Selling out

Ok, that's it. It's official. I'm announcing it to the world.

I'm selling out.

By selling out, of course, I mean that I'm going to do whatever it takes to get people to pay attention to my music so that I can make a living off of my music, and I'm going to do it on my terms.

Anyone who knows me knows that I've not been planning a traditional music career. Ok, sure, I go out and play shows, but quite frankly I could stop playing shows and still develop my career. It's called YOUTUBE people!

It's not gonna be easy, but quite frankly, I'm taking a much more focused business-oriented approach to it this time. I'm 30, I know what I want out of life, and the clock is ticking against me. It's time to act now so that I can get out of the poverty I'm in, and can make a name for myself as a musician as I've always wanted to.

I wish my colleagues in the Columbus music scene luck and lots of success. I hope to see all of you make it big. There are plenty of you talented enough to be played on regular rotation rock radio nationally! I'll support you all as much as I can. However, I'm shifting my career's focus to a direction that I've not seen any locals pay much attention to. Here's why.....

The fact is that we see the same 50 people go to the rock shows here in Columbus, with very little variation, and it's a different stage with the same faces in the crowd. They are awesome for supporting the scene, but there isn't much being done to bring new faces to the shows (at least nothing that's working, there are some people who are genuinely trying! I've pissed off a prominent one accidentally by getting passionate and letting my mouth run on Facebook without taking the time to consider what I was saying, and I regret that the exchange even happened, but what's done is done....sorry Ronni). I've spoken to people who feel that even though they enjoy the local music, that there's somewhat of a high school clique atmosphere at the venues. Also, the crowd shows up to watch their friends bands, then leave before the next band comes on. People aren't there to watch a good rock show, they are there to hang with their friends and go home. It sucks.

Basically, the writing that I see on the wall is that people in Columbus (aside from the small percentage of Columbus's population that actually do go to shows) care more about youtube, facebook, radio, TV, and movies than they do about what great original music they could see around town on any given night! So if live music in Columbus is dying at the hands of technology (and a smoking ban), despite the MASSIVE amount of talent we have here, then were is the music industry heading?

I for one believe the answer lies online. 20-30 years ago, the bands could pack a venue easily because there were little distractions. Now, it's hard to get someone to pull away from World Of Warcraft and Facebook long enough to go to a show. So the scene has dwindled down to it's core base, who support it to the bitter end and go to shows, but they may be all that's keeping the scene alive.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately on the whole "local music scene" mentality. I've decided that I'm not going to focus locally anymore. Sure, I might live locally, and I might play locally, but that's a convenience factor as opposed to a limitation. Quite frankly, with the invention of social networking, the local music scene (at least in Columbus) kinda fell to the wayside.

So if no one's going to the shows, then where are they?

Online! DUH!

Look at the success of artists like Brett Domino, Pomplamoose, Jack Conte, Julia Nunes, and others! These are artists who have made international names for themselves independently, while earning a living, from the internet!

Look, people in this day and age are inherently lazy. This means that they won't be bothered to do anything out of their normal comfortable routine, and you have to now go to them to be noticed. If you don't have a presence online as a business, you're killing your potential to grow. A band is, by it's very nature, a business!

So steps have to be made to make a presence online. I've got some ideas in my mind for my own career, and I'll be implementing them, and posting about their success. This post isn't about my specific ideas, as opposed to a general overview of where I see independent music going.

So I'll keep you updated on my successes, and my failures, but let it be known that I've decided to sell out and make something of myself with my music. I wonder if there's a plaque I get now, or a trophy……….???