A. Magazines.
Magazines are a form of exposure and promotion. One magazine that caters for the Australian 'Alternative' scene is NSW's Fiend magazine.
This magazine focuses on all things alternative and anti-mainstream; clothing (e.g. corsets, boots, bondage etc.) music, articles on different topics (ie tattoos), photos of alternative people in clubs, quizes, and the general interviews with bands. One band in particular who had an article in the JAN/FEB/MAR issue (pic above) is Anti-Flag; a punk rock band. The article was about their goals and experiences as an activist band. One of the members, Justin, was influenced by his parents who took him to protests. He took these experiences on board to spread the word of taking control and standing up for your rights. Here is a paragraph from the article:
“ Anti-flag has been involved in encouraging thousands of their fans to enrol to vote and in raising awareness of military recruitement practices in the USA that target school students”.
There arent that many bands who aim to make a difference, but imagine if political activism became mainstream? It would make quite a difference and change people's perspectives.
“It is really sad that art is not more valued in our society. We have a song on ‘For Blood and Empire’ called ‘One Trillion Dollars’. What it is about is the fact that there was about one trillion dollars spent around the world in 2004 on weaponry, and the fact that we could probably find much better things to do with one trillion dollars."
He's correct in that point, although others may share a more right-wing opinion. So, 'punks' aren't just a disorderly group, as the mainstream view them, and it certainly doesn't mean you have to have a mohawk to be an activist. The left wing is about helping each other, and those who are less fortunate. Power to the Peaceful.
Marketing is a form of promoting bands. You can pick up some free magazines in the local record stores in the city. These include Time Off, Rave and Scene.
Myspace is now the most popular form of promoting pretty much anything! From bands to clothing lines, poets to visual artists and more. Until it stops being free, it will most probably stay one of the most popular forms of communication. It targets more people than if a band was to own their own website, and any type of band can be found on the search engine, whether major or minor, from big acts to local bands.
Heres just a post on a paragraph i wrote for part of my reading:
Local bands on television are almost unheard of (apart from Bernard Fanning). Rage covers a few bands, Bris31 have the occasional death-metal music clips, but the most popular cable channels, Channel V and MTV, wouldn’t dream of helping to promote their own country in the music industry. It is almost the same with Radio. Only 4ZZZ support the local bands. It seems that the mainstream is a disgrace to our country’s local, independent-music industry.
I mean, compare us to Americans. Their lives revolve around being a Hollywood star. Everyone seems to be a singer/songwriter/performer/artist/producer (well that's what i have noticed since watching Miami Ink, a tattoo tv show) but here in Australia, the music industry isnt so big. The majority of it is DIY: recording your music, creating cheap gig flyers, making amature song clips which will, most probablym never make it on tv. Mind you, there's always YouTube. Thats becoming big. Its a good way to promote film clips, and the occassional entertaining home video.
No comments:
Post a Comment