new feature on the blackcat site

bilge

[Jaguär]

Originally posted by Edsall Park:
   

Originally posted by Liberte:
 ...it is extremely helpful to see the comments of the people we want to serve[..]I'm old enough to have been a legal drinker at the original Woodstock???

This dubious/spurious mofo was old enough for Vietnam, too !  
 
 Is this disinformation, or what?  I knew this was hippie crap from the gitgo...Just another ex-flower-child who now works for big brother, looking for faster ways to sell you food that isn't really whole. [/b]

Liberte, don't mind this guy up here, whatever name he chooses to use at the time. This is why we keep him locked up in cyberspace. He gets a little goofy when the seasons change. It's usually thought of as Seasonal Affective Disorder. He's harmless, actually.              

[Bags]

Originally posted by Liberte:
  In a start-up business you do not have the time to Google yourself every day to see what people are saying about you (and a passworded board like this won't show up in most search engines anyway).
 
 I do want to add that it is extremely helpful to see the comments of the people we want to serve, whether supportive or critical.  In the long run it enables us to do a better job.  I wish I had time to do more of it.

I didn't think Google would be able to find a thread on a BB.  And I agree with you, we're your target audience and, in the hopes that you're mission is as stated -- to bring the music to the people who want to see it, I'm happy for you to pick my brain!  I probably see 40 - 80 shows a year, so goodness knows, I'm ripe for the picking!

[Bags]

Originally posted by Liberte:
   

Originally posted by walkman:
  I think the really important question here, Liberte, is what's your taste in music like?
 
 The success of your company hinges on your response.
 
 Kidding. (?)

(1)....15 or so folk/alt-country/Americana (sorry, I'm too ignorant to know where the official lines are there)...
 
 (2)....Authentically made music is good regardless of where it comes from or who does it, if you take the time to get inside it.  I hate it when people slag artists because they're too popular or not cool.  Only thing that counts is, can they move you?  If not, is it really their fault, or yours? [/b]

(1)  Oh, stick around here, you'll have lots of volunteers to set you straight!  Though the debate will go on and on and on.
 
 (2) Wow, pretty open minded.  Again, there are folks here who'll be happy to set you straight that this music sux or that artist is a worthless sellout or that genre has NEVER been any good.  But, again, to be followed with never ending debate.  Especially if you start talking about Wilco.
 
   
 
 Welcome!

[Liberte]

Originally posted by thirsty moore:
 [QB] You hiring?
 
 Sure, but standard pay scale for everyone right now (unfortunately including moi) is $0.

[Liberte]

Originally posted by Edsall Park:
   

Originally posted by Liberte:
 ...it is extremely helpful to see the comments of the people we want to serve[..]I'm old enough to have been a legal drinker at the original Woodstock???

This dubious/spurious mofo was old enough for Vietnam, too !  
 
 Is this disinformation, or what?  I knew this was hippie crap from the gitgo...Just another ex-flower-child who now works for big brother, looking for faster ways to sell you food that isn't really whole. [/b]

I believe you and everyone else here would be old enough for Vietnam, too.  Last time I checked a world map it was still there.  Help yourself.
 
 BTW, we are not in the food business, whole or otherwise.  Sorry you had such a hard time deciphering our company description.  We'll put the writers back on it Monday.

[Jaguär]

Originally posted by Liberte:
 

Originally posted by thirsty moore:
 [QB] You hiring?
 
 Sure, but standard pay scale for everyone right now (unfortunately including moi) is $0. [/b]

Where are you located?
 
 DC, probably.   :roll:  Like all the other good stuff.

[Liberte]

Originally posted by bags:
 

I didn't think Google would be able to find a thread on a BB.  And I agree with you, we're your target audience and, in the hopes that you're mission is as stated -- to bring the music to the people who want to see it, I'm happy for you to pick my brain!  I probably see 40 - 80 shows a year, so goodness knows, I'm ripe for the picking! [/b][/QUOTE]
 
 Thanks.  As I mentioned, it's a big help.  Also kind of fun digging around the other threads here to see what is on peoples' minds, too.
 
 Now, what about the very large number of fans (40 to 80 million just in the US) who are into music enough to spend serious time tracking it on the 'Net, but who see maybe 1 - 4 live shows a year?  (Not the maybe 1 - 4 million like you who see 40 to 80 shows.)   How do we get them into the picture?  Because if the artists and venues and promoters and the rest of [jargon alert] the live music industry value chain can figure out how to get THOSE guys out to one or two more shows a year, it does a lot more to solve their very serious economic problems than trying to beat more money out of you guys.

[Liberte]

Originally posted by Jaguär:
   

Originally posted by Liberte:
 

Originally posted by thirsty moore:
 [QB] You hiring?
 
 Sure, but standard pay scale for everyone right now (unfortunately including moi) is $0. [/b]

Where are you located?
 
 DC, probably.    :roll:   Like all the other good stuff. [/b]

The senior founder is from Balmer.  Rest of us work out of basement offices scattered between there and DC.  Our conference room is a string of local (mostly Montgomery County) pubs and cheap eats joints.

[Jaguär]

Originally posted by Liberte:
   
 The senior founder is from Balmer.  Rest of us work out of basement offices scattered between there and DC.  Our conference room is a string of local (mostly Montgomery County) pubs and cheap eats joints.

Gee, wonder if I know him (or her)? I'm stuck up here (Balt) myself.    :roll:    One of these days I'll make a break for it. Every time I try, it falls through.

[RonniStar]

I found Tourvote on  Music Monthly.com. It would work for venues like Black Cat or Velvet Lounge. The 930 club wouldn't need such a site. So, how does the booking for the 930 club?

[walkman]

Originally posted by Liberte:
 
 Now, what about the very large number of fans (40 to 80 million just in the US) who are into music enough to spend serious time tracking it on the 'Net, but who see maybe 1 - 4 live shows a year?

Do all these people live in Iowa?  I mean, I don't understand how a self-respecting music fan could only make it to 3 shows a year.  Unless those three are Kiss, Aerosmith and Poison, in which case, I can't imagine an indie startup company is going to help them much.  It seems to me that the service only really works as a method for letting the club owners know what the kids (or aged hipsters) are into (ie. when The Cooper Temple Clause git their limey arses over here, the Black Cat better be ready and willin')...but if that's what you want,  reading Pitchfork is free.

[Liberte]

Originally posted by walkman:
   

Originally posted by Liberte:
 
 Now, what about the very large number of fans (40 to 80 million just in the US) who are into music enough to spend serious time tracking it on the 'Net, but who see maybe 1 - 4 live shows a year?

Do all these people live in Iowa?  I mean, I don't understand how a self-respecting music fan could only make it to 3 shows a year.  Unless those three are Kiss, Aerosmith and Poison, in which case, I can't imagine an indie startup company is going to help them much.  It seems to me that the service only really works as a method for letting the club owners know what the kids (or aged hipsters) are into (ie. when The Cooper Temple Clause git their limey arses over here, the Black Cat better be ready and willin')...but if that's what you want,  reading Pitchfork is free. [/b]

Walkman, you and I may understand what they are missing, but either those millions of other fans don't, or they don't care, or they have their own reasons for not getting out to live shows very often.  They aren't all in Iowa, for certain.  What their level of self respect is I have no idea, but I've never seen any research to suggest it's a particular problem with them.
 
 I didn't open the topic, by the way, as a pretext for touting our solution.  The lethargy (or disinterest, or fear, or whatever the hell it is) of fans who claim to like stuff but won't get off their tush to go see it is a huge problem across the arts, not just for indie rock, or for music.  I would *love* to know more about why those guys behave differently from you or me.  I understand some obvious reasons why people in certain demographic strata (e.g., working parents of young children) don't get out as much as, say, young urban singles.  But even within strata there appear to be wide ranges of behavior--so there are other factors at work.
 
 Finally, just knowing "what they like" doesn't tell you "what they'll do and buy."  That's why the TourVote process is slanted towards putting you on a notification list for concert tickets, not just running a popularity contest.  We're not kidding ourselves that this twist enables us to fix the industry's woes all by ourselves, but the nonparticipation rates are so high that we can do them a big favor just by making a small dent.

[walkman]

Originally posted by Liberte:
 
 Finally, just knowing "what they like" doesn't tell you "what they'll do and buy."  That's why the TourVote process is slanted towards putting you on a notification list for concert tickets, not just running a popularity contest.  [/QB]

Hmmm...good point.  It's as if Pollstar started taking requests.  Methinks that I like it.

[markie]

So Liberte, I brought up the topic. I think it is a fine idea.....
 
 I have a couple of thoughts.
 
 Well a lot of people dont go to shows because they dont get to hear new music because radio is shite.
 
 
 People who dont go to concerts regularly dont check concert listing regularly, so bands that they would go and see remain unnoticed by them. Your site may help with something like that a little especially if it supplied info of nearby shows, even if they were not in the suppliers home city. But it would probably help to be able to supply a list of bands to you, rather than one at a time.
 
 Another thought, where do you expect this project to go. My fallacy of the excluded middle mind, suggests you will either fade into obscurity, or in a couple of years you will have the next boy band on TRL saying, "if you want to see us live in your city, vote for us on tourvote.com, NOW.....
 
 Thanks for the interesting insights you have given so far.