A couple of weeks ago, I took my 15-year-old son to San Francisco for a few days over his Winter Break. We had a great time, and among other sites, visited the Fillmore where we spent lots of time perusing their walls of vintage concert posters.
As luck would have it, his favorite artist – Ben Kweller – was in town, playing at a small venue called the Great American Music Hall. Thanks to Dave Benson at KFOG, I was able to get a couple of tickets for the show. Once in the GAMH, Mickey bought a T-shirt and came back to tell me that he was eligible to meet Ben after the show. I thought to myself, "Yeah, right," but told him that we’d hang around afterwards.
The concert was great (more on that later), and after it was over, a line formed, perhaps 75 people long, waiting to meet Ben Kweller. I wasn’t expecting much.
To my pleasant surprise, he spent several minutes with each fan, signing anything they wanted, taking pictures, hugging them, and just chatting with them about music and whatever they wanted to talk about.
Yes, Kweller is fighting for airplay, and as you’d expect, ought to be cooperative and open with fans. But how often does that really happen in the world of Rock? Even among fledgling artists, most make very little effort to make nice, and thus build their fan base.
Segue over to the Country Radio Seminar that wrapped up earlier this month. Aside from the fact that nearly 3,000 showed up for this annual convention, think about how Country differs from Rock. My friend, Steve Goldstein, spoke at the CRS this year, and walked out of the convention with a new, refreshed feeling about radio. It was reinforced by the openness and friendliness of Country music stars – big and up-and-coming – making every effort to create relationships with radio people and fans alike.
In Country, they get it. They always have. It’s like there’s a charm school for Country stars where attendance is mandatory. For most Country performers, being fan-friendly is in their DNA. In the meantime, Rock stars have typically been too big to waste time with their audience, and of course, radio professionals – until the credits start rolling on their careers. Yes, I’m more than a little jealous.
This is a pivotal time for Rock Radio. The paradigm of music exposure and introduction is changing. Yet, despite iTunes, satellite radio, MySpace, and word-of-mouth, FM radio still plays an integral role in the hit-making process. But there’s clearly a disconnect, and it’s hurting both Rock Radio and the music industry.
Most of the radio programmers that we work with would bend over backwards for more face time with Rock performers, whether it’s in-studio interviews, live performances, and general access. It would help make new careers and revitalize old ones.
If there are any label folks reading this, we would love to hear from you. And if you agree with these sentiments, and know people in the music community who should see this blog entry, please forward it to them.
In the meantime, Ben Kweller is special – and not just because I saw him live or that he autographed my kid’s shirt. In all likelihood, he’s an artist that you haven’t heard of, but you should. It’s interesting that the "Long Tail" phenomenon often works for unknown artists that may not need the support of major labels to expose and sell their music. Kweller may actually be a victim of this effect. He isn’t visually dynamic like Matisyahu. And he isn’t (yet) a hit machine like Nickelback. He’s a 25-year-old guy from Texas who would remind you of Tom Petty, a little Bob Dylan, and other mainstream pop icons. Yes, the type of music that people turn up when they hear it on the radio. He’s a great example of new music and fresh Rock that radio continues to miss or overlook. And he knows how to work the room.
More on him in another blog, but for now check out his latest video for "Penny On The Train Track."
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Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Ben is his own best friend, a talented artist and nice guy who we spent some quality time with when he visited us here at XPN and Yrock. The day he came by was one of those days when I wasn’t mired in meetings so I actually had a chance to hang with him. We hung out, smoked a cigarette, had some coffee. We talked about cool bands from Brooklyn. Ben, thanks for doing that.
Fred’s comments really speak to the art of customer service which is, I guess, something you’re excused from if you become a big rock star or if you cop the attitude as an up-and-comer that you deserve to be treated as a “rock star” just cause you signed some fucking record deal. Which is a shame.
But IMO, this attitude is reinforced by the fact that in general, music industry label folks and even managers (present company excluded) are unwilling or fearful to tell their artists to connect directly with their fans or the folks (like myself) who play their records. This is the cult of the personality that distances artists from their potential customers and is a barrier to solidifying even greater relationships with the fans who love them the most. This applies to so many things in real life though, doesn’t it? Who would expect a PD to call back a pissed off listener? Why should radio stations answer their myspace mail? Who doesn’t have the time to touch their listeners/their customers/the people who love you the most? But you know, a label person who can’t manage their talent is no different than a PD who can’t give constructive feedback to their overpaid Morning Show host. Or an Ops person who doesn’t have the skills to tell their production manager to re-cut a promo so it will sound better on the air. It’s all about the people skills.
Here at XPN we have 300, 400 experiences a year with artists, rock and other wise. By and large they’re all very positive. Each week we have a free concert and almost always the artist will come out after and sign autographs and talk to their fans. Patty Griffin did this a couple weeks ago for over an hour. I see it time and time again. The other night we were taping something with Snow Patrol and when the stressed out tour manager kept trying to get Gary to wrap up what we were doing, Gary basically said – we’re here to do something and we want to get it right and they wound up giving us the time we needed.
Many years ago my good friend Mike Martinovich – who now manages My Morning Jacket and some other folks – was a local promo rep for Epic in Philly. He came by with the Spin Doctors to do the World Cafe and the band were complete jerks to our staff that day. I remember Mike saying something to me that day that has stuck with me for many years which was “Artists can be their own best friends. Or not.” It was such a “duh” moment but I had never really thought about it in those terms. And I see that play out all the time.
Bottom line in life or the music biz is don’t be an asshole. And to quote Justin Timberlake – who is fresh on my mind cause I saw him perform a mind blowing concert here in Philly last night, “what goes around comes around.” But you know, after the show my 8 year old asked me if Justin was going to be signing autographs at the Q102 booth and I said no. The look of disappointment on his face told me he had just wasted the 50 bucks of his own money he spent on a t-shirt.
BW
Ben’s a great guy, I had the chance to meet him in Seattle a while back.