With recording ability at their fingertips, fans have made concerts multimedia events. Does it hurt, or help?<\/p>\n
David Lowery doesn\u2019t dread the camera flashes or the crude YouTube videos \u2013 in fact he welcomes them.<\/p>\n
As lead singer for Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker (a pair of bands with faithful followers during decades of work), Lowery embraces his fans\u2019 passion for the live show.<\/p>\n
You want audio \u2014 click right ahead.<\/p>\n
Candid pictures \u2014 here I am.<\/p>\n
Film it \u2014 why not.<\/p>\n
Now \u2014 about this whole texting business . . .<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were with Cracker in Macon this past summer, and during the show David had it, saying \u2018Can I have that phone?\u2019 to a group of frat kids who were fucking around and texting in the front row,\u201d said Velena Vego, band manager for both Cracker and Camper who also serves as booking agent\/talent buyer for Athens\u2019 40 Watt Club. \u201cIt is an irritant with cell phones because what we\u2019re seeing is people just texting in the middle of concerts, and you know the bands can see that. I know that was the place to be that night but they weren\u2019t there watching the concert.\u201d<\/p>\n
From their beginnings, Lowery\u2019s bands adopted the Grateful Dead\u2019s approach to concerts \u2013 you can film, record and take pictures anytime, but you just can\u2019t sell any of it. This attitude made it easy for Lowery and his bandmates to transition into today\u2019s concert scene \u2013 where gigs became multimedia events with an endless shelf life splayed across the Internet.<\/p>\n
But with everyone having recording capabilities that fit in the palm of their hands, is the modern-day concert no longer a collective adventure of the moment? Has it become a roomful of individual multi-taskers, texting and waiting for their favorite song so they can call their best friend and raise the phone high above the flashing din?<\/p>\n
Are fans devaluing the concert experience?<\/p>\n
\u201cI could see where some artists are worried about what is being heard out there if they aren\u2019t regulating what is being taped,\u201d Vego said. \u201cBut there\u2019s no way to stop it . . . Personally as a manager for two rock and roll bands I would say we need to embrace this camera policy because at least people are there and they excited about it and they\u2019re trying to spread the word.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n
For all the good technology brings, Benjamin Ferguson still misses the mystery.<\/p>\n
President of Nimbleslick Entertainment, a company managing more than a dozen artists including rock mainstay Perpetual Groove, Ferguson recalls a time when bands\u2019 reputations were built on album covers, hearsay and imagination.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember as a kid sitting down with my parents\u2019 record collection and looking at the Led Zeppelin records,\u201d Ferguson said. \u201cI heard stories from friends and my old man about them, but I always remember holding the records and going \u2018Man these guys lived in castles. They were into witchcraft. What kind of fucking shit is this? Who are these guys?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now you can wake up and see what your favorite guitarist had for breakfast, and the people who don\u2019t supply enough of that information suddenly get looked down upon. It\u2019s a fine line to balance because as you grow a band and the fan base gets larger, at some point you have to pull back the reins a little bit and develop that mystique.\u201d<\/p>\n
It used to be \u2014 not too long ago \u2014 that being in the music industry meant making records and going out on tour to promote them. Not anymore. Bands are content providers, and it\u2019s through technological ingenuity and reaching out to its fans that a band can rise above the myriad of choices found through a simple Google search.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 2010 and people aren\u2019t buying records, they\u2019re buying individual singles if that,\u201d Vego said. \u201cWhere a band makes more money than anywhere else is the live concert. People might not have all your albums, but they\u2019ll still pay $15 to $20 to see you play a couple times a year.\u201d<\/p>\n
A December report by Billboard Boxscore bears this out. Data between December 2008 and November 2009 shows more than 73 million people worldwide spent a record $4.4 billion in concert revenues, an 11.7 percent increase over the previous year and the second straight year of double-digit growth. In the United States, despite a difficult economy, revenue was steady as more than $1 billion was spent on concerts.<\/p>\n
Ferguson understands this. It\u2019s through the live show \u2013 with its flashes and phones and record buttons \u2013 where bands set themselves apart. And those who join in the recording fray with the audience are getting the most mileage.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are going to be doing this and it\u2019s going to be very difficult to police, so just let it happen,\u201d Ferguson said. \u201cIt adds to the viral factor of band promotions and getting the band\u2019s name out there. From the organizational point of view, we use that stuff quite a bit and there\u2019s an endless amount of ways or applications to go about doing that. We have someone on the road constantly Twittering during the set list, so when the band is playing their songs, he\u2019s putting that out to the Perpetual Groove Twitter list.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re also taking video clips from iPhones so there\u2019s usually a video clip, whether it\u2019s 30 seconds of five minutes, that\u2019s tagged with that particular song.\u201d<\/p>\n
For PGroove, it extends off the stage as well. All the guys have iPhones, so updating blogs and Web sites can be done anywhere, anytime. The key is keeping fans connected, and so far, it\u2019s working. PGroove shows, in the vein of Phish and Widespread Panic, have found a loyal, well-documented base who go for fun and friends.<\/p>\n
The proof is on the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s funny because you look at the photos the kids post up and most of the photos are pretty crappy,\u201d Ferguson said. \u201cBut what comes along with those photos are them with their friends before the show, after the show, and they\u2019re all having a good time. It puts together a narrative we would be very hard pressed to produce on our own.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the past few years Cracker and Camper added the post-show meet and greet, further breaking down the wall between artist and fan. It\u2019s an easy, and profitable, practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guys do meet and greets all the time,\u201d Vego said. \u201cCountry bands are notorious for that and that\u2019s why they have such a huge following . . . As the band manager with Cracker one of the first things I said was \u2018I just think you guys need to go out there and I think you\u2019d sell more CDs if you go out by the merch table and just sit and take a picture and sign a CD.\u2019 And it works, we know it automatically does better for our sales.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n
But this blasting of barriers is not for everyone.<\/p>\n
Performers as varied as indie crooner M. Ward to country superstar Kenny Chesney have shunned cameras and recording at their shows, posting signs and pulling people out of aisles for shooting out of turn.<\/p>\n
In Chesney\u2019s case, the breaking point came last summer after filming fans had him tripping over lyrics. In Boston it was reported he took a fan\u2019s camera mid-show, returning it later unharmed but without the memory card. A notice on Chesney\u2019s Web site informed of a no camera policy, adding \u201cyour bags will be checked at the door and you will NOT be allowed admittance with a camera in hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
While not banning cameras at shows, Band of Horses\u2019 lead singer Ben Bridwell takes none too kindly to the practice. In an interview with Pitchfork, Bridwell wrapped up his feelings such: \u201cEveryone\u2019s got a fucking camera in their hand and, I don\u2019t know, is there no sanctity left for live performance with going to a show and seeing it with your own eyes and remembering it? Do you have to tape every second, or even just your favorite song?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vego, whose role as 40 Watt\u2019s booking agent is for the venue to abide by each band\u2019s particular request, doesn\u2019t see many artists seek a camera ban. Still, there are exceptions.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people will say no videos, especially if they’re doing newer songs because they don\u2019t want those to get out until the new record comes out, but I would say by and large they really do not care about the camera thing,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely going to be artists that come in and don\u2019t want anything. Social Distortion was no cameras no video and we had to put that sign out right when people walked in that you cannot bring cameras and video in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peter Corbett has a crisp message for those in resistance,<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll make it simple \u2014 get over it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s hurting your bank account.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corbett is the CEO of iStrategyLabs, a company based in Washington D.C. whose mission is to help its clients \u201cconnect with audiences online\u201d and \u201ccreate experiences in the real world that satisfy a brand\u2019s need to engage its target audience in a deep and meaningful way.\u201d Simply put, Corbett helps his clients reach the largest audience they can with all the digital tools they can muster.<\/p>\n
Boasting clients such as American Outfitters and Corona, Corbett doesn\u2019t see how a band can survive without using everything at its disposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cBands will have backlash over time if they don\u2019t cater to what it is their fans really want, and what their fans really want is some form of a participation,\u201d he said. \u201cIf participation is shooting a photo on my iPhone and uploading it to a specific place where the band pulls it up on their Web site, awesome. Even better, what if the lead singer chooses his favorite fan photo of the week? What artist doesn\u2019t want to be famous? How do you get more famous? You get more pictures and video shot of you. Harness the talent and passion of your fans to promote you, and if you\u2019re not doing that there are other people who will be surpassing you in your rise to fame.\u201d<\/p>\n
And financial stability. By not making an effort to compile images and recordings from their fans in one place, bands miss out an opportunity to bring the community into a main marketplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are herding in a specific way \u2014 I\u2019m going to shoot pictures, I\u2019m going to shoot video, I\u2019m going to do this thing \u2014 so how do you channel that herd into something that\u2019s going to benefit you? People are inevitably going to be shooting video, etc., I need to be sure I\u2019m pulling all of that content together in a place where I can sell them something rather than it being somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then again, at a certain level of superstardom, limiting your fan base from doing this or that doesn\u2019t much matter to your bottom line. In Forbes 2009 poll of the top-earning musicians, one country act rises millions above the rest: Kenny Chesney, with a cool $65 million.<\/p>\n
How\u2019s that for a snapshot?<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n
For bands going too far in the other direction \u2013 completely bowing to the whims of every fan out there \u2013 there\u2019s trouble to be had.<\/p>\n
Ferguson\u2019s role with his bands is keeping a balance of what gets shared and what gets saved. On one hand, you want your fans to be informed and happy; on the other, if everything is known, what sense of discovery remains?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you don\u2019t have that mystery, you don\u2019t have people in the audience using their imagination into who those people onstage are and that\u2019s one of the allures of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll and always has been,\u201d Ferguson said. \u201cYou get artists who check Facebook or message boards every single day and read all of this stuff and slowly what other people are saying starts to influence them. I\u2019ve seen musicians and bands forgetting who they are and catering to what people are saying to them online, which is a dangerous situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
At that point, a band might start to lose what gained them those fans in the first place, which could prove fatal in a musical environment thriving as it moves into a new decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cI forget who said it, but a classic quote I heard was \u2018there is nothing wrong with music today, there\u2019s a problem with the business model,\u2019 \u201d Corbett said. \u201cFor sure, and that\u2019s changing rapidly. But there\u2019s nothing wrong with music, there\u2019s nothing wrong with bands and I would venture to say the music in the past five years is so much better than it was in the mid to late \u201990s.\u201d<\/p>\n
So it\u2019s all a matter of timing. Bands today have the luxury of added exposure, but lose the ability to take time finding their way. One bad night, one disgruntled message board pest, one misplaced mic, and a career could end before it starts.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no place to hide, and lack of privacy and time to develop could keep a hidden gem from finding its rightful audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of our clients have fans who are armchair quarterbacks and think they should be doing one thing or another,\u201d Ferguson said. \u201cYou don\u2019t ever see musicians or anybody from their organizations getting on those people\u2019s pages and saying, \u201cWell I just went down to the HR department in your company and I really feel like you could be doing things a little bit differently or a little bit better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThink about this: What if Led Zeppelin had all of this technology around in those days, and the band was road testing material and someone said \u2018You know what? \u2018Stairway to Heaven\u2019 really fucking sucks \u2014 I mean, I\u2019m not a fan, it\u2019s way too long.\u2019 Just imagine if that had been the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Imagine there\u2019s no \u201cStairway to Heaven\u201d?<\/p>\n
In our digital world it\u2019s easy, if you try.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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