SoundCorps taking the message to the artists

What does it take to make it in the music business?

What does making it actually mean?

Does it mean being able to pay all your bills from the money you make just from your music, or does it mean being able to do something you love on a regular basis and have people listen? What is the future of music? These are some of the questions that were asked Monday night at Granfalloon as part of a panel discussion presented by SoundCorps, the 2-year-old music promotion organization headed by Stratton Tingle. In addition to working to build a network of local music industry people, SoundCorps presents these quarterly workshops/discussions.

The events are called Take Note, and this was the sixth to date. The theme was Backstage Pass, a Music Industry Overview. I got to be the media representative. Others on the panel were Track 29/ Revelry Room owner Monica Kinsey, local musician Nick Lutsko, booking and promotions agent Chris Conrad of Hangar Productions and Matt Schilt, who’s with Business of Coordination. In short, Schilt specializes in bringing artists, agents, producers and the like together.

These events feature professionals in their specific field who share their expertise. They are also a place to network, bringing artists, engi- neers, studio and club owners and fans together. Dakari Kelly is a young bass player who showed up to an early TakeNote specifically to meet musicians. He parlayed that into an internship at SoundCorps and is playing bass for four bands competing in the Road to Nightfall competition (which starts next weekend, by the way).

Monday night, the place was packed, and Tingle said it was a first-time visit for most attendees, which is great.

The panel had plenty of advice, but it may be best summed up with a few ideas. Be versatile. Be professional. Put together an electronic press kit with a high-resolution photo and make it easily available. Find out what you are passionate about and figure out a way to get paid doing it. Figure out who you are and stick to that. Do the work. Utilize all social-media opportunities.

When the internet started truly impacting the newspaper industry several years ago, a colleague compared it to what happened to the railroads when the automobile came into vogue.

“Railroad people thought they were in the railroad industry and not the transportation i ndustry. They didn’t adapt. Newspapers have to adapt.”

So do people in the entertainment industry.

Barry Courter