Recording - November 2014 - 72

Pop The Question

Guest editorial by Eleanor Goldfield
The question on the lips of every A&R and
label rep, every manager, booking agent
and PR person is: "What makes your band
unique?" In fact, even the cleaning crew at a
studio asked me that question once. It is the
question from which all other conversations
flow, it's your elevator pitch, your "in," your
first impression before anyone hits Play.
The reason music industry pros will ask
you this is, in short, because they want to
know why they should care. There are a million bands out there, and you need yours to
rise above the din. One way to do that is to
know how to answer this question.
It tells that industry pro two
things: how to market your
music and more importantly,
how you've already been marketing your music. As you see in
this issue and in issues past,
today's bands and artists have
to be business-minded. The people on the ladder able to pull
you further up want to see that
you can also climb by your own
strength, creativity and business
sense. Your market, your niche,
is your answer to that question.
My band, for example, is political hard rock. What makes us
unique? Political, female fronted.
Lyrics comparable to Rage Against the
Machine and System of a Down, music comparable to Alice in Chains, Shinedown,
Chevelle and NIN. This shows that I have
already researched my own product; I've
already found that being a female-fronted,
political rock band is different and I've made
that the focus of all marketing. Everyone from
radio show hosts to PR to A&R can categorize that, and that's a good thing.
Being able to place your music doesn't
make it any less genuine or original. After
all, genres like musique concrete have a
categorical niche, and even Zappa
would call that weird. So, how do you
find your niche?
To make things easy, start with your genre
of music, in the broadest sense. Let's say you
have a rock band. OK. Digging in a bit
deeper can be tricky, but necessary-there
are so many different subgenres of rock.
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RECORDING November 2014

This is where doing your research comes in
handy. Yes, I know "you don't sound like
anyone else," but who might be reminiscent
of your sound? Don't know? Ask your fans,
ask your neighbor, ask the guy at the 7Eleven where you always buy your gummy
bears at 2 AM. Consider your influences.
Chances are, if you listened to a lot of
White Stripes and Arctic Monkeys, you'll
have some similarities to them, thereby placing your rock in the indie subgenre.
Then, find something that's unique
about your sound, your style, your message. It could be something as obvious as
having a female singer, having a 2-piece,
a 12-piece. There's a band in LA that
doesn't have a bass player, so they have
their guitar player split through a bass
amp and a guitar amp-cool and different. Lucius, an indie duo, decided to both
have short blonde haircuts-instantly recognizable and memorable.
What you take for granted may be a
great marketing tool. Don't be afraid to take
advantage of style or looks. This isn't about
exploitation, it's about giving your music a
personality-your personality. At first, I felt

uncomfortable with the notion of having just
my image on the front of our CD, making
me the "face" of the band. But I soon understood that not only was it a good idea
because my words are the message and
spirit of the band, but also because it offers
up something that isn't just another 5-piece
rock band. It emphasizes the political while
highlighting a unique characteristic of the
band.
What if nothing comes to mind? Create
something! Hard rock band Volbeat didn't
make it big until they adopted a retro-rockabilly look and combined it with their
music, which is something along the lines
of Metallica meets Social Distortion. Dig
into your lyrics, your music-think of some
interesting visuals, think of you-your
band, the personality, the inside stories,
jokes, scoops... and then, like a tattoo, ink
that onto your brand.

There are no rules here. Part of what's
often so confusing about the current industry is also what's so fun: there's no set path.
Bands and artists have to think creatively,
from inception to branding to marketing to
stage show. Take advantage of this and do
whatever you want! There are no labels
bearing down on you, saying you have to
wear this, say that, drink this or play that.
And on the subject of unsigned freedom,
take note of some of the underground communities available for unsigned bands, in
particular the ones that are curated. By this
I mean that they don't accept anyone and
everyone. Sites like ReverbNation are
great platforms and you should definitely
create a profile there, but there is much to
be said for sites that are more selective
with their artists. This goes back to the concept of rising above the din. If your music
is featured on an underground tastemaking site, you've already made it ahead of
the anyones-and-everyones who exist in
the oversaturated digital playground.
One example of this, a site that combines a curated unsigned platform with
supporting local musicians, is LA Unsigned
(launsigned.com). Based in Los
Angeles, it's both a curated site
and playlist, created in collaboration with several local and
international industry pros such
as Spotify and 365 Radio
Network. The goal is to bring
fans and bands together
through digital platforms and
live shows. In other words, LA
Unsigned offers a hub for rock
fans in the LA area to discover
new underground rock digitally
and then go see those bands
live at local venues. For both
fans and bands, this acts as a filter so that only the best, most
professional bands are introduced to local
fans looking for new music.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of
sites like LA Unsigned-sites that make a
point of highlighting the best in underground music. For example, Rock
Underground, EGH Radio, New Driven,
Underground Pulse, Music Friday, 365
Radio Network, and Crunch Radio all support professional, dedicated unsigned
acts. These sites and many others like them
can be the next step in raising your answer
to that vital question, "What makes your
band unique?", even higher above the din
of unsigned artists worldwide.
Eleanor Goldfield (goldfield@recordingmag
.com) is an engineer and studio tech, but for
this editorial all she needs you to know is
www.rooftoprevolutionaries.com.
http://www.launsigned.com http://www.rooftoprevolutionaries.com
Recording - November 2014

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