Striking the right chord with the right audience

When I was in high school, (and now, whenever I have the time to enjoy it), my life was music. On any given day, I'd spend at least 3 hours playing my guitar, not to mention the time I spent on the drums and piano. My junior year I joined a band called So Long daVinci, and got my first opportunity to play on stage. I remember the venue; an abandoned mini golf office, which had been turned into a derelict coffee house, with more emo teenagers than you could (and probably should) shake a stick at.

The room was full, the crowd was energetic, and we played a great show. I was overwhelmed with a sense of self-satisfaction... The crowd seemed to love me, and I loved the crowd. On the ride home after the show, the bassist called me and said that we'd made over $200 as a band, and that we'd been invited back to play the next week for an encore show.

We leaped into action. The other guitarists and I started working on a new song. Our vocalist Loren began practicing a back-flip he was going to do into the crowd during our last song. Our bassist started setting up the band's Myspace, and spread the word about our next show.

When the big night finally came, the six of us were so excited we could hardly think straight. We pulled our trailer into the venue and stepped out to about 15 people, unenthusiastically sipping their coffees and staring bemused at their feet. We were flabbergasted at the poor turnout, but decided that we'd at least knock these 15 people off their feet.

We flailed around energetically the whole show, the bassist jumped off his cabinet, and to top it all off, we finished with our last song, and our vocalist did his backflip off the stage.

You could have heard crickets. We broke down our equipment and, shamed, left the stage. What had we done wrong? We'd played the same show we had played the week before, invited all of our friends, and even added some energy and new material; why wasn't the crowd chanting our names anymore?

Reading the news, there are a lot of businesses today that are asking that same question. They're putting their products on the same stage they've been putting them on for years, but to a dwindling, unenthusiastic audience. Across the board, management's knee-jerk reaction has been to actively react; the new song, the flashy new stage presence, and the (admittedly awesome) backflip were all good things... But that wasn't why the crowd came to the show in the first place.

What does your business do best? Who is it reaching? Is what you're offering your audience today the same benefit they came to you for in the first place? These are all questions that face businessmen and musicians alike. There are a few things I took from this experience that helped me progress not only as a musician, but as a marketer as well.

1) You don't put on the same show for 15 people that you do for 15,000 people
Playing for thousands of people at a music festival is great, but even the best bands find themselves playing dive bars from time to time. Fear not! Look at this as an opportunity to form more personal relationships. Audiences (and clients) love to feel like you're playing their favorite song just for them. When the audience is less than stellar, (an understatement for our current economy), take time to form personal relationships with clients. When the economy turns around, your client won't forget it.

2) Communicate with your audience
Ask your audience specific questions. What did you love most about this experience? What did you like the least? Would you come to another show? If not, what would you like to see changed?

3) Resist the urge to over-correct your problems
It's important to remember that no matter how empty your venue is, chances are that your competitors are playing the same venues, and facing the same problems. If you completely uproot your core values when times get hard, there's a chance you're throwing away the very attributes that made you a hit to begin with. To quote senator Al Franken, "Don't change pants mid-shit."

So if you're playing to a tough crowd, keep your chin up. Just like in every marketing environment, there's an opportunity to get an edge, you've just got to keep your ears open, and your amplifier cranked.

(((This week's listening recommendation: "Coney Island" by Good Old War.)))