Tag Archives: being a value grinder

BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Going Live

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One of the most important things that your band needs to be doing is going live. If you aren’t going live then you are shooting yourself in the foot – it’s really as simple as that. When a band goes live, that post is almost always one of their top-performing posts ever. Obviously, after the first time, it becomes a little less effective just because that’s how these things work, but still – it should be a key part of your strategy. If you are able to connect with fans live then they are going to want to engage with you more. Furthermore, if people in the industry see you going live then they are going to appreciate that hustle. Finally – if you do it regularly it will all just start to come naturally and lead to a much more fluid overall experience. So, let’s get into why you need to do this and the strategies around it. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Why I Share So Much Information

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I get asked all the time: “Matt, why do you share so much information with anyone who asks?” The answer is simple — I make more money this way. I’ve made it clear before that I’m genuinely convinced that a rising tide lifts all ships. When I share information with the world, I’m putting out positive energy by helping people and contributing towards something that I feel is greater than myself. I know this sounds kind of woo-woo, so in this article, I’m going to actually break down the thought process behind why I do it. I want you to understand my motivations, so I’ve built out my thinking into four key points: it builds the brand, helps to strengthen relationships, it doesn’t really matter who knows and ultimately, it’s the right thing to do. This is essentially the thing that has made an industry as horrifying as music so rewarding to me. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Making Your Show An Event

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So, you’re booking a show. You’ve secured a good night of the week, good bands, a good venue, and all that stuff. How do you ensure that this is the most popping event in town? Often, even when everything looks good on paper, the show will still lack that je ne sais quoi that sets it apart from all the other shows going on in that particular week. For instance, there’s a reason why so many people go to hip little European festivals – they understand how to differentiate. This is a place Americans fall down all the time and something that I hope to explain a little bit about through this article, I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of show going experiences on both sides of the Atlantic so I feel an obligation to share. When you focus on differentiating factors and what makes your particular show the sort of experience people want to pour all of their expendable income into, you start to win as a band. Finding the differentiating factors is relatively straightforward, but figuring out what makes this experience so special? Well, that’s the hard part. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on The Economics Of Touring

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I just spent Independence Day weekend with my aunt and uncle. At one point my uncle, ever the curious gentleman started asking me about the basic finances of touring. This is obviously a tricky one since so often bands are hitting the road and losing their asses. They aren’t ready to tour and don’t understand the basic finances. When it comes down to it, touring is not the supreme goal to grow your band in a lot of cases. In fact, frequently touring is going to only hurt your band as it damages morale and reminds us how small we really are. That being said tour can also be an amazing experience with some of your best friends that leads to serious bonding. So take what I say with a grain of salt, I just want to break down some basic realities to protect you from doing something you later regret.Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Longevity in the Music Business

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I had a really inspiring moment at Hellfest this year, where I was walking up to the festival and heard my old friends in Insanity Alert playing from the main stage. This is a band who I’ve supported and been friends with since their first demo came out eight years ago, and now they’re playing to tens of thousands of people. I met them on a guitar forum. Now, we bump into each other at mega festivals. Yet this is something that happens to you again and again if you’ve been in this game long enough and always made a point of making friends. It’s not because I’m special or different, it’s just that I’ve been around. I’ve been deeply involved in underground music for nine years now, and I’m only just starting to see these connections pay off. It’s so important to realize this sooner rather than later, so in this article, I wanted to take a moment to write about how longevity is key to music business growth. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Oversaturation

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The biggest problem in the music business today is oversaturation. In an age where everyone can record with ProTools, design their album cover online and buy decent instruments for just a few hundred bucks, it’s unsurprising that there’s more music coming out than ever before. The issue, of course, is that not all of this music is good. It’s especially rare for people to realize when their own music isn’t good — it’s a hard thing to come to terms with after all. What this means is that now, more than ever, we have a disproportionate amount of bands trying to ‘ma it’ which leads to an issue where none of the engines that traditionally drive independent music work for anybody. It’s an important topic to get your head around, so in this article, I’m going to break down how oversaturation in the market negatively impacts show bookings, press placements, merch sales, and online interactions. My issue is not with people creating a bunch of music, but rather people trying to go too far, too fast and thus negatively impacting their scene as a whole.

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BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on European Festivals

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I just got back from Hellfest number six and wanted to talk a little bit about why in America we don’t have the same festival culture that is so treasured in Europe. Sure it’s starting to happen, and it is, to some extent, creating a sense of competition with the festivals across the pond, but I think we can all agree, the US doesn’t really have anything that competes with a festival like Wacken or Graspop. I figured in today’s article we could get into four reasons why this is. These reasons range from the attitudes of the different cultures to the infrastructure those cultures provide by way of how the market looks in Europe and of course the basic principles that make their festivals better. So yeah – we are going to get deep here and talk about some weird economic factors that are hard to quantify, simply because we don’t have the infrastructure to quantify them. However, it will hopefully get everyone thinking about festival scenes and the future both at home and abroad. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on the Importance of PR

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This is one I haven’t tackled in a while so I figure it’s worth circling back around on it. Your band basically needs PR and needs to prioritize it over most other marketing expenses for your band. If your band puts out a record, but no one pays attention to it does it really count as a release? Yeah, I didn’t think so. What it really comes down to is that you want people to be writing about your music. You want publications to be posting it. You want there to be some level of traction, of attention being generated around what you are trying to do. These things don’t happen on their own. So many bands seem to think that there are journalists trawling new releases on Bandcamp and Spotify looking for things to cover. There are literally hundreds of metal records coming out every week and so many of them don’t even do the slightest bit to promote. If you miss this basic step then you’re wasting your time.Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Respecting Your Scene Elders

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Here’s something that I often see a lot of people dropping the ball on – respecting your scene elders. They’re the people you see at shows in 2019 who have literally been going to shows since the 70s. It’s still relatively easy to meet people who saw The Ramones back in the day. There are a ton of living people out there who saw all your favorite hardcore bands, back in their heyday. Hell, an even greater number have probably seen the full range of predecessors to today’s modern metal bands. Yet, so often I see people ignore them or try to mine them for personal gain. Here’s the thing though – paying attention to scene elders, giving them their due respect and coordinating with them over the long term is not only going to teach you about our community and lead to rewarding friendships, it will also help grow your own projects. In this article, I want to shine a spotlight on the importance of scene elders and share some insights they’ve taught me over the years.Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on How To Get Good Opening Slots for Bands

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So, a question I’m often asked is “How do we secure support slots for bigger bands?” Well, a lot of this ties back to the core thesis of pretty much everything I do, which is “reach out to your community and see what happens.” As you can probably tell, I think this is obviously the best and most effective way to connect with people and make friends. Yet beyond that, there’s another secret to securing your first few good support slot dates on a tour. It involves growing in your region, and using that to show that you’re a band worthy of opening slots. Essentially, what I’m trying to push is that if you spend time growing your draw in the six markets closest to you then you’ll be able to secure — with greater ease — invitations to play regional dates. If you show that you’re pro on that level, then maybe someone will take a chance on you for a set of national dates. Again – it’s about immersing yourself in the community so that people can start to see you are a band worth taking out.Continue reading →