Big thanks to Mozilla for including MobBase in their Mozilla Marketplace Partner Spotlight! This video features MobBase co-founders Alan Khalfin and Charles Feinn and outlines how MobBase will use the Mozilla Marketplace and HTML5 to provide a cross-platform solution for artists to create mobile apps. Coming soon to a mobile device near you…
Tag Archive for 'fans'
On September 10th I went and saw Brand New perform at the Regency Grand Ballroom in San Francisco. This was an evening of firsts – it was the first time Brand New had been in San Francisco since 2009, the first time they had toured in a year, and my first time seeing them live.
Walking into the room, we all knew we were there for the same reason – the music we loved and an experience we would never forget. Each fan expected something different – for those seeing the band for the first time, they had no idea what to expect but knew it would be something they would remember; for those seeing Brand New for their fourth or fifth time, they knew the energy the band would bring but waited in anticipation for the songs the band would showcase. Everyone went straight to the front of the ballroom as soon as the doors opened, squishing up towards the barricade as close as they could in hopes that they would be able to catch something at the end of the show.
The show began and Robbers stepped onto the stage. They brought an easy indie vibe to the crowd that encouraged some bobbing heads and slow movement. After they closed their set, Sainthood Reps took the stage and brought a faster alternative vibe to the crowd causing them to jump and begin to push up closer to the stage. As I listened to both of these bands for the first time, I could tell that they were inspired by Brand New in some sort of way and pulled two different aspects from their music. Robbers was pulling from their slower, more melodic songs like “Jesus Christ” and “The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot.” Sainthood Reps were getting their inspiration from songs like “Seventy Times Seven” and “Vices.” With both of these bands opening, they exposed the audience to different musical aspects that Brand New would tie together as soon as they took the stage.
It was at 10 o’clock that Brand New finally ascended the stage, opening with “Sowing Season (Yeah).” The crowd surged and went insane as soon as the first “Yeah!” was sung; while there was no mosh pit, the amount of movement occurring throughout the crowd never stopped. Halfway through their set they played “Jude Law and a Semester Abroad“, off of their first album Your Favorite Weapon, followed by “Seventy Time Seven”, a fan-favorite and my favorite song by them. The crowd went supremely crazy during these two songs because they are very fast paced and come from their early days.
Brand New continued to intertwine songs from different albums and made their encore “At the Bottom,” “Jesus Christ”, and “Soco Amaretto Lime. The last song was played just by Jesse Lacey, the lead singer, as the rest of the band members walked off stage. All the fans were singing and many had tears in their eyes due to the lyrics that Jesse changed from “you’re just jealous cause we’re young and in love,” to “I’m just jealous cause you’re young and in love.” The tears also stemmed from not knowing when Brand New would be back and playing shows, or when they would release their next album.
This was one of the best concerts I have ever been to hands down. While Brand New did not talk a lot in between their songs, make jokes with the crowd or involve them too much with the live show, they delivered a set list and performance that they knew their fans wanted to see. The unique thing about Brand New fans is that they don’t just know “the popular songs” or the newest album, but they love each album and know the majority or all of the songs they played. Simply put, they’re dedicated – I met people who had seen them the night before in Chico and drove down to San Francisco to see them again, and one person who drove sixteen hours to see the band. This made for the entire crowd singing each song, sometimes even louder than the microphone was.
While no one knows when the next Brand New album will come out, or how much longer they will be around, the performances they give are not going downhill or lacking in any aspect. The next time they come around I know I will be there no matter how much tickets are or how far I have to drive.
Sometimes the best way to promote something is good old word-of-mouth. This is especially true when it comes to music. Fans are always going to talk to their friends about the music they love. And people generally heed the advice of those they trust before they listen to paid advertising or respond to other marketing efforts. New Zealand-born and currently Australia-based indie-rock trio, Evermore, which is made up of three brothers, took this idea one step further.
Together with their manager, Rebekah Campbell, and their agent, Brett Murrihy, the group (which has arguably one of the least annoying myspace pages ever — nice!) conducted an experiment: attempting to boost their ticket sales by recruiting fans as promoters. Sure lots bands build “street teams,” which help with postering and other guerilla marketing techniques, but Evermore wanted to let their fans sell tickets and get paid a commission. Well guess what? It worked! So they launched posse.com, which is essentially the world’s first peer-to-peer ticketing website. Of course, there will always be people selling their concert tickets on craigslist or scalping them outside the venue last minute, but this is for an entirely different kind of fan.
Posse.com pays you a commission on every ticket you sell (once you’ve reached a minimum amount and once the concert actually happens). For the casual fan this is probably not a huge draw, but for the hardcore fans who have large networks of people and generally like spreading the word about good shows and/or those who see a lot of shows and are looking for ways to save money, this is great! They only launched a few months ago, so it will be interesting to see if this concept catches on and if so, how quickly. They’ve already added a few new acts, including Marilyn Manson. According to the website, you can only become a “posse agent” if you live in Australia, however, they “will be launching in your neck of the woods soon.”
It is now safe to say we have entered the era of the empowered fan, where you can join a “new generation of young music industry entrepreneurs [who] become involved in the business of the artists they are passionate about,” as MTV Australia puts it. Whether it be access to exclusive content and VIP perks, tools for remixing, or P2P ticketing, it seems like everything these days is trending towards giving the power back to the people (i.e. the artists and their fans) and fostering that deep artist/fan connection.
If you’re not familiar with Evermore, here’s a little taste:
There are different kinds of music fans out there. There are the casual fans – you know who you are – who regularly download the top 20 songs on itunes to stay current, flip on the radio while driving cause it’s easy, and tap their toes to whatever is playing in the background. They definitely enjoy music and probably have some favorite songs but they don’t, you know, obsess. They don’t memorize the lyrics to an entire album. They don’t spend a month’s salary on good seats at a concert. And they certainly don’t go out of their way to help the musicians themselves.
And then there are the loyal fans. Loyal fans are a unique breed of human. Loyal fans don’t just like, they love their favorite bands. These are the people who will fight a bouncer three times their size in an attempt to get on stage with their idol. They kiss their posters good night when they go to bed. They will follow a band around the country for months on tour. They would give anything to actually meet their favorite musician.
Loyal fans are pretty stoked about the things that are being made possible in this evolving world of music 2.0, where musicians and their fans are starting to interact, to connect. Not only can fans follow the daily lives of their favorite artists through tools like Twitter and Facebook and communicate with them and become part of a community, but now fans can support them financially. We’re not talking about buying CDs (i.e. giving money to record labels) here. We’re talking about giving cold hard cash directly to the artist, and thus enabling them to continue to create great music. There are various services out there that offer this, some of which we’ve covered previously.
Recently, we learned that a group of rising reggae artists, John Brown’s Body, is raising $50k for an overseas tour using a service called The Hector Fund, which designs and manages “Artistfunding” campaigns. Microfinancing music is not a new idea. President/Founder of The Hector Fund, Jake Brennan, says on music think tank’s blog “We don’t claim Artistfunding as an original idea… We’re simply Artistfunding agents. We offer this as a service to artists. We develop, host and market the campaigns for the artists and administer the fulfillment of purchased tangible goods and merch to their fans.”
The kids over at The Hector Fund facilitate more intimate relationships between musicians and their loyal fans. They have built a platform upon which both parties get something they want (cool perks) or need (money) in a way that is feasible for everyone. And they make it super easy for both sides by handling all the details.
What sorts of tangible goods and merch is JBB offering in exchange for cash love? Among other things, a weekend on the band’s tour bus, a permanent spot on the guest list, studio production time and much much more. As part of this promotion they are offering a free MP3 download of the previously unreleased song, “Sweeter,” here. Go grab it and have a listen. Then, on that same page you can check out the plethora of contribution levels – from $6 to $50,000 – and all the cool shit you get in return for helping them live their dream and go on tour abroad.
[Sidenote: Did you know you can remix their song “Zion Triad”? You should give it a shot.]
On her St. Pete Music Scene blog, Shannon B. writes “…this Foundation embodies and represents true love for and dedication to music. In my opinion, this is exactly the kind of thinking the music community needs.” Well, it is certainly a step in the right direction. Empowering musicians to work more independently and to connect directly with their fans is a beautiful thing. And we’ll likely see more organizations like The Hector Fund popping up in the near future.
Stay up to date with The Hector Fund by becoming a fan on Facebook.
