Tag Archives: help for bands

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 →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on How To Get A Manager

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I get asked all the time “how do I get a manager for my band?” The goal, of course, is not to get someone’s girlfriend to manage the band. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. The goal is to get a manager who is going to go to bat for you and get you cool opening slots and tours all around the country. People in metal have increasingly realized that the managers and booking agents are really the people who can give you those opportunities – not so many labels any more. Sure, a label might get you some introductions and help you get the connects you need but that’s not really their focus these days. So, the point being – the way to get a real manager is very simple. You need to show that you are pros who work your faces off and you need to show that you are going to be financially soluble – that it will make sense for these crazy busy people to want to invest some of their very valuable time in what you are trying to do. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Connecting with People

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You attract what you put out. It’s as simple as that. If you’re out there exuding love and positivity, you’ll generally get that back. If you’re trying to pick fights and be grouchy to people, then you will get that. Ultimately, it’s your choice which approach you will embrace. Here’s the thing though – by picking one over the other, you’re significantly more likely to get your band somewhere meaningful. At the end of the day, it’s not about being right, it’s about trying to sell some goddamn records and make this entire endeavor a little less pointless. How do you do this? Embrace the world with a focus on what you enjoy. The reason for this is, quite frankly, entirely selfish — it allows you to connect with people on a more meaningful level. It’s all strategy — you need to meet people who can help your band grow, and open the sorts of doors that you are going to need opened as you attempt to push your brand in 2019. I know how these people work, so here is how you connect with them.Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Engaging with the Community at Scale

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In these articles, I talk non-stop about the importance of engaging with your community at scale. This continually, however, seems to be something that gives people pause. They are consistently asking me, “Matt but HOW do I engage with the community meaningfully.” Now first and foremost it is important to remember that this isn’t really easy and it’s not really the sort of thing that is going to always make sense from first blush so don’t expect it too. However, by following through on some of the ideas, the tasks laid out on this article you are going to be able to help your scene push forward in a meaningful way. By giving without expectation of something in return you will be able to reach that critical next juncture for your band. If you want more contacts, friends or people to generally work with as you try and expand what your band is all about then there is basically nothing you can do that will be more impactful than engaging deeply. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Content Marketing

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A big topic that I have a lot of fun getting pretty deep with is thinking about how people consume content in 2019. This is a place where a lot of bands get confused. They don’t act thoughtfully. Remember that at the end of the day, you need to sell to your audience the way they want to be sold to, not the way that you want to sell to them. It doesn’t matter if the way that you like to create content seems cool to you. If it doesn’t seem cool to your audience, then it’s as good as wasting your time. So how do you operate with this in mind? How are people consuming content nowadays, and how does this impact how (and what) you should create? It’s really hard sometimes to figure these things out because, during the process, you’ll often discover a lot of brutal and uncomfortable truths. The main thing to remember is just that while social media is a one-to-many method of content delivery, you want to make it feel like a one-to-one method. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on How To Generate Value

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So, this is a big question – and there’s been quite the narrative around it as people change their minds about how they’re going to approach social media in 2019. How are you going to create value with your content in order to get people to want to come back? I have this thing – it’s called being a value grinder, and refers to someone who spends a lot of time cranking out valuable content people are excited to come back to see. When you have quality content, nothing else matters, because as long as you can get it in front of people they’ll be stoked to see it. In this article, I want to talk about how you’re going to embrace this, break it down, and reach bold new levels. The music biz is not a kind place and really demands a lot from its participants. Join me as I show you how you can transcend, reach the next level, and engage with people in a way that is engaging and meaningful for all parties.

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BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Why Production Output, Not Quality is the Key

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OK so here’s a big one that people don’t want to think about but which remains unflinchingly true the more I delve into the music industry. It’s the simple principle that no matter what you do content-wise, the production quality is not going to be the be all end all. In a world where bands and creatives need to create more content than ever if they want to succeed you need to figure out ways not to cut corners, but rather to create content that is relevant to your audience, platform, and way of branding yourself. I know that this sounds a bit foofy and that there are multiple levels, but we are going to dig in deep – because, at the end of the day, the bands who are precious about their production quality are the bands who don’t actually get anywhere. Meanwhile, you take a guy like Intervals, who understands that bare-bones video content works and his shit blows up. We are about to dig into the how and why of that world. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Festival Culture and Networking

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Frequently I get asked about how I was able to grow my network so quickly and from such a young age. This is legitimately a great question because even as a teenager with no real industry gigs as it were, I feel like I quickly became a very connected individual. Now the secret behind this was not just the constant content creation. There are a lot of people who were creating as much content as me who didn’t get the opportunities that I did. Nor was a deep knowledge of metal. I’ll be the first to admit that there are a ton of people out there who have a deeper knowledge of metal than me. No, what it was, was that I was the guy who was at every festival and who was able to use festival culture as a way to make my presence known and then start to grow a future for myself in and industry that so often seems not to care. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Social Media Distribution

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The thing people don’t understand about social media is that it’s a distribution game. It’s not a question of optimizing or min maxing or post times, though those things all help. It’s not a question of engagement groups or getting just the right number of stories. It’s about who sees your content and when. It’s about who thinks your content is cool and moreover why they think your content is cool. If you can hack that aspect of the distribution game then you are in a position to have long term success. So many people can’t seem to grasp this basic reality of the social media industry and I think that it leaves them at a huge disadvantage. So I’m going to take a minute to help you to understand how to win at social media distribution and how you can ensure that your content is the content that gets the clicks, because getting clicks is really what we all need to aim for, for better or for worse, this is the new reality. Continue reading →


BACON BLOODY BACON: Matt Bacon on Assets Your Band Needs To Succeed

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One of the most important things that you can have as a band is a good set of assets. This doesn’t necessarily need to be a fancy EPK, nor does it need to be especially well put together. You just need to have them nicely organized, in one place and easy for people to work with. An EPK is frequently meant to combine all of these things but it’s not the be all end all. What I wanted to break down though was simply what assets you need to have in order to impress someone. I sometimes get a little bit unorthodox with what I think is essential, but that’s because I’m coming from a label guys’ headspace. I’m going to outline this stuff in a way that I want to see it if you were trying to sign to one of the labels that I work with (Ripple Music and Prophecy Productions if you were curious) and how you can go about creating it.Continue reading →