why doesn’t WFAE have local music sessions like WNCW’s “Studio-B”?

I’m going to send them an email now!!!!

You’re definately right, it’s way easier to get a group of musicians to agree on a bunch of songs and just learn them. Much harder to work through writing good music.

I also agree with your point about feeling musically safe. You can’t be %100 sure that your song will go over well on any particular night, but you can bet that a cover will!

thanks again,
e.

1) Accessibility: Music has become so accessible in today’s world it is a now an oversupplied commodity by volume, at least as far as the everyday listener is concerned. New and emerging original music has less value to many since there is already enough for most of them to listen to while they drive or sit at their desk or work out at the gym. The largest competitive advantage on a large scale is celebrity, so that the Pop machine is set up that way and in turn creates additional barriers to entry for new artists.

2) Digital Music: Improvements in technology now allow one person to create or at least mimic what used to take several. It cost less for a bar owner to hire a one person DJ rather than a 5 person band. This has accumulative effect on what patrons expect to hear when they go out. The opposite of this would be a city with a better developed scene, e.g. Nashville (Broadway excluded) or Athens, GA where people expect to have a certain experience. This effect can also be seen by the usually stark delineation between bars with music vs. music venues with bars.

3) Logistics: It’s easier to learn a cover than to write and polish original material. Not to mention the risk of trying something new in front of strangers or allowing yourself to be vulnerable when penning out a song that means something to you. The process of ‘doing it the hard way’ is painful, and if you can get instant ‘rock star’ or financial gratification by doing covers, then many folks will opt for the path with the least resistance. With that said, you get out what you put in, so there is a glass ceiling and other compromises for cover bands.

4) Fear & Lack of Leadership: Crowds can & do respond to good original material, especially of the artist or group knows how to work a room. There seems to be a certain tentativeness among local musicians, not just performing, but booking too, that is making it unnecessarily more difficult to get exposure. A good leader can overcome this quickly.

5) Media Involvement: It bothers me that most Charlotteans have never tuned into WSGE or WNCW. I know state/publicly-funded budgets are tight (especially after losing state funding recently) but how about a billboard…. or something?? Fox News Rising and Edge are the only local TV shows that seem to offer exposure for local groups. Where is WCNC or WSOCTV on this? And the Observer barely covers local music and makes artist pay for featured placement. The Loaf does a pretty good job, but could definitely throw more high profile events. The recent homebrew event was great. CL has the clout around town.. and we can get some momentum going with those types of events because larger media like to be associated with Buzz. WFAE and WBT or kind to feature local groups on occasion.

6) Scene Maturity: Charlotte has seen phenomenal growth over the past 10 years that is almost an anomaly. This is a natural maturation process that needs to take place and cannot keep pace easily. There are great local musicians and there are places for them to earn money playing music, but the reality is, the artistic infrastructure is not developed enough yet to make it easy for a ‘scene’ in the traditional sense to develop. It’s still being done… it’s just slower than most would like since it’s not easy.

There are a lot of great things happening now, and I’m happy to be a part of it. I think with more leadership, networking amongst local players, and growth of the city, Charlotte is on the verge of big things for original music

… man, I can’t believe I just typed all that.

I do enjoy the “oldies” and “beach music” — but again, I like to sample the quality of the group that’s playing it; some groups may choose to play my fave music, but they make it painful to listen to.

Interesting blog; keep it coming!