Megan McDiffitt, C3 Presents, does artist management for Ben Kweller, Heartless Bastards, What Made Milwaukee Famous and Black Joe Lewis. I decided in lieu of the Austin City Limits music festival I would ask her opinion on the importance of artist promotions at the fest. Enjoy...
Why are press interviews at ACL a big deal for bands?
Well it’s not so much that it’s press at ACL that’s a big deal; press anytime/anywhere is always beneficial, but at ACL all the press is combined into one location so it’s just easy to knock out several interviews in a short time. It’s also easier for us since we work with the media company, Fresh and Clean Media, that handles all the press for the fest. We get a helping hand from them if we need it.
What advice do you give smaller bands playing ACL in regard to getting press time?
Smaller bands just need to walk through the media area with many cd’s to give away and ask anyone that isn’t doing an interview if they’d like to do one or just want a cd to check out their music. It’s hard to catch the media off guard, I mean if they’ve never heard of you or are not familiar with you, they will most likely not want to interview you because they haven’t done their research. So the best advice I would give is to just spread the word about your band, drop off as many cd’s and contact cards to the press peeps as possible and hopefully at the next fest, they will be familiar with you and will want to speak with you.
What does playing at ACL mean for a smaller, unknown band?
It means a lot of attention that you would not normally get. Even if you’re opening the fest on a small stage, people that have not ever heard of you before will be there ready to listen so you should give your best performance, you’ve only got 45 minutes to win these people over. Hopefully some press will be at that stage and will take notice as well.
Do you see any direct results for WMMF, HB, BJL, BK after an appearance at Lolla or ACL? Merch sales? MySpace hits? Bookings? Stalkers? Etc...
Absolutely, there are always more MySpace hits, play counts and merch sales. There are more interview requests afterwards as well. It doesn’t necessarily bring in more bookings, but it does certainly help to get bookings later on. Saying that you’ve played a fest like ACL just looks good, ya know?
What would you recommend to a smaller, unknown band to do if they wish to play at ACL?
Ha, well, have a great booking agent for starters and great ticket sales.
What are your thoughts on artist rebellion at ACL - do you think the crazier/weirder they act the more press they may get? You may wish to discuss the Ben Kweller nosebleed of 2006.
Of course, press was all over BK’s nosebleed situation. Even the next year the press was still talking about it and wanted an interview to hear the details on it. If you’re outgoing and demand attention, you’ll get it, especially from the press. Juliette Lewis is one I always think of on this note. Lollapalooza 2007, she stormed into the media area with all her quirkiness and the press just flocked to her.
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2 comments:
Perhaps this comes from my previous questions/comments about how groups might influence their own MySpace play count, but this quote jumped out at me:
Saying that you’ve played a fest like ACL just looks good, ya know?
This got me thinking about (1) how many bands might lie about such things and (2) how the Internet is changing the ability of booking agents to check on bands' previous performances and confirm their claims. My first thought is that the Internet would make it harder for bands to mislead people about their previous appearances... What do you think?
Above and beyond this interview, what'd you think of ACL?
Oh definitely - bands can't get away with claiming a huge fest like ACL and not being honest. The Internet holds all the information (like previous lineups) so bookers can check out the legitimacy of the claim.
But if a group professes their performance at a fest like ACL, they better back it up.
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