[Dixielandjazz] RedGorilla Music Fest seeks bands - Austin TX

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Hi Dan and all who are interested in this thread:


First of all thanks for posting it DAN.



Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] RedGorilla Music Fest seeks bands - Austin 
TX

   DJML--
     What do local musicians think about the RedGorilla festival?
     Here's the response from a highly talented local player who has
played in 20s-30s jazz-band as well as other bands, and has toured
around the country as well.

     Dan
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
TW:
Perhaps that says it all right there Dan:

"HAS"   as in past tense, and ignoring trends of new marketing 
techniques
put forth by Corporations ( who by the way are not limited to the music 
band business)

Their money is what fuels the economy creating paid jobs, for far more 
"TALENTED"
  people besides musicians.   These events are designed to enhance 
overall spending and
community economic development for the local businesses that just might 
hire your
friend with some of the money they make from all the visiting tourist 
and participants
who spend money to come together and promote themselves and their bands.

But then again Musicians as a whole have never been considered to over 
blessed with
Business Sense, which raises it's ugly head in every other aspect of 
life all around them all
day long every day of the year.

I vote we change the name of Musicians to Ostriches :))
TW.


>Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2007 10:56:00 -0800 (PST)

>Subject: Re: RedGorilla Music Fest seeks bands - Austin TX
>

>Dan,
>
>This kind of crap is becoming the way of the "music" world as of late.
>It irritates me more than I can say. There is nothing but corporate
>money pushing these types of festivals --- SXSW, Austin City Limits,
>The North American Folk Alliance and now this!
>I'll be damned if I EVER give someone an application fee to become
>part of their festival.

I would venture to say that not one of the People participating or 
sponsoring the
event will EVER hire him to play for them either especially if they 
never saw or heard him.

Some musos can't even understand when an event is organized and promoted
to actually try to do something to raise the awareness of live music 
and promote it.
And why should they not be entitles to make a profit from their 
business as well,
  NOBODY OWES A MUSICIAN A LIVING BECAUSE OF HIS TALENT AND the Big 
Yellow Gig Bus
  from the Union no longer is running to pick them up and take them on 
tour.
>
>This is all so commonplace nowadays -- Google "music festival."
>You'll find too many music festivals that happen nationwide that are
very similar to SXSW, Austin City Limits and/or this Red Gorilla
>business.

TW:

Yes indeed there are more and more of them, WHY do you think that is ?
DUH I DUNNO?  maybe because they work and artists are actually getting
good results from participating in them.   While others sit around 
locally
waiting fore the Big Yellow Gig Bus that left town after the festival 
with new players on it.



 As you found out, if you read thru their finer print,
>you'll discover that there is an application fee. Some of the
>festivals will pay the artists -- a very small wage --- for
performing.


TW
Ask your friend how much it would cost him to buy an ad in the local 
newspaper,
  or on the local radio  & TV stations to publicize it.   Then ask him 
if he advertised himself
being the local VERY TALENTED player that you say he is if ANYBODY 
would pay to come and hear him.



 Others assume that any and all comers want "the chance"
to get noticed or "signed" and won't even offer peanuts.
>Of course, they will pay out ridiculous sums of money to the one or
>two huge names they will put on the bill that will attract the
Lemmings by the score.

TW:

Gee why would they be STUPID enough to pay those ridiculous sums
to one or two BIG NAMES IF THEY DID NOT EARN THEIR KEEP BY SELLING
tickets to the event and attracting an AUDIENCE bigger than your friend 
will
probably ever play to in Austin in his lifetime.?  Not to mention 
giving him a chance
to be seen and heard by thousands and thousands of people, and provided 
with an opportunity to
network and promote his OWN TALENT TO THOUSAND AND THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE
 who have never or never will hear of him.
>
>--- Austin City Limits Festival --- these corporate sharks offered a
>friend's band $125 to play at this EXTREMELY well attended festival
 bear in mind the cost of the tickets this year. This band is
>fairly well known around town and has a decent draw. I cannot say
>whether or not they paid a fee to apply for "the chance" to play at
>this corporate buy-in.  $125!!
>If I head over to the Austin Musicians Union website and have a look
>at their outdated scale wages, that $125 doesn't cover a quarter of
>that band.

TW:

There is another RED FLAG about your friends musicians mentality 
fostered by the teachings
of the Union in a long gone lost and not necessarily correct time for 
musicians.
>
>Greed is what is driving these festivals. Greed is what is pushing
>the esteemed art of music into the ground.

TW:

There we go again referring to MUSIC as ART ,  not all of it is Art at 
all,
  it is a Damned "SERVICE" if you want to be a Starving Artist then by 
all means go
 out and do it, But shut up about it NOBODY gives a damn,
  but if you want to be in a viable "ENTERTAINMENT SERVICE BUSINESS" AND 
BE PAID RESPECTABLY,
 you better learn how to do some promotion and marketing.

  Greed is what is blinding us all to the fact that we are being 
bamboozled by a corporate
>definition of musical taste -- mass market appeal.

TW:   Gee whiz that is the same thing I hear form Non Profit Groups all 
the time
          When I tell them how much I charge for the talented 
Professional Services of my Band.
>
>I'm on the losing side of the argument between corporate festivals
>and professional musicianship. I know it well. I don't care.

For Crying out loud man,  I make thousands of Dollars a day from 
Playing Corporate Gigs,
  so why would you want to bite the hands that feed you and so many 
others.
   They usually pay far better than anybody else, especially bars and 
Trad. Jazz Societies and
so called non-profit groups, which operate as non profits because they 
don't care
  or don't know how to make a profit except from getting musicians to 
play for little or nothing.


>I'll be playing private parties and poorly attended happy hours as
>long as there are places that enjoy genuine live music and there are
>folks who desire to hear it.
>The corporate world can have its fill of artists who can't make
>intelligent business decisions regarding the future of music world
economics. They'll make it impossible for me to ever find a very
>stable income. But, I'll manage as a warrior always manages.

Your friend is not a warrior  at all, he is a Soldier of the past and 
not a Soldier of Fortune by any means:))

>Greed and Ignorance equals these kinds of festivals.

TW
Yep! Perhaps A BIT OF BOTH:  A bit of greed in asking for artists to 
pay for participation
in and advertising and promotion venture that could benefit them 
greatly if they knew
what they were doing and not choosing to remain IGNORANT and unemployed 
while
hipper  youngsters all around them are walking away with paid gigs.


Now Dan get off your bohunkus and get a band together and go find
  the right place to play there and help create gigs for OKOM.  Maybe 
your friend
will come and play in the band once you promote it and book enough gigs 
to HIRE him and his ART.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins
--


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