E urope - Parent Directory

meet new friends and fans and from them even more new connections.
Soon, you’ll have so many opportunities that your concern will change
from lack of opportunity to lack of time in the day to pursue each new
c h a n c e .
Just show up
Sounds so simple it’s stupid, but you’d be surprised how many talented
people have fallen by the wayside because they were unable to simply
show up. Cancelled gigs, forgotten meetings, and missed auditions say to
the Musical Powers That Be, “I’m a huge flake who doesn’t think your
opportunity is worth a half-hour of my precious time.” This is a really bad
thing. Entertainment is a small town with a huge memory. Don’t give
people any reason to think that you’re not the person they want to work
with, give the job to, book for the gig, sign to their label, write about, talk
about, and help any way they can. Remember there are tens of thousands
of musicians waiting to take your place, so step up to the plate and seize
each chance with optimism and enthusiasm.
Take initiative
D o n ’t wait for opportunities to come to you. The world is a virtual
cornucopia of information, so reach out and nab yourself some chances at
stardom. Comb the internet, join music communities, visit open mic nights,
take classes and workshops…put yourself out there where there are cool
musical happenings and let others know that you can be relied upon and
want to be involved. By going out and seizing your own opportunities, you
may double, triple, etc. your resources and chances, and expedite your
journey to success.
Do the best job you can
As important as it is to show up, it is also essential that you come off
e fficient, talented, and professional when faced with a new opportunity.
Being there is half the battle but the other half is being the best that you
can be and impressing industry, press, clubs and your fellow musicians
enough to make them want you to be involved in anything and everything
they do. Make a commitment to put on the best live show possible, to have
a terrific CD, to make a professional presskit, and to spread the word about
your music. Be punctual, be courteous, be positive and be fun. Don’t give
anyone any reason not to work with you again and you’ll see that it
becomes easier and easier to get what you want for your artistic career.
It really is as easy as simply showing up, following up and giving it
your all. Making it in music is not impossible; it’s just a lot of elbow
grease, a little organization, a bit of strategy, and the simple sculpting of
your talent into a marketable commodity. There are thousands of chances
o ffered every day to musicians...reach out and grab them by the handful,
make every opportunity your own, get everything you want from this
business and when you’re richer than Oprah and more famous than
Madonna, remember that it was you who made it happen. You were a pro.
You showed up. You committed.
Sheena Metal is a radio host, pro d u c e r, pro m o t e r, music superv i s o r,
consultant, columnist, journalist and musician. Her syndicated radio
p rogram, Music Highway Radio, airs on over 700 affiliates to more than
126 million listeners. Her musicians’assistance program, Music Highway,
boasts over 10,000 members. She currently promotes numerous live shows
weekly in the Los Angeles area, where she resides. For more info:
w w w. s h e e n a - m e t a l . c o m
L E AVE YOUR DRAMA AT HOME: MORE ROCKIN’
AND LESS SQUAW K I N ’ !
by Sheena Metal, Music Highway Radio
© 2009 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission
♦
No matter how we, as human beings, live our lives ... drama happens. A n d
the average musician has more drama than the crazy cat lady down the
block has bags of used litter on her porch. At every turn, your average
wannabe rockstar has a crazy squeeze, a crazier ex, a harem of would-be
lovers, and a gaggle of insane stalkers. Then there’s the band drama,
manager drama, club drama, fan drama, gear drama, and let’s not even get
started on the online drama potential. Before you know it, your band makes
“Desperate Housewives” look like 60 Minutes.
C e r t a i n l y, no one ever said that music was going to be a safe, secure
and solid profession to get into. Any industry that pays buckets of money
to young, pretty people for jumping around and showing off is bound to
inspire zaniness to some degree or another. And the creative process often
brings with it a certain amount of tortured genius that fuels the seeds of
drama like miracle grow on weeds. Plus, there are more than twenty
million musicians around the world that are clamoring for maybe a
thousand record deals like contestants on “Survivor” running obstacles
courses for a single meager chicken wing. If there was a country built on
drama, a musician would be its queen.
H o w e v e r, as much as the music biz is filled with glitz and glamour
and the stuff that tabloid headlines are made of, it is also a business. And if
t h e r e ’s one thing you don’t want in the middle of your business, it’s drama.
T h e r e ’s a reason why doctors don’t fight over dying patients about their
golf scores, pilots don’t announce to a plane full of passengers that they’ve
been dating the stewardess, and the chef doesn’t come to tell you he forg o t
to wash his hands before he cooked your four-star meal…drama does not
belong in business. Whether you’re aspiring to get a record deal or
searching for a cure for cancer, leave your drama at home!
The following are a few tips that will help you to navigate the gossip
and erratic turbulence of life in the music industry without becoming a
slave to your own drama:
Don’t let the internet suck you in
Every since the invention of the internet, there’s been more drama in
cyberspace than at a convention for bipolar drag queens. It’s easy to gossip
and backbite while you can stay anonymous, so the internet has becoming
a breeding ground for anyone and everyone with an agenda, an out-ofcontrol
jealousy problem, an axe to grind, or an unbelievable ego. A n g r y,
upset, small-minded people with inferiority complexes like size of Shamu
will use the internet to poke at your band with a cyber stick. As hard as it
may be, you need to learn to let it all roll off your back. As long as they’re
posting about you, it means they’re listening. Removing their inflammatory
posts, or replying with similar negativity, feeds the drama until your entire
message board is about the trouble-maker on your web site and not your
music. What if a potential magazine reviewer or an interested label rep is
perusing your page with interest only to find more info about your fight
with some internet psycho than about your band? It’s not worth risking a
loss of opportunity to engage in drama.
Drama doesn’t belong at your gigs
When you’re at a show, your goal is to make music, engage the audience,
sell CDs, and win the club over so that you can play there again and again.
People make room in their schedules, pay for gas, and fork out cash for a
cover charge and bar priced drinks, just to hear you play your songs for
them. They want to be entertained; to get away from the pressures of their
real lives and escape into the safety and excitement of your music and
lyrics. What they don’t need is more drama at your gigs then they get from
their office co-workers, their wacky neighbors, and bully at their kids’
school combined. Whatever problems you’re having in your personal and
professional life, keep it away from your fans and your industry contacts or
they’ll start to remember your shows more for the drama than for the
m u s i c .
Your manager is not your therapist
Although a manager’s professional duties make them almost like the
b a n d ’s parent, don’t cry to mommy every time the drummer calls you a
name or your girlfriend decides she wants to play the field. There is too
much music industry drama that your manager has to deal with every day,
to add to his/her troubles by piling a heap of your personal woes on top of
his/her already overburdened shoulders. If a club owner stiffs you at the
d o o r, tell your manager. If another band records one of your songs without
permission, tell your manager. If your wife compulsively flashes her
breasts at your shows, send her to a therapist, but leave your manager out
of it.
Take the crazymakers off your mailing list
A lot of damage control can be done simply by eliminating from your
mailings the nuts that show up and bring their own boatload of drama. If
www.indiebible.com The Indie Bible – 10 th Edition