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Old 11-20-2008, 09:35 AM
 
Location: Texas
989 posts, read 2,494,919 times
Reputation: 698

Advertisements

I saw this ad on TV Cable 15 last night, begging people to "see one Austin band each month". I don't know how they think this effort will work. No amount of begging will persuade people to go out and see a band they would otherwise not see purely to support local music.

If they feel local music is dying, they could spend that money to make Austin the most friendly place for venues, bars, nightclubs, and musicians. Encourage the talent to come and stay. Lobby city council to avoid regulation that hurts nightlife. Repeal the senseless smoking ban. Make it easier for venues and bars to do business and generate profit and the bands will flourish. Lobby city government to issue as many festival and party permits as possible. And why not even work to allow for bars and venues to do business past 2 AM?

Although I applaud the intentions, this advertising is a waste of money. No one will ever shell out money and offer up their time to see a live band simply because someone begs them to.

Just my .02.
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Old 11-20-2008, 10:40 AM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,301,933 times
Reputation: 24740
Oh, I don't know. The ad got you thinking about other, better ways of saving Austin music, didn't it?
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Old 11-20-2008, 11:00 AM
 
Location: SoCal
2,261 posts, read 7,221,103 times
Reputation: 960
Wouldn't repealing the smoking band get FEWER people to go out to clubs? I go out all the time, but I wouldn't go to a club that allowed smoking. Seriously, it's frikkin' gross! Ironically, I won't sit outside and rarely see outside bands because the air is usually so bad.
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Old 11-20-2008, 11:06 AM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,301,933 times
Reputation: 24740
Quote:
Originally Posted by readymade View Post
Wouldn't repealing the smoking band get FEWER people to go out to clubs? I go out all the time, but I wouldn't go to a club that allowed smoking. Seriously, it's frikkin' gross! Ironically, I won't sit outside and rarely see outside bands because the air is usually so bad.
Actually, Austin had a lovely compromise going until the anti-smoking people just couldn't STAND that there be a compromise.

The deal was, the ban on smoking stood, EXCEPT that if a bar owner felt that it was in the best interests of his business, he could get (for a hefty fee) a permit to operate as a smoking allowed establishment. There were requirements, one of which was that a sign be posted on the front door advising potential customers that it was a smoking allowed facility. This way, those who wanted to smoke with their music could do so, and those who didn't want to be anywhere near smoke and certainly didn't want anyone else doing so could patronize one of the myriad non-smoking establishments in the city. It was positively brilliant.

But this was unacceptable to the anti-smoking contingent, and they pushed until the compromise was overturned. That put paid to the argument that it was that they didn't want to be exposed to smoke and exposed the motivation for what it truly is - the desire to assure that everyone else is required to make the same choices that they would.
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Old 11-20-2008, 11:19 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
15,261 posts, read 35,541,534 times
Reputation: 8598
Umm...this (smoking ban) topic is discussed in detail elsewhere.... .
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Old 11-20-2008, 11:59 AM
 
362 posts, read 1,042,590 times
Reputation: 170
Ever considered there may be greater economic forces that are keeping people home on the weekends?
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Old 11-20-2008, 12:05 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
2,357 posts, read 7,885,683 times
Reputation: 1013
Well, first off I wasn't aware that there was a crisis per say. I think a lot of this has to do with the noise ordinance issues and the perception that new downtown residents are killing the vibe? I went to one of the meetings at city hall and there is a lot of misinformation being spewed around about that...

Anyway, as a musician who has played almost 1,000 gigs - many of them in hazy, smoke-filled bars - I don't think the smoking ban is really an issue at all. If people want to hear music, most will go anywhere. In fact, smoky bars are usually cited as the main reason people DON'T go out to hear live music.

I think another issue is that the scene is saturated with many of the same type of venues and bands. The scene isn't really very diverse in terms of genre and seems to have a girth of indie-rawker wannabes. Nothing wrong with that but it can seem a bit redundant after awhile. There's very little jazz, r&b, funk, classical, electronic, ethnic etc. Even the country and folk scene seems to be shrinking a bit (and this is not the trend nationally). Maybe this will change...trends always do

Economically speaking, it's practically impossible to make a living here strictly as a musician. Granted, it's hard to do anywhere, but usually if you're a diverse and skilled musician there are opportunities for "money gigs" - recording sessions, production, cover bands, sideman, musical theater, teaching etc... - work that keeps musicians afloat while they pursue more rewarding endeavors. Look at places like Nashville. While it certainly has an overabundance of folks with "stars in their eyes", there's a robust recording scene where the top musicians can earn a decent living. Obviously places like NYC, L.A., Miami, Chicago, SF have these opportunities as well. I know that many musicians have left Austin for this reason. Not enough work that pays.

I'm not sure that even cover bands can make too much money here. There's nothing more demoralizing than playing covers for very little dough
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Old 11-20-2008, 01:11 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
2,722 posts, read 5,462,296 times
Reputation: 2223
You can walk from bar to bar to bar downtown and it all sounds the same.
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Old 11-20-2008, 01:28 PM
 
Location: Texas
989 posts, read 2,494,919 times
Reputation: 698
Quote:
Originally Posted by another_hot-day View Post
You can walk from bar to bar to bar downtown and it all sounds the same.
Your comment represents another issue as well. The Austin music scene is killing itself with redundancy. How many mediocre blues bands does one town need? Walk around downtown and its mediocre blues band after mediocre blues band. No wonder why people won't venture out to see them. Red River district does offer some more variety, but downtown doesn't even have a good country bar, for example. C'mon!
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Old 11-20-2008, 01:53 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
2,722 posts, read 5,462,296 times
Reputation: 2223
When I go downtown, I go to Red River.
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