Tag Archives: Grow

BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Why Your Band Needs A Concept

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So I was talking with my friend A&R legend Rayshele Teige today and I was picking her brain for an idea for this article. She suggested I talk about the notion of your band having a concept, a clear distinctive “thing” that makes them interesting and differentiates them. She stated that “the concept has to feed the purpose” and without a clear concept you aren’t going to get anywhere. Then I looked up at the KISS poster in my living room with Gene, Paul, Ace, and Peter staring down at me and I realized she was completely right. So many bands just want to play music but don’t have a clear idea of what the basic concept behind the band is. I’m not talking about your concept in terms of “Oh we play black metal fused with folk” that’s cool and all but it’s not enough to differentiate. The entire focus of marketing band should be around your concept, be that lyrical, visual or whatever. You want people to say, “Oh that’s the band who do X” and X can’t be a genre because that isn’t memorable for people most of the time. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon On Why Records Labels Are Not Evil

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So here’s a shocker – record labels are not out to get you, or at least not most of the time, or at least not most of the time if you’re not an idiot. Okay, there was a few layers to that and we definitely need to unpack them a little bit but I think you are starting to see what I’m getting at. What’s incredibly frustrating for me as a label guy is hearing normal people say that they feel labels are there to screw over artists constantly. And I get it, a lot of artists feel like they have been screwed over by labels over the years, and some of them probably have. The thing is a lot of others just didn’t read the fine print, were rushed into it of a desire for, money, fame, and fortune or simply were trying to find a way to wheedle out of what they know was a contract that was not in their favor and now that they have clout they are throwing a fit over it. The thing is – the music industry is, shockingly, not a huge scam. It’s just a complicated business.

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Bacon Bloody Bacon: Matt Bacon on How To Not Lose Money As a Band

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One of the biggest problems that underground bands face is the grim reality that sometimes you are going to get services that are too big for your britches and it is going to screw you over. This can apply for anyone from PR to management by way of record labels. While it may be cool to have an awesome opportunity dangled in front of you it’s important to take context into consideration and to figure out what other components of your band you want to keep in mind before splurging for something. This is a constant money drain and source of stress for bands who don’t do the proper research before diving into a new venture and it leaves them all the worse for wear. It’s the sort of thing that would be combated if we spent time actually talking to each other about our experiences and not all constantly trying to get a leg up on each other. The biggest rule I want you to remember when going into this article that will hopefully save you literally thousands of dollars is to always ask your scene elders if something is a good idea, or at worst, me.  Continue reading →