A few days ago, some new friends and I ventured out to EUR (Esposizione Universale Roma), a neighborhood outside of central Rome built by Mussolini for what would’ve been the site for the World’s Fair of 1942 if he hadn’t gone all cray-cray into World War II. We were there for the Italia Beer Festival, a celebration of craft brewers in Italy.
The 8th SF MusicTech Summit, held on May 9, brought together musicians, computer developers and business professionals under one roof for a day of panels dedicated to brightening the future of the music industry.
“You can’t pirate intimacy,” opened Evan Lowenstein of StageIt, concisely summarizing the morning’s panel featuring guests Brandon Boyd and Mike Einziger of Incubus. The panelists focused on fan engagement and stressed that great concert experiences can’t be pirated. Boyd and Einziger offered their viewpoints as established artists, including Boyd’s professed shyness to self-promotion. Einziger commented on the shift with emerging technologies: “When we were young, we mailed out mailing lists and drove around to schools, but nowadays that’s a waste of money.”
The “Live Music Marketing” panel brought together founders from a number of top events promotions websites. Live Nation’s Aaron Siuda opened: “I’ve shifted 30% of my budget to online ads. You don’t need to do the shotgun approach.” Artists are now able to cost-effectively target demographics using metrics offered by platforms like Facebook. Julia Hartz, co-founder of Eventbrite, added, “Ticket buyers are ten times more likely to buy a ticket if they see a friend sharing it.” Songkick’s Ian Hogarth offered a reminder of the importance of simpler communications: “Text, phone and email still rank high on shares next to Facebook.”
In the afternoon, Mashable’s Jolie O’Dell quickly bypassed the obvious platforms of Facebook and Twitter in “Tools for Your Band.” The panel suggested services for artists like Topspin, SoundCloud, and Songtrust and SoundExchange for royalties. Perhaps the most celebrated tool of the Summit was RootMusic’s BandPages, a Facebook Page customization service. While such tech-centric recommendations were common throughout the day, the majority of the panelists still emphasized the fundamental importance of creating great content and engaging authentically with fans.
Last night, I relived a large part of high school with the return of Soundgarden at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Thanks to Nick, the drummer in our band, Festizio, for the last-minute ticket.
Here are some crappy iPhone photos from the show. The Endearing: A little boy on the shoulders of his mom, ear protection on and clapping wildly, high-fived one of the guys we were with. The Strange: A large man who kept spinning around with his arms wide open. The Words: contact high.
Yes, that’s still my favorite Keane song. And if you’re thinking I’m not a very good Keane fan for liking their old pop single, you’re right. I’m not. While I own their debut record, “Hopes & Fears,” I’ve never really been a fan of the band, despite the fact that we share the same name and that their popularity hides some of my web content when you search for me on Google (a blessing, really). I’ve always thought of them as talented, but just not my particular cup of tea. So when a friend messaged me with an opportunity to see Keane for free, I chuckled a little (again, we share the same name – the jokes went on WELL into the night) but happily agreed to check them out.
THE EXPECTATION
Going in, I knew little about Fran Healy, the lead singer of Travis, aside from a few quality songs I heard from his band. I fully expected to enjoy Ingrid Michaelson’s set the most, as I find her minimalist style of songwriting endearing. Keane, I suspected I would enjoy, though I was not really sure how much.
THE RESULT
Fran Healy completely won the audience with his solo act. His was an intimate set, filled with stories about playing on tour, “nicking chords” from Noel Gallagher of Oasis (he since slipped in the phrase “What’s a Wonderwall, anyway?” into the alleged Travis song, “Writing to Reach You”), and having his heart broken by girl after girl. He messed up noticeably several times on stage (“Ahhh, fuck!”), only adding to the warmth of his performance.
Surprisingly, I didn’t care for Ingrid’s set at all. I felt she spent a good percentage of her performance playing cover songs (“Creep” is overdone – everyone, stop it now) and being an overall goofball. While I think this works most of the time, going on a seemingly five-minute long rant about her boobs was a bit much. And perhaps if I hadn’t heard Or, the Whale‘s amazing rendition of Britney’s “Toxic,” I may have enjoyed her closing version of it more. Don’t get me wrong. I think she’s an amazing artist. I would have just liked to see more of her art.
I enjoyed Keane very much. While I’m not a fan of listening to their music at home, it translated incredibly well into a live show. The same endless vocals and keys that bore me at home provided a steady stream of energy into the crowd. And the crowd seemed to enjoy it thoroughly, as the band spent more time smiling in thanks between songs while the crowd cheered their mouths and my eardrums off.
There was a point when everyone started chanting, “KEANE, KEANE, KEANE, KEANE.” I may or may not have pretended in my head that they were chanting for me. Just a little bit.
Before our show at Red Devil Lounge last night, I had been watching music performance videos to sort of get me into “the mood,” which is, I think, the equivalent of watching porn before having sex. Though who does that, I don’t know. Anyway, I ran into a Rolling Stone article on Kurt Cobain, discussing the sixteenth anniversary of when the rock icon committed suicide. The article commemorates his life with an amazing photo collection and some updates on his legacy, including his inclusion in Rock Band and the planned biopic on his life, Heavier Than Heaven. Here was a guy, loved and hated musically, that stood for something beyond music, injecting something more meaningful than sex and booze into rock culture. And as destructive as he was, he was/is pretty damn inspirational.
As a musician, I think it helps to constantly reevaluate why you create music. I think great music comes through if it stands for something, if you’re motivated by something more than simply creating melodies for the sake of creating melodies. That’s what separates an artist from a hobbyist, I guess. Artists create largely because they have to. Like the need to drink water or breathe air, their medium is an ingrained form of expression that, whether they want it to or not, needs to come out. Not allowing it to would be akin to never speaking for a kid that can’t shut up.
Nirvana’s performance at Reading, regarded as their greatest, is available on an NME award-nominated DVD. I’m seriously considering finally picking this up.
sixteenth anniversary of when the rock icon committed suicide. The article commemorates his life with an amazing photo collection and some updates on his legacy, including