Bougie/Artsy Band Leader's Responsibility for Dead Social Media & Zero Promotion

if the music is dope, make secret dope ig/bc/fb accts., book shows wherein you get a cut as bassist, a cut as mgr, a cut as pr, a cut as agent, and a "sorry, but, I told you so" cut.

 

Maybe you need to present it to him in a way that makes sense. Some people don't understand suggestions, and need to be told abruptly. Unfortunately, if he's this controlling now, how much worse will it be later? I'd personally tell him to loosen the reigns or he's going to find himself a solo artist. If he doesn't want you to be a contributing member of the band, then he should pay you for your services when they're required, and that be the end of it.

Worse come to worse, send us a link of the band page. I'll add it, then start dropping messages asking what the hell is going on with the band, and how unprofessional it is to add fans then let them sit idle while he contemplates how awesome he is.

 

School session about marketing you've been giving you pal is over. And it looks like you've got nothing to show for it.

Time for you to walk, I think.

Knew a guy who was a decent singer and songwriter. He'd put a band together, rehearse the hell out of them, and then right when it was about to start happening for real - he'd quit, citing 'artistic differences.'

Guy was so afraid of failing, he'd quit rather than find out. Too bad he wasted a lot of other people's time playing that game with himself.

 

Rage quit - but seriously the guy's a nut job.

 

Band meeting time. If you are in charge of media, you should be in charge. If he wants to check out the page afterwards and make suggestions, he can.

 

I went through the same thing. BL had no interest in marketing the band more than the minute things he would add to the FB page. He did have a website built but that thing was so slow and uninteresting! I was the one who added pics and videos to the FB page and he would link the youtube videos to the website but I was doing most of the work. He literally sabotaged the band's success by just not allowing the band to grow and expand. Refused to learn more songs. Every gig was the same thing. Gig after gig. It got old and I ended up quitting. My rep took such a hit, playing for this band, that I have been having a hard time getting gigs. It's been 3 years since I've had a steady gig. Nothing but a few subs and one offs.

Your time may be up with this project. When you have a BL that is uninterested in promoting his own band....something is wrong. The writing is on the wall.

 

And what is his reply to this statement?

 

I realize there are practical issues with sidestepping the BL, but I have this thought all the time, about a variety of subjects. It's so easy to do things now, why do we need archaic "authorities". Until quite recently, there was a centralization of power, but as it became easier and cheaper to do things independently, those "authorities" need to either evolve, or be bypassed.

To the OP, it sounds like you've stopped trying to persuade the BL about marketing the band in the current internet paradigm. Unless you want to get bogged down with him, I don't see any reason for you not to bypass his archaic mindset. The rest of the bands, and the world for that matter are busy bypassing those who aren't willing to adapt.

 

Sounds like someone who is such "the artist" that he can't be bothered to promote and manage his own brand. I'd bet that he's just hoping for some record executive to walk in on one of y'all's rehearsals with a non-360 record deal and managers in tow to make sure all he ever has to worry about is writing lyrics and living the 80's rockstar life of groupies and blow...too bad for him those days are over. I briefly played for an artist like this that couldn't be bothered to write his own songs but actually ordered beer coozies and T-shirts to promote his first "single" that we had yet to record and release! We all left him when he tipped his hand too much by not showing up to record vocals on said "single" but asked us to email him the finished, mixed instrumental track we had recorded...clear sign of someone used to just using people for their own ego.

OP, it's not the end of the world to have musician friends that you don't play music with. I have a few very close friends of mine that are great musicians and we have never had a musical connection at all. They do their thing and I do mine, and we try to support each other by showing up to gigs. Might be time to support your friend as a fan and not as a bassist.

 

His age is playing against you......

While some people pushing 60 are quite adapt at social media and modern marketing techniques, many aren't. He probably doesn't have clue how important it is to have an active social media presence. My god....he'll probably suggest you hand out flyers or have a "street team"......

 

What kind of music do you play that you have a 60 year old singer?

I attended a Jimmy Buffet/Huey Lewis concert last night. I'm a big fan of both and it was kinda sad. Old guys phoning it in really. No energy. Lost vocal range. Pretty pitiful.

The band's were tight. The stars...not so much.

 

You're a nice guy. He's a stubborn loser. Walk.

Seriously, this will go absolutely nowhere. He's got issues. If you're in this band, they're your issues.

Don't wait until the other guys in the band start leaving. They will.

 

I don't mean this to be a dig at you as a bassist or person, but from everything that you've posted in this thread it sure sounds to me like you haven't decide what your limit is on BS and obviously dead-end projects. I understand wanting to help someone out who's desperate but too many "stars" are just victims of their own delusion and will take you down with them (or at least drain your time and energy).

The singer is difficult to work with and the project isn't going anywhere because he knows "how it's done"...thirty years ago. It's up to you how long you want to ride this trainwreck-in-the-making but I don't see any benefit to you in sticking around this singer any longer.

 

Don't feel bad....I recently played with an older guy that insisted that we needed a PO box for fan mail...

 

I'm not usually the "you need to quit" guy.

However, there are several hits against this project.

1) stubborn BLACK

2) Old front man in a punk band

3) If you never heard of the set, how do you think the audience and/or club owners might feel? Is there even a market for it enough to sustain a band?