One of the first signs that your music career is on an upward trajectory comes with the realization that you have developed a following.  You’ve noticed that many of the same people are continually showing up at your gigs; and when you’re out running mundane errands, you’re starting to be acknowledged in public by those same folks, as well as others whom you do not recognize.  While you’re probably not being mobbed at the local market, or enduring the frenzy of autograph-seekers thrusting pen and paper in your direction, there is a certain sense of pride swelling within at this newfound recognition.   You have fans.

Fanciers and Fanatics

A fan is defined as an individual who experiences an intense admiration for an entertainer, sports figure, or other public figure.  While it has been thought that the term ‘fan’ was derived from the word fanatic; the actual origin has been traced to the 19th century term, fancy, which was used primarily to identify British followers of boxing matches.

We’ve all witnessed the fictional and media depictions of the adoring fan, the psycho-stalker fan, and all of the variations in-between.  Social scientists who examine fan-celebrity relationships have identified three levels of celebrity worship:  entertainment-social (ES), intense-personal (IP), and borderline-pathological (BP).

The first of these, ES, is the normal identification with or admiration of a public figure; the individual who attends concerts, purchases music, and seeks out others with similar interests.  The next group, IP, consists of those whose veneration has increased to having more obsessive thoughts about the celebrity, possibly to the point of entertaining fantasies that the fan and celebrity could share a life together.  Finally, the BP fan is one who has diminishing or no boundaries in regard to their beloved icon, and is generally viewed as a stalker.

Is this stalker type a common problem for those who become even minor public figures by virtue of some success as a musician?  Is it actually possible that your fans could go awry? While isolated incidents of criminal fan behavior do happen, the worst behavior endured by the majority of musicians will be more nuisance than pathological.

The best way to deal with this nuisance behavior begins with knowing what you’re up against. Let’s examine the nature of fans from a more realistic perspective; one that cuts through the psycho-babble and presents caricatures of the most common music fan types.

Gary Gear-Head

This is the guy who loves every painstaking detail about his music hero’s rig.  Gary’s time is spent interacting with other gear-heads; trying to figure out how to create the same sounds as you (generally on the cheap); and researching the minutiae behind every piece of equipment you’ve ever touched.  When he has the opportunity to talk with you, this guy bends your ear asking how you achieved seemingly trivial effects.  If you find yourself with a lot of these guys (and they are usually male), consider offering clinics to demonstrate your style, and supplement your gig income.

Carl & Colin Collector

Carl can certainly discuss your music with authority, but you get an odd vibe of detachment from the guy.  Because he’s such a huge fan of yours, he’s constantly at your elbow asking you to sign anything and everything you’ve ever produced – claiming to be your ultimate collector.  Carl is definitely a dedicated admirer, of yours, and of every other hot musician who can make him some cash.  Your autographs and memorabilia are for sale at hefty prices on Carl’s online marketplace.

Carl has a fraternal twin, Colin, who is also a collector, but not for entrepreneurial purposes.  Colin has a need to fulfill.   By “collecting” musicians, Colin is able to feel important when he extolls you as a friend.  While you might not consider Colin part of your inner circle, he will certainly add you to his collection as soon as you’ve acknowledged his presence with a casual  “Hey, how’s it going? Thanks for coming tonight!”   Colin lives to have his photo taken with you, wherein he will wrap an arm around your shoulder, press his face against yours, and with his free hand, throw a sign, just to show how freakin’ awesome he is, hanging with his main man.

Sam Schadenfreude

He claims to be a HUGE fan, but he is one nit-picking pain.  Sam constantly scrutinizes every aspect of your music, your rig, heck, even the way you wear your clothes.  He expects you to embrace his criticisms, which he condescendingly cites as being purely constructive in nature.   If you don’t take the time to listen to his complaints, or you don’t incorporate his guidance, he’ll take it to a larger audience – your online forum, or better yet, one that’s more heavily populated.

Sam is especially gleeful when others write mediocre or poor reviews about you – this gives him the opportunity to tell you, and anyone else who will listen, that he told you so.  If only you had heeded Sam’s omnipotent wisdom, you would not find yourself in such an unsatisfactory position.

Ursula Unrequited – (hyphenate with your last name)

She will go to great distances (literally and figuratively) to be near you.  Ursula possesses such unconditional love for you, that initially, she is a major boost to the ego.  But, she has another side – Ursula is a disaster magnet.  You can’t help but feel for her when she’s down on her luck.  She is, after all, such a dedicated fan.  You offer her kind words, toss her an extra t-shirt, and she’s so broke – a free pass is nothing, right?

But after a while, your undivided attention doesn’t seem to be enough. Ursula’s behavior alternates between wanting to have your baby and hurling derogatory epitaphs in your direction.  And, when you’re just about to ask her to move along, she tearfully apologizes and declares her unwavering devotion to you and your music (of course, Ursula is unable to correctly name three of your songs).  Your band mates and crew have taken to making sucking sounds instead of referring to her by name – a gentle reminder that your number one fan is a sucking black hole of doom.

Nigel and Nina Normal

They regularly attend your shows, and they bring friends with them.  They buy your CDs, pick up a couple extra copies for friends, and would never ask you to comp them at gigs or give you free tunes.  They’re friendly, but not pushy; you enjoy chatting with them between sets, or after the gig, and you find yourself discussing topics other than your music.

They may occasionally snap some photos or videos of you performing, which they forward to you, along with uploading them to their own web pages or social networking sites.  They rarely ask you for favors, except for an occasional photo taken together, or a song request for a special occasion.  You know their names because you enjoy their company, and their continued support. These folks are great, and you tend to view them more as friends than as fans.

If you’re lucky, the majority of your fans will fall into this latter group, and you will be blessed with a very limited assemblage of Ursulas, Sams, and the Collector twins.

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We live in a digitized-networkized-iPodized-viralized-voyeurized society where media is idolized and children are born, oblivious, into already-mundane technology their grandparents couldn’t have conceived of. Not surprisingly, when it comes to how we consume art, one sensory experience isn’t enough. We crave the feeling of being drenched, immersed in sound, light, and imagery. Perhaps naturally, then, the blending of music and visuals has become standard in the concert and club scene, seemingly, at least as far as our grandparents can figure, overnight.

In fact, the injection of visual performance into the music scene began with the arrival of the superstar DJ in the 1990s. Suddenly, thousands of people were coming out to dance to electronic music, but for the first time, the maestro was barely visible to the crowd. Without being able to watch performers, people wanted more to look at than a lightshow.

Enter the VJ

When we say a ‘VJ’ is going to be at the show tonight, we’re not talking about the toothy people-pleasers who introduce videos on MTV. We’re talking about the artists who produce the cadenced, pulsating images that have become standard elements in the tapestry of stimuli woven—not just at DJ events—at almost every large concert and festival production being put on today.

There are as many different ways to perform visuals as there are to make music. While some VJs lug around a ton of equipment, others work from a single, dedicated laptop. Some VJs create all their own video clips, while others buy, borrow, and trade online off YouTube and VJ forums. Some VJs focus on creating an intensely psychedelic experience for the audience, while others tell stories using shadow puppets. Ultimately, the only thing that ties this artistically diverse industry together is the feeling that rhythmic, synchronized imagery brings something important and special, something more, to the experience of live musical performance.

One of the major ambitions of VJ culture—as explored daily at Create Digital Motion—is to refine, create, and discover new technologies that allow video artists to jam along with musicians without restraint. The better this technology, the more these visualists are able to bring to a performance. A good VJ is right there alongside the beat, soothing the crowd down to a relaxed tempo with mellow colors and images, and then revving dancers back up again with fast-paced, unexpected, original video play.

Working in the Background

So who’s your favorite VJ? If a single name fails to spring to mind, you’re not alone. Although visuals have become a standard part of both DJ and live band performances, they rarely get the type of credit that would help club-goers start to recognize favorites.

In fact, sometimes DJs and bands don’t even realize they’re performing with VJs because event producers don’t make introductions. However, there’s an enormous difference between what you get from a VJ, and what you get from pre-recorded visuals, especially when musicians and artists create opportunities to work together.

Rather than showing up at a gig cold, without being introduced to the night’s act, most VJs would love to have time to prepare along with musicians, learning their style and their songs, then finding and creating video that best complements the music.

In a perfect world, all VJs and musicians would work together closely to craft a synchronized performance. However, this usually only happens during large-scale productions, like at big festivals, or when a DJ or band tours with their own visualist as an integral part of the act.

For now, VJs struggling to make a name for themselves deal with obstacles like being excluded from event advertising, ignored by club managers, rarely asked to perform onstage, and even being ordered to haul equipment by inexperienced bands. VJ Lady Firefly wrote an extensive manifesto on the problem, and outlined some possible solutions, here.

Show Some Love!

DJs, bands, and other artists can help VJs out of relative obscurity in several ways. Musicians who really feel the connection between sound and sight can find a VJ to integrate into their act. This is probably the way to get the most out of a visual performer. If you can work closely together, the results will be far more seamless than if the VJ just has to show up at a gig and hope that the images they brought and the timing of your songs somehow blend together.

Usually, a VJ will spend several days preparing images for a show, so if you can help them out by getting in touch and providing a setlist, and even just chatting about your style, the performance will be that much stronger. Don’t know if you’ll be performing with a VJ? Try asking the event producer or club owner. Sometimes, they need a little nudge in the right direction to cough up those details.

Eye Vapor (Los Angeles/San Francisco)

A visual performer is also better set up for putting on an amazing show if he or she can have access to the venue a few days early to run through their set up. They need space, often as much space as the DJ, for their gear, and they need to know what equipment is already on hand so that they can come prepared. If a manager or producer will take time to talk to a VJ, they can also prevent problems that might ruin a show, like overly bright lights or too much dry ice smoking the screens out.

Equal Pay For Equal Work?

Of course, VJs aren’t looking for the rest of the industry to hold their hands and stick up for their rights. Most are simply suggesting that, as the concert and club industry evolves, what they do is morphing from background tech stuff to pretty central to the performance. As such, they deserve the propers, and the salary (or lack thereof), given to any other performer.

What do you think? Are VJs becoming just as important to musical performance as the musicians themselves? Should they be getting more credit for their efforts?  We’ve created a new VJ section in the Sound-Off Forums…

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In the United States alone, there are 36 million Americans with some type of hearing loss or deafness and 80% of those affected have damage that is permanent. In deaf culture, deafness is seen more as a unique way to experience life than a disability, but for musicians—unless you’re the second coming of Beethoven—losing the use of your ears puts quite the damper on the ol’ career.

The Lowdown on Decibels

As tough as it is to swallow, turning amps and speakers down to 90 decibels (dBs) or lower is essential to maintain and preserve healthy hearing, reports Hearnet.com. Decibels are used to measure intensity or volume on a logarithmic scale, so for every increase of 10, it goes up tenfold. In other words, 20 dB are ten times louder than 10 dB, but 30 dB are 100 times louder than 10, making 40 decibels a whopping 1000 times louder than 10 dB!

There are four different degrees of hearing loss — mild, moderate, severe and profound.

• Mild hearing loss (25-40 dB of loss) means you may have difficulty following a conversation if the person speaking is more than six feet away or if there’s background noise.
• People with moderate loss (40-70 dB) have a hard time following a conversation more than three feet away, and they have to wear a hearing aid if there’s background noise.
• Severe hearing loss (70-90 dB) means you can’t hear someone’s voice if they’re shouting at you from just one foot away.

Once you’ve hit profound hearing loss, (91dB or more) you can only hear super loud noises like a nearby gunshot or jet plane, and you’d have to wear hearing aids to hear the telephone ring. For those with profound hearing loss, normal conversations are difficult to understand, even with hearing aids.

How Loud is Too Loud?

Noise Chart

The softest sound humans can hear is 0 dB. A normal conversation ranges between 60-70 dB. Since 90 dB is the threshold for comfortable listening, it may seem rather loud, but the average rock concert hits about 110–120 dB, sometimes reaching as high as 140 dB. A definite danger zone for your precious ears!

What happens once you go beyond 90 dB? Specialists at H.E.A.R. (Hearnet.com) say after 90 dB, every increase of 5 dB in volume will cut your safe exposure time in half. UNM audiologist and saxophone player, Jose Correa, echoes this, “At louder levels you’re allowed a shorter dose of time without damage, while at higher levels you can only listen to music for a very short time without causing permanent damage.” Correa adds, “At lower levels, you can listen to music for a longer period of time without causing permanent damage.”

This means that you can essentially spend an entire 8-hour workday with the volume at 90 dB (maximum), but if you pump up the volume to 95 dB, you can only listen for 4 hours without damaging your hearing. At 100 dB, 2 hours is the limit, and once you hit 120 dB—the level at which a lot of musicians practice—you’re only allowed seven and–a–half minutes of exposure. After that, experts maintain you’re doing damage.

Of course, daily exposure to environmental noises can exceed 90 dB; however, these brief encounters don’t require ear protection. The chances of sustaining hearing damage grows exponentially when people begin to increase the volume of portable devices to drown out external noises. Most people are not aware of their behavior when it comes to managing exposure times.

An Argument for Earplugs

Musicians Filtered Earplugs by ListenHear

So what does this mean for musicians? If you’re playing with a drum kit, guitar, and bass amps in a tiny rehearsal space, it’s more than likely you’re creating in excess of 120 dB of noise, so wear your earplugs! Correa insists on wearing plugs, “Anytime you’re playing beyond 90 dB, you should wear earplugs,” he says.

Many musicians don’t follow this advice because they believe plugs cut out all noise levels, even the essential ones. In fact, some musicians say it’s frustrating when one band member is wearing plugs and the rest are not.

Albuquerque-based musician, Jupiter John, refuses to compromise, “I wouldn’t wear earplugs. The bass player in my band Scratch wears special plugs that were made for her and she can’t hear my guitar half the time.” He explains, “Plugs bring the volume of everything down and it’s hard to hear when you’re wearing them because they cut out the highs [frequency noises], so it’s hard to hear the cymbals and the guitars.”

PM800S Stage Monitors by ListenHear

Correa disagrees. He says that regardless of what instrument you play, as long as you’re a musician, it’s definitely worth it. “Earplugs are a little bit of a test to get used to, but once you get over that initial hump, you can adjust to them—I wear them every time I practice.”

But how is a music lover supposed to adjust to wearing and using earplugs? “It sounds sort of hollow [to play with earplugs], but the more you use them, the more the sound starts to stabilize,” says Correa.

Like Your Mama Said—Always Use Protection

There are earplugs designed specifically for musicians, which average about $160 a set. Most of these devices can be found at audiologists’ offices or on the internet. Among the most popular brands are ListenHear, and Westone, which is the brand Correa himself uses.

All musicians are at risk for hearing damage, but some are more in the line of fire than others. Correa concurs, “Everyone [who plays] is at risk—but the drummers, being near their snare and cymbals—are most at risk.”

Translation—don’t waste another minute. Invest in some earplugs and save your ears. Even a pair of 20-buck ER earplugs or the cheapie, industrial, foam kind can do the trick. Dancesafe chapters working with H.E.A.R. give foam earplugs out for free, so no excuses about not being able to afford them because you spent all your money on 12-dollar beers at Sasquatch.

Musicians, do yourself a favor. Whether you’re rehearsing with your buddies, out playing a show, or at your favorite club, forget the cotton balls and rolled up tissue, and invest in some plugs. Even if you’re listening from the audience, and especially if you’re standing anywhere close to the stage or speakers, you’re taking a risk. If they bother you, hang in there. You’ll get used to ’em.

And ten years from now, you’ll be glad you did!

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In the club scene, many DJs think that sacrificing their hearing for the love of the crowd is a small price to pay. Three west coast DJs talked to Sonic Weekly about ear protection and sound regulation, and why the status quo is sound over safety.

“The Louder the Better”

Hearing loss has been a serious problem in the club scene for years. With big speakers and small venues, the probability of damaging your hearing is pretty high. Blasting your ears with electronic dance music on a consistent basis will eventually cause damage to your ears, and could worsen a pre-existing hearing problem.

Most music venues have an average decibel level of 110 to 120 dB, and at times up to 140. Any exposure to sound over 120 decibels for more than 7 and a half minutes will cause irreversible hearing loss. When you consider the fact that a gunshot at the peak of its volume is 140 to 170 decibels, it puts the magnitude of this much sound into perspective.

DJs and club goers are especially at risk for damaging their hearing, and yet it seems that very few are concerned. In a culture that feeds into cultivating style over personal health and safety, there are many who scoff at the idea of earplugs. Although concern over hearing loss in the club scene is growing, the reality is that changing the behavior of people rarely happens overnight. And for some DJs, hearing loss isn’t reason enough to mess with a good thing.

“I Want Them To Feel It”

DJ Rugged is an underground DJ from Orange County, California, who spins a unique blend of hip-hop and hardcore. We wanted to find out about the role he plays concerning sound awareness and sound protection for his audience. Rugged says that often, different venues he spins at have mandatory sound checks. “It’s usually the club owner, you know? But sometimes I’ll use my own buddies to do quick sound check. I’ll send them out on the dance floor to tell me if it seems too loud.”

When asked how he knows if music is too loud for the audience, he says, “I think it’s up to the audience. They can stand in front by the speakers if they want, or be in the back. It doesn’t really concern me. In my mind, the louder the better.”

Rugged seems to endorse the idea of his audience using ear protection, but isn’t overly excited about the concept. “I think it’s cool. If people want to be safe and use ear plugs then more power to them. I have a few buddies that wear them. But it’s really not a huge deal to me.” He goes on to say, “I look at it like this: either you dig my music or you don’t. If people out there can enjoy my music with earplugs in, then I’m all for it.”

When asked whether he was concerned about his hearing due to constant exposure to loud music, he said, “I am concerned, but if I’m at a show I tend to not really think about it. I get caught up in the moment and earplugs are kind of the last thing on my mind.” Rugged believes there is a direct correlation between the level of sound he plays his music at, and the audience’s involvement and enjoyment of the show. “When I play shit with a heavy bass-line, I want it loud so people can be like, ‘Oh shit, I’m digging this beat.’ I really want them to feel it.”

We asked Rugged if he blasts the volume when he listens to music at home. “I do always,” he confirmed. “I have to be able to feel that bass-line. It makes it easier for me to hear the transitions and the beat when it’s really loud. It also helps me decide if I like the beats that I made or if they need work.”

“I’m a Terrible Example”

Citizen Ten

Citizen Ten is a DJ out of San Francisco who spins electronic and hip-hop beats, as well as some rare soul and international. He has an entertaining and different take than DJ Rugged on the issue of ear protection. During Citizen Ten’s early years of spinning at shows, worry about hearing loss seemed to be a non-issue. However, after speaking with him, it became clear that hearing damage has begun to impact his life and career as a DJ. He’s decided it’s time to protect the most valued assets to his career, his ears. “I’ve been irresponsibly damaging my hearing since I was a teenager rocking out at punk shows and I still don’t wear ear plugs,” he admits. “I should. Everyone should.”

When asked about any personal hearing loss over the years, Citizen Ten said, “Oh yeah, it has definitely caught up with me. My girlfriend will be standing in the same room as me and asking me something, and I literally have to ask her, ‘What?’ two or three times before I can hear what she’s saying. It sucks.”

As his hearing has diminished, he seems much more eager to embrace new technology to save the hearing he has left. “I’ve been meaning to get those pro custom ear plugs that reduce, like, everything, but haven’t gotten around to it. I’m a terrible example. I recommend them to everyone. I’ll make my kids wear ‘em one day. My hearing is getting worse and worse and there’s no doubt in my mind it’s from DJing and all around rocking out way too hard.”

“Earplugs, Earplugs, Earplugs”

ListenHear - Musicians Filtered Earplugs

When asked if he had ever seen the cult classic movie, It’s All Gone Pete Tong—a movie about a famous DJ that goes completely deaf—Citizen Ten replied, “From what I’ve gathered, it’s an extremely true scenario. It’s happening to me now – but not on that level. The messed up thing is that, as a DJ, if the sound system or the monitor is too loud, I have to crank up my headphones louder just to hear the next song I’m mixing in. Hence the damage. It’s a vicious cycle. I don’t think we’re going to see a massive trend towards lower levels of volume either. Ever. That being said – it’s all about decibel-cutting earplugs. Earplugs, earplugs, earplugs. I sound like my dad…”

“The Crowd Will Feel It”

DJ Mark Moreno

Finally, we spoke with Mark Moreno, a well-known DJ from Orange County CA, who spins house, electro, and hip hop. Moreno has played large-scale venues, but which of these was the loudest? “It was definitely the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles back in 2007. It was for the Jeremy McGrath Invitational and I was playing for 30,000 people each day. It was crazy loud!”

Moreno says that over the years he has noticed some hearing damage, but feels a sense of dedication to his audience as far as playing his shows at a maximum volume level. “I have noticed that my left ear has a loss of hearing since I use that side for my headphones. I don’t worry too much about it because my ears were shot from water damage, or as we say, ‘Surfers Ear.’ The kids at shows like it as loud as possible so I give it to them when the system or promoters permit. They love it.”

“I’m Not Too Worried”

Moreno seems more devoted to his audience’s satisfaction than concerned over his own possible hearing loss. He accepts hearing loss as something that just comes with the territory of being a DJ. “Like I said before, my ears are already dust from surfing, so I’m not too worried. I’m sure as the years go by I’ll have a significant amount of damage to them.”

Like Rugged, Moreno feels strongly that the volume levels of his music directly affect the crowd and their enjoyment. “I love playing with the audience on an audio level. If I’m about a hot track that I know will kill the dance floor, I’ll reduce the volume of the track playing so when the heat comes, the crowd will feel it. They love it when those 808s and four on the floors hit loud and hard.”

Why is changing the norm so difficult when it comes to listening to club music? As far as protecting your ears, maybe it’s going to take one more generation of over the hill, deaf club-goers to make the switch official. What category will you fall under: …trendy or trendsetter?  Let us know your take on DJing and hearing loss in the Sound-Off forum!”

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Forget the Swine Flu. Hearing loss in the music industry has reached epidemic proportions and no musician or music fan is immune. Sonic Weekly takes a look at the growing problem and shares some tips on how musicians can protect their most valuable instruments.

Do your ears ring for days after you’ve played a gig? Find yourself straining to hear your band mates on stage, or turning up the volume on your stereo or amp way beyond what you used to only a few years ago? If so, you’re not alone. This form of hearing loss, most commonly known as tinnitus or “ringing in the ears” affects as many as 75% of musicians.

Here Comes the Science

Tinnitus is associated with sensorineural hearing loss or damage to the hearing nerve in the inner ear. Of the three major types of hearing loss—sensorineural, conductive and central—sensorineural accounts for 90% of all deafness.

Tinnitus can be caused by repeated exposure to very loud noise—and that includes everything from your buddy’s insanely loud gig last week to band practice. But tinnitus can also be caused by a buildup of earwax. In that case, you’re lucky. Simple removal of your inner ear goop by a medical professional can make all the difference.

Noise Chart

Why is it so important to monitor our ears? Because most of the time, we don’t even notice when damage is being done. “If you’re in an environment where you have to shout to be heard, that’s a concern,” says LA-based audiologist, Dr. Doug Anderson. When you’re exposed to loud noise for extended periods, damage can become permanent surprisingly quickly. Whether you’re a heavy metal drummer or a concert violinist, your instruments probably tend to get cranked way too loud, and the sounds that are most damaging to your ears occur in those high frequencies.

Yup, even classical musicians are at risk. Hard rock and heavy metal get the bad rep as dangerous culprits because of the emphasis on loud guitars and drums, but in actuality, violins and violas can be worse. These instruments are played so closely to one isolated ear—usually the left—that any resulting hearing loss can be much worse in that particular ear.

Drummers frequently suffer because of the pounding volume and the high frequency, high-decibel noise coming from their timpani and bass drum rolls. And what’s worse is the fact that it affects both the left and right ear. “I literally have to put the speaker monitors next to my head because I can’t hear myself playing,” says Kronik, a drummer from Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Sometimes I’ve even had to have the bassist turn towards me at a gig, because it’s impossible to hear him otherwise.”

Being out in front of the drum kit isn’t much better, however. One hard rock frontman we spoke to says he often has trouble distinguishing low tones coming out of the amplifier. “When I’m playing I’m not worried about what they’re hearing out there [in the audience] ‘cause when I’m up here it’s so loud!”

Maybe Don’t Feel the Vibrations

Feeling the beat!

Avid concertgoers love cramming themselves up against the stage so they can see and hear the action right up close. But that enthusiasm can have consequences—namely three or four days of temporary hearing loss as a result of standing too close to the stage’s left or right speakers.

This type of temporary deafness is called sudden hearing loss (SHL), and yes, you experience it after a screamo show when even your spine feels pulverized by noise. But sudden hearing loss can also be caused by going to a violin or piano recital if you get too close to the speakers. In fact, Dr. Anderson warns, “If you’re sitting in an orchestra near the trombone and/or horn section, it can be deadly for your ears.”

Earbuds: Deep Down, You Knew They Were No Good

Never leave the house without your iPod? It’s addictive, and like most addictive substances, it makes users pay the price. “iPods can damage your hearing,” says Dr. Anderson. In fact, iPod users stand to have the worst type of hearing damage to their ears because of the amount of noise going directly into the inner ear from the use of earbuds. Circumaural headphones, which sit outside the ear, cause less damage, but have steadily faded in popularity over the past few decades.

How To Save Your Ears

Dr. Anderson gives this advice to musicians that spend their lives up on stage, “You should wear special noise reduction plugs that reduce sound evenly. Audiologists’ offices and labs have specially-made [earplugs] for musicians, so you can just walk in there and ask for musicians’ plugs and they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about.”

More advice? “When you’re up on stage, be conscientious of the fact that loudspeakers produce both high and low frequencies and standing beside the speaker, instead of in front of it, is a good way to protect your ears. Again, it’s always best to stand behind or to the side of the speaker,” says Dr. Anderson.

How To Love Your Ears

PM800S Stage Monitors by ListenHear

Preventive measures can also be taken to avoid or reduce damage that may have already been done to your eardrums. Since our small protective ear muscles contract when we hum or sing, some experts say humming just before and while you’re playing your instrument is a great way to naturally provide a bit of extra protection. (Who would’ve thought, right?)

Other strategies can also be used to reduce any chance of noise injury from instruments. Where drums are concerned, plexiglass baffles can be used. They act as a protective chamber surrounding a drum and are helpful for noise-reduction where a high-hat cymbal is being used heavily.

For musicians on stage, Dr. Anderson recommends using ear monitors to block out loud sound levels. Ear monitors, which resemble hearing aids, are electronic devices that can protect hearing while allowing musicians to hear what they’re playing. Acoustic monitors also block sound coming from fellow band mates while allowing the musician to hear his own instrument.

The Great Earplug Debate

For musicians, earplugs can have both positive and negative results, “Ear plugs are good because you’re more conscious of singing on key and you’re more conscious of your vocal tone,” says Andy Reyes, a Colorado-based vocalist, “But there’s a negative aspect because you don’t know what the audience is hearing.”

Musicians Filtered Earplugs by ListenHear

Despite doctors’ warnings, most musicians prefer not to use earplugs because of how little you can hear while wearing them. Reyes explains why, “When you’re singing with earplugs on, it’s harder to tell what the band sounds like. A lot of times people will wear just one earplug when they’re practicing, so they can hear better.” But he admits, “I wouldn’t wear them at a gig.”

Younger musicians may be less inclined to use earplugs because they don’t exactly fit the rockstar profile. But take it from the veterans, it’s even less rockstar to lose your hearing. No one wants to end up 40 years old and nearly deaf, like Pete Townsend of The Who.

Take note—rolling up toilet or snot tissue provides absolutely no protection for your ears. If you really want to protect yourself, whether you’re playing or just listening to live music, you need to break down and wear ear protection.

Whether you’re a musician playing a gig, or an avid concertgoer or clubber, rock those earplugs, and stand at least 10 feet away from the speakers when you take in your next show. Ten years from now, when your friends are half-deaf and you’re still hearing your favorite noises perfectly, you’ll be glad you did.

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Last week, we looked at the incredible changes happening in the music industry thanks to new music distribution channels like internet radio.  Web radio stations say that their new models for listening to and accessing music are great for promoting recording artists, but can these new models survive?  It all comes down to a question of royalties.

In March of 2007, the Copyright Royalty Board raised the royalty rates paid by web radio stations dramatically.  Besides increased yearly fees, the rates are set to rise from 8/100s of a cent to 19/100s of a cent per song played by an individual listener. Tim Westergren, the founder and CEO of Pandora internet radio and the Music Genome Project, has often been quoted as saying that the rates are so high, they will destroy internet radio.  “Part of the injustice of this whole royalty system is that internet radio pays this monster rate,” Westergren tells us. “Satellite pays a fraction of what we pay, and broadcast radio doesn’t pay any at all.”

It’s true, broadcast radio pays a fee to labels, and a royalty to songwriters, but pays absolutely no performance royalties.  “It’s really an example of the law being behind the times,” says Westergren, “the fact that internet radio is charged so much more, there’s just no logic to that.”

But the Web Hasn’t Always Worked For Musicians

Many industries blossoming online are unfortunately regulated based on standards that haven’t been changed to accommodate new technology. However, many musicians depend on royalties for a steady income, and it’s no secret that the often-unauthorized distribution of music on the web has affected this revenue stream in a significant way.

From the perspective of SoundExchange, an organization that collects royalties, and represents musicians and labels in this debate, it’s clear that a connection is felt between online channels of music distributions and unfair compensation. “The revenue streams that we collect and send to songwriters, or performing artists, or labels, are really lifelines,” says SoundExchange executive director, John Simson. “They’re very important, and they’ve become more important as the world has changed and more people consume through listening than through purchasing.”

And web radio isn’t the only one under the radar. Now, broadcast radio is also being targeted as guilty of paying insufficient royalties.  The artists and webcasters on both sides of the debate feel that traditional radio should be paying performance royalties.

Check out the organization MusicFirst for details behind this effort.

Has Broadcast Radio Become a Dinosaur?

Historically, broadcast radio has not had to pay royalties because the value of being selected for airplay was the currency interchanged between artists and broadcasters.  However, web radio purveyors now believe that they have a better model, and that royalty rates fail to reflect this.  “It’s no longer about radio that caters to a very small slice of music, it’s a much more participative form of radio,” says Tim Westergren. “I don’t see broadcast radio surviving.  Internet radio is now getting into the car.  If you can get personalized radio in the car, why would you tune in to a broadcast station that doesn’t know or care who you are when you can get a station that cares only about you?”

The business model behind web radio seems simple: give the people what they want.  Not only are favorite internet radio channels coming to ours cars, we can get them in portable radio format.  But that won’t be enough to replace, or even compete with broadcast radio if web radio can’t find a way to win over musicians.

Exposure vs. Money in the Bank

The big benefit of web radio is that it offers artists a previously unheard of level of exposure. “We play the music of over 60,000 artists, we have a collection of 600,000 songs, and 85% of those songs play every day on Pandora, so it is a profoundly democratic medium,” explains Westergren, and musicians benefit by being discovered by new fans.   “Whether it’s purchasing a song instantly or learning about the band and joining their fan club, there’s all these opportunities that translate the connection on Pandora into value for the artist.”

But despite the fact that the opportunities for free exposure are huge, SoundExchange believes that musicians and labels need more to survive.  “For a lot of the people, on the licensee side, it been about amassing an audience more than it’s been about monetizing,” says John Simson of the low profits that have thus far beleaguered web radio.  But SoundExchange feels that musicians have to protect themselves, even when the numbers are down.  “It’s a very delicate balance to find the right spot where we feel we’re getting paid fairly,” says Simson, “When people use music to build a business, we should be sharing in the value of that business.  And we’ve seen it frequently, where people use music to build something, sell it, walk away, and we [musicians] have gotten nothing.”

Back to the Drawing Board

Thanks to the recently passed Webcaster Settlement Act, SoundExchange is again at the table with groups representing web radio of all types.  They’re trying to negotiate a long-term settlement that will, in many ways, shape the future of radio, and potentially, musical careers to come.

It’s a difficult debate.  On the one hand, music is made to be heard.  On the other, it’s nice to make a living off your work.  Ironically, both SoundExchange and web radio believe that they are representing the best interests of musicians. Tim Westergren and John Simson are, in fact, both former recording artists.

Musicians Need to Get Involved

What do you, the artist, have to say about the royalty debate?  If there’s one thing that Westergren and Simson seem to agree on, it’s that musicians need to participate in the process in order to create the best possible outcome, and this does not happen enough.   “What I think artists really need to do is support and speak up in the context of their respective organizations, and make sure that their interests are being represented,” says Westergren. “And artists need to do that in greater and greater numbers.”

“I find it interesting,” agrees Simson, “that the first people who jump up and hold a benefit concert, or do something when there’s been a disaster, or some major event, are musicians.  They’re always there to help other people, but when it’s their own rights, sometimes it’s harder to get them to actually stand up for themselves.”

These passionate calls to involvement on both sides make at least one thing obvious: many musicians tend to think of complicated things like royalties as being out of their control.  But interestingly, the only thing that’s really required to gain control is involvement in the process.

The Future of Music Distribution is in Your Hands

The way we listen to music is changing, the way music is distributed is changing, and the future is going to be decided by corporate types unless musicians get involved.   If you want a say in what’s going on, get in touch with SoundExchange, organizations that represent web radio like DiMA, and independent voices like MusicFirst .  All of these organizations are happy to reach out to and work with musicians.  After all, this whole crazy industry wouldn’t exist without artists like YOU!

Get started by telling us what you think!  Who’s really looking out for the interests of artists, and what kind of royalty agreement would you like to see reached? Join the conversation in the Sonic Weekly forum.

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Why We Listen

Music trends are constantly morphing and shifting, but one constant remains throughout-Artists are always striving to create something meaningful, and listeners are always looking for something real.  We want music that we equate with authentic experience, that we connect with as part of something bigger than ourselves, and conversely, that makes us feel like individuals. This constant search for the realness governs the evolution of musical tastes, and simultaneously influences the channels through which music is distributed. While there will always be a big market for mainstream tastes, the number of listeners with specialized and underground interests is becoming overwhelming. For musicians, this is the perfect opportunity to target a whole new audience, through completely new distribution channels.

What Happened to the Old Way of Doing Things?

Radio disc jockeys once attracted audiences by virtue of their insider knowledge of, and access to, cool new music.  DJs like Wolfman Jack were celebrities, and they could single-handedly turn a record into a hit, that is, until the payola scandals struck. In the 1960s, radio DJs began getting busted for accepting payments from record companies to play their songs.   And even as recently as 2005, big labels have had to pay out millions in fines for similar practices.  As a result, over the last ten or fifteen years, DJs have become increasingly limited in what they’re allowed to play, and the DJ-as-music-expert has all but disappeared. Most radio stations now have repetitive playlists predetermined by market-conscious music directors. And often, listeners have complained that the DJs themselves seem to dislike the selections. But for listeners and DJs alike, there’s been little choice in the matter, until now.

Beyond The DJ

Internet radio developed in response to a need for access to more free-form music play.  What started out as traditional radio, broadcast online, has rapidly morphed into what many industry watchers are calling ‘Music 2.0,’ an entirely new way of accessing, connecting with, and distributing music. The main feature of many of these sources for new music-think sites like Last.FM and Pandora-is that they’re not deejayed in the traditional sense of the word.  Instead of having a disc jockey or music director setting the playlist, listeners discover and create their own playlists, in a couple of different ways.

Algorithm-Generated Radio

Catering to the listener’s desire for music that expresses individuality (kind of like that perfect mixtape that tells your crush exactly how you feel), sources like Pandora and the new iTunes Genius create algorithm-based play lists and new music recommendations by logging our music tastes and fitting them into a list of musical attributes.

Community-Generated Radio

On the other end of the spectrum, we’ve got community-generated radio like Last.FM and iLike.  On these sites, playlists are created based on the likes and dislikes of other users with similar musical interests to our own.  These community-based radio platforms also allow us to chat, comment, connect with people who like the same music as us, and find information about live shows. Fans who could never have connected in the past can now share their niche interests, and that’s great news for musicians. Now that everyone can be a DJ, a small group’s obscure tastes can rapidly develop a cult following, which means a band that might never have made it on to the radio, or developed a large fanbase in the past, can now become, if not famous in the traditional sense of the word, at least internet-famous.

Golden Opportunities For Rampant Self-Promotion

With many labels now placing the burden of self-promotion on the artist, even signed bands are taking the initiative to get music up on all of the many great ‘Music 2.0′ websites and platforms. Don’t think of it as giving away your work for free, think of it as the best way you can gain a dedicated (and possibly international) fan base. The more music you put out there on sites like Pandora and Last.FM, the more listeners (and computer-generated algorithms) will gather around you. Because the search functions on these sites are so targeted, they’re the best chance you have to appeal to exactly the type of audience you’re making music for. So give the internet radio universe as much information as it can handle. Once you’ve got all your music, videos, and career-destroying naked pictures out there, tag your music carefully on the sites you’re working with.  Look up other bands that sound like you and employ the same tags they use to help fans find them. Next, become your own biggest fan by creating playlists around your own music, along with other music like it.  The more you, your band, friends, and family, play your music, the more you’re going to come up in searches for other, more well-known bands of the same genre.  You can’t pay for marketing this targeted. Once you begin to gain listeners, a kind of snowball effect will occur.   Most of these music sources have plugins so that a personal play list can be displayed on Facebook, MySpace, and other social networks, which means that when a fan listens to your songs, they’re advertising you for free on their profile page. Ah, now you just have to pay off fans to put you on their playlists…except wait, so far, there’s no money in this gig…

Seriously, Where’s the Money At?

Promotion is great.  Money in your pocket is better.  And although ‘Music 2.0′ sources are all about the community and the freedom, they’re not stupid. Some small-but-fast-growing sites, like Sellaband and Flotones, are completely focused on monetizing the process for artists, allowing you to do everything from selling ringtones to direct fundraising. If this sounds a bit too experimental, most of the larger sites do offer liberal linking to iTunes, Amazon and your website. And if you believe the stats, sites like Pandora claim to generate hundreds of thousands in sales for artists each month.  That’s not millions, but it might be, if internet radio survives the royalty war. Unlike traditional radio, internet radio has to pay royalties for every play.  The bad news is that these royalties aren’t paid directly to you. The good news is that many sites do offer some kind of royalty program for artists. There should be easy-to-find information when you sign yourself up.

So Is It Worth It?

The new technology surrounding music distribution may not have the same ability to create megastars as did traditional channels. But it offers a greater number of artists the opportunity to connect with potential fans and achieve a degree of success. However, the hard truth maybe that both systems cannot coexist? Traditional broadcast radio channels could fade away as the new school rise, or conversely, ‘Music 2.0′ may turn out to be a blip on the radar. Which is a better way to connect with listeners? I encourage you to debate this issue with me here in the Sound-off fourms!

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Dealing with the Management Question

Once the time comes for recording albums and booking tours, it’s also time to start considering professional management. For Red Blanket, a Canadian thrash-funk instrumental outfit, the decision has been put off for the time being. “It’s just us booking everything,” says guitarist Daniel Stewart, “handling funds, getting press, we do it all ourselves, cause we’re so goddamn DIY.”

This approach works for Red Blanket because they’re all about the business side of things, from booking shows strategically to guarantee large crowds, to designing and selling huge amounts of custom merch to fund tours. However, if you’re more like Louise Post, the fearless frontwoman of Veruca Salt, you might have to put your career in the hands of, well, handlers—managers, agents, PR people, and even accountants. “I’ve never been very savvy about my “career” as a musician,” admits bandleader, Post, “I tend to be impulsive and impatient, to a fault in regards to business, because my real focus is always on the music.”

And so we arrive at one of the notorious conundrums of professional musicianship. Focusing on the music has to be top priority, but hiring professionals to “take care” of the business side of things, can leave you at the mercy of those whose judgment and integrity boil down to the bottom line—dollar signs.

Career Crossroads: True Story

In 1998, Veruca Salt’s independently run label, Geffen Records, merged with corporate giant Interscope. It looked like Geffen might get obliterated in the corporate crush, so on the advice of their management, the band bailed out for a new deal with Beyond Records. But in a savage twist of fate, Geffen continued to operate with great success within Interscope. Veruca Salt, on the other hand, would never again gain the visibility or mainstream success they had enjoyed through Geffen. “In hindsight, I think I’ve followed some questionable advice from managers,” Louise Post says regretfully. “The business end of being a musician has always baffled and overwhelmed me a bit. I’m working on that, and still learning how to balance outside influence on my decisions with following my own gut instincts.”

Based on the stories our bands tell, it seems that trusting in the integrity of the people you’ve got working for you may not always be wise. “Integrity in the entertainment business can be a very grey area,” warns DeVotchKa frontman Nick Urata. “In fact, the whole industry is grounded in bloodsucking.  So we eat a lot of garlic.”

The life of the working musician, with or without bloodsuckers and garlic, ultimately boils down to a cycle of creating, recording, touring, and then, if you’re lucky, having time to relax and reflect far away from a rehab facility.  But wait!  There’s still the small matter of successfully recording your first album with a major label.

Once in the Studio…

Every band’s studio experience is different.  There are a million “how-to” guides out there on the exact steps involved in recording an album, but what many musicians don’t foresee is the need to get along with their band mates during those endless, cramped recording sessions.

No matter what, the process is going to be long—fourteen-hour days, technically arduous, and nothing like performing live. “Recording is never fun,” confesses Red Blanket guitarist, Dan Stewart, “It exposes you for not being able to play perfectly every time, unless you can, and are a total jerk about it.”

Veruca Salt tells a different story. Veteran rocker, Louise Post says the experience of recording live is a joy she relishes. But she also makes the point that recording in-studio can be difficult when you’re flying solo. “I have always balked at the notion of being a “solo artist” because of the images [that it evokes] of me and various paid studio musicians or ‘session players’ all creatively crammed into a timed-session. I am fueled by the energy of four people together, sharing an identity, equally invested in and excited by the outcome.”

While Louise paints a much prettier picture of the studio recording experience than the one offered by Red Blanket, to be fair, Veruca Salt has seen almost a dozen band members come and go before arriving at their current incarnation.  It seems that making music, just like making love, is equal parts magic and hard work. If you want to be successful, you’ve got to find a way to get along.

The Undisputed Truth

New to our cast of gurus is Brother Ali, a hip hop artist on Minnesota’s Rhymesayers label.  Ali, who has just released his sophomore album, The Undisputed Truth, is proof positive that it is still possible for artists to make the kind of music they want to make without succumbing to industry pressure.  “Working with Rhymesayers means that I get to focus on making the best music I can, I’m not pressured to do anything other than make the best albums possible,” says Ali of his independent label.  “I’m supported in everything I feel is important.”

If you’re into the hip hop scene, then you know that the mainstream is currently flooded with the basely unimportant: generic club music that maintains the aggression of the “old school” rap scene without the depth of thought to back it up.  Not so with The Undisputed Truth, which contains tracks that find Ali delving into his intense personal history, blended seamlessly with wry, cutting critiques of the current political climate.

And although Brother Ali is an albino Muslim—not the easiest role to play in this life—he manages to keep it heavy without being a drag. This is thanks in no small part to the danceable, if not particularly original, beats laid down by producer, ANT, which make this album likely to please at a party or on an iPod. In fact, the eminent playability of The Undisputed Truth begs the question, why aren’t we hearing this music at clubs and on mainstream radio?

The Genre Issue

Producing music that fits into a commercially viable, “radio friendly” genre affects the career of every artist. “Genre is a lot, but not everything,” argues Red Blanket guitarist Dan Stewart. “Since we don’t have a singer, we’re not really alienating many people. In that sense it makes us much more open to playing shows with varied line-ups.” And it’s true that Red Blanket’s funky thrash makes for a good live show, but without a singer, the band is having trouble breaking into pop-friendly mainstream radio.

Veruca Salt’s frontwoman, Louise Post, who is more rocker-chick than pop-diva, can sympathize. We asked her why so many mainstream female artists are fitting their sound into a heavily pop genre. “Much of the music we hear on the radio these days is fear-driven in its production and in its sentiment.” The grab for that highly coveted airtime has resulted, she says, in a “fear of daring to be original or unique, for fear of commercial failure.”

Choose the Label, Don’t Let the Label Choose You

Lucky for us whose sounds are less than “club sensational”, we’re living in an era where musicians are no longer limited to mainstream success or total obscurity. The rise in power of the indie label has many artists choosing smaller labels rather than relinquishing their creative rights to a “major.” In fact, all the bands we’ve talked to for this series are signed with indie labels, by choice rather than by lack of commercial opportunities.

“The label-changes Veruca Salt has gone through have landed us presently on Sympathy Records,” says Louise Post, of the band’s arrival on Sympathy for the Record Industry. “ Sympathy allows me all the creative freedom in the world.” And this freedom is something that few artists signed with major labels can claim.

Brother Ali signed on with Rhymesayers Entertainment because of the flexibility and sense of community that the indie label offers. “It’s a partnership,” he says. “We make the decisions together. Put in the work and sacrifice together and share the outcome. They manage me and I do the musical parts. We trust and believe in each other to the utmost. And yes, I’m treated more than fair financially.”

Major Money vs. Indie Integrity

Few artists know that smaller labels can often mean larger royalties, as album and ticket sales do not have to support the massive corporate infrastructures of major labels. However, the marketing work done by indies still doesn’t compare to the exposure artists enjoy on major labels.

Veruca Salt’s Louise Post told us about her frustration over the marketing efforts that surrounded the recent release of the band’s newest album, IV. “Getting our music out there and widely heard right now is certainly proving to be a challenge on an independent label,” she reveals, comparing the success of IV to that of Veruca Salt’s first album, American Thighs. “Of course, once you’ve had any level of success, the pressure follows to sustain that success and/or top it.”

Louise is talking about the music industry’s three-pronged pressure—to constantly sell albums, to become ever more successful and profitable, and to maintain the creative genius that got you to the top in the first place—and it can grind even the best artists down to the point where the constant pressure to produce becomes too much.

Surviving the Rock and Roll Lifestyle

Louise Post had to find a way to go on after her band’s albums, Eight Arms to Hold You, and Resolver both failed to live up to her expectations in terms of commercial success. “I never threw in the towel,” she reflects, “but just took some time off, so that I could go into the next record with the same sort of light and drive and passion which inspired me in the first place. I instinctively knew I needed the mental space and emotional freedom that only a step back would allow me.”

Taking a step back can be harder than it sounds. In a business where it’s often just good manners to do a line or drink heavily at every meeting and party you attend, turning to rampant substance abuse to relieve the pressure can seem natural. Brother Ali, who has been a devout Muslim since his teens, has had to find ways to balance the two conflicting lifestyles. “Your choices have to be your own and you have to own them,” Ali says of his strategy for hanging out but keeping clean. “You only have trouble if you’re not secure in your own self.”

Being secure can be extremely difficult, especially for those whose sensitivity is the source of their creative ability. However, remember that this advice is coming from a guy who went from being a brutally-teased albino kid from the Midwest, to an emcee known to dominate the hip hop battle circuit. Brother Ali’s success is a testament to the fact that the self-confidence you need to survive comes from the inside. No one can take it away unless you let them.

The Poetry and the Passion

In all this mess of label-hopping, marketing decisions, and lifestyle pressures, how is a musician supposed to stay focused on what is important, namely, the music? When it comes right down to it, your most important relationship will always be between yourself and your artistry, and that relationship needs to be nourished and protected at all costs.

Just ask Veruca Salt’s Louise Post, who left us with this thought:

For me, the only reason to write and record records is to try to create an honest, intimate, artistic expression of whatever may be happening personally or internally to me, as well as reacting to the world around me, all in the efforts to stay as authentic and true to myself as I can. The process isn’t always pretty, but it’s worth it. In the end, it’s all about the poetry and the passion.

Thank you Louise. Thank you Brother Ali. Thank you Nick Urata from DeVotchKa and Dan Stewart from Red Blanket. And thank you to all our readers out there. We hope that somewhere in this series you’ve found something to fuel your courage, inspiration, and, of course, your sense of humor.

Keep making music, and never stop believing in your own ability, and in the value of what you create.

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The Bands:

The Newcomer: Red Blanket
Current Album: “A Southern Manitoba Murder of Crows,” released by C12 Records.

The Workhorse: DeVotchKa
Current Album: “Curse Your Little Heart,” released by Ace Fu Records.

The Veteran: Veruca Salt
Current Album: “IV,” released by Sympathy for the Record Industry.

Putting a Band Together

A successful band is kind of like a mullet: all business up front, party in the back. The “it” factor—that magical, elusive combination that produces hit singles and charismatic stage performances—is important, but it can vanish like dust if it doesn’t come with serious musicians that are willing to work. Hard.

Red Blanket, an instrumental thrash-funk outfit from Canada, originally came together as a group of guys who were sick of screwing around in basements with band mates who weren’t ready to commit. “Business is Bidness, and music is no different,” Red Blanket’s Daniel Stewart tells us. “As a professional, you wanna work with other professionals who are gonna benefit each other equally. No point in fucking around with some mook who doesn’t have his shit together.”

Choosing band mates like you might choose business partners isn’t easy, especially when you can’t promise them much but a whole lot of work. For the members of DeVotchka, it was ten years between their start backing a burlesque show and their Grammy nom for work on the soundtrack to Little Miss Sunshine. The question we had for lead singer Nick Urata was how, exactly, he put his crew together and made them stick? “I like to believe it’s one of those intangible, cosmic events,” he reveals. “That if you start on an artistic path and you are meant to be on it, the right people will show up at the right time.”

If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be—on the surface, not exactly inspiring advice. But if you know the history of DeVotchKa, you know that its members spent years doing everything from busking for rent money, to playing in a Civil War recreationist band, before they finally came together. Translation: cosmic events that are meant to be tend to come about thanks to years of paying your dues.

Playing Shows

For some similarly intangible, cosmic reason, the simple act of getting out there and paying dues can elude the most talented musicians. It’s for this reason that bands who get the recognition aren’t always the most talented, but they are the ones getting out there, busting their asses playing shows and, just as importantly, making connections.

According to the bands we grilled, two types of connections are key to success: other musicians (your competition!) and club owners (possibly some of the biggest hard-asses on earth!) That’s right. In the music business, your natural enemies have got to become your greatest allies.

Networking with Other Musicians

For Veruca Salt—indie rockers who straddle the genre fence with sweet pop hooks and crunch-heavy guitar riffs—the thriving Chicago music scene was the right place to be in the early 90s. “At the time we were coming up, there were a multitude of other amazing bands playing around town constantly,” lead singer Louise Post remembers. “It was like being a part of this beautiful, grand tapestry of music and talent. And as much as we worked in our living rooms for a year-and-a-half before playing a show, once we started, we got noticed and signed really quickly.”

Any opportunity that an up-and-coming band has to play packed venues and get on the list with other popular artists increases their chance of having a producer, agent, or talent scout in the crowd. As the origin story of Veruca Salt proves, you don’t have to be in LA or New York for this to happen, you just need to find a scene and make yourself the center of it.

Making the Club Owners Love You

No matter how hooked up you are, there are still going to be all those nights when you’ve got to go it alone. You’re playing with three other total unknowns to an empty house, and the owner is pissed off. “Thing is,” Red Blanket’s guitarist, Daniel, tells us, “all these guys want you for is to sell drinks. So sell drinks and they’ll be your best friend.”

Believe it or not, having a club owner love you can be your ticket into the big league. Club owners are business people, and they know other business people, like the aforementioned producers, agents, and talent scouts. So you make them money, and they point you out as a moneymaking machine to their buddies. How else do these people turn up at clubs looking for the next big thing? Coincidence? Absolutely not!

Marketing

To get some serious attention, you have to find a way to pack the house even when you’re the only band on the lineup. And that, in turn, means constant promotion, putting up posters, begging friends to come out, and building up a large community online at MySpace (much more effective than a website for an up-and-coming band!). It also means sticking to the basics—playing shows and making music—no matter how much you’re ignored, berated, and generally crushed into a tiny ball of zero self-esteem.

“It was a fluke that they heard our song,” Nick says of DeVotchKa making contact with the producers of Little Miss Sunshine. “But the truth is, it got played because we toured our asses off and kept releasing albums until somebody noticed. It is a huge gamble, but if things aren’t happening for you, you have to find a way to go out and make it happen for yourself.”

Management

Making it happen for yourself is something you might have to do whether or not you can find professional management. Managers are interested in your ability to make them rich, and little else. The unsigned, moneymaking band is a prime target for all kinds of users looking to harness that moneymaking power and leave you in the proverbial lurch. As DevotchKa’s Nick Urata puts it, “People hold artists in high regard but want them to stay in poverty.”

Translation: never get involved based on a promise or a handshake! Get the contract and, as Daniel warns, “Read the fine print!” Even as the guys in Red Blanket coast on the high of releasing their first album, thoughts of time wasted waiting for a producer or manager to come through on a promise are still fresh in their minds.

Overcoming Crushing Disappointment

It’s easy to think that the stars we see tearing up the charts have made it to the top by fluke or without effort. It’s even easier to psyche ourselves out, thinking that a disaster onstage or a letdown in the studio is a career-killer. But as these artists have openly told us, rejection and disappointment are part of the essence of life for a working musician, so you gotta suck it up!

When Red Blanket first started touring, without management and with little idea of how to book venues over long distances, letdowns were the order of the day.
“We were on the road to a show in Saskatchewan, [Canada],” guitarist Daniel recalls of a gig booked nearly five hundred miles from their hometown of Winnipeg. “We got a call that said the promoter didn’t know we were an instrumental band, and thus we were unmarketable. So NO show. Whack.”

DeVotchKa, seasoned touring band that they are, have found themselves nipple to nipple with their share of chest cavity-crushing heartbreakers. “There have been too many,” Nick says, “but it comes with the territory. One Hollywood story comes to mind. We got a booking at the Knitting Factory, which is right on Hollywood Boulevard next to Mann’s Chinese Theatre. It sounded like a great idea but we drew [an audience of] three people and they couldn’t pay us. I was too embarrassed to face my band empty-handed, so I emptied my wallet, all of 8 bucks, and paid the band.”

Rough times. Good thing that once your big break comes, you don’t have to worry about this stuff anymore. Yeah, right. “The stakes get really high really fast,” Louise warns, remembering Veruca Salt’s meteoric rise to gold, “Prior to releasing our first record, we had no idea what good “sales” even were. But when [the second album, (1997)] “Eight Arms to Hold You” didn’t exceed the sales of [the first album, (1994)] “American Thighs,” I think we couldn’t help but perceive it as more of a failure than the overwhelming success that it really was.”

What Louise is talking about here is perception. Perception can be your greatest ally or your biggest enemy in this business. Are you perceived as marketable? Do you have the self-perception required to stay strong? Could what you perceive as failure be a doorway to success?

In retrospect, Nick told us how a story that started out grim for DeVotchKa ended in opportunity. “At the time,” he says of facing his band after the Knitting Factory fiasco, “I made up some story about how the owner loved us and wanted to have us back, but you know what? We did get booked again two years later, and we drew a couple hundred people and two of them were the future directors of Little Miss Sunshine.”

So in the end, DeVotchKa made it back, and launched their careers to the next level. Red Blanket kept chewing up the miles on tour and got their first record deal, and Veruca Salt, who recently released their fourth studio album, survived to rock another day. What all these stories prove is that, in a business where success tonight can mean nothing tomorrow, you need the will and the drive to push on against all odds in order to survive as one of that rare and resilient breed: the working musician.

Check back with Sonic Weekly for more details about how these three bands progressed their careers, and find out more about marketing, management, and what really goes down in the recording studio.

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