So this actually happened last night. “Band A” was playing at a dive bar on Saturday night, and the bass guitar player was singing about “your mom” (the song is actually called “your mom”), and two women approached the stage. One of the women lowered the top of her t-shirt, suggestively and slightly inappropriately, but not a full flash, and asked him to autograph her chest.
So the question is – if “Band A” has captured this lightening in a bottle, if the band is actually sexy, if each stage show results in at least a couple of inappropriate offers (usually to the drummer and the lead singer) how do you reach a larger audience? 
It’s hard to differentiate a band in an extremely strong local scene, at a time when the underground is producing some truly amazing music. Buying likes on social media sucked and didn’t work. I’m still booking the band a ton of shows – that’s the easy part. 
So I got two new things going – 1) music video. People will watch a music video. It’s a format and a framing people can get their head around. Oh, I need a 3 minute mental health break at work? I’ll watch a music video. All I have to do is make the world’s most interesting music video. 
And 2) – time to place “Band A” on the radio. Full disclosure: I’m getting most of my marketing wisdom from an article written by John Richards of KEXP. It’s the first time I read some insider explaining how to get on the radio. https://www.kexp.org/about/getting-airplay/?t=1557070416188. One big take-away is that college radio is still extremely influential, and college radio still actually listens to the slush pile. It makes sense. You’re a super dorky freshman at a college radio station – and you love listening to new submissions, rather than some fat, bored radio exec in L.A. doing coke. So I’m going to send “Band A’s” latest single to: WERS (Emerson College), WFUV Public Radio (Fordham University, WRSU – Rutgers Radio, WCRW (Santa Monica College), KUTX 98.9 (University of Texas), 92 WICB (Ithaca), etc…. 
Anyway, John Richards of KEXP says I can send in the song – and then I can actually call them up and bother them about “Band A.” Oh yeah….

This is me. John from the Holy Crap Records Podcast. We’re right and they’re wrong. Underground music is in a great place. When I say “underground” I mean it in its broadest definition of artists creating their art with a secondary regard to the market. Blues. Punk. Surf. Indie. Garage. Be true to yourself. Make your art! And now let’s be real – underground music is always a scrapper’s place. By definition it is new – and no one knows if new will sell. There is a music industry and the industry is always about the money.

There have only been a handful of moments in modern music history when major labels went actively searching for new music from the underground: the CBGBs scene with bands like The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads getting picked up, London in 1978 when The Clash, Sex Pistols, The Damned got picked, Seattle in the 90s. You get the idea. Big money is not actively trying to find you. Basically, it makes more economic sense to continue to market and sell an act that already has a following.

But underground music is for scrappers and we are in a great place. The underground scene is clearly creating the best music of an era. I could name drop 25 bands that are mind-blowingly great, better than anything on a major label. I could probably name drop 50 bands without trying too hard. I am half of the Holy Crap Records Podcast. So I know. We play the top five best underground songs each week. We listen to about 50+ unsigned (usually) bands a week. All the bands we play recommend other bands. We’re on our 50^th show. So I know.

So this is an experiment. I believe great bands and great artists can make a career out of creating music. I talk with bands deep in the underground and those breaking out of the underground. I know some things. I believe in a formula. So I am now managing a band. I will not disclose their name because I don’t want this music magazine/podcast to influence the experiment. “Band A” will be – at a minimum – a legendary underground band in a year, playing at festivals and on an indie label, at least a 100 people at a show.

This is how I’m going to do it: basically I’m gonna try a bunch of shit and do more of the stuff that works and less of the stuff that doesn’t work, and I’m going to document it all. I’m gonna talk with a bunch of bands that are finding success about how they did it, and talk with a bunch of labels, management, publicity companies, music magazines as interviews for “Holy Crap Records Podcast” and use that info to make “Band A” massive. Also, I’m going to buy a bunch of likes on facebook and probably pay for some coverage in the press.

Hypothesis 1: the formula

Have a unique voice and be a nice person.

That’s it. Also listen to good music (Velvet Underground and Lucinda Williams) + find four friends + write your own songs + go to see other bands in the local underground scene ALL the time + practice 3 times a week + play a bunch of shows at friends’ parties or a back porch or in the rear of a restaurant + figure out which clubs have a new band evening + book a show + invite your favorite bands from the scene + be nice + hustle more shows… And this goes on and on… Get FB likes… Put up posters… For fucks sake put up posters… Don’t be lazy… Record a good EP. Put it on bandcamp. Play all the time, everywhere. Then there’s shit like – should you hire a publicity company? When you send your music to college radio stations can you call them up and bother them? But I believe, fundamentally, it comes down to have a unique voice and be a nice person. “Band A” – fuck yeah – they’re awesome. You gotta hear this shit….