Hubert Sawyers III - S.O.L.A.R.-Powered Content

I interrupt my own stream of constructive thought to hip you guys to a video made for one of the songs of SP’s Movin’ Along LP. If you are a fan of the SAC, then you will love this.

All right, let’s get slightly historical for a second. Artists and show promoters are usually cut from the same cloth. A lot of times, show promoters are music artists themselves, so they are highly sensitive to being righteous about the shows they throw. Then you have your promoters that are just really big fans of the music and they just want to do their part. Both types kind of adopt a particular ethos in setting up what constitutes a great show or not. They would rather risk not paying the rent than letting a musically-blasphemous band take the stage, even if they knew said band would pack the house. This righteousness is admirable, but I do not understand why anyone would waste funds over it. At the outset, I just wonder why the greater music community (artists and fans) is not initially involved in the decision of what makes events worthwhile. You just do not here promoters wondering who/what the mass populace wants to see.

I NEVER TOOK THE TIME TO QUANTIFY MY CONSUMER BASE FOR THE EVENTS I THREW.

While this situation of the standards-driven promoter is not a bad thing, I wonder why they still suck at getting people to fill venues. Call me an idealist or obtuse, but I just feel like they should be awesome at the business side by this point. I mean, c’mon, there should be eons of experience in a local-dive-bar-with-a-stage near you! Truth is, many of my local promoters (which actually includes me at times, I’ll admit) have been doing half-assed work for so long that it is only making things worse for artists. There are not enough promoters that are transparent enough to trust. Then promoters put way too much expectancy on artists to bring crowds, which makes me ask “what’s the point of your job then?” If you are a promoter, then you should have the social capital to get a certain amount of people out on your own command. For those that don’t understand what I mean by social capital, then I want to ask you to quit now before you piss off another band.

I have been reading The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber and he touches on how quantification is crucial to making improvements in one’s business. This concept had me thinking why I kept having unstable results with my shows. I NEVER TOOK THE TIME TO QUANTIFY MY CONSUMER BASE FOR THE EVENTS I THREW. I did try my hand at permission marketing with attempts to get show attendees to sign up for mailing lists and the like. It is a pretty tall task to convince drunken youngins that you are not a bad guy and you just want to continue giving them reasons to party. I never stuck with it long enough to really find it effective. Truth be told, I bet this would be a worthwhile tool if I kept at it.

With me using social media so heavily, I find myself becoming increasingly annoyed lately by promoters wasting time by spamming their “friends” via MySpace and Facebook. I think I may need to create a slogan to put a lid on this stupidity; something like “Friends Don’t Let Friends Waste Each Others’ Time With Internet Spam.” If you think about it, your real friends should want to come to your event on grand principle. The other people that you are trying to reach are not really paying attention, because you are just like every other spam promoter. You know what, let me set up the first tenet to becoming a better promoter:

1. You are in the business of personal interaction, so build personal relationships with people. If you do not really know your MySpace/Facebook friends, then how can you really expect them to support your events? Unless you have booked MC Hammer, then no one is going to care!

If you profess to be a promoter, you should be a people person. You should be very likable. It should not be a chore to be around a crowd and it would help if you are open to talking to said crowd. During this time of interacting with your potential customers/patrons, you should be trying to find things you have in common with them, not just setting up your elevator pitch to had them a flyer. The purpose behind this is to build a long-term relationship with your customer. I use the term customer because that’s what they are! If you are planning to have a monetary relationship with these folks, then you need to see you are in the customer service business. You have internal and external customers as a show promoter. Internal being the artists; your external customer is your show attendee. Get it? Got it? I hope so.

Once you build a strong core of like-minded people that you can leverage whenever you throw an event, you will find the promotional process to be much easier as these folks will be obliged to aid you in making your event a success. You don’t have to keep sending reminders as people will actually ask you when your next show is. This personal connection also makes you a lot more aware of how you come across to your friend/customer. There is a book I would like to quote, but I haven’t read it yet. I imagine it’s a book by Seth Godin. Which one? I do not know, probably all of them. I am digressing though, so I am going to stop here.

I am going to release all the tenets in part 3. This one is a little long, so take this in, comment and get ready to talk smack on the possibly-controversial list to come later this week.

I’m just waking up from an uncharacteristic late night out on the town. Yesterday was Dilla Day all over the world and we celebrated it in grand style in the home city of the late great music producer – James “J Dilla” Yancey. I was especially happy to see a seemingly-capacity crowd at TV Bar. Both rooms were used with House Shoes and Dez running things in the main ballroom (including performances by Finale, 5 Ela, Phat Kat and Slum Village) and Sicari and K-Fresh spinning in the lounge. If you were to be a n00b to the Detroit hip hop scene and last night was your first experience, then you might think we have the most awesome scene on the planet. It looked to be so much love and comradery that you might believe that we always party like that. Au contraire, this party was definitely a one-off. Detroit only parties big on special occasions. J Dilla is worth it though, without a doubt, holiday or not. I just wonder how the promoters of this event plan to replicate that showing at future events. Actually, I doubt it is really possible, but I wonder if they are taking measures to retain patrons. My guess is no.

I set this scene and the clarification of its relevance to start the conversation behind the business model of promoting events. As a semi-retired show promoter, I am very familiar with the downs and occasional ups of the business. I always find myself giving up on throwing shows as the effort that goes into coordinating an event, promoting the event and setting up the event is just so taxing that the potential payout never seems worth it, especially when you are most likely going to lose money. I mean, to the average entrepreneur, this probably makes no sense to you and I totally understand that. The thing is, many show promoters do not get into the business of throwing them with the idea that they are going to become rich from it. Many of us do it because we are passionate about music and want to contribute to the scene; of course, it helps that you can actually potentially make some money doing it too.

I started throwing shows 5 years ago, because there was a bit of a void of quality events that I wanted to see in my old college town in East Lansing, MI. I used to try to book myself on my own shows, but that got old quickly. It was just too much work to try to make sure the show details were in order and keep all my queues in order with my DJ for our set. Besides, I had a problem with remembering my raps and that was embarrassing. I need to focus on one thing.

I had a good run. My best shows have been my birthday parties (this very fact is instrumental to my current view on how to properly run a event promotions company). I eventually moved my events from Lansing to Detroit and I saw even greater success, but usually my shows were in the red in terms of money. I had to take my first retirement when I attempted to book my biggest show that required a 4-figure guarantee to the headliner at a venue that was just opening and was off the beaten path. I made less than $900 at the door. I have to admit, the work that was put into this show was not my best. Mind you, I was in no real position to throw this event as I believe I was having trouble making ends meet at home. My car was on the fritz and I rarely drove anywhere, so I was not getting out and flyering. In this particular show, I had a group that came from out-of-town to perform and I wasn’t able to pay them anything, not even gas money. Luckily, they were humble enough to accept that and I appreciate them for that to this day. I had a local rock band that I guaranteed money to and I wasn’t able to pay them either. They were not as understanding and that bummed me out. I still have that on my conscience to this day. I like to be a man of my word and that show totally ruined that reputation, at least that’s what I think, so I gave up throwing events for a while. I got back at it in the summer of 2008, but only to witness a dying music scene filled with jaded, apathetic and/or spoiled people. I immediately packed it back up after a couple of shows with no attendees.

With the music industry in such a decline, I find myself very interested in what it will take to help artists sustain a living. I have a couple ideas and most of them hover around the concept that artists need to see themselves as a business, which is totally the opposite of what “true artists” want to be seen as. As the major labels crumble though, you cannot expect to be discovered anymore, so new ideas have to be developed. I think one avenue that artists will be looking to gain more traction is money from touring. It is obvious that album sales can no longer be relied upon, so income streams need to be diversified. That is why I want to talk about the people that are instrumental in making sure these artists are given the best chance at maximizing their time at the concert venue. Promoters need to do their jobs better – simple and plain.

This is the end of part one, but feel free to leave comments. I’d love to moderate a discussion on the future of show promoting in regards to the changing needs of artists that have their backs against the wall. On the next part to this series, I will be unveiling some of my personal tenets to becoming a successful promoter in the Digital Age.

For those that have been reading this blog since my re-beginning, you might remember my very first feature, which included today’s subject – Charles Vann (budding comedic writer / comedian) aka SelfSays (talented hip hop artist). Me and Charles go back before the new millennium. I knew him when his only known recorded song was on a DJ Defiant mix project. He rapped over J Dilla‘s “F#@k the Police” instrumental and his contribution was one of the better ones on that puppy. Mind you, no animals were harmed in the creation of that effort.

Anyway, the rapper known as SelfSays is one of Michigan’s best. His knack for bearing his soul in a way that makes even the most awkward of detached individuals understand his angst is – for lack of a better word – AMAZING. Hip hop heads may quickly liken his cadence to Juggaknots’ member – Breezly Brewin. Interestingly enough, Brewin is one of Self’s favorite eMCees, but he’ll be quick to let you know that he has many influences. I remember hanging with him and listening to him gush about rappers like Illogic and Vast Aire, so I know that if anything, he loves rappers that have a way with words. All I know is that a lot of people like to claim influences and do not show any real absorption of their influencer’s best traits. Well, SelfSays pens raps as good, if not better, as most of his heroes and peers.

For example, I’d like to highlight two of his tracks on his recently-released free EP: Something Out of Nothing

First, we have the song “Parting Gifts,” which in my mind comes off more like Pardon Gifts after really listening to what he says:

remind me of a time when he didn’t know where he would sleep

The imagery alone puts pressure on my heart. I mean, I have a bias – sure – but you cannot deny the way he delivers this piece that it is not unique and special. There aren’t many folks that can rap like Charles.

Let’s review my favorite song on the EP – “Sleeping Beauty,” produced by a good friend of mine Alex Richard aka Beatmongers.

Seriously:

I mean, hey, that’s the way they’ll see you anyway

The beat already is haunting enough, but Self is the Vincent Price of this Thriller. The way he paints the girl in this song, his former love interest, is the most intense way to really get to a person. If I knew this song were about me, I’d … yeah – no reason to go there, just the beginning of the second verse:

I hope you find yourself when you fall asleep into your dreams.

Wow… whew!

The one thing you will notice is that this will be one of the shortest-playing 8-song extended-players you will find on the internet. SelfSays prefers getting in and getting it all out. He can do more in 20 bars than most wordy rappers do in 48. Pay close attention to the two-parter “Real Life.” He pulls no punches regarding his forays with therapists and prescription meds. It’s obvious that the real therapy happens when he writes. Funny thing about it, we might all be better because of it as well.

My buddy, tee aka mr.Slate (the man behind the production of the “Sampler Potential” track on my MySpace music player), sent me the link to the trailer below. It’s what I imagine will be the best hip hop AVG (Audio/Visual Gem) for quite a while. I am listening to the MP3 version of this movie and I am amazed at how Kenzo was able to make a real story surrounding various songs of the likes of Nas, Jay Z, Biggie, Ghostface and Raekwon, along with movie clips featuring Samuel L Jackson and Delroy Lindo. Kenzo provides remixes to many of their classic songs, but he also uses the originals where they count too. Oh, I am not giving the coolest bit of all – it’s narrated by legendary Latin artist – Joe Bataan!

You can find out all the details on Kenzo Digital’s City of God’s Son website.