Commentary: A Snapshot of CMJ 2009
Roughly 1,200 artists and 100,000 attendees gathered in New York City from October 20 through 24 for the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon. During the five days, music and film aficionados could take advantage of informational panels during the day ranging in topics from artist development to the evolution of metal to greening the music industry and more. Films had NYC Premieres followed with Q&A’s with actors and directors (i.e. Woody Harrelson and director Oren Moverman of The Messenger). But the main reason people attend the festival is for the music. More than 70 venues ranging in size featured live acts for the festival, but not specifically for badge holders. Every genre from rock to reggae to electronic to rap was represented.
Show One:
Evan Dando—former singer of the Lemonheads—performed Wednesday, October 21, to a jam-packed back room at Pianos on the Lower East Side. While most concert-goers flowed in and out of the venue during the first few bands, they stayed put during Dando’s intimate set. It was just Dando and his picture-covered acoustic guitar on stage. He played song after song with little conversation in between.
The song with the greatest crowd response was “I Wish I Was Him,” which was actually written about Dando by Ben Lee. The crowd cheered raucously at each song’s end with the occasional shout for a request, most of which were answered almost immediately, like the song “Hospital.” After playing for 45 minutes, Dando stepped down, only to be told he could play longer. He played for 15 more minutes before retiring for the night. Or so the crowd thought. After a short break and some of the lights turning on, Dando returned for the third time to play a few songs more.
Panel:
The following day several panels focused on career choices. The series included informational sessions on how to make it in the music industry whether it is in a marketing sense, as a band that is just starting out or one that’s been around for a bit. During “I Want To Make Music For A Living,” panelists focused on opportunities for artists to make money. Leaving the band-oriented mentality of making an album and playing shows was the suggested formula to abandon. Panelists suggested making money off of royalties from TV placements, by exploiting copyrights (of your own music, of course) for licensing income and to learn how to sell yourself.
Artists should create tracks that show diversity: by recording a selection of a song full band, as an instrumental, with hip-hop beats and so forth, the music is more accessible. Furthermore, panelists collectively agreed that musicians should be producing several tracks a day without becoming too attached to the material. Imperfect and incomplete tracks are acceptable, because more times than not, the person the music is being pitched to will want to hear something else, according to Jared Gutstad, founder and CEO of Jingle Punks. He said that if musicians spend time perfecting a track, they’ll waste time and have less to show. Another panelist who works in media and entertainment strategy, Arif Gursel, added that “the ones that come quickly usually are the best.”
Everyone on the panel agreed that it is important for musicians to be registered with either ASCAP, BMI or CSAC in addition to Sound Exchange. This way, if a band’s music is being played somewhere without the members’ knowledge, the organizations know who to contact if and when money needs to be collected. Though musicians like to focus on making art, the panelists said it is also important to think as a business. This way, when the time is right the band is ready to make money.
Show Two:
The Bowery Ballroom was almost empty during the first act on Thursday, October 22. The straggling people spaced out on the floor while a solo-acoustic act played. As each act ended, more people entered. Holy Sons took the stage and starting playing mellow-ish songs that took too long for the band to break in. The bassist sat on his amp for the first few songs, which embodied the pace of the set thus far: Chill yet lazy. At one point, the singer announced that they were “totally out of it,” a fact that explains the first half of the act and lowered the bar for the latter part. Finally halfway through the set the band picked up speed, fully launched into a jam session that got louder with each song. Though Holy Sons set was less than par, it prepared the crowd for one of the more well-known acts on the bill in Dolorean.
Dolorean (not to be confused for Delorean, who played at The Delancey the same night) began its 45 minute set of alternative folk/rock. The band had people in the balcony slow dancing, which then triggered a bunch of couples to launch in to a mega make-out session. There’s nothing like a bunch of scruffy hipsters running their fingers through their significant other’s overly (disheveled) styled hair. Dolorean was the first band of the bill to engage the audience in conversation by talking a bit about getting older and about being from Oregon. After each song, fans in the crowd chanted for “Beechcomber Blues,” the single off of You Can’t Win. After introducing the band members, Dolorean ended their set with the fan fave leaving the audience wanting more, but this was the end.
Though not every event, film or showcase could be seen by any one attendee, people tweeted from all over the city tagging CMJ (even people from the mag were involved), letting everyone know what was going on where and how it was turning out. Search for CMJ to see what you missed, and prepare for next year’s fest because tickets will become available at their lowest price sooner than you think.
Originally posted on StereoSubversion.com.