INDIE CULTURE COMM 4439

Concert Promotion in Indie Scenes:

The Effects of Social Media & the Internet
Matthew Handy 12/9/2013 SN: 100820716

Introduction
Indie scenes are defined by the technology that surrounds them. The internet and computers are perhaps the most important digital technology to ever affect indie culture, because they have changed how individuals interact and also changed how media such as music and movies function. According to Holly Kruse, "the internet has become a key player in the production, promotion, dissemination, and consumption of independent music" (Kruse, 2010, p. 625). Music is affected in myriad ways by the internet, including a very important aspect of it: promotion. Music promotion in the digital age is easier than ever before, but the simplicity of promotion is also its downfall. Since so many artists are able to promote themselves through the internet, it is all too easy to get lost in the sea of artists and bands. Especially when it comes to social media, the market for promotion is saturated very highly, and often artists turn to professionals such as concert promoters to ensure individuals come to shows. Concert promoters play a very important role in generating knowledge about shows, encouraging individuals to attend these shows, and ensuring the shows run smoothly. In indie scenes, the role of the concert promoter is even more significant, because they must exist among the countless other promoters who represent large, mainstream acts. Kruse argues that: "The internet [...] has clearly made [music production and dissemination] more widespread and in some ways more immediate" (Kruse, 2010, p. 626). Concert promoters must become their own brand in order to gain brand loyalty from individuals in indie scenes. They must also participate in community building through social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. They are responsible for fighting against the decentralizing tendencies of the internet to centralize individuals around their particular scene. Concert promoters in indie music scenes are more important than ever in the digital age. 1

Definitions
For the purposes of this essay, a concert promoter will be defined as anyone who helps market and generate knowledge or 'hype' around a concert or musical event. I met with a longtime promoter in the indie metal/metalcore scene in Ottawa, Peter Roumeliotis in order to gain some insight into the local Ottawa scene and how concert promotion has been affected by social media and the internet. Roumeliotis remarked that: one of the primary reasons why my shows got really successful was because of the power of social media" (Handy, 2013). He argued that social media was a catalyst for the success of not only his shows but also for himself as a promoter. Social media is defined on Google as: "the use of dedicated websites and application to communicate informally with other users, or to find people with similar interests to oneself" (Google. 2013). Social networking sites are very applicable to indie music scenes because they allow a new avenue for people to find others who are part of the same scene. For example, through Facebook's 'events' feature, those who are attending a concert can look at a list of all those who were invited, plan on going, or declined to go to a certain event or show. Personal messaging on Facebook also allows concert promoters to talk to fans directly and encourage them to come to shows or tell their friends about them. Roumeliotis stated that he: made an effort to reach out to people [] I messaged them personally. The intimacy is a huge part of it [] the fan becoming connected means a lot to them (Handy, 2013). In recent years, social media has become a very important because it allows promoters to interact directly with fans and build relationships with them. This can be done through personal Facebook messages, Facebook groups and events, or through Twitter including replies, retweets, or favourites. Social media allows for a very high level of social interaction in indie music scenes. 2

The concept of a community is very relevant to concert promotion in indie scenes. Hampton and Wellman speak about communities in the context of the internet: "each person has his/her own 'personal community' of kinship, friendship, neighboring and workmate ties. People use multiple methods of communication in maintaining ties with community members: direct inperson contact, telephone, postal mail, and more recently fax, email, chats, and email discussion groups. This social definition of community emphasizes supportive, sociable, relations that provide a sense of belonging rather than a group of people living near to each other..." (Hampton & Wellman, 2001, pp. 1-2). Much has changed since this article was written, however it provides the perspective that communities are not necessarily rooted in geographical location. This idea is an important distinction to make in the digital age because many communities exist online through social networking websites. Concert promoters are a significant part of building these communities as they invite and organize events that online communities form around.

Why Live Music is so important

In the digital age, concerts have become a very important source of income for bands. Piracy has changed the recorded music industry significantly, in terms of how profit is made. Since individuals are fairly easily able to attain recorded music for free, bands have begun to lean on concerts more heavily as part of their income. The artist Moby was quoted in an article saying: If a musician makes a beautiful piece of music, someone will want to listen to it. Over time an audience will develop who might have stolen the first couple of songs or first couple of albums but they might be willing to, down the road, buy merchandise, buy access to live concerts or go to live concerts (Pakinkis, 2013). This shows that in a time when recorded music has lost much of its value to musicians, concerts have become much more important. Concerts are still a very viable event for music consumers because a live show offers some things that the internet 3

cannot. Holly Kruse quotes one indie music fan saying: indie rock concerts are still important, record stores are as well, as places to talk about and listen to music, network with people" (Kruse, 2010, p. 631). Concerts are still relevant in the digital age because they have intrinsic value to both producers and consumers of music, such as face-to-face interaction and a visual representation of an imagined community (Anderson, 1982). Live music has always been tied to geographical location, and it is important to outline how that notion has changed in the context of the internet. The "...processes of production and consumption are no longer confined to a geographically bounded territory," (Ho, 2003, p. 144) and this idea is significant because it underlines how music scenes are not defined by geography in the digital age. Promoters are able to post events online, rather than having to rely on street teams, word of mouth, or other traditional promotional tactics. The concert itself is still rooted in a geographical location, but promotion is very much based in the internet where geography has little hold on it. This idea is important for concert promotion because it allows indie concert promoters the most amount of reach they have ever had available to them.

Indie & Mainstream Culture Online

One important effect the internet has had on indie scenes is the lack of isolation or barriers between indie scenes, as well as between indie and mainstream culture. Kruse outlines that: "in the age of the internet, looking at scenes in isolation makes even less sense, as the ability to connect with others across scenes and to disseminate independent music has become easier than ever before" (Kruse, 2010, p. 629). The internet forces scholars to take a more holistic approach when studying music scenes, because it has changed how these scenes work and interact with each other. For example, a person could be invited to two indie shows on Facebook by their friends and those shows would show up alongside each other in their events 4

section on their page. In a simple click, individuals can find out where each event is, who is planning on going, and what bands are playing. This simplicity allows for a more streamlined experience for users when they are planning on which shows to attend. In fact, Facebook events may be the sole reason that shows attract attendees, according to Roumeliotis: social media 100 percent helps in terms of the number of people who come to shows (Handy, 2013). The internet also allows for an even closer interaction between mainstream and indie culture. In his article 'Movies for Hipsters,' Newman outlines that: "countercultures depend, in complicated and contradictory ways, on their representation in media of the wider culture" (Newman, 2013, p. 74). The internet inevitably strengthens this link between the two, and there are many examples of this in social media. The most obvious example being advertising: on large social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, information surrounding indie shows and events will more than likely be streamlined in individuals feeds directly next to or alongside advertisements. This is a significant blend of indie and mainstream culture that was never really seen before the internet and social media sites became popular. The fact that indie shows are advertised on mainstream influenced websites such as Twitter and Facebook is also significant because it further proves how connected the two cultures are in the digital age. Concert promoters have fully embraced this connection and used it to promote their events in many different ways.

The Promoter Becomes a Brand

Promoters have leveraged social media to become their own 'brands' and create brand loyalty among individuals in indie scenes. This allows them to become a 'celebrity' in the scene to the point where fans and bands will recognize who they are and thank them at shows for organizing them (Handy, 2013). This social identity promoters create for themselves through 5

social media is a significant idea because it allows them to create connections online and use those connections in order to help promote shows. Roumeliotiss promotion group, Autograph Events, has over 800 members on Facebook and over 300 followers on Twitter, and is described on its Facebook page: we believe in helping out the local scenes by adding local unsigned artists to our events which often feature notable artists! (Autograph Events, 2013). Facebook allows promoters to build their brand through their pages and descriptions, which show individuals what they are all about and how they do business. The autograph events description outlines that they help out local scenes, which is an important distinction to make. Indie concert promoters can use social media to show those in the scene how they help or give back to the scene through what they do. In this case, Autograph Events helps out the scene by working with local bands to get them on shows that they may not have gotten on without them. Roumeliotis outlined that he is: "a salesman, and I have to make sure there's something there that [fans] want to come see (Handy, 2013). Along with being a brand, promoters are also in the business of selling tickets to shows. Promoters can use social media to sell tickets by reaching out to individuals in their social circles, or those that are part of their Facebook group or Twitter followers. They can use these outlets to show off songs or music videos of bands that are playing shows, or allow artists to post on these pages and interact with would-be concert-goers directly in order to encourage them to come to shows.

Community Building in Social Media

There are many who may suggest that the internet is detrimental to indie scenes in terms of community building or interaction. However, this idea is proven wrong in many ways, first and foremost by Roumeliotis: "concert promoting in the independent scene revolve around ideas of community building, online fan clubs, social identity, and social interaction" (Handy, 2013). 6

He believes that concert promotion online involves some very significant notions of social interaction and community building. A similar argument outline by Hampton & Wellman maintains that: "contrary to dystopian predictions, new communication technologies do not disconnect people from communities. Computer-mediated communication reinforces existing communities, establishing contact and encouraging support where none may have existed before" (Hampton & Wellman, 2001, p. 21). They suggest rather than disconnecting individuals from communities, the internet and social media can actually reinforce existing communities or create brand new ones. Lee & Peterson also remark that: "web-based interaction generates characteristics that are in many ways like those of local scenes and in some ways quite distinct" (Lee & Peterson, 2004, p. 187). This idea outlines that online communities can resemble the reallife communities, but they can also be quite different because of the inherent differences between the internet and real-life interactions. An important part of community building through social media in indie scenes is the role of bands and their social interactions with fans. For example, if a person tweets about going to a certain bands show, the band could retweet or favourite that tweet. According to Roumeliotis, the majority of the times this happens, the person is stoked (Handy, 2013). This type of social interaction between fans and bands is very important in terms of building communities online. The followers of both the fan and the band can both see interactions, and one single interaction between a fan and band can have resounding effects in online communities. This idea also applies to concert promoters because they can use their own social media pages to retweet a bands tweet or share a post on Facebook that the band made. The high level of social interaction between fans, bands, and promoters is significant because social media is the catalyst for these interactions. A higher number of interactions can inevitably lead to a better turn-out at shows and

larger online communities. In her piece on subcultural identity, Kruse outlines that: "social identities are not fixed, but rather are articulated within a structure of social relations that causes every social agent to occupy multiple social positions at once" (Kruse, 1993, p. 34). This idea is important because it relates to how social identities can change based on these relations between fans and bands. A fan might find that after a band interacts with them on Twitter, they themselves gain more followers or retweets as others in the community see that the band interacted with them. Along with band and fan interaction, there is also a degree of interaction between promoters and bands through social media that is important. Stratman outlines that bands should "work to build a relationship with the promoters who book venues [...] to impress the promoters and audience so [they] can give them a reason to invite [them] back year after year" (Stratman, 2011, p. 8). This relationship between bands and promoters through social media can be mutually beneficial for both parties, with the promoters being able to connect with bands and ask them to play shows, as well as vice-versa. An interesting example of this interaction would be Roumeliotiss personal connection with Shane Told of the band Silverstein, with whom he has conversations with regularly and has used the connection to ask Told to play shows for him (Handy, 2013). Social media has bridged the gap between fans, bands and promoters and allows for more mutually beneficial interactions between all three parties. One final comparison should be made between centralization and decentralization in the digital age. One of the internets many effects is that it can decentralize music production and dissemination, but Kruse argues that this has not resulted in the disappearance of local identities, local scene histories, or the perception that there are local sounds (Kruse, 2010, p. 625). Despite the fact that the internet has greatly decentralized the recorded music market, it has not had a resounding effect on local scenes. Local scenes, though they can be found online,

are still very much rooted in the geography they are a part of. This is an important point because for concert promoters, it means that technological advances in these functions have not necessarily served to lessen the importance of locality and local identityin fact, sometimes such dissemination has the opposite effect (Kruse, 2010, p. 637). As mentioned earlier, online communities can act as reinforcements for local communities because they provide more avenues for communication between different members of a community. Fans are able to interact with each other through Facebook to see who is going to a certain event, or talk to bands and promoters about concerts or other upcoming shows. One final point Kruse makes is that social networks: can and [do] bring otherwise unconnected community members into contact including those involved in local musicand increase ones sense of neighborhood and local identity (Kruse, 2010, p. 637). My own relationship with Roumeliotis for instance, was initiated in person, but our relationship through social networks gave me the opportunity to really embrace the Ottawa metal scene. I met many people through Facebook and these relationships served as a gateway into the scene, where I started working door at shows and meeting lots of people in the scene who were regulars at shows. This process is a significant example of how social media can be an important supplementary community to real-life communities.

How Do Indie Scenes Benefit?

Specifically in indie scenes, concert promoters play an important role in ensuring the success of indie bands. Along with promoting shows, concert promoters can also help local bands get on larger shows as openers, effectively giving them more exposure than they would have at their own show. For example Roumeliotis has worked with local bands such as Of Reverie, Colour Me Crimson, and The Thirteenth Floor in order to get them on shows as openers for bands like Glass Cloud, Texas in July, and many more (Handy, 2013). Fulfilling this role as a 9

promoter of indie talent has become much simpler through social media, because promoters are able to communicate with more bands and booking agents to book shows and add local openers to shows in their own cities. Arguably the most significant effect promoters can have on local scenes through social media is simply growing the scene, and getting more people to come to shows. Though promoters must still be effective at initiating word of mouth and hype around shows in traditional ways, they can leverage social media in order to simplify the process. Rather than simply telling friends and peers about shows individually, they could simply post a status on Facebook where it is instantly available to all of their friends. There is absolutely no way that disseminating a message in this way would have been possible before the internet, where many people in many places all have access to a broadcasted message through the same platform. Similarly, a promoter could post a tweet on Twitter and use hashtags related to the tweet, which could be found by people not already following them and thus grow the online community that way. It is important to note that social media can be a very important avenue for promoters because it allows those in the scene to gain a glimpse into the work that goes into concert promoting. Those who witness the effort that promoters put into promoting shows on Twitter or Facebook can gain an appreciation for what promoters do on a daily basis to help local scenes and bands. According to Stahl: "local indie rock is a bounded social space, populated by practitioners, fans, [...] club bookers and promoters, journalists, and radio station DJs. Entry into this social space is not equally easy for all aspirants, but a certain amount of recognition can be more or less assured by following in the grooves laid out by normative tales of cooperation and community building" (Stahl, 2003, p. 145). Concert promoters can gain recognition through

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social media or in scenes by giving back to the community or helping local bands get onto big shows. For example, I have witnessed entire rooms of people give a round of applause to Roumeliotis for organizing shows. These thank-yous are generally initiated by bands who are thankful for the fans for coming but also recognize that without Roumeliotis, the show would have never happened. According to him, before the internet, concert promoters were relatively unsung heroes who did all of the legwork for shows but never got the recognition they deserved (Handy, 2013). Along with helping scenes grow, social networks have also allowed individuals in scenes realize the work that goes into organizing shows.

Conclusion
Live shows will always be very important because they are located in one space and time. Even high-definition footage of a live show is not the same as being at a show. For some, it may serve as a replacement for the live experience, but for many, the live show is experienced best inperson. This is one thing the internet cannot truly replace, which is the real-life experience of seeing live music. Hibbett notes that: to have attended a rare concertof a band, perhaps, no longer together, or in a place they will no longer playis to accumulate capital made valuable by its inaccessibility to others (Hibbett, 2005, p. 72). Concerts are only accessible to those who go, unlike a YouTube video for example, which is available to anyone with a computer and internet connection. Along with offering an experience the internet cannot fully replicate, a concert provides an exclusive experience for those attend them, and separates those who go from those who do not. For this reason, concerts and concert promoters will always have a role in music communities, and a very important one at that. Concerts are one of the final strongholds music has against the decentralizing power of the internet. The internet should be viewed as a double edged sword, because though it can be helpful for concert promoters, bands and local 11

scenes, it also allows for an abundance of information. This can be detrimental to local scenes because they have to compete with other scenes as well as mainstream culture on social media, so they may have a difficult time gaining recognition among the more popular content. Regardless of these difficulties, concert promoters have a very important role in the digital age because they organize and spend a great deal of time on shows. These shows are some of the last real-life experiences that cannot be replaced by their counterparts on the internet.

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References Anderson, Benedict. (1983). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London & New York: Verso. Retrieved December 7, 2013 from: http://books.google.ca/books?id=nQ9jXXJVvgC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false Autograph Events. (2013). Facebook page & Twitter page. Retrieved December 7 from: https://www.facebook.com/groups/autographeve/ and https://twitter.com/AutographEve/ Google. (2013). Definition of Social Networking. Retrieved December 7, 2013 from: https://www.google.ca/search?q=definition+of+social+media&oq=definition+of+social+ media&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.4729j0j7&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie= UTF-8#es_sm=93&espv=210&q=definition+of+social+networking Hampton, K., & Wellman, B. (2001). The Not So Global Village of Netville. The Internet and Everyday Life, pp. 1 - 21. Retrieved December 7, 2013 from: http://www.mysocialnetwork.net/downloads/HamptonWellman2.pdf Handy, M. (2013). Interview with Peter Roumeliotis. Available online: http://youtu.be/zHgOhBUU2JQ Hibbett, R. (2005). What is Indie Rock? Popular Music & Society, 28 (1), pp. 55-77. Retrieved December 8, 2013 from: http://www.tandfonline.com.proxy.library.carleton.ca/doi/pdf/10.1080/030077604200030 0972 Ho, W. (2003). Between Globalization and Localization: A Study of Hong Kong Popular Music. Popular Music, 22 (2), pp. 143-157. Retrieved December 7, 2013 from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3877607 Kruse, H. (1993). Subcultural Identity in Alternative Music Culture. Popular Music & Society, 12 (1), pp. 33-41. Retrieved December 7, 2013 from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/931257 Kruse, H. (2010). Local Identity and Independent Music Scenes, Online and Off. Popular Music & Society, 33 (5), pp. 625-639. Retrieved December 5, 2013 from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03007760903302145#.UqJbvPRDt8E Lee, S., & Peterson, R. (2004). Internet-based Virtual Music Scenes: The Case of P2 in Alt. Country Music in Music Scenes: Local, Translocal and Virtual. Vanderbilt University Press. Retrieved December 7, 2013 from: http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zrGa3vYOoZgC&oi=fnd&pg=PA187&dq= Music+Scenes:+Local,+Translocal,+and+Virtual&ots=OTO3d1L4I&sig=aw0Ae2fG6ZTMUQyHTlsJ_vKyyX4#v=onepage&q=Music%20Scenes%3A%20 Local%2C%20Translocal%2C%20and%20Virtual&f=false

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Newman, M. (2013). Movies for Hipsters. In G. King, C. Molloy & T. Tzioumakis (Eds.), American independent cinema: Indie, indiewood and beyond (pp. 71-82). London & New York: Routledge. (Course Pack) Pakinkis, T. (2013). Music Industry Has Taken a Shortsighted Approach to Piracy Moby. MusicWeek. Retrieved December 1, 2013 from: http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/music-industry-has-taken-a-shortsightedapproach-to-piracy-moby/056873?curator=MediaREDEF Stahl, M. (2003). To hell with heteronomy: Liberalism, Rule-making, and the pursuit of community in an urban rock scene. Journal of Popular Music Studies, 15 (2), pp. 140165. Retrieved December 7, 2013 from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.proxy.library.carleton.ca/doi/10.1111/j.15331598.2003.00002.x/full Stratman, N. (2011). The 'Indie' Sound: A Band's Guide to Success in the Competitive Indie Market. University of Tennessee Honours Thesis Projects. Retrieved December 7, 2013 from: http://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2492&context=utk_chanhonoproj &sei-r edir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.ca.proxy.library. carleton.ca%2Fscholar%3Fq%3Dindie%2Bconcert%2Bpromotion%26btnG%3D%26hl %3Den%26as_sdt%3D0%252C5#search=%22indie%20concert%20promotion%22

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