Never Resent Other People's Success If They Get It Fairly

As usual Matthew’s blog at Song by Toad makes an interesting read.

http://songbytoad.com/2011/05/never-resent-other-peoples-success/#comments

I agree with the sentiment but it really isn’t that simple. If you are doing your best whether that is by being in a band or in your business it is unrealistic not to expect to come across people who do better than you because of who they know. What I have always found frustrating is when those who have gained the advantage claim otherwise. So if for example Ed Jupp of 17 seconds got a prime slot for one of his bands at the expense of of one of Matthew’s bands during the Festival because of his brother Miles that is how life works and no sensible person would actually see anything wrong in it. If however Ed despite all the evidence claimed it was just because he had done a far better job than Matthew I personally would find that odd and very annoying. Also if a band wanted an in-store in Avalanche and thought The Savings and Loan were rather dull I wouldn’t blame them for keeping it to themselves.

So if I want to know why a competitor is selling at a price I can’t match and the record company tells me that it is because they gave then a better deal I may not like it but that is how it is. If they tell me they haven’t done a deal and then I find out an ex-emplyee from the competitor now works for them and did give them a deal that is a different matter.

People do seem really really worried about offending the bigger promoters and yet I’ve seen nobody blaming promoters for the line ups picked in festivals. What is being said is that like the band who want an Avalanche in-store not slagging off the Savings and Loan judges know what is expected of them. That combined with the various friendships the judges will understandably have with bands means that it is harder than it should be for a band unconnected in any way with promoters or the judges to get a place. Is that really such a hard thing to admit ?

It is more than a little patronising that all comments are dismissed as being sour grapes from bands who didn’t make it. This is really not the case. Matthew and Ed were both kind enough to agree to listen to demos that were handed into the shop for RSD as a response to the feeling that they weren’t getting to the “right people”. I speak to small bands on a daily basis and what they want is just the reassurance that there is a chance they can send their music to the media and it will get reviewed, played on the radio etc. People like Dave Kerr at The Skinny and Vic Galloway are friends of mine (and also T Break judges) and are well aware given how busy they are it is hard to give new bands the attention they sometimes deserve but they jumped at the chance to be involved and are no doubt listening to the demos as I type !

I made it very clear at the outset my comments were from the perspective of these bands and about not just T Break or even all the festivals but also about getting played on the radio or reviewed in a paper or on a blog. Everybody should appreciate space is limited in a paper and radio is an even tougher medium to crack. Even bloggers are limited by the amount of time they have to blog. I think enough has been said now that people will give a second thought to giving a new band a chance.

If promoters and managers do their job properly then in the current climate it is harder than ever for new bands to come through. The idea that the internet means any band can put themselves “out there” is true but as somebody said to me about Twitter you can tweet all you want but with no friends you are tweeting into oblivion.

Speaking of promoters and Matthew I remember when the second Meursault album was due out. An album launch was arranged and then the album was delayed with most of the tickets sold. Sensible decision would have been to reschedule the album launch date but Matthew didn’t want to upset PCL so instead went for pissing me off instead by going ahead with the gig and doing a limited edition version to sell before the release date. As many of you will know the “not pissing off PCL” didn’t go too well and I lost a lot of sales. I’ve even had bands worried about upsetting a promoter by doing an in-store. And speaking of loyalty I too have a pertinent playing football when I was a kid story (see Matthew’s blog) but I’ll save that for another time.

So if you work far harder than another band who then happens to get picked because the drummer’s mother is married to the brother of the manager of  XXXX then feel free to resent away. You might be wrong and maybe for all your effort they are simply better than you but just maybe they took your place and all the attendant publicity and while that is sometimes how life is that doesn’t make it right.