good money, but was totally unfulfilling. Luckily there was a lot of down time at that job, so I spent most of it working on my movie.
Fast forward to today. I work as a Program Director at a cultural center (the St-Ambroise Center), which was founded by Montreal micro-brewery McAuslan Brewing. We mainly program folk music shows, but also film screenings and workshops for artists. For a guy who loves folk music and is a filmmaker, it’s a pretty good gig. It’s a lot of work, and I often do countless hours of overtime, but it is rewarding at the end of the day. On top of that, I also have a great boss who gives me as much freedom as I need to run the place (what to program, who to hire, where to spend money, etc.), and my coworkers are awesome.
So unlike the unfulfilling day job I had during my first movie, where I was doing the bare minimum of what needed to get done so I could work on my own projects, my current job requires my full attention (and then some). Which I happily give, but it often leaves me with very little spare time, and more to the point, very little spare energy to put into personal projects.
What do you think? As an artist, if you have to work a day job to make ends meet, would you rather work a job that is totally unfulfilling? Or would you prefer a day job that you enjoy and that gives you some sense of fulfillment?
I know that I’m happier now than I was when I was working at that old job, but I’m also aware that I won’t have the luxury of working on my new movie while at my current job. So I’ll have to manage my time more efficiently this time around to stay on top of deadlines, that’s for sure.
I’ve already taken a step in what I hope is the right direction, by reducing my hours from 40 hours/week (full-time) to 28 hours/week. The plan is to use those extra 12 hours each week to work on the new film and keep somewhat of a balance in my life with health, family, friends and my relationship. We’ll see how it goes…
Cheers,
Dave
I’m never one to toot my own horn. I am much more comfortable poking fun at myself and my work. Try watching “What is INDIE?” with me and I’ll point out every mistake, every moment I thought could have been done better, and how many times I get tired of hearing my own voice (especially that last one). But after putting together my Press Kit for a grant application, which I think is the first time I’ve ever gone through that exercise, I have to admit, even I was impressed. I often forget some of what was accomplished with “What is INDIE?”, like an interview on CNN.com (I got that phone call while about to go out and do my laundry, I didn’t have a washer/dryer in my tiny apartment in Montreal), an interview for Newsweek Magazine International, and screenings around the world at conferences and festivals.
Impressive? Yes. Does it really mean anything? I’ve gained enough experience to know that those kinds of things are few and far between, if they ever happen at all. And if they do, enjoy the moment, but don’t get wrapped up in it. Right after I got off the phone with the journalist from CNN, I think I called my Dad to tell him the good news, but after that I went straight to the laundromat to clean my cloths, and went to the post office to mail a bunch of packages that were piling up on my desk. In other words, right back to the day-to-day real life things that we all have to do.
One question I asked myself after seeing my press kit in front of me was: Can I possibly hope to top all of that with another film? Shouldn’t I just quit while I’m ahead and re-live the stories for years to come? Tempting, but I realized it’s an unfair question to ask. Making another film isn’t about “topping” the last one, it’s about a new challenge, a new adventure, and creating a new story to tell. Maybe it won’t be the same, maybe it won’t be told through mainstream media outlets or at as many festivals and conferences, but it will no doubt be a fun ride nonetheless.
But don’t get me wrong, if CNN calls again this time around, I’ll be there to answer the call. After all, I can multi-task now that I have a washing machine in my apartment :)
Cheers,
Dave
P.S.- Here’s my full Press Kit if you’re curious: Dave Cool Press Kit
#ff love @thornybleeder @sodiumbride @michele_welch @shadesofsolveig @dave_cool @treveich @mary_burgess @aoedemuse (via @ffhelper)
RT @IrreverendJames: Wanna get your sing on? We put the ‘happy’ back in Happy Hour at the lovely Terrasse @bierestambroise today @ 5PM: http://t.co/pKI70HKw
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