Festival season 2017

Happy Monday Everyone!

We just thought we mention a few festivals that are taking application for the Festival Season 2017. This post will be updated over the next couple of months, so make sure you check back!

1. Liverpool Sound City - 27th - 28th May 2017

http://www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk/2017

2. Mint Street Music Festival in London - 15th July 2017

https://www.facebook.com/MintStreetMusicFestivalTeam/photos/a.1513124928985954.1073741826.1513124865652627/1628773554087757/?type=3&theater

3. The Great Escape - 18th - 20th May 2017
Artist registration will close 17th February 2017.

http://2016.greatescapefestival.com/apply-to-play/ 

 

[Press Release] Mint Street Music Festival, 16th July 2016 – Free, friendly, fabulous, and four minutes from Borough tube

A spectacular line-up has been announced for Mint Street Music Festival 2016, taking place on Saturday 16^th of July, 12 noon to 7:30pm.

Mint Street Park, 5 minutes from Borough Tube, will host this free family-friendly event that celebrates the musical talents of the diverse local area and the surrounding city.
Notable for its mix of musical genres and friendly, relaxed atmosphere, the festival’s reputation is growing fast – not surprising when 86% of those surveyed in the 2015 audience said they would recommend it to friends and neighbours.

The line-up so far includes

• Johnny Freyre and Kalima Project, nine-piece band playing an intricate combination of traditional and contemporary Latin American melodies;
• Tokyo Taboo, described by Record of the Day as “a big glorious adrenaline rush of amped-up pop” with a visually spectacular show;
• Alero, offering a gorgeous blend of laid-back rock and soul;
• Silent Party, melodic indie combining sonic intensity with classic pop sensibility;
• Nkomba, energetic Malawian folk music infused with a London twist;
• Mothers of Memphis, a power-trio playing foot-stomping rockabilly and deranged country;
• Eleni C, a stunning pop vocalist and our charismatic host for the Mint Stage.

And for younger festival goers

• Boppin’ Bunnies – playful interaction with a range of live instruments
• Diddi Dance – a funky dance session with ribbon sticks and pompoms
• Re-Creation Arts badge making and Heart in Art face painting.

There will also be a dance performance from the award-winning Gotitas de Sabor, choirs, music workshops, craft activities, a solo musicians stage and a range of tempting food stalls.

The festival is funded by grants and donations and relies on volunteers. So far this year, Southwark Council and United St Saviour’s Charity have awarded funding. Volunteer opportunities available include stewarding, videoing, catering and more. For more information about volunteering or sponsorship, email mintstreetmusicfestival@gmail.com.

More headliners and local acts are still to be announced. Keep an eye on the festival’s website and social media:
http://mintstreetmusicfestival.info
https://facebook.com/mintstreetmusicfestival
https://twitter.com/MintStMusicFest
https://www.instagram.com/mintstreetmusicfestival/

Questions to ask promoters

You have been rehearsing for weeks and feel ready to show the world what you've achieved. You email dozens of promoters/venues and finally receive a reply. You've been offered a slot! But ask some important questions before you accept it. 

Every promoter runs events differently. Therefore it is important to ask a few things, so you know what to expect. 
When you are happy with the arrangements, accep the slots. If you don't agree and still accept it, it will cause unnecessary stress for you, your band and the promoter/venue. 



PAYMENT - This is an important thing to know. Will you be paid a fee, a percentage of the door takings or will your travel expenses be covered? 
It doesn't hurt to ask if there will be a rider. When you are on tour or are playing in a different city, it is good to know if you will get some food/drinks which you can consider in you budget.

LOAD-IN/SOUNDCHECK/BACKLINE - Is the promoter/venue providing a backline and/or a drum kit? If not, does one of the booked bands have to provide a drum kit? If yes, which band? Make sure that you clarify this well in advance and not the night before the gig. 
Find out if you will have a full soundcheck or just a line check. Ask for your soundcheck time. 

AUDIENCE - Some promoters will expect you to bring a certain amount of fans. If you are an out of town band it is likely that you won't bring a lot of people. Make sure you are honest about this. If it doesn't work for you, just decline the gig offer. 

PROMOTION - Ask what kind of promotion the promoter/venue have in place (newsletters, flyers, social media, etc.). 
You have to promote the gig as well. It is not nice to play to an empty room. 
Gig promotion should happen on the promoter/venue side and the band side. Talk about it to make sure everyone has the same understanding and knows what to do and what is expected. 

GUEST LIST/CHEAP LIST - Some promoters will give you a few complimentary tickets or cheap tickets. Discuss before the gig day if your friend can see the show for free or a lot cheaper.

MERCHANDISE - Find out if you can sell some merch on the night. Is there a merch table available? Do you need to share it with other bands? Is the venue keeping a percentage of the sales? 
Merchandise is an income stream that is very often underestimated by bands. Use the excitement after your performance to sell some of you merch.

Submissions

EMAILS

DO take the time to send emails individually to companies. It will make us feel special. If it is a mass email, we just won’t. ;)

DO find out who the contact person is. If you don’t have one/can’t find one, write something like “Dear (company name) team”.

DON’T – If you have to send a mass email, make the effort and put all email addresses into the BCC field. (We can still tell and won’t feel special – see above)

DON’T send us a one liner (‘check this out’ or ‘listen to this’ are classics …. Explain why we should check this out, explain who you are, etc.) and a link to a youtube video. If you send us an email with only one line and a link, they will be deleted.

DO stand out. Makes us smile. Put us in a good mood.

DON’T – Never send us mp3s or large attachments (> 5MB)! Those messages will be deleted immediately. [When your approach other companies, check their policies first!] As a general rule, links to music are always better, than sending emails with large attachments.

DO – Spellcheck! Let someone else proofread! We often receive emails without punctuation and full of spelling/grammar mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes, we know that. But when your message is full of mistakes and one can’t really tell where a sentence finishes, two things come to our mind:

1. The artists does not care.

2. If they don’t care, why should we?

DO make sure all links are clickable and that they are actually working!

DON’T – under no circumstances EVER - use one of the following phrases. (Explanation: We used to receive emails tailored for management companies, which were replaced by “ We are looking for management deal/record deal/booking agent”. Towards the end of 2014 bands started using very general expression like the ones listed below and we can’t even tell anymore what they actually want. We will still try and listen to all music but using phrases similar the ones below and your chances of a reply will be very slim).

“Let us know if you have any advice/opportunities/feedback that might help us.” – Why should we? How could we as a business benefits from this?

“If you see the potential, reply to this message and give us details of how you can help.” – Again, why? You approached us, you should have at least a rough idea how we can help you.

“This is an opportunity for anyone who hasn't heard my music to check out my stuff.” – Thank you so much. This particular musician didn’t even introduce himself.

“I’m looking for both your support as a company and also your feedback on my songs. If you can suggest any routes or opportunities that might help project what I do to a wider audience, I'd be very grateful.” – As a company we aim to earn money. This leaves the impression that you want our knowledge/contacts, which we gathered over the years, for nothing.

“We would really appreciate your feedback on our material and hope that you may direct us to any openings and opportunities to gain greater exposure for our music. Perhaps you might know someone else that could help, even if you can't help directly yourself.” – see above.

“All offers and expressions of interest from the music industry are welcome, including releases, music publishing and live performances.” – Still don’t know what to say about this one actually …

We could post at least 20 more gems like the ones above but you get the gist. Be specific, tell us what you want. Why we should work with you, what can you offer, what do you expect from us, etc. If you are not sure, feel free to contact us on our facebook page to clarify a few things first.

WEBSITE/SOCIAL MEDIA

DO – Make sure that your online presences are up to date before approaching music companies. If there haven’t been any posts/tweets for one year or even longer, it does not leave a good impression (artist too lazy, band does not exist anymore, etc.)

DO – Make sure all your upcoming gigs are listed. Nothing more annoying than finding out that a gig is happening in 10 minutes (not only for us, for your fanbase as well!!)

GIGS

DO – See Website/Social Media

DO – Invite us to your gigs. Offer a choice of dates! The sooner you invite us, the more likely it is, one of us can make it (two days before the gig is usually too late).

DO – Make sure you don’t invite us only to the gig that charges 8 GBP on the door when playing 3 free gigs the week before and after. This may leave the impression that you are just inviting us to get people through the door and money in your/the promoters pocket.

FOLLOWING UP/UPDATES

DO – Give us a minimum of six weeks before following up. Then ask if we’ve received your message.

DO – Send us important updates (new gigs, new video/song/EP etc.).

DON’T – Send the same email over and over again. This is not following up but spamming.

We aim to listen to all submissions (unless your email was deleted for reasons which we have mentioned above), unfortunately we cannot respond to everyone. But if we like your music, we will get back to you sooner or later. :)

Originally posted in April 2012. Updated in December 2015.

CowFest this Sunday

CowFest at Spitalfields City Farm returns on August, 9th. This event will support the Ahimsa Dairy Foundation.
More infos about the event can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/133938153609781/

Southwark community event Mint Street Music Festival returns for a second year!

Mark your calendars for the second annual Mint Street Music Festival on Saturday, 18 July 2015! Back bigger and better after last summer’s fantastic launch, Mint Street Music Festival is bringing an eclectic mix of sounds to an audience of all ages at Mint Street Park, SE1 at Marshalsea and Southwark Bridge Road (nearest tube: Borough; buses 344, 381, RV1, C10). The festival is free, kicking off at 12 noon and finishing at 7pm. The event aims to promote the enjoyment and making of music within the community, showcasing new and existing talent.

Featuring performances showcasing a variety of genres, from Afrobeat to Latin to rock‘n’roll, there will be plenty to discover. Confirmed acts include Pink Cigar, The Curious Incident, Johnny Freyre & Kalima Project, We Used to Make Things and Double Bangz, with more to be announced.

With two further stages offering performances from dance troupes and local community groups as well as workshops and children’s activities, it will be an event to get involved with too. Local arts and crafts shop Re-creation will be on hand with sessions for you to get crafty with and even the littlest ones can get involved with classes from Diddi Dance and Sing’n’Sign. Join in the parade and make some noise with brass marching band Les Zoings.

Pack a picnic lunch to enjoy, grab a bite to eat at one of many food stalls or take a break at the tea tent hosted by Blackfriars Settlement. Bring your purse and peruse the jumble sale and stalls from local shops and crafters. Of course, no festival would be complete without a bouncy castle for the kids! And you can take a break from all the action just across the road as the Borough Welsh Chapel will open their doors to welcome visitors for a visit.

Mint Street Music Festival is a volunteer organised local initiative. The event was created last year as part of the Our Big Gig, an annual event that brings communities together to celebrate their local musical talents and get more people involved in music making. This year’s festival has received funding from Southwark Council’s Neighbourhood Fund, the Peabody Community Fund and Our Big Gig. Mint Street Music Festival is pleased to be joining hundreds of organisations nationwide as a BBC Arts Get Creative event. Get Creative aims to boost creativity in the UK, as well as celebrating the millions of people already doing something artistic and creative every day.

https://www.facebook.com/mintstreetmusicfestival
www.mintstreetmusicfestival.info
https://twitter.com/MintStMusicFest

(Not) selling contacts

Every now and then a band/musician asks us, if we could share our contact list with them.

This is not only very rude but also shows that this band/musician isn't prepared to work hard, lay the groundwork, network and that they have only little knowledge of the industry.

You should ask yourself: Would you share any of your contacts, just to be nice or do someone a favour?

Put yourself in our position or any music industry professional for that matter. We all run or work for a business. Businesses are only successful when they make a profit or at least break even (Break even means covering all the running costs – some business lingo for you ;) ). Giving away a list with contacts means they are (potentially) losing money (e.g. PR person hands over details of journalists and won’t work on the press campaign for the band or musician, booking agent gives access to list with venue managers, etc.).

Furthermore, it takes years to put such lists together and they also need to be maintained regularly. Again, why would anyone give years of hard work away for free? I know, some of you will say now, just sell it for a few quid. But this is a big no-no as well! The contacts on such lists will be annoyed when they are approached by someone they don’t know. Contacts become worthless, not only for you but also for the person who handed over the list. And no one in the right state of their mind will destroy years of work (read: the foundation of their business). 

Occasionally we will help a band with a couple of details but only when we are considering working with them. Why are we doing this? It is a test. Are they really dedicated and will they use the contacts? Will they thank us? Will they update us on the outcome? Etc. 

But we will always clear with my contacts first to see if it is ok to pass on their details!

Here is another example what some so called “managers” do. There is one manager on this planet who puts lists with industry contacts together to sell them (going through publications like The Unsigned Guide or the Music Week directory). Fair enough. S/He tells his clients though (the people who buy those list) that s/he knows everyone on that list, when in fact, he hasn’t even bothered to check if one is happy to be included in such a list. Annoys me very much and I won’t even check the music of these artists BUT I will tell them why.

When we deny the “request” of a band or a musician to hand over our contacts, unfortunately, some don't take it too well and send some rather rude messages back. Here is a little advice, folks. The time you spend asking for contacts (and sending abusive or insulting messages when this is denied), you could use instead to build your own database of contacts. And if you don’t have time (usually you just can’t be bothered), you should accept the fact that music will always be a hobby for you.

Information is a powerful source in this day and age. Information in the sense of contacts, not only as industry contacts but also as your fanbase! Build your email list, don’t rely on Facebook. But this is another blog for another time!

Peace, Love and Rock & Roll!