Tag Archives: being a value grinder

BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Booking Agents and You

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One of the things that I get asked about the most is tour booking and getting a good booking agent to help bands out. Everyone seems to think that all they need is a booking agent to ensure them a path to grow their band. In some ways, this seems true. In the current era of bands, people seem to be less and less focused on needing a manager and more focused on the person who can get bands what they actually want – sick shows. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. So with all this in mind I wanted to put together an article that outlines why booking agents pick up bands, how to make yourself desirable to one, what they can actually do for you, and of course the simple fact that a booking agent might not be what you want at the end of the day. There’s going to be a lot to unpack here so hold on to your hats for a wild ride. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Engagement

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There are a lot of rumors out there on how to pursue this mysterious thing we all know as ‘engagement.’ It’s funny actually. Everyone seems to have a different theory and yet there are so few people with a reasonable understanding of what getting engagement actually entails. In some ways, the hunt for engagement is sort of the white wale of modern-day internet marketing. This is especially prevalent in music where different things work for different population groups and demographics that different bands might be targeting. So I wanted to go over some general rules for strategies that will help you grow the engagement. Remember that the key to engagement is making social media feel like a one to one experience rather than the one to many experience it is. This means we need to make the end-user feel important, ask them questions, let them feel like they are part of an ongoing narrative and most importantly give them a call to action.Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Choosing What Labels To Pitch

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One thing that I think a lot of bands struggle with is identifying an appropriate label to work with. Very frequently you see people reaching out to labels and finding themselves incapable of actually bringing anything of value to the table. They are reaching out to labels that don’t match their profile or who have values that are very different from their own. I think that it’s not even a question of doing research, but a question of being thoughtful about how you filter through the morass of labels out there. However, this can actually be a fairly easy thing to do. It’s simply a question of looking at you would-be peers on the label, identifying the labels values, understanding what you bring to the table and then using that to identify a solid and realistic partner. 

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BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon On Going from Music Journalism to the Music Business

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The other day I took a look around some of the labels I work with and I had a bit of an epiphany. What I realized was that a huge chunk of the label’s staff, like over 30%, got their start in music journalism. Then I looked at a lot of the bands who I see succeeding and it was a similar story. Even people in major bands like Trevor Strnad make a point of engaging with their communities. It’s a really tricky thing to be sure and can be a little bit overwhelming to start, but music journalism comes with a plethora of advantages and can teach you a hell of a lot. Not only will it give you better connections, but it also makes you hip to cool things going on in the scene, makes you a better writer, and allows you to build conversations. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Self Investment

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I’m currently on hour four of a six-hour train ride to Reeperbahn Festival, the German equivalent to SXSW. This is my fifth trip to Europe in the last six months and is going to last three weeks. I am fucking tired. I don’t want to be on this train. I want to be at home with my cat. However, I also know that the Reeperbahn Festival is going to lead to good opportunities for me. It’s going to strengthen my relationships. It’s going to put me in a position where I can help out more bands and small businesses. These are the things I’ve always wanted to do. It’s a form of self-investment, one of the most important kinds of investment to make. It’s teaching you to become a better person, opening doors, and letting others see how hard you work. At the end of the day, it can also be pretty fun with the right approach!Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Pushing Sales

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A lot of bands ask me about how they can amp up their sales. After all — on some level, any band serious about reaching the next level needs to be pushing their sales. This is really hard to do as you all well know since people don’t often want to spend money on music when they can hear it for free, or near-free on platforms like Spotify. However, there are still a lot of ways to make money from your music if you think about pushing sales. You just need to use some basic sales tactics to position yourself in a place where it’s easy for people to want to spend money on you. Understanding how to do this isn’t hard, but the real trick is having the gumption to put yourself out there and make it happen. This can be tricky, but with discipline and a desire to grow, you’ll find your way to success. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Booking Music Festivals

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Festival pitching is one of the trickiest things to do in the music industry. Everyone wants to play a festival but so often it’s so hard to be booked on them. Getting the festival game sorted is a nightmare. If you don’t have a booking agent getting booked is often an uphill battle. However, if you follow a few key steps then being able to book yourself on festivals should become a straightforward and doable process. Again – it’s not always straightforward and is certainly going to require a lot of work, but it’s something that needs to happen.
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BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Music Business Networking

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So I’ve written about this before, but it’s always worth revisiting – networking – one of the great mysteries and struggles of the music business. The better you are at it the more you can get out of your music career. I know that to a lot of people it seems inherently scummy, but it isn’t and it doesn’t have to be. Rather, networking is something that should happen organically and which can lead to really exciting collaborations between you and other people involved in the music biz. Figuring out how you are going to proceed and grow your network, of course, is the biggest challenge we all face. In this article, I wanted to break down a few core ideas to help facilitate your networking experience.Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon On Looking at the Scene Around You

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One of the most important things I would push on someone figuring out how to market their bands is to look at genres other than their own. This is where I see the vast majority of bands falling down when trying to strengthen their marketing efforts. The bands who are able to see beyond and push their brand are usually the ones who can figure out what their peers in other genres are doing and start to apply those concepts. In fact, one of the main ways that I make money as a consultant with genres outside of punk and metal is by teaching people the ways that punk and metal bands build brand. Then vice versa, when helping punk or metal bands I tap them into some more traditional marketing ideas. Everybody wins. In brief, you want to be looking at other genres because you might be able to get fresh inspiration, evolve pre-existing ideas and differentiate your band. The best part of it all? It’s not just limited to music. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Letting Bands Sleep on Your Floor

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Letting a band sleep on your floor is an essential rite of passage for any person trying to engage with the scene. It’s fun, silly and leads to a lot of great memories. If you are trying to become a guy known for helping out the scene then this is sort of essential. So many people shoot themselves in the foot by not offering to help out and engage with their compeers in this community. If you want to reach that next level letting bands sleep on your floor is key. Why? Because it’s a party, it brings value, hooks you up for the future and it really just is the right thing to do.Continue reading →