I will never forget The PlayTrains or the other bands I saw during my days booking and
promoting concerts for the Radical Rock Reactionaries at Westfield (NJ) High
School. Being a music lover living outside of New York City area (and
being invested in concerts starting in the early 1990s) there was always
someone encouraging me to listen to a relative's band or a friend of a friend
who was a musician.
In fact, for the past 20
years I have been taking the time to listen to these bands.
Unfortunately, a lot of times this leads to disappointing conversations, since
the music either does not match my personal taste or I do not believe I can
“sell” others on giving the band a chance. While
I always try to at least offer some type of response, there is
not much you can do to make your review sound positive. Although different
than the classic “it’s not you, it’s me” cliché, I try to find a way to
lessen the fallout. For example, after telling a person that the
band is not the right fit for a gig, I try to follow that up with something
positive, such as complimenting the bass line or something specific I liked
about the lyrics.
And although I have been disappointed
in the past, other times I have been blown away at the talent that exists less
than 6 degrees of separation. The first friend I made at summer camp
(Greg) introduced me to a band of his elementary school classmates that has me
still wondering if Nik, Fran & Billy are making music in 2015. And
most recently my friend Jennifer introduced me to her cousin's band Clipart.
It was actually really exciting to tell her that I enjoyed what they are doing
musically.
But even in the age of
Facebook, Twitter & Instagram, it is not uncommon to learn about new music
thru the classic medium of “word of mouth”. In fact, Word of Mouth
Marketing (WOMM) could still be the most important type of social media there
is. Although studies that I have read point towards Word of Mouth
Marketing being most prevalent in discovering mobile games, at this year’s SxSW
in Austin, TX there was a breakout session titled, “Streamed It On The
Grapevine: Music Word Of Mouth” which was dedicated to artists maintaining an
intimate connection with their fans and preparing for the next wave of music
word of mouth where human suggestions and algorithms work together.
Who will be the next bands to
keep this form of promotion alive?! Or will we not know until your friend
Jon tells you about a band that has your former next-door neighbor’s son ondrums and & vocals? In all
sincerity, it is always exciting to hear music that is new to me. Please
keep the recommendations coming.
Thanks for reading.
