I’ve been reading a lot of misconceptions lately, but that’s nothing new.  Most of what passes for “music journalism” is just re-phrasing press releases, after all.  So the recent trend of articles about the environmental impact of the music business is something I feel obligated to speak on.  Honestly, I think it’s just fluff—an easy story to write about that contributes nothing worthwhile.  Worst of all, it’s a distraction from ongoing sources of real pollution, poison and devastation.

Today I’m going to use a recent column from Exclaim! to examine the reality behind the rhetoric about “greening” the industry.  We’ll be covering everything from China to London to Los Angeles, and back to your local landfill. 

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“Twice as arrogant as Kanye West.” That’s not my diagnosis, that’s a direct quote from iCON the Mic King’s own PDF press kit. There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding him over the years, but the real point to take home is that iCON the Mic King has been a topic of constant conversation for years now. He’s also been a constant inspiration for anyone doing DIY hip hop—from his “Rent Money Music” mixtape series to his infamous Greyhound Bus tours, iCON embodies the work ethic and determination that it takes to get your name out in the most over-saturated music market on the planet.

After all, that same press kit also contains this gem: “At the end of the day the real issue is the quality of the music and the struggle to get it heard by the masses.” That’s the sole focus of Audible Hype, so I’m honored that iCON the Mic King agreed to do an interview about exactly that: managing your own career in an industry that gets more insane every day.

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For this weekend’s batch of brainfood, I’m collecting the highlights of three outstanding interviews.  Two of them are very recent, one of them is pretty old—but the common thread here thinking bigger than your competition. This is not a comparison of dick size. 

What I mean is looking further ahead and anticipating how logical future trends will affect your business.  Being on top breeds arrogance, which leads to collapse.  This has been true for every human civilization in history, true for every record label known to mankind, and it probably applies to whoever you’re dating now.  Wait, this is a music blog.

The key to making effective moves is seeing openings that most other folks haven’t read about yet.  I’m not arrogant enough to think any strategy I’ve come up with is “new”—that’s why I decided to run this whole operation open source.  I’m just sharing stolen goods, and here’s the cream of the crop.  I hope you’re enjoying a stoned Sunday, like civilized people.

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Last week I posed a provocative question and spent some time arguing against common sense.  This article is going to be coming full-circle: advocating a more informed and precise version of common sense.  First and foremost, Yes, touring really is nescessary in 2008. A number of readers have wondered: why did I phrase the question so vaguely?

I’m glad people caught that—it was deliberate, and central to the point of this series.  Most people I talk to, from new artists to established pros, operate on the assumption that touring is nescessary, period. I would like people to seriously re-evaluate this embrace of tradition: screwdrivers are nescessary, too, but they’re not always the right tool for the job.  In part two of this series, I established the fact that touring is not nescessary to “break” your act.  In fact, it’s the least effective, most expensive method of introducing a new artist to a large audience. 

In this final installment, I am going to examine what touring is nescessary for: generating media attention, connecting with your existing fanbase, and most importantly, making some damn money.

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Although I’m writing focused articles and working in series format now, I have a lot of business weirdness going on in my life.  I’m still researching the music industry in all directions at once, so this is the first in a regular series of Weekend Brainfood.  These are useful and interesting scraps that don’t belong in any articles (for now) but I still want to share with you. 

I hope this all connects dots, inspires ideas and helps you get work done in 2008.  As always, I appreciate feedback, suggestions, and requests for specific articles. 

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I was reading over an excellent interview with a band I never heard of—Me Talk Pretty—about DIY music marketing and managing your own career, and I came across a line I spent the next 5 minutes re-reading and meditating on.  It goes a little something like this:

Touring is too expensive to do on a consistent basis, but it’s necessary.

Is it, though? As the Martin Atkins bible Tour:Smart makes painfully clear, touring is kind of a pain in the ass. So I don’t want to make any sweeping pronouncements, here.  If I wanted more publicity, I’d frame this more provokatively, such as “TOURING IS DEAD”—but let’s just explore the question: is touring really necessary in 2008?

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Audible Hype is all about questioning common sense and giving the Status Quo a good swift boot to the nuts.  As many readers know, I’ve been on the road more or less constantly since last October, so live shows and touring have been at the forefront of my mind.  I’ve got about 30 pages in my journal about how to tighten my operation—and yours—but before I get to that, I’d like to burn everything down first.

Is touring even nescessary? With the prices of fuel and food increasing every day, and the US dollar being constantly devalued, it’s going become increasingly expensive to get On The Road Again.  So this week, I’d like to spark a discussion on the future of live music.  Are there less expensive, more profitable alternatives to driving all over the country?  Are there strategies for reaching new listeners that don’t involve calling up grumpy strangers for hours on end?

I think there’s quite a few, actually. 

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A review of the best book on the music business I’ve ever found: Tour:Smart, by Martin Atkins.  It offers total coverage of all the ground-level, hands-on DIY facts of life on the road.  It’s readable, entertaining, and based on decades of brutal experience.  It’s also a huge object, the equivalent of several college classes worth of material.  Basically, if you’re doing it for real, buy this book. 

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Here’s a common question I get: “If I’m broke and unknown, how can I start getting paying gigs?”

My first instinct is to reply YOU DON’T, but that’s not entirely true.  There’s other avenues, and the fact is, the old system of “paying dues” is broken.  You can be paying dues for years and never see much happen from it.  This is an article about “viral marketing” but I feel that term is so cliched that it’s become useless—the core point remains the same, though: be interesting, and people will be interested.  If you’re doing something remarkable, people will talk about you.

Here’s a detailed look at what works, why it works, and how to make it work for you.  Interested?

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