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 A note from the FNO
newsletter editor...
Happy New Year FNO Bands
and
Performers,
Let's kick off the new year
with an article about losing the drama!
We're updating and adding the 2009 festivals daily, it's not too early
to start checking out the database for spring and summer shows.
Be sure to let us know if you have any questions!
Cheers to a successful 2009!
Julie
Cochrane
FNO Marketing
800.200.3737
Festival Network Online
* Julie is on maternity leave through February and
this newsletter was
prepared early for your enjoyment! Please email info@festivalnet.com
with any feedback or questions.
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Leave Your Drama At Home: More Rockin' And
Less Squawkin'!
- By Sheena Metal
 No
matter how we, as human beings, live
our lives... drama happens. And 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.
Certainly, 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.
However, 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 there's one thing you don't want in the middle
of your business, it's drama. There'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 forgot 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:
1.) 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-of-control jealousy problem, an axe to grind, or an unbelievable
ego. Angry, 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.
2.) 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 music.
3.) Your Manager Is Not Your Therapist---Although a manager's
professional duties make them almost like the band'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 door, 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.
4.) 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 you know that your
ex has never gotten over you, that she's off her meds and that she
likes to show up and start swinging at every girl she thinks is
catching your eye…why would you invite he to your shows? Comb
your address book with a big, black sharpie pen and ink out the
stalkers, crazies, attention-getters, and overblown drunkards that will
turn each and every one of your gigs into a three-ring circus of drama
that you're forced to ringmaster from the stage during your set.
Once you remove the drama from your musical career, you'll find that
your gigs go smoother, your website is a more positive place for fans
to hang in cyber space, and the industry is less wary about getting
behind what you're doing. It may seem silly, but too much drama
can often be a warning sign that something is really wrong with a band
and you may find that industry types will become gun shy around your
band if they're worried that your reputation as drama queen will be
more trouble than it's worth. Working in the music business is
hard enough. Don't give anybody any reason not to work with
you. Be smart. Leave your drama at home and show the
industry that your music is what's most important to you and your band.
Sheena Metal is a
radio host,
producer, promoter, music supervisor, consultant, columnist, journalist
and musician. Her syndicated radio program, Music Highway Radio,
airs
on over 2,400 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: http://www.sheena-metal.com.
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