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Thursday 10 November 2011

Gerritfuckinupye!

The larger than life legend that was Hunter S Thompson never actually said "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
Never the less it is very easy to excuse people for their misguided use of it as it simply rings true.
It's a comment that encapsulates perfectly the sort of people who gravitate towards music and see it - and those who make it - as the cash cow waiting to be slaughtered.
I'm well aware of this sort as over the years I have come across my fair share of the fuckin' chancers.
The capitalist whores who have no affinity for music as an art form and simply see those who create it as the host that they can parasitically bleed dry.
These cocksuckers don't even take advantage of situations that arise, but instead go hell for leather to engineer them.
Part of the problem is that they have created a symbiotic relationship with anyone who wishes to be an artist in their own right.
Bands and solo artists alike misguidedly consider these middlemen to be essential to their survival, or at the very least people who can promote their career in one way or another.
It's bullshit.
Complete and utter crap being swallowed by individuals who really should know better.
Recently I've seen yet another battle of the bands contest popping up with the first prize being the support slot to a nationally touring artist.
It's not even for the tour, but for one night only.
At £6 all the friends and family - and there are many - of the bands and artists can trundle along and line the pockets of the promoters and the venue while the people who make and play the actual music sit with bated breath waiting for a crumb to fall off the table for them.
It's shit, and don't get me started on all the underhanded dealings that goes on with this sort of set up as well.
How many times does the best band really win?
More often than not this is just an event created so that the parasites can ascertain who can sell the most tickets so that they can then exploit them and swell the crowd on the night of the headline acts gig.
It has nothing to do with talent. It's about bums on seats and creating something that allows them to have two bites at the financial cherry.
...and that the best case scenario.
The worst - and I've seen it - is when a band who has the second cousin of one of the judges on bass win by performing a mediocre rip off of what's in vogue and a cover song played badly.
On the night I witnessed that I sat behind the judges and watched them chat inanely through all the sets played and then start to clap the winners as they took to the stage.
There was no doubt what the end result of that night was going to be and I'm pleased to say that the judging panel got a verbal mauling from the crowd for their less than honest appraisal of the acts, but then again I'm sure they didn't give a fuck as they profited from the mugs, including myself, who were baying for their blood.
When is this going to stop? When are the people who make the music going to grow a pair and stop colluding with those who would fuck them over?
I'm pissed off with it, and in saying so I'm probably limiting my options of enjoying a night of live music as I've already ruffled the feathers of one of the big players
I also seem to be making more enemies on a weekly basis from the pond life at the bottom of the pool to.
They know who I'm talking about and to use a second quote, and one this time that isn't a misquote 'Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.'
So what can be done here? Well to answer my own question what can be done is that YOU. The artist and punter alike can simply stop supporting this system.
Look for the venues and promoters who offer the good deals. The ones who want to work with people in a more ethical manner and understand that a fair distribution of any money accrued benefits everyone involved.
Ask about and the names of those who work in this way will come to you. Word of mouth is an excellent resource.
It really is that simple, and the upside is that the people and venues who are genuinely supportive of what you do will prosper, and therefore in time will be in a better position to help artists.
Lets all stop the shit floating to the top.
Why the fuck is anyone wanting to give a leg up and line the pockets of those who would exploit them I'll never know.
You're a bunch of fuckin' dafties laughing at the turkeys voting for x-mas while blindly ignoring that you do similar, and I say that with exasperated love.

7 comments:

  1. Well said doll ...... couldn`t agree more!!!!

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  2. The answer of just not using them seems over simplistic, but it is probably the right one and far easier to do than anything anyone else has come up with.
    Remember the booking of The Bay by that Toxic Rock mob. Disgusting.
    Bands and fans should boycott them, but as you say its the bands who will work with people like that who stop change happening. They are their own worst enemies.
    Thank fuck you've had the balls to mention and promote what so many of us think.
    I hope people are reading and taking it in.

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  3. You agreeing with Billy or me, or both Sandie. LOL

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  4. Never a truier word was writen,tottaly agree with you,but your always going to get bands who think that Battle Of The Bands are a way into the "Big Time"and are going to play in them.Rightly or wrongly.On a personal view i don`t agree with them,as i think there a total waste of time,money and effort on both the bands and there friends!!!!.Like yourself i`ve went and supported a friends band in one and you could tell when they reached the "semi final" that they weren`t going to get any further,as they were the only band of thier genre there,and not what the promoters were looking for!!!!.But hopefully anybody in a band reading your Blog will realise that there are good promoters out there who will give them a chance whilst not ripping them and thier friends off....

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  5. Hopefully people don't see it as an attack on the good promoters and venues. It's not even really an attack on BOTB contests when done right.
    A friend of mine is hosting one with the prize being a support slot with Steve Cradock of Ocean Colour Scene. The difference here is that it not about making money. It genuinely is about promoting local talent.
    If your from Ayrshire you can sign up for it at no cost, the gig you would play is a as far s I'm aware a free entry one with punters paying what they want into a bucket to cover costs. The winner will genuinely be who a partisan crowd chooses. That's the way to do it.

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  6. ...and I'll add that I'm not saying that about the BOTB gig in Killie as it's a mate putting it on. If it was a dodgy deal then he wouldn't be a mate. Simple as that.

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  7. I was agreeing with you ..... but with Billy too!!!!! Too many of these young bands see a BOTB competition as a "way in"!!!! Too young and naive to realise that these unscrupulous "promoters" are making a fast buck off of them!!!!!

    I know that all of my fave local bands (long-in-the-tooth punk bands) wouldn`t put up with that nonsense!!!! But I really fear for the younger bands!!!!! They .... their relatives .... friends .... work-mates etc are being ripped off BIG STYLE!!!!!!!!!!

    It`s a FKN SHOCKER that this sort of thing is allowed to go on!!!!!!!

    Although ..... I can still smile about when I spoke to the female who`s behind Toxic Rocks Promotions!!!!!!! I simply asked her if she`d be happy if I sold her a five pound note .................... for a tenner!!!!! She wasn`t happy!!!!! Needless to say I was deleted and blocked after that wee quip!!!!!! LOLOLOLOL.

    Shame .......... cos I could`ve (and would`ve) helped her out in whatever way I could, with her "promotions" venture ............... just so long as she wasn`t taking the lions share fo the door sales ... for doing FUCK ALL!!!!!

    NUFF SAID!!!!!!

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