And The Winner Is: Will Awards
And Contests Lead To Bigger Things?
By Sheena Metal
Imagine this: you’re a huge rockstar. You’re pool
is filled with hotties and your bathtub with champagne. You
have a coffee table made out of your signature guitar and
your Cadillac Escalade has beer on tap and a flat screen high
definition TV. Even with all of the expensive toys and extravagant
showpieces in your crib, the thing that first draws the attention
of press and partygoers alike: the wall lined with your awards.
Admittedly, human being, are fascinated with awards. We love
to gawk at the shiny trophies, glossy plaques, and framed
certificates of any and every kind of winner. And, as a species,
we place a lot of stock in the importance, abilities and general
“coolness’ of those who've come home “the
winner.” So, it’s no surprise that musicians are
constantly submitting to the many awards and entering the
myriads of contests offered to unsigned artists every year.
After all, with a couple of awards on the wall of your garage,
can a hot tub full of babes really be that far behind?
But what if you continue to enter and never win? What if
time and time again you have to send out the newsletter announcing
that you’re not the “Best Band Of The Year”
or the “Best Songwriter in the Nation” or even
the winner of the “Battle Of The Most Mediocre Bands
In The Midwest.” Will you be branded as a loser? Will
your fans abandon you, asked to be removed from your mailing
list, line their birdcages with your CDs? It is really better
to have entered and lost than never to have entered at all?
The following are a few tips that may help you to fill up
your trophy room without becoming the laughing stock of the
indie music community:
1.) Enter Contests You Have A Chance Of Winning---Sounds
like a given, but you’d be surprised how many new bands
enter Billboard’s contests for the first time and are
then amazed when they don’t walk off with a room full
of accolades. Building a resume of award nominations and wins
is very similar to building up your reputation as a gigging
band or filling up a folder full of press. Start small, submitting
to smaller local and regional contests/ awards that you’re
more likely to get a nod for then the national and worldwide
events. Then you can submit to the bigger organizations with
a list of awards and wins on your resume. Everybody loves
a winner and seeing that you’ve already won various
awards may inspire the powers that be to nominate you for
their particular contest.
2.) Pick The Contest That Will Best Publicize Your Band---We
all love to win. But more important than basking in the glory
of becoming king or queen for a day, awards are fantastic
publicity tools for your band. Nothing shines up a bio, website,
email blast or blog like the words “nominated”
and “won.” These vocabulary heavyweights are certain
to perk up the eyes and ears of clubs, fans, press and the
industry alike. When deciding which awards/contests to submit
for, keep in mind that this organization’s event may
well be the flagship of your promotion for months. Sayings
like: “vote for us for…”, “we’re
nominated for…” and “we’re the winners
of…” will top every mailer you send out during
the run of the competition, so make sure you get something
great out of it for your band, even if it’s not the
gold plated statue you’d hoped for.
3.) Promote A Nomination As A Win---Even though it sounds
like something your high school band instructor would tell
you, just being nominated is really a win for you and your
band. So, if you’re lucky enough to garner a nomination
for your awards de jour, make sure your promo machine hails
you as a winner. Start your announcement with, “We’ve
been honored with a nomination for Best Pop Band” and
not “We’re one of six bands that may win this
award if we get enough votes.” The nomination itself
is an accolade of its own accord and should be included to
any list of band accomplishments. If, by chance, you happen
to win the award or contest, then promote that as another
bigger accomplishment. For example: “We’ve been
honored with nominations for the Best Music in the Universe
Awards in five categories including: Best Drummer, Best Bass,
Best Songwriting, and Best Female Vocals, and were thrilled
to take home the award for Best Alternative Band.” To
fans and industry alike, this looks like five awards and not
one.
4.) A Win For A Band Member Is A Win For The Band---As creative
people, we all have a need to be recognized for our individual
talents, and as such, would all like to be nominated and hopefully
win for each of our respective specialties. But awards and
contests can be fickle and even though your fans rave about
your guitarist or your songwriting, it may be your drummer
who walks away with a nomination/award. Remember always that
a band is a unit...all for one and one for all...and that
without your killer vocals and great songs, your drummer may
never have been noticed in the first place. Therefore, promote
any nominations and awards for your band’s team as a
win for the band. If your singer wins a writing award for
his/her lyrics, your band has won. If your bassist gets a
pick endorsement, your band has won. If your guitar tech gets
nominated for Best Tuning, your band has won.
Awards and contests can be tricky when egos, pride, and the
eager anticipation to win, mix in with the already delicate
balance of the creative temperaments that make-up a band.
Keep this in mind and be careful when entering contests. Sure,
it’s fun to get awards and prizes but not if it means
your band will break up two weeks later. Enter into contests/award
shows as a way to publicize your music and further your career
as a band but try not to get caught up in the manic frenzy
of seeking award wins like a crack addict in rehab. So, head
to the mall, get a plaque engraved that says, “Best
Band In The World” and stick it up in your rehearsal
room to remind yourself that you’re a winner everyday
just for: having the courage to write songs, record them,
get up in front of people and play them, deal with critics
reviewing your music, weathering rejections from the industry
and entering into a very personal creative relationship with
three or four other artistic people without murder ensuing.
Then, when the time comes that your wall fills up with trophies
and accolades from the industry, get a keg of beer invite
the groupies and party like the rockstar you are.
Sheena Metal is a radio host, producer, promoter, music supervisor,
consultant, columnist, journalist and musician. Her syndicated
radio program, Music Highway Radio, airs on over 1,000 affiliates
to more than 126 million listeners. Her musicians’ assistance
program, Music Highway, boasts over 10,000 members. She currently
promotes numerous live shows weekly in the Los Angeles Area,
where she resides. For more info: http://www.sheena-metal.com.
Past Column's by Sheena
Every Song
Fan Etiquette
To Tour or Not to Tour
Leave Your Drama At Home
Burning Bridges
Radio Play
Opening Acts!
Managers
Show Me the CD
Be Committed
Scandalous Behavior
Create A Buzz
Green Eyed Monster
It's All Good
The Winner Is
