How to Break Out of the Local Music Scene Trap

How to Break Out of the Local Music Scene TrapHow to Break Out of the Local Music Scene TrapAre you enjoying success in your local music scene, but want to break out? Ifyou want to make a living in music, you have to approach things quite differently from the band who simply wants to play some songs and have a party at the local bar on the weekends. You need to think of how to take your local successes to the next level, and that requires some planning and smart decision making. Before we abflug talking about the local music scene trap, lets acknowledge that its not a trap everyone wants to escape. Its perfectly fine to enjoy making music without making it your career, and many people are satisfied with local success. But if you yearn for more, you need to take extra steps. Local Music Scene Blues A lot of people think that living in a town that lacks a strong music scene can ruin their chances of launching their music career. And, lets be honest, it can make things tough. Howeve r, living in a city with a thriving local music scene has its pitfalls too. To get the most out of living somewhere with a strong music scene, you need to find a way to tap into the benefits while cutting through the distractions. The Good and the Bad of Local Fans Yes, part of succeeding as a musician beyond your local scene is to stop worrying about courting the admiration and attention of your lovely and fickle local scenesters and hobby musicians. You know who I mean. They might get the local overpriced coffeehouse buzzing about you, but they wont help you sell records even three towns over. Heres the hard - and harsh - reality of it all being a local celebrity plus a couple bucks will get you a latte and not much else. Besides, these people are often the same people who will think youre a sellout if you try to make some money selling your musicbecause after all, their band doesnt make any money and they dont care. Heres a hint - they have day jobs and they never plan to lea ve them for a career in music. You do. Dont get sucked into it. Although you will naturally have an affinity and a fondness for your hometown fans - after all, your friends and family are usually in that group - from a business standpoint, you need to treat your local scene as you would any other stop on the road. You want to wow your fans, get some press and keep people talking about your music - and then you want to repeat that process on the next stop on your tour. Local Stardom Doesnt Travel Local bands in places where there are big music scenes often invest an inordinate amount of time trying to become the stars of their local circuit. There is the odd occasion when this can make a difference - if a few bands who have made it big come from your town, labels often invade the town to see who else is around - but these occasions are very specific and very fleeting. In most cases, you can put the local scene on lockdown and still be lucky to land an opener for the opener slot a t a small club in the next state, simply because your local success doesnt translate outside your small radius. If getting out of your backyard is your ultimate goal, then dont get involved in a popularity contest to rule said backyard. Believe me, your local celebrity status will be cemented when you abflug achieving things on a larger stage anyway, plus, youll get to avoid turning into the middle age wannabe musician saddo hanging around the college parties wishing the local scene was just like the...90s, 80s, 70s, or what have you...again, since that is when they ruled the local clubs. 3 Key Tips to Avoid the Local Music Scene Trap OK, but here is the rub. It DOES make sense to start locally when building your music career. It all comes down to the approach. Here are some tips to avoid the local musician trap Follow the Bread Crumb Trail Everything you do locally can be a stepping stone for something bigger. Follow that trail to opportunities beyond the local scene. If youve got a good local following, try a gig swap to start working on anew audience. If youve got tons of great reviews in the local press, add quotes from them to your bio and your website. Press begets press, so demonstrating that people are writing about you will get more people to write about you outside of your area. It will also show promoters, labels and more that youre building a buzz. Always look for how every local success can help you achieve something a little broader. Plan Wisely When youre booking shows, check the local calendar. Its amazing how many relatively small towns seem to have 25 very similar bands playing on the same night. Theyre splitting the audience in ways that just dont make sense. Since your goal is to move beyond playing locally, you want to play on nights when youre not splitting the local music fans so many ways.Be on the Same Page One of the best parts about being in a place with a big music scene is that you lots of options when it comes to finding music ians for your band. However, in plus-rechnen to being great musicians, the people you play with need to have the same goals as you. If they want to stay local and cant invest the time into, say, going on tour, then youre going to reach an impasse. Start out on the same page, and youll avoid these problems. Local music scenes can fun and great places to launch your music career. But if your goal is to make a career out of your music, remember youre going to need a lot more than local success.