But You'll Get Great Exposure!

Exposure is something you can die from.

Ok, that applies to weather, but you sure can't pay your rent with "exposure". There are times when it can lead to good paying gigs. Sadly, more often than not, it's a waste of your time. Here's a few things to help you determine if the exposure being offered has any value, and how to get the most from it.

Perceived value is important.

Retail stores use it all the time because it works - "Retail price $199, your price $139". People shell out $139 because they believe they're getting a deal. So when you play for "exposure", what is your perceived value? Nothing, unless the exposure itself has value. Is it exposure to a few bar regulars who couldn't care less about your music? Then your perceived value is zero. If the exposure is a mention of your performance on a local tv or radio station, then it might be hard to quantify but there is value, and you probably want to do this gig.

New bands trying to get some traction will often do free shows for exposure (and experience). Understandable. But give that show a perceived value - give the venue a bill with a reasonable fee for the performance, but mark the bill "fee waived". Now the venue owner knows that you value your performance, and knows you won't always play for free.

The dive bar.

This is where I expect to see start-up bands that haven't found their stage legs yet. It's more like a practice than a performance, and they're happy to do it for free. The bar isn't likely making much (if any) extra money because of the band. This scenario is where playing for exposure (or more accurately, experience) makes sense.

The upscale club.

I've never had an upscale club ask us to play for exposure, but I've heard stories. It's a no-brainer. They wouldn't be asking you to play there if they didn't think you were good. They're trying to take advantage of you. Just say no.

Festivals.

I don't know about other states, but in Texas, from March through October you can't throw a rock without hitting a festival. This is one place where playing for exposure might make good sense, but it largely depends on the festival. How big is it? How many attendees do they expect? How many bands are playing? Are any well-known bands playing? Is the festival promoting your genre of music or is it a hodgepodge of many genres?

A band trying to get traction in a particular area could benefit from playing a festival there, especially if the festival is geared toward the same genre - after all, you will be playing to people who want to hear good music.

What about charity gigs and benefit concerts?

Charity or benefit gigs could give you valuable exposure, depending on a few factors : Will a fair number of the attendees be in your target demographic? Will the charity advertise your band? Will they allow you to sell your merch and keep those proceeds?

Another thing to consider with charity events is fairness. Is the venue being paid? Are the wait staff being paid? Don't be afraid to ask these questions. If others are being paid to work the event, it would be unfair to expect the main draw - the entertainment - to work for free.

Benefits are often held in bars, where you already know the answers to those questions - the bar staff IS getting paid. The bar WILL make money from the benefit. I think it's only fair that the entertainment makes enough money to at least cover travel expenses.

There may be a benefit or charity that you believe in and want to support. If it's something you would open your wallet for, then maybe you would feel good about donating your talent as well.

Association with a well-known name.

I just read an open letter to Oprah from an entertainer who was asked to perform for free at Oprah's "The Life You Want" tour. This is a for-profit tour that will make millions for Oprah and the promoters, yet they're asking local entertainers to perform for free. Sounds like good exposure, right?

Well, maybe not. The local entertainers were put on side stages near the entrance. The attendees were there to see Oprah, not local entertainers. Nearly all of them would walk past these side stages without even glancing over. This "background" entertainment certainly helped Oprah's show by contributing excitement to the atmosphere, but I doubt it helps those entertainers.

In the end...

The next time you're asked to play for free, consider your investment in this performance, then realistically consider the return. Don't listen to their hype, because they will oversell the value of what they're offering.

New Opportunities for Bands and Musicians in the Tyler Area

Patriot Commons is near the University of Texas campus, and is currently growing by leaps and bounds. With about 3500 new residents each year, Tyler is a fast growing city, and the opening of Patriot Commons earlier this year is now paying off with new bars and restaurants.

Republic Icehouse is one of the newest additions, and they are currently seeking bands. They also plan on having an Open Mic night.

UC Sports Bar, which also features live music, recently opened at Patriot Commons. Restaurants round out the attractions with a Steak n Shake, Scooter’s Coffee and Yogurt, and Boba-Loompia. Fedex and UPS are also setting up locations here, so with all of this going on, I expect a lot of traffic and firmly believe Patriot Commons will be a huge boon to Tyler, and to Tyler musicians and bands.

Bills in House and Senate to Restore FCC's Open Internet Order

Bills have been introduced in the House and the Senate this week to restore the parts of the FCC's Open Internet Order that were recently struck down in a federal appeals court (thanks Verizon).

The text of the House version of the bill simply restores what we had until a few weeks ago, until such time that the FCC can draft new rules.

I see this as good and bad. Good for the short term - broadband is once again charged with delivering your internet and banned from playing favorites (deciding which sites or content providers get priority and which ones get shafted - this is why musicians should be very concerned and involved in this fight).

Bad because... well, now the FCC MUST write new rules that it thinks will be upheld in the courts. Who knows how they'll go about this? We can hope they write a nice bit about protecting us, but we've all seen what can happen when you hope a federal agency does the right thing.

Ok, I'll try to stay optimistic.

But while reading on this issue, I realized something I hadn't thought about before. Stupid ISPs, thinking only of the potential profits to be made by charging more for certain types of content or giving preferential treatment to certain content providers, apparently haven't thought about the nightmare of liability they would also be creating.

From techcrunch.com :

And there is a simple question of who decides. If ISPs can censor and slow at will, what can stop activist networks from pushing on those companies to halt what they do not approve of? If a religious group called Comcast complicit in hate speech for delivering content Internet users requested that they found blasphemous, what can Comcast do? We’re removing their shield of “we deliver all to all equally,” which could harm ISPs down the road.

Three years ago thousands of artists joined together to deliver a message to Congress - protect the Open Internet Act. Now, it looks like it's time to do the same thing again, but your voice is needed. You can start by sending a letter to the FCC urging them to reclassify broadband as a communications service.

Contact your Representive and Senator and urge them to support the bill restoring the FCC's Open Internet Order. If you don't know who or how to contact your rep, this site is great : http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/.

Learn more. Educate others. Stay involved. If you're a musician, this is crucial to your future livelihood. Here's a great site to get more info and stay involved : http://www.savetheinternet.com/sti-home

Why Musicians Should Be Concerned About Net Neutrality

Most people just yawn when I bring up net neutrality. They didn't even notice when a federal appeals court struck down most of the protections of the FCC's Open Internet Order. Thousands of activists worked tirelessly for years to prevent giant companies from controlling what you can access on the internet. The FCC's Open Internet Order was a stopgap measure, but not the final solution. Now, the stopper has been pulled and we're all wondering if everything is going to go down the drain.

In the short term, this court decision just confirmed again that the internet does indeed fall into the catogory of communications regulated by the FCC. So in effect, the government is already regulating the internet. And that control won't be relinquished.

So what happens next can be tricky. Much of it boils whether or not broadband should be classified as a "common carrier" - meaning, they're just dumb wires regardless of what they're carrying, much like phone lines or cable tv. By classifying them as dumb wires, your ISP cannot legally block or charge more for certain types of content. This classification also would offer some protection from this scenario :

AT&T and other giant ISPs have long salivated at being able to divide the internet into tiers, charging content providers big money to have their websites in the top tier.  Websites in the top tier would be given preferential treatment, mostly meaning they would load quickly.  Websites in the bottom tier would load slowly or be blocked entirely.

Now imagine what this means to bands and small businesses who cannot afford to pay to have their website in the top tier (I assure you, the fees to be included in the top tier will be steep).  That means that fans and customers either won't find your site, or your site will load so slowly they'll abandon it.

The internet was never meant to be this way.  It was meant to be a level playing field for all. So let's pressure the FCC to classify broadband as a "common carrier" and fix this, right? Well...

This troubling essay at the Electronic Frontier Foundation Why The FCC Can't Save Net Neutrality illustrates how complex net neutrality really is. There will be no easy "fix" to keep it free. It will probably be a continual fight to keep it free.

I've read both sides. It makes my head hurt. But at the end of the day, I think reclassification is the best tool in the toolbelt at this time.

Please get involved. Learn more about net neutrality and why it's so important to bands and artists, then help educate others.  Place links or banners on your site to organizations that are working to help preserve the internet as it was meant to be, such as www.SaveTheInternet.com, www.FightForTheFuture.org,  the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and www.FutureOfMusic.Org.