Last Saturday I went to the Getty for their Summer Sessions. I went early to check out some of the exhibits and then spend the rest of my night listening to what I was hoping to be some good new music. The three bands that I listened to: J. Sole’s Musaics, Fool’s Gold, and The Budos Band, were all amazing. All were an eclectic mix of funk, soul, and afro and they were unlike anything I have ever heard.
The pavilion where the music was playing was packed with all sorts of different people. Old and young, families and singles, people dressed up and people in shorts, every type of person was there. The only thing that was uniting them was the music. It’s a rare thing to get that many different types of people in one place in order to listen to music. I kept thinking about what a great opportunity it was for these bands to promote themselves to a wide audience. But as the night wore on I noticed that these bands were not taking advantage of the opportunities provided.
With multiple bands playing one of the most important things would be to distinguish themselves from the other bands in the minds of the audience. How so? Simple. By repeating their name. I listened to three bands and I only knew two of them because I went and got a brochure afterwards. I had to go an extra step just to remember who the bands were. When you have an opportunity to promote yourself, you want to make it as easy as possible for the audience to remember and have access to your music.
That’s where there second mistake comes in. Fool’s Gold was playing on the lower pavilion so I had to go down to listen to them. I separated from my group and managed to catch their last few songs. After they finished I was walking past the stage in order to get back to my group and I passes a merch table that they had set up. I looked at the table and all I could see were 7” vinyls. I stood there for a good full minute simply staring thinking that I must be missing something. Surely that could not be the only thing that they were selling? But it was. They didn’t have CD’s, they had vinyls. I was told they were collector’s items. Why the hell would they do that? Why would I buy that? I didn’t want a collector’s item; I wanted a way that I could listen to their music in the car. I wanted a way to share the music with my friends. I’m 18. I don’t usually listen to records. This just seems like such an utter waste. I understand that they are artsy and they want to different, whatever. But why let it get in the way of actually promoting their music.
This leads me to their biggest mistake. When the merch guy told me that they did not have a CD, I asked if there was a way for me to download their music. I mean, they obviously don’t care about selling their music why wouldn’t I just get it for free? They laughed and told me to check Myspace. When I got home that night, that’s what I did. I myspaced and googled all three bands, looking for any music or info I could find. In the age of the internet, none of these bands knew how to really use it. None of the bands had a website. Only two had myspace. And neither of them looked like they updated often. In a time when people with no talent (souljaboy) manage to market themselves to fame, bands with an incredible amount were floundering.
Why don’t these bands use their resources? They all were given a wonderful opportunity to widen their audience but because they didn’t communicate properly they missed it. Someone told me that maybe they don’t want to be famous. Why not? Isn’t the point of music to share it? This is
