The Score Magazine - Archive December 2016 issue! | Page 24

SUMEET SUVARNA
Artists, Promoters and their
Complicated Relationship
"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."
– Vincent Van Gogh
That is basically every good concert
you've ever attended or will ever attend.
A lot of people come together to put up
something that just one or two couldn't
have managed to. Unity isn't a very
complex idea and neither is teamwork.
But when you talk about teamwork, the
music industry as a whole probably isn't
the first thing that comes to your mind.
Because when you talk about 'teamwork',
it's usually associated with sports or
teams in a corporate setup and so on and
so forth. But how many times have we
gone home from a concert and thought
of how exactly did they manage to pull
it off? We'd probably credit the band(s)
for their stellar performances or how the
sound and light setup was great. Rarely
do we credit the whole team for the event.
The fact of the matter is that the event
wouldn't have been half as great as it was
if the two main players in this scenario,
i.e. the Artists and the Promoters didn't
work well as a team. A successful gig
without the two getting along and coming
together as a team is a rarity.
The music industry, as a whole, isn't
small. But it isn't one of the largest
either. And in a country like ours, the
demographics change to a great extent.
It changes further when you talk about
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the Independent music scene. It is a fairly
small scene. There are only a few bands/
artists and fewer people to program gigs
for them, at least when compared to the
scene in most of the West. So it is very
important that the promoters and the
bands get along. At the same time, it is
unrealistic to expect so many people with
so many different sets of ideas to get along
all the time.
The Artist and the promoter relationship
isn't a simple one by any means, especially
when one or both the parties are new
to the business. In my experience over
the last half a decade, I've come to
realize that one too many people artists
complain about the promoters and vice
versa. And all this could be for various
reasons. Some may be valid and some,
not so much. Often, it is because one
does not understand or empathize with
the other. Other times, it's because one
does not want to be willing to be a little
understanding. Bluntly put, being a
douche! And all this may have a little
effect on the individuals. But it can greatly
impact the final product. I.e. the gig! The
question, though, is; can it be avoided?
Can it be worked around? The answer is a
resounding YES! How? Maybe doing a few
things and avoiding some could help.
Control Alt Delete is a great example of what can be
achieved when the Promoters and Artists come together!