The Breakfast.info
General Discussions => Spunk => Topic started by: Overexjoesure on December 21, 2006, 02:19:32 am
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Interesting read I found while clearing out my emails.......
20 Reasons Why Musicians Get Stuck at the Local or Regional Level
by Randi Reed
Ever wonder why some talented local musicians never get that elusive record deal? Or why some signed artists\' careers stall out just past the starting gate? It\'s not just "bad luck." Here are 20 common reasons why some artists never make it to the next level.
1. Poorly-defined goals. Even if they\'re too modest to say so in public, successful artists have a solid answer for the question: "What are your goals in the industry?" (Need help with goal setting? Check this out.)
2. Band members with different goals. In order to succeed, you have to be on the same page. It\'s tough to stay on track if some band members know what they want and others want different things or don\'t know what they want at all.
3. Lack of musical focus. Creativity is good, but in the mainstream music industry, only artists with multiple past successes have leeway to gravitate toward other musical styles. Different musical genres involve different business contacts and working methods. Artists whose styles are too diverse have difficulty achieving consistent contacts and working methods...and it takes consistency to break a new artist. (Newsflash for artists who think playing a lot of different styles makes them unique: it doesn\'t. We see artists with this "unique" talent all the time. In fact most artists can play or sing in more than one style but publicly focus on one they do best.)
4. Poor work ethic. The old saying that harder you work, the luckier you get is true.
5. Waiting to be discovered. People who are "discovered" make it happen instead of waiting.
6. Ineffective artist management, or not listening to good management. It sounds simplistic, but it\'s where many artists go wrong. In order to be effective, your management has to know what they\'re doing. If you have good, experienced management but don\'t listen to their advice, they can\'t help you.
7. Working with people who don\'t have contacts in the industry. Ideally, the people you start with should be constantly building better skills and contacts along the way. If that doesn\'t happen, you\'ll need to work with people who have contacts at the next level.
8. Signing with a label with inadequate funding or poor distribution. If you want a record deal, the goal isn\'t "a record deal." The goal is the record deal with the most potential for long-term success.
9. Lack of live following. Especially in rock and country, no draw means no deal.
10. Artist "settles" too much; recording quality, image, stage presence, photos, and demo packaging, and overall presentation are all "OK." Successful artists are more than just OK and never settle for it. Nor do their managers.
11. Poor networking skills. Successful artists constantly seek new networking methods and know how to use them.
12. Hanging onto ineffective band members. Many artists have trouble separating business and friendship, at the cost of their careers.
13. Dated musical style. (Sounding like Pearl Jam or \'NSync probably isn\'t going to cut it.)
14. Dated image. If you still dress the same way you did 5-10 years ago or have the same hair style, it\'s time to freshen up. If you\'re fond of the clothes, wear them on your own time--not when you want someone to invest money in your music being the hottest thing since sliced bread.
15. Lack of radio-friendly songwriting. No hit potential, no deal.
16. Bowing to peer or family pressure not to change. Doing the same thing the same way brings the same results, so in order to improve something, change has to occur; it literally can\'t stay the same. But that\'s not necessarily a bad thing: if you put icing on a cake, the cake changes but is still the same underneath. (If it\'s bad icing or you do something stupid when frosting it, the cake falls apart. Fortunately, that doesn\'t happen too often.)
17. Drug or alcohol issues. Many artists with easy access to drugs, alcohol, and groupies at the local level have the distorted impression that they\'ve "made it" and lose motivation to go any further.
18. Spouse / child obligations. Putting together an entertainment career is expensive and requires a major time commitment. The same is true of spouses and children. We\'re not saying it\'s impossible, but it\'s definitely more difficult.
19. Impossible to work with. Being impossible to work with doesn\'t necessarily mean the artist isn\'t a nice person; one very nice artist has had seven managers in the past ten years. We like this artist just fine as a person, but in order for a team to become successful, it needs time to gel. With a rotating litany of band members, managers, and agents, that\'s not likely to happen.
20. Not understanding how the industry works. You have to know how the game is played in order to move the right pieces
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Those are all pretty obvious I think....
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To you maybe.....
Plus it hits you a bit harder seeing them listed in sequential order like that.
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This thread should be stickied for anyone that wonders why The Breakfast are not making it. There are a bunch of reasons on this list that explain their difficulties.
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I would hope that someone has already emailed this to the band. I know they have been in the business for some time now and those are all obvious blah blah blah, but it never hurts to check yourself...personally and professionally.
That list may help jog some ideas, thoughts, etc that they may have had over the years, but have been lost in a haze of late hot magical nights along the way.
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Well after reading through today\'s calendar section of the Hartford Courant and Waterbury facist, there is plenty of press about lots of local 2 bit cover bands but no mention of this Saturday, nor any side projects. This stuff is FREE for the asking, somebody needs to own it ASAP, and I would consider doing it if no one else will. I really think the management should be on it, this is part of what they are paid for,
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I really think the management should be on it, this is part of what they are paid for,
This is the thing people don\'t get...they have NO paid management!!
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This is the thing people don\'t get...they have NO paid management!!
true.. but this show was booked when they did......which rationalizes why they dont currently have paid management and there is, yet another, breakfast transition period......
call me ingorantly optomistic, lovestruck, or just plain stupid, but i have my hopes high for the new year.....
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true.. but this show was booked when they did......which rationalizes why they dont currently have paid management and there is, yet another, breakfast transition period......
call me ingorantly optomistic, lovestruck, or just plain stupid, but i have my hopes high for the new year.....
as long as someone takes the reins as far as promo and PR goes there shouldn\'t be any reason why this next year can\'t be a super productive year....... So there is yet another shift in the underworld known as Breakfast Management....... looking forward to seeing what comes out of the latest Scheme
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I would consider doing it if no one else will.
why enable them to keep slacking?
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All that other stuff besides getting a good management = selling out.
Screw that. Oh yeah except they should wear trendier clothes and get new haircuts. And play music that fits into a more established genre. And get rid of Adrian cuz he\'s not so good at drums. And stop being so lazy, and put more energy into their songs. And stop freebasing Sudafed 24 / 7
whatever. That list of 20 reasons is interesting (okay, I lie, it actually wasn\'t), but to see people jumping on it like "OH YEAH that list === THE Breakfast, noooow I get it!" is retarded.
Management, management, management. Other than that I say they don\'t change a damn thing.
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Management, management, management. Other than that I say they don\'t change a damn thing.
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21. Following up the local, near-dooze cd release party with very little promotion of an upcoming headliner at Toad\'s.
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All that other stuff besides getting a good management = selling out.
Screw that. Oh yeah except they should wear trendier clothes and get new haircuts. And play music that fits into a more established genre. And get rid of Adrian cuz he\'s not so good at drums. And stop being so lazy, and put more energy into their songs. And stop freebasing Sudafed 24 / 7
whatever. That list of 20 reasons is interesting (okay, I lie, it actually wasn\'t), but to see people jumping on it like "OH YEAH that list === THE Breakfast, noooow I get it!" is retarded.
I think you are making unfair interpretations of that list and this thread Tuna.....but that\'s like...my opinion man....
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....... underworld known as Breakfast Management.......
I like that one!
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why enable them to keep slacking?
You are right! It is time for some TOUGH LOVE!
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blah blah blah selling out selling out blah blah blah
there are a lot of sellouts out there. however, most bands that just do what they need to do in order to make a living are unfairly labeled as sellouts far too often. in the music business the fan is the client. what you do as an artist is for them. end of story. in a perfect world, an artist would be able to do whatever makes them feel good 24/7 and everyone would love and appreciate it. sadly this is not reality. there needs to be a compromise. the fan is the reason an artist gets to enjoy any success. the artist must give back to the fan in order to keep this relationship symbiotic. sometimes that means making compromises and striking a balance, but that is NOT the same as selling out.
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You are right! It is time for some TOUGH LOVE!
Oh so NOW it\'s time for toughlove. ;)
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I really think the management should be on it, this is part of what they are paid for,
This is the thing people don\'t get...they have NO paid management!!
nor should people have to \'get\' it, or understand it, or sympathize with it. fuck that. the fucking \'no (or shitty) management\'/\'transition period\' excuse has been made/used for this band ad nauseam. there\'s no promo because the band has no management. there\'s no one at the shows because the band has no management. no one knows about moxie epoxy because the band has no management. shows are booked/announced less than a month in advance because the band has no management. there are SEVEN shows on the schedule because the band has no management.
the fact of the matter is, it\'s an unacceptable excuse.
the band\'s most recent manager was recently fired because nothing was getting done. super. but without a backup plan, you can\'t just say, "we can do \'nothing\' just as well". it shouldn\'t be up to mark to find local papers to advertise the band\'s upcoming shows in. it shouldn\'t be up to wildcoyote to press toad\'s management for tickets/promo. it shouldn\'t be up to aruny to make sure that there\'s fliers available in a packed bar that the band\'s guitarist is playing at for a breakfast show a few nights later within walking distance of the place. these are the things that the band needs to be proactive about. then again, after 8 years, they probably know this.
i have my hopes high for the new year.....
a new year which, by the way, is 11 days away and there are currently 3 shows scheduled during..
as long as someone takes the reins as far as promo and PR goes there shouldn\'t be any reason why this next year can\'t be a super productive year....
pretty sure this is now the 3rd year in a row with a "we\'ll get \'em next year!"... well shit, we gotta be right one of these times, right??
I would consider doing it if no one else will.
why enable them to keep slacking?
You are right! It is time for some TOUGH LOVE!
agreed. see above. this should be the band\'s job in their \'transition period\'.
food for thought for those of you who are employed: how long would you be able to hold onto your current job for, if someone else was doing all the leg work for you??
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soooooo staying out of this thread. :D
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this should be the band\'s job in their \'transition period\'.
Yeah, no gigs for a few weeks should have enabled them to go all out on the Toad\'s promo.
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i think they should change back to psychedelic breakfast, bring back Jordan and hire Spin Ray and Pat the Head Dancer to drive them around the country in the bus!!
keep talking about this stuff. There is truth in every post I have read so far.
As far as this whole topic goes..
Trees grow from the roots up..
peace
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this thread just reminds me
SOMEONE GET ME PROMO SHIT TO HAND OUT AT TREY IN BOSTON ON THE 28TH
thanks :)
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this thread just reminds me
SOMEONE GET ME PROMO SHIT TO HAND OUT AT TREY IN BOSTON ON THE 28TH
thanks :)
falling on deaf ears my friend
i should be there, i\'ll have a bunch printed. i\'m gonna try to burn a bunch of cd\'s but i have to make a new and improved promo disk.
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i think they should change back to psychedelic breakfast, bring back Jordan
I like those ideas!