It’s Saturday morning at the Foundation Room, but rather than party ‘til sunrise, I’m here at the House of Blues Music Forward Foundation’s Bringing Down the House Industry Insight session, a retreat that helps local youth learn about the music business.
When I arrive, a panel discussion with industry notables is being live-streamed on a screen, covering everything from brand image to grassroots marketing, building a fan base and social media strategy. “Make a decision to be the absolute best,” says Dwayne Le Blanc, tour marketing manager at Live Nation, toward the end of the discussion. “Really put yourself in the mindset of what it means to be the best. You’ll probably be hungry a lot. You’ll be tired a lot. Do you really want to be Bob Dylan? Michael Jackson? Or do you just want to be cool and play some shows? If you want to be the top tier, you have to give up a lot of things … you’ve got to make a decision. How hard do you want to work?”
LeBlanc’s no-nonsense approach came loaded with advice for young musicians on how to make informed marketing choices—like don’t waste your time trying to get played on the radio, which focuses on Top 40, in the beginning.
“[Airplay] is the culmination of lots of other things which will come down the road ... In the meantime, new bands should focus on making sure their music is the best it can be, and perhaps getting it played on college or local radio stations instead,” says Jamal Dauda, artist marketing manager for Red Bull North America. “[For] non-commercial and college radio, if you take the time to sit down, you can usually find contact information. It’s a matter of taking time, finding out who those people are. Get music together and send it out."
The panel—which also included Danielle Jacoby, content marketing manager at Live Nation, and T.J. Petracca, co-founder of the Ride or Cry Collective—also discussed popular and up-and-coming mobile apps (Periscope, Snapchat and Instagram), being true to yourself and the importance of figuring out your audience. Toward the end of the session, House of Blues brand marketer Sasha Rincon-Camacho and show marketer Lola Rose fielded more questions, followed by an interactive segment where the kids put together a marketing plan for their upcoming showcase at the House of Blues on April 7. It’s an opportunity for the new bands to not only use the tools they’ve amassed through the foundation’s summit, but to show off the new skills they’ve learned.
The final session on March 6 covered artist representation, record labels and distribution, commercial opportunities and more. For more information on how to apply for the next Bringing Down the House Industry Insight program, visit hobmusicforward.org.
