America may seem at times like a big TV commercial ruled
by corporate politics and endless marketing campaigns. But there are
lots of smaller companies out there working to promote and service
smaller musicians and fans of the same. Here are a few words about
Virtuous, the online ticketing agency started by Kristin
Hersh and Billy O'Connell and The Indie Bible, a
directory of over 6000 listings to help indie artists on their
way.
Virtuous
Grass Roots Online
Ticketing
by Robert Fisher
How many times have you
bought a ticket for a performance from an online agency and been
shocked at the difference between the walk up price and the price
you pay for the convenience of buying it in advance? Add-on service
fees, facility charges and handling fees often tack on 75%-100% to
the initial cost of a ticket. Audiences don't like the practice and
artists don't like the way it seems to reflect on them. There is a
new service available through Virtuous.com that makes advance
paperless tickets available online for the lowest service fees in
the industry and even promises to make a percentage of it's profits
available to charities in the areas they service.
Virtuous is
a company started by Kristin Hersh (Throwing Muses) and her husband
and manager Billy O'Connell as a response to fan complaints about
ticket agency charges. There is nothing new in the struggle for
bands trying to control the cost of an advance ticket charged to
audiences - Pearl Jam fought a notorious battle with Ticketmaster in
the early part of the 90's but found that because of the exclusive
agreements between Ticketmaster and their venues that it would limit
their ability to find places where the band could play and
ultimately backed down.
O'Connell believes there is a place
where the artist can make a difference in ticket charges at the
smaller club and theatre level where the relationships between
promoters and artist is more flexible. Compared to the high fees
charged by Ticketmaster and others, Virtuous will add a $1 fee to
tickets priced under $15, $2 for tickets priced $15 to $24.99, $3
for offerings between $25 and $49.99, and $4 for any ticket of $50
or more.
This is how Virtuous.com works. An artist or
promoter will be set up with an account on the Virtuous Web site
that can be linked to their own Web site. An event is posted
offering a block of tickets in advance for the show. The names of
the people who purchase tickets in advance are downloaded before the
show and placed at the box office. All the purchaser needs to do is
present an ID at the venue box office to gain entrance. The money
from the sale of advance tickets is sent directly to the artist or
promoter. Virtuous handles any customer service issues and reminds
the purchaser that they have bought tickets for an event by E-mail
36 hours prior to the show. It is simple, direct and saves
money.
For the past three years Virtuous has been building
success stories with a network of venues across the country. Venues
like the Knitting Factory in New York and Los Angeles and Slims in
San Francisco have found their online business has grown to the
point that the majority of it is being accomplished through
Virtuous. Whether it is a one of show or an entire tour, for artists
as diverse as Aimee Mann, Stacey Earle, Buddy and Julie Miller,
Beachwood Sparks, Cat Power and Cassandra Wilson using Virtuous to
offer advance tickets the proof seems to be in the using. Even in
buildings with Ticketmaster deals there is no channel conflict as it
is a standard part of negotiating with a venue to provide a level of
tickets to be available for fan club sales.
O'Connell says,
"We hope to provide a tool that will help artists take control of
developing their fan base by providing a cost saving service to
audiences". Or in the words of Michael Hausman who manages Aimee
Mann, " It seems like a great way to help artists take care of their
fans".
Find out more at: http://www.virtuous.com/.
The Indie
Bible
Questions for David Wimble
by Brenda
Kahn
WOMANOCK:
What is the Indie Bible?
David
Wimble:
The Indie Bible is a promotional resource for
musicians and songwriters. It is a directory that contains over 6000
listings that will help them to gain exposure for their music (all
genres are covered). Anyone that is holding their new box of CDs in
their arms, and is looking for ways to gain some exposure, will find
this resource invaluable.
The Indie Bible is broken
down into 6 sections:
1. 2300 Publications that will review
Independent music.
2. 2700 Radio stations/shows that will play
Independent music.
3. 300 Vendors that will sell Independent
music.
4. 300 Sites where Independent musicians can upload
their
band's MP3s.
5. Hundreds of helpful
resources for recording artists.
6. 33 articles that were written
by well-known people in the
Independent music
industry. These are articles are on
subjects
that can help artists to avoid the common
pitfalls,
and gain better succeed in the music
business.
WOMANOCK:
What made you start this massive
undertaking?
David Wimble:
Actually, The Indie
Bible was created unintentionally. In 1999, I was recording my
first CD. During the last months of recording I started to search
for places that would help the CD to get some attention. I wanted to
get a good jump on things once the CD was pressed and ready to go. I
didn't know a lot about the Internet, but I suspected that I could
find at least a few places where I could gain some exposure for my
music. It wasn't long before a "massive" new world opened up to me.
The number of places online that were willing to help Independent
artists was mind-boggling!
I spent hours every day finding
places that I could send my CD to in order to get a review or
airplay. I also found a lot of online services that were willing to
help sell my music. I kept all the information in a spreadsheet, so
that I would know who I sent my CD to and when.
When the
recording was finished, the band I was building (and planned on
touring around with) broke up. I was heavily in debt, so the idea of
trying to build another band, and then tour around, was not very
practical. I needed to start paying off some of the bills, and
selling a few CDs a week wasn't going to help a lot. There was also
no guarantee that the new band I would put together would last long
enough to get any momentum going.
Then it struck me, that
during the whole time I was researching on the Internet, I was
wondering why I couldn't find some sort of directory that isolated
all the helpful sites for Independent musicians. I did purchase a
few resources that I found in my research, but when they arrived in
the mail, I was disappointed, and to be honest angry. The books I
bought looked like they had been thrown together very
quickly.
Under the pressure of this financial crunch, I
wondered how practical it would be for me to publish a resource that
would list all these places I'd been finding. The resource would
enable musicians and songwriters to avoid spending the incredible
number of hours it took me to find the resources in the first place.
I asked the opinion of a musician I had met from Boston, and she
gave it the thumbs up. She said it was a great idea and that I would
sell a ton of them. That's all I needed to prompt me. It was at that
point that the "Indie Contact Bible" was born. From then on I began
to consciously build the resource. As I continued researching
information for the 1st Edition, I realized that if I was to really
succeed at publishing this resource, I would need to include "all"
genres of music.
The first edition was photocopied and had a
plain white cover. Fortunately for me, even though the book was as
simple as it gets, the value shone through. People that bought it
just loved it, and the feedback was
incredible!
WOMANOCK:
What special resources do you
have available for women?
David Wimble:
I've always
made sure that with each new edition, The Indie Bible
continues to grow. It's important for the resource to keep up with
any new trends that may be forming. One thing that came to mind when
it came time to research for the 3rd Edition, was the number of
resources that I had run across that were targeted to "women"
musicians and songwriters. I thought it might be nice to have a
little section consisting of these sites, and decided to call it my
"Women in Music" section. Once I consciously began to research this
new area. I was "astounded" by the number of resources available to
women musicians. I'm not sure of the exact number, but there are
between 400 - 500 resources for Women in Music that I uncovered,
including over 100 publications that will review music created by
specifially by female artists, and over 200 radio shows that will
only play the songs of female artists. Out of all the research I've
ever done, this was the most fun for me. I met a lot of great people
while researching this section. I was also excited by the fact that
some of the publications that I contacted didn't do music reviews,
but decided that this was something they were going to start
doing.
Almost every college stations has a "women-only" music
show. Most of these shows will accept any style of music. However,
there are some that want only folk, punk, electronic etc. In some
cases the shows are only on for a single college year, but they are
then replaced in the new school year by a show with the same format.
Many NPR and Independent stations also have a women-only music show.
Most of them are long-running.
There are several syndicated
shows as well. I guess the most famous is Laney Goodman's "Women in
Music" show. Another that's listed is Satellite Sisters. They didn't
get back to me for a long time, and I had kind of given up, and then
one day I got this amazing long letter explaining how women artists
go about submitting their music. I'm always grateful when someone
shows that much interest.
As well as publications, there are
many online sites/E-zines (such as this one) that will review the
music of female artists. There is also an incredible number of
overall resources for women in music - sites where you can upload
your music, post information about your band, find out about
women-only festivals, banner exchanges, free web hosting and so
on.
WOMANROCK:
What makes your music resource
unique?
David Wimble:
Before The Indie Bible,
there had never been a resource published that specifically targets
"recording" musicians. There are many resources that target
musicians in general, and some of these have a small section for
places to get reviews, radio airplay etc...
but no one has ever
created a resource that is soley for the "recording" musicians
looking for ways to gain exposure for their music. If you're a
recording musician, and you open up the Indie Bible, EVERYTHING you
see listed is for you. |
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