Creating A Music Scene When There’s None To Be Found
It’s hard enough to get onto the big scene for your music style even when you don’t miss a single chance at throwing an event or being featured at one. But what can you do if wherever you are there is no music scene at all for your genre of club music?
Popularity of music styles in different geographical areas depends a lot on local TV and radio, as well as the community there. In smaller cities, the diversity of music styles might not be as big as in the larger ones and the possibilities for attending or throwing events can be very limited.
This doesn’t mean that there will be no people listening to the genre at all. There will still be some listeners and fans around, just not enough for the music style to be recognized and represented on a larger scale. Even more often, they will be pushed out from the scene by the other prevalent genres and be forced into a hiding of sorts. This will make it difficult for promoters and venues to put trust in you when you come to them with your suggestion to throw an event.
You probably won’t put an event together on the first day you try, but unless you try, you might as well stop dreaming about it. Just like you, groups of fans or even other DJs might love the music style with a passion, but unless someone steps up to rally the supporters around them and force them out of the hiding, the music scene will remain only in your heads.
In the past, music genres have come and gone from various cities and places, to later return or leave again. When you attempt to break through and gather a big enough following, failure is always a possibility. That risk is the price for your potential success in the future. When there is nothing and no one in place to support your music, you have to go out there and build it from the ground up. Whether you’ve just moved to another city or are looking to start a little revolution at home, it will always start with your very first step.
Find support
There can be no music scene without people. The good news is, there are always some people who’d be willing to show their support to their favourite music style, which happens to be yours as well . As for the bad news, they won’t do that unless you find them. You won’t be going around, asking every single one of them personally, but you will have to confront some of them, so that they can pass it on to their friends.
Once a crowd has been gathered around you, it’s time to make them into a team. If your goal is to revive or give birth to a music scene, start with forming a fan club or a group of music artists. Pick out the most active of your like-minded friends and see how each of them can contribute to the cause. Brainstorm on a cool name or logo, share ideas and simply enjoy the music together. Once support has been found, kick-start the process and get things going.
Make up the core of your group
As more people gain interest in your project, you'll need to come up with a place to gather and some sort of resource or authority to refer to. You may not be starting a political organization or a radical movement, but that’s exactly how clubs and interest groups work. Whether it’s some rented room, a local restaurant or your friend’s apartment, the group will need somewhere to hang out, exchange ideas and listen to music. When you can’t be meeting each other in person, you'll need to come together online. All it takes is a Facebook page, instant messenger or a free forum service, but you could still create your own website for the purpose of easy overview of what your group’s all about, in case people are asking.
Finally, there will have to be someone responsible for all the decision-making. What to do, where to go, how to promote, you can’t afford to be asking these questions, there have to be people who already have all the answers and are ready to share their vision.
Establish a following
Remember how important people are to the success of events? The same thing applies to a music scene, tenfold. Quantity, just like quality, matters and you’ll need as much of it as you can find if you want promoters and venues to notice. First, lure new people into your group with good music. You’re the DJ, so make sure to provide mix CDs or at least download links. Start getting together to share your love for the music and urge everyone to bring their friends next time. Every time. Your work alone may not be enough to keep things fresh, so look around for other DJs, locally and beyond.
Recruit new members
With plenty of patience and luck, you will eventually be able to attract a sizable group of the fans in the city, maybe get some news or gossip running about you. It may seem like at this stage the word will do all the recruiting for you, but don’t stop personal y taking with other people and inviting them into your group. Make sure that they’re interested and stay that way. Get them involved in everything. If and when your music scene is created, they will make up the backbone of your group and hold things together when tougher times force simple fans back into hiding.
Keep in touch
Just like a DJ deals with regular fans, your group of music scene harbingers must be united into a mailing list. Explore every other option you have, such as a Facebook page or Twitter accounts, mobile phones and messaging services. To promote extra activity, work the angle of your movement’s underground appeal. The feeling is sure to catch on with your group members and will do wonders to their involvement levels.
Take it up a notch
Once your group has outgrown that room or apartment and it has started to feel a bit crowded inside, it’s a sure sign that the time has come to pour out into the streets. Okay, maybe not the streets in particular, but a bigger place would work just as fine. Make sure you can play louder music there, encourage dancing and give it the feel of a real event. Do your best and you'll be seeing new faces every time you meet up again.
Hit the club
Your group gatherings may have felt amazing, but don’t lose sight of your original goal here. You’ve been doing this to create a music scene for your genre that would be recognized by a wider audience. Having found and recruited music fans in your city and probably produced tons of mix tracks in the process, you are ready to take your chances with throwing a real event at one of the local clubs. Go see the owner with your proposal. Unlike last time, you got a crowd of supporters backing you up, so make sure to explain that, in detail. Don’t expect the venue fall in love with you on your first night, but if they see people coming and buying drinks, they will let you at it from time to time. Once you’ve established yourself firmly in the club and can feel an emerging music scene building around you, renegotiate your terms with the venue and maybe arrange some more events per month.
Hang in there!
You may feel really great about yourself after creating a music scene all (or almost) on your own, but there’s one important detail you need to remember. Now that the scene is up and running, with you at it center, it will depend on your performance and persistence as a DJ to maintain itself. If your act falls apart or you grow bored, so will the scene and its fans. Don’t lose sight of your love for music and bring out the best in people around you. Remember all of the above, keep trying and you will one day enjoy yourself as an active and contributing member of a small but well-established local music scene.