as of writing this blog our YouTube view count is somewhere around eighty views. Hardly time to retire I'm afraid. Now is that time in the young music promoters week when they sit back, safe in the knowledge that their job is (for now) over and it's time for the slow burning word of mouth to spread like a wildfire. Who knows, this time tomorrow I might have one hundred views. Think of that with me, one hundred views.
I know I know, slim pickings in the real world, but I do see exactly what this exercise has tried and to be fair, succeeded in doing. Assuming that Giraffe were a real band, out there touring and promoting ourselves tenasticaly, our viral campaign would really have wings. I'm not really convinced that one can actively create a viral sensation. I mean, I know they happen, but only now and then and they are never (or seem never) to be deliberate. For music promotion the viral option is something to give the 'I want it now' generation something of you they can enjoy at their leisure once they have heard about you. But one thing hasn't fallen by the wayside; you still have to perform live. You need a real fan base before anyone will forward your embedded YouTube videos to their work colleagues. I'm not dissing what we have done over the past month with Rick, it has been the best thing we have done at college this year, but it's best to think of it as a complement to normal ways of getting music heard rather than an alternative. It's digi-ready, it's the fax machine, it's 'thanks for coming to see us and check us out on myspace'.
Tuesday last we had a guest visit in the shape of a gum chewing black jacket, grey before time who really gave it to us straight in terms of would he as an A&R man listen to our stuff. He said my chorus wasn't grand enough. I understood. Tim liked my video and I don't remember what Grizzly and Joe had to say. I told the guest people about how I went about writing in a style that I wasn't really that well wed to and they seemed rather impressed with how I was able to dip into a style.
It got me thinking about what music I am wed to. This year I have been composing piano music for my free compositions and did some kind of Nino Rota stuff for the film music project. Last summer I tried to write a musical called Zombie Wedding and stuff it with 80s pop music and am planning another one with a mix of Jerry Herman and more gritty 80s stuff. But none of that is really what I feel like I should be doing. I have no interest in neoclassical piano music or pastiche Jerry Herman or Depeche Mode. I think I thought I wanted to write for musical theatre because I like drama told through song, but it's not really a style of music; just an application of music.
Neil had an idea that he and I should (for our CEP) work together and see if we could make a go at being a songwriting/demo producing house. It was probably for the first time in ages that I actually was excited about something involving music (writing 10 minute pieces for piano do not inspire me at all, which I am discovering half way through my degree course). I have a feeling that this course has really fired me up. I feel like I'm getting excited about music again. I really want to write pop songs. I really want to go down into the 'shed' and write a song, then walk back up the garden to the garage and record the song, then burn the song onto a CD, put it in an envelope, lick said envelope and then send it off to some sheeny corporate building. I'd love to do that. I certainly am not loving what I thought I should be composing.
Everything in the Working The Context lecture series has inspired me. In practically every session I was writing down little ideas, like a magpie. I'm sure when I read back those ideas, some might be not so great, some might be Polo wrappers or a discarded spoon, but I'm sure there is enough silver jotted down to keep me writing.
In bullet point form here is Working The Context (for me).
- Exist Online
- Work very hard
- Be Patient
- Be Charming
- Look Professional
- Be Visible
- Update
Something that probably is easy to misunderstand is that the music industry, like the plumbing industry or the taxi industry, is run by people. And people are human. People can forget to call you or get pissed off when you send them nineteen emails a day. People can go on holiday for three weeks. People also like a beer now and then and generally like to hear how nice people they have met along the way are getting on. So make contacts and keep people up to date. Send Christmas cards, tattoo their names across your forehead and mention them favourably in blogs.
Now if you will excuse me, my fondu is just about ready.
Cheers Rick.
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