***FYI/DISCLAIMER: These blogs are for a business plan workshop by which are a reflection of discovery, research findings and conversations with industry and non-industry people about my idea to introduce a music festival that promotes the African American experience, culture, lifestyle and tradition on a global platform in the City of Boston (The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.*** Any and all opinions are a reflection of the blogger and her journey.***
Back in the day, when I was an undergrad student at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, I would glue my ear to the local R&B, Hip Hop, Soul and Jazz radio stations such as
WDAS 105.3 FM, and
WUSL 98.9 FM to listen to the newest and reminiscent music that would keep my spirits at the highest altitude of my day. From the melody to the bass line and even the lyrics themselves all kept me grounded in the way I communicated and met people, selected and ate my food, and how I lived my life in general.
Philly radio stations knew best how to capture and cater to the African American market, especially when it came to promoting upcoming concerts, festival, black art exhibits, talent showcases and conferences. Certain personalities were held captive to promote specific events, activities or programs because of their reputation with loyal fans and neighborhoods, such as
Patty Jackson for women-centered events, or
Tony Brown and the 'Quiet Storm' segment that spoke to couples in love, trying to love or keep their love flame going. For the younger crowd,
DJ Cosmiv Kev would play never heard before underground Hip Hop, Top 40 and Contemporary R&B music and local artists, that true urban Philadelphians would appreciate.
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So what has happened to the radio station scene for Black Boston? For urban music being played in general? Is this why music festivals for the African American segment are lackluster?
Recently, I was connected (via Debra B.) to
House of Blues Boston (HOBB) concert promoter, John I., who also is a 26-year musician veteran himself.
Upon explaining my music festival idea for the Boston African American market, John interrupted by stating "House of Blues will not partner with you on this type of festival." Unwillingly to become consumed with emotion to his response, I simply asked "why?"
According to him, "radio stations add support" and cater to the specific listener base that you are looking to attract to your event, or in this case, a music festival. "Unfortunately, all of those music radio stations for R&B, Soul, Smooth Jazz, etc, that use to be in Boston, are gone." As a result, it becomes more difficult to locate, define, promote and market a music festival, in particular for African Americans.
Insulted but understanding to his point, I asked "What genres of music does House of Blues Boston cater to and how do you all attract and market to your audiences?" Alternative rock, electronic dance, and country are all genres that HOB feels are money makers for their venue. They primarily use digital banner ads through social media (such as Facebook, Spotify, Pandora, Yahoo!, Soundcloud, and Google) to drive traffic to the HOBB website to purchase tickets to see their favorite bands.
From there infographics are captured about each ticketholder and a database of information (purchasing habits, favorite music genres and artists, age, location, etc) is created to build a "one sheet" about the particular artist and their ability to pack a house and/or generate revenue.
Other methods that House of Blues Boston uses to promote their concerts is through newspapers (for older generations) and radio stations.
Ultimately, radio stations have a faster audience reach than a digital banner ad because massive groups of people are listening at one time or another throughout the day or evening.
However, I challenge the fact that radio stations are the be all. I would agree that black radio stations have disappeared in Boston, but many if not most Black Bostonians get their information from community centers, local coffee shops, their neighbors, newspapers, magazines, riding the bus or train, and even billboards. Why you ask? Black Bostonians know that radio stations are non-existent within their world, they obtain the "what's happening in my neighbor?" through the groups in which they socialize and affiliate themselves.
For me, radio stations and their impact on marketing and promotion is not as important to me for this festival because the focus will be on going into the communities that are represented by African Americans and establish relationships so that they can use "word of mouth" to promote my festival. In my opinion, many concert promoters who do not understand or choose not to understand Black Boston are more reluctant to go into the communities to find out how they best like to be targeted for music that is reflective of their interests.
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Towards the end of our conversation, John provided me with a few tips and words of encouragement to consider as I move forward:
- Start of small and allow your festival to build organically. Consider an audience size of 2,000-3,000 people and then as the festival builds momentum, so will the number of attendees.
- Festivals are one time events that require 5 to 10 years worth of good planning. Thus, find investors who willing to take high risks. There are no guarantees that a music festival will oversell, undersell or not sell at all. Plan accordingly.
- Festival are expensive. This includes building a venue for a day or two, fencing, staging, security, etc. The majority of a festival budget comes from talent costs. As a festival producer, it is likely that you will pay 3 times the cost for the band or artist because your festival has a bigger audience radius, thus artists feel they are owed more than they are valued at. Keep this mind.
As mentioned before, John I. is also a musician, thus I found it appropriate to ask him, "what types of things do artists request in their rider contracts that can or cannot be negotiated?" For most artists, their standard booking fee, catering and security requirements are what HOBB mainly can offer. They do not provide hotel and ground transportation accommodations, rather these responsibilities fall on the artist's manager and record label to fulfill. For a moment, I reflected on the "what-ifs" of this detail. Meaning, if an artist misses their flight to perform at HOBB, who pays who? Is there a clause in the agreed-upon contract? Obviously there is, but who reaps the benefits? How would HOBB keep the audience engaged in the experience? or even handle refunds? These types of details I had to heavily consider for my own idea.
When it comes to production, lighting and sound, HOBB provides these services in house. However, if an artist or band needs a particular item, HOBB can order it from local vendors who specialize in these areas (such as Guitar Center, Studio 125, Boston Sound and Lighting, Bose, etc).
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My conversation with John I. was truly eye-opening for me in understanding how concert promoters and established venues like House of Blues Boston operate. For them, radio stations, direct mail, and digital banner ads within social media channels can capture specific audiences and groups of people that like country, alternative and electronic dance music.
However, I will argue that venues such as these are limiting their outreach with music categories, only to exclude certain groups of people from enjoying the same type of concert experience. Regardless, this "inside scope" has allowed me to consider and explore innovative ways to market and promote to my festival goers. It may take a lot more "troops to hit the ground running" but I believe that face to face or guerilla marketing tactics would best suit the local residents of this great city, I call home.
Recently, I met with two wonderful and strong African-American women, who are interested in my idea. As we were going through the agenda, one of the women, named Mrs. Johnson (made up) began to "politely" interrogate my idea with questions about who, what, where, when and how about my budget, Advisory Team, festival location, connections to the City of Boston, my own character and skill set and my long-term vision. 
