Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

ch-scene - N&O article - technology and triangle bands

ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: RTP-area local music and culture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Elizabeth Hammond" <elizabeth AT hamneggs.net>
  • To: ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: N&O article - technology and triangle bands
  • Date: Fri, 13 Jan 2006 14:33:29 GMT

From: http://www.newsobserver.com/442/story/387807.html
1/13/06

Wired for sound
Triangle bands embrace latest tools for being iSeen and iHeard

(Martin L. Johnson, Correspondent)

Bill McCormick, aka Billy Sugarfix, has pushed his brand of twisted musical
humor in clubs all over Chapel Hill for more than a decade, solo and with
his band Evil Weiner.
But this fall McCormick spent as much time in the studio as he did on stage
when he created a Song-A-Day Podcast site
(http://customserenade.com/song-a-day-podcast/). He wrote and recorded a
song every day for 100 days and posted them online.

McCormick said he would stop performing in public altogether if he could.

"Playing live is almost going out, like a dinosaur," he said. "Anymore there
are only a handful of people that will come out on a Wednesday night to see
you. It's a lot more pleasant to record one song and put it out on the
Internet than it is to drag all your stuff out and make a few bucks at a
show."

McCormick is an extreme example. Playing live continues to be the ultimate
experience for many bands, and it is unlikely the Internet will do in the
area's recently revitalized live music scene.

But McCormick isn't the only Triangle artist who has discovered the joys of
working online. Technology is transforming the local music scene by making
it easier for bands to publicize concerts, give fans access to their latest
songs and music videos, and keep abreast of what other local groups are up
to.

Some club owners have gotten in on the act by using online broadcasting to
let people know about shows and relying on e-mail lists to advertise events.
Music labels are starting to see the potential of these methods, too. While
downloading music hasn't replaced live shows, it has made it possible for
fans to check out new bands without venturing out at night.

The year of MySpace

Building and maintaining a fan base used to be an expensive operation for
bands, with most not really getting one together until they had already
inked a record deal. But the online social networking phenomenon that made
it easier for people to keep in touch with college friends has been a boon
for musicians. too.

MySpace, a social networking Web site that started in 2003, gives Internet
users a place to exchange personal information and pass along tips on what's
hot. A testament to its popularity: Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation bought
it for $580 million in July.

Along with the meet-and-greet functions, MySpace is a popular gathering
ground for band Web sites. More than 150 Triangle-based artists have set up
MySpace sites, and most of the groups update them regularly with new music,
tour dates and band updates.

Nathan Asher, lead singer for the Raleigh rock band Nathan Asher and the
Infantry, said MySpace gives his band access to the number of music fans
that usually comes only with a record deal.

"It's the equivalent of affirmative action for bands," he said. "This levels
the playing field. It's democracy. It makes it possible for smaller bands to
feed and clothe themselves."

Asher said the band's MySpace site (http://myspace.com/nathanasher) has been
a valuable resource for pushing its new song and music videos to fans.
Although he said his group has not, like some bands, actively sought new
fans using the site, a few of their more loyal fans have tried to reach
people that way. He said publicizing the band's shows online is often more
effective than posting fliers, long necessary for bands whose publicity
resources consisted of a copy machine and an industrial-strength stapler.

"If you flier or poster, you only reach 10 percent or so of those who read
it," he said. "[MySpace] is a good way to find people with like-minded
musical interests."

Ryan Benjamin, guitarist for Can Joann, said his band started using an
account on MySpace (www.myspace.com/canjoann) early last year to publicize
shows and keep in touch with fans.

"It gives you a snapshot of what the band is about all in one place," he
said, noting the site's ability to offer songs, list tour dates, include
reviews by friends of the band and allow for the band to blog about its
latest news. "We have used it to advertise shows and to set up shows. We
traded a show with a band from Washington, D.C. We have heard of bands
setting up complete tours through MySpace."

Although MySpace has principally been a tool for bands, local music labels
are starting to pay attention as well.

Nathan Brown, head of new media marketing for Durham-based Sugar Hill
Records, said the label has used its MySpace account
(www.myspace.com/sugarhillrecords) to keep in touch with fans of the label's
artists, including Nickel Creek and Dolly Parton. Brown said the label has
encouraged its artists to use the site and other online outlets to promote
themselves.

"We are encouraging bands to use the Web as a great leveler," he said. "You
can record music at home and present it to people online, and the average
person is not going to know the difference between Des Ark's MySpace and a
MySpace for a band on Sugar Hill."

The podcast explosion

Besides established e-mail lists and news groups such as
alt.music.chapel-hill, which has been around since the early days of the
Internet, MySpace is perhaps the most widely used music promotional tool
today. But it's not the only one. While 2005 may have been the year of the
MySpace account, look for podcasts and online music videos to ascend in
2006.

Last summer, Hillsborough resident Elizabeth Hammond decided she wanted to
do something to help Chapel Hill's Local 506 boost show attendance. She had
lived in the city for a decade, playing drums in the now defunct band the
Pink Slips and attending shows regularly.

Hammond owns a Web site design and computer troubleshooting company, so she
started a Local 506 podcast, an audio broadcast that Internet users can
subscribe to for automatic download. She picked the venue because it was big
enough to feature music nightly and attract local and national talent, but
small enough to attract visiting artists who would allow her to play music
clips without having to hassle with complicated permission protocols.

"The goal was to get the music out to people," she said. "I think that
people don't understand that there are a lot of great bands that come to the
club. I think they would like them better if they could hear them, but they
can't hear the newspaper ad."

Hammond debuted the podcast in July on the club's Web site
(www.local506.com). She reads the listings for the week and plays short
clips from musicians playing that week. Hammond put the podcast on hold for
the holidays, but plans to start it up again this month in a slightly
altered, and potentially longer, format. She said she hopes to reach college
students, who might be likely to download the broadcast onto their computers
or iPods.

"I really want people to know what's going on in the clubs, and this club is
just my target," she said. "I really wanted to give university students a
way to hear what's going on in the club. They're younger, and more
tech-savvy, and better able to deal with the podcasts."

Brown said Sugar Hill Records plans to start podcasting in January, It will
include news items, information about the label's bands and sound clips from
new albums. He said that while a few other labels are doing podcasts, he
hasn't been happy with those he has heard.

Internet overload risk

While putting music online may help bands win fans in other states and even
countries, it doesn't necessarily make the life of a musician easier. Asher,
who says he uses the MySpace site to flip through many band pages at a time,
said that he is concerned about how the site is affecting the way people
listen to music.

"It's severely shortened people's attention spans," he said. "I can see
MySpace hurting the process of an album."

Glenn Boothe, owner of the Local 506, said that using the Internet has made
it easier for him to book shows, but it has also made it so easy for bands
to contact him that he has had to change his booking procedures.

"For local bands, it's almost vital that they have a MySpace account these
days. I can't tell you the last time I listened to a demo," he said. "The
downside is you can spend all day on the computer doing that thing. I think
one of the problems of the music scene in this town is the musicians in town
don't support it."

Boothe said Local 506 plans to book fewer local acts in the coming year to
give "a little fight" to the Chapel Hill scene, which he says has been
softened by the surplus of venues.

But, he said, playing live and winning local fans might not be the key to
success that it once was.

"It really depends on what your aspirations are," Boothe said. "I don't
think you have to be a big local band to break it out of this community. The
Internet has broken down those kinds of barriers. Your following can be
anywhere."

Meanwhile, local artists have tried to boost attendance to their shows using
these online tools. Can Joann's Benjamin said the band has tried to bridge
the gap between national acts, which often have no trouble selling out large
venues, and the local ones.

"There's a huge separation between fans that will see national acts and
local acts," he said. "I don't see any reason why these local acts shouldn't
be selling out on a regular basis."





  • N&O article - technology and triangle bands, Elizabeth Hammond, 01/13/2006

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page