Spread out across venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn, this year’s CMJ Music Marathon provided a glimpse at some of the year’s best emerging artists in addition to a healthy lineup of veteran performers. With five days of showcases and concerts to attend, the festival offered something for everyone, with bands representing a variety of genres.
CMJ
Contest: Win a five-day pass to CMJ 2011
From October 18 – 22, New York City’s finest venues, nightclubs, and theaters will be taken over by musicians, music-industry professionals, college-radio nerds, filmmakers, and critics. Yes, it’s back: the CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival.
Notable bands scheduled to perform include: Trash Talk, Parts & Labor, Davila 666, A Place to Bury Strangers, the Doomtree crew, Talkdemonic, Mexicans with Guns, and Kylesa. Seeing so many concerts, screenings, and panels normally comes at a pretty steep price, but we’ve teamed up with CMJ to give away two five-day passes. Total retail value of one pass alone is $495 and will give its bearer access to any event, provided that it’s not sold out or at capacity.
To enter to win, fill out the form below by the end of Thursday, October 13. By entering your information, you’ll also be signed up to receive ALARM’s weekly E-mail newsletter, The ALARMIST.
Moses Supposes: 19 Music Conferences Ranked
Moses Avalon is one of the nation’s leading music-business consultants and artists’-rights advocates and is the author of a top-selling music business reference, Confessions of a Record Producer. More of his articles can be found at www.mosesavalon.com.
Moses Avalon: 100 Answers to 50 Questions on the Music Business (Hal Leonard, 12/15/10)
With more than 100 music-business conferences in the US alone and most emerging musos on a limited budget, which ones are really worth the investment? The following is an excerpt/sample chapter from the revolutionary new book on music-business survival, 100 Answers to 50 Questions on the Music Business, by industry veteran Moses Avalon. Enjoy.
Maybe for many, the idea of spending thousands of dollars to schlep through airports and hotels for several days, only to end up with a handful of cards/CDs from people in the music business that they will never remember, is dumb. Or maybe it’s worth every dollar and minute that you can spare.
They say that you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince. If you think so, there are a bevy of music-business functions that serve this philosophy. There are medium-grade ones geared towards the college-music scene, like CMJ, as well as high-end ones, like MIDEM, where people with far more dollars than sense fly to the south of France and stay in four-star hotels just to mingle with French lingerie models. (Wait, that’s starting to sound kinda cool.)
Some of these conferences are very useful, but most have become showcases for already-financed acts, not places where true “emerging” artists can get a fair shake — despite what they advertise. The panels often are a disappointment, filled with self-serving pitchmen from unions, PROs, and “indie services,” making it very hard to extract any objective information.
Okay, enough of the dark side. What’s the appeal?
Because the music business is about connections, you need to make as many as you can. Given this reality, I’d say that conferences are a must — as many and as often as you can. But with limited resources, how do you discriminate?
Contest: Win a five-day pass to CMJ 2010
Once a year, for the past 16 years, the entire music industry descends upon New York City for a few days of live music, film screenings, discussions, networking, and general revelry. This year’s CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival takes place October 19-23 in venues all over NYC.
The mountainous lineup is only partially announced and is sure to keep on growing. Seeing so many stellar acts might get a bit pricey, so CMJ and ALARM have teamed up to give away two five-day passes to two lucky readers. Total retail value of one pass alone is $495 and will give its bearer access to any show, provided that it’s not sold out.
Photos from Panache Booking/New York Night Train CMJ showcase, sponsored by ALARM
Check out photos from the Panache Booking/New York Night Train CMJ showcase, sponsored by ALARM! All images by James Loveday.
