3/13 night interview -- Mu Shi

Rhodeside Grill, I had a nice talk with the bar tender Mike. He told me most of the musicians, who to do live music in the bar, were from the friends connections. The bar really use routine bands and musicians to perform, the manager definitely want to more diverse musicians. Actually, the Rhodeside Grill is not a bar focused on live music, the manager prefer some one can take care the shows and music, so, he could more focus on food and management. Our service will be more valuable if we can not only help him to reach the musicians, he would prefer we can directly offer him the service by packaging different musicians every month.

Galaxy Hut- It's a small but highly reviewed bar in Courthouse area. People like the bar because they can always expect nice music and environment. The manager really want to have reliable musicians and bands to perform the bar. And because the bar has regular events every week, the manager always get connect with agents to try new bands and musicians. After I mentioned our idea about Giggity, the manager showed great interest in how to save the money he usually paid for the agents, and he was very happy that he could get the link to  many different musicians and bands for free. 

Friday Afternoon - Actual Last Interview (3/14)

Travis, Denver, CO, Trout Steak Revival - Male, White, Late 20s
Travis is an old friend of mine who has been playing in the band Trout Steak Revival for the last few years (check them out!). I spoke with him at length about the challenges of being in an emerging band and getting gigs. He was interested in our business model, and suggested that we create a threshold for ratings, so that a band/venue isn't ruined by one bad review. He also suggested that we focus the ratings on whether or not bands performed expected services (did they show up on time, finish at the right time, bring the crowd they promised, etc.)
Key Takeaway: Ratings aggregation only works once a critical mass is reached.

Friday Morning Interview (last one!) (3/14)

Chris, DC, Listen Local First - Male, White, 30s
Chris was referred to us by Geoff, owner of Bedrock Bars and Restaurants. Chris is very involved in the local music scene and operates Listen Local First, a website that helps emerging artists to get their music heard. Chris was excited by our idea, but short on time. He gave us some good feedback and promised to help us establish connections with other people in the scene. He did warn us, though, that money & the music industry rarely go hand in hand.
Key Takeaway: Making money in music is HARD.

Interviews March 3/13

Hema Chandra Chittuluri

Lizzy, Courthouse Place
I was surprised to find a musician within my apartment building who was advertising in the common area that she is willing to play at parties. I met her later in the morning and she, unsurprisingly, had a full time job and loves music and thought this would be a good way to do something she loves and make extra money at the same time. I asked whether she would be interested in playing at a venue, she replied she would love it but that she hasnt got time to go after all the venues especially when she js not even sure if they want to listen to her. When I explained what we were doing, she got really excited and said that would be a great way to reach a bigger audience and grow. She said she will be willing to pay for such service even if its expensive. She also wants it to have a means to communicate with other bands etc, to look for opportunities with them.


Phone interview with member of carbon dioxide
I interviewed a guitarist from the band carbon dioxide. He responded to my craigslist ad and was very helpful. Like in all the other interviews with musicians, the biggest problem with them was finding venues to play at, knowing the schedules and also knowing different means to play at a venue like can they offer happy hours, or should we be referred by an artist, contact a promoter or just contact the management directly. If they cross somebody they would get burned. So having first hand information helps. He would definitely use the service if it has lot of venues, has genuine information about venues and can help build their reputation.

Phone interview with Cheeko
 I found Cheeko on one of the musician community portal. A very friendly guy, he runs a band called piece by piece. He is very committed to music and does it full time but the problems that are applicable to the smaller bands that play part time applies to him too. If you are not on contracts you dont get gigs often, if you get into contracts you will miss out on great opportunities , if you go with a promoter you stick to his kind of music and earn a lot lesser. He said something like what we are planning to build will definitely be useful and he will pay to use it.

Phone interview George clinton
George is a senior musician, he has been in the industry for really long. He owns a band called funkvibe. Unfortunately he did not have lot of time to speak but he said he might try the platform if it has enough venues signed up with us.

Thursday Evening Interviews (3/13)

Red, DC, Jack Rose Saloon - Female, Indian, 20s

Red is the manager of Jack Rose Saloon in Adams Morgan, a thriving music scene in DC. She informed me that, despite the high demand for music in the area, Jack Rose does not often utilize live music due to the difficulty in obtaining talent and the problems they sometimes cause. This was insightful, as I realized we might be able to lure venues that have problems like these with our twofold solutions: make bands easy to find and make them easy to vet.

Key Takeaway: There may be an untapped area of this market.

John, DC, Mellow Mushroom - Male, White, 40s

John is the manager of Mellow Mushroom, also in Adams Morgan. Unlike Jack Rose Saloon, Mellow Mushroom often hosts live music, with a particular focus on young, up-and-coming bands. John told me that he used to do booking himself, but that it was time consuming and has since outsourced to a local booking agent named Anders. After explaining to me some of the problems with booking (bands don't fit, are unreliable, etc.), he mentioned that Anders was actually upstairs putting together a show and that I could meet him.

Anders, DC, Booking Agent for Songwriters & Poets - Male, White, 50s

Anders has been heavily involved in the DC Music scene for several years. He focuses on getting indie bands to perform in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. He said his biggest challenge in booking bands was a lack of credibility on the musicians' part - there is no underground radio, bars haven't heard of them, etc. Anders said he often feels like he has "one big spider web to deal with" and that there is a constant problem finding a good fit for venues and artists. He also said that he spends far too much time doing booking, as he as a full-time job. He also said he likes using BandCamp because of its simplicity. After hearing about our project, he was interested and suggested that we utilize his stable of artists as a test run.

Key Takeaway: Focus on simplicity.

Matt, DC, Gravel Road Bluegrass - Male, White, 40s

Matt is a musician in the band Gravel Road Bluegrass who was introduced to me by Anders. Matt has been in the local music scene for quite some time. Honestly, he didn't seem particularly enthused by our idea, but I believe that is because he has done things the same way for a long time and feels as though he has paid his dues, and that new artists should too. He refused to accept that making things easier would be better, saying that the struggle was part of being a musician.

Key Takeaway: It might be difficult to reach people who have been in the industry for some time, as they are used to doing things a certain way.

Thursday Interviews - Musicians

Three interviews last night in Courthouse and Alexandria.

The best was with Brad, around 30, who used to be in a band and continues to play as a guitarist and singer. He's actually been in multiple bands, and expressed that some way to find other musicians might be nice. However, he indicated that the biggest pain was finding gigs, and that, typically, it was delegated to one person. If you were that person, you spent a lot of time and frustration trying to find places to play. Once I explained what we were trying to do, he said that he would definitely use that service and was willing to pay $10 to $20 a month for it. He also said we should look at coffeehouses as another venue, since many small artists use those venues to get their music out.

Another interview was with Miguel (manager) at a Mexican restaurant that hosts live music five nights a week. However, he said that, while he was open to a system like this, they have a set rotation of musicians and, because it is a specific type of music, tend to find people through word of mouth.

Finally talked to John at Hard Times, and he said that they typically do not have live music, at least in their location (Hard Times is a chain) because it is so difficult to find good people to play. He said he would consider bringing in live shows if there  was a way to easily find good bands, but that he would have to see the service and how it performs before deciding on whether to pay or not.

3/12 evening Interviews

Hema chandra Chittuluri
Location Dupont Circle

Cafe Citron
Cafe citron has many bands playing live music and is a place frequented by MSB students. I talked to the manager Aidda who explained me that they have a huge number of bands playing with them and they have a dedicated person to select the bands. The bands are auditioned in the cafe and then chosen to play, unless they are have already made a name for themselves. When i explained the platform she said she will give it a try if it can provide access to more bands.

Midtown Lounge
I was refused entry into the lounge and was instead spoken to on intercom. The person on the other side said the manager wont be available for another week and politely asked me to leave. When i tried to ask about the bands that play there, i did not get a response.

Dirty martini
I talked to manager at dirty martini bar who said that they dont have live music everyday but they do have latino saturdays when bands play there. They have arrangements with promoter and the promoters arranges the bands to play on the venue. There is no direct interaction between bands and the venue and many times they do not know who is playing that day, which was interesting.

18th street lounge
Its a known and classy venue where live music is available everyday. I talked to the manager Yonis who said that the bands that are regulars there are not treated as on contract or even as a separate entity but as employees of the lounge and they are playing since last 10 years. Very recently they added latino music to the regular jazz bands that play there. This is a more exclusive and selective venue because its owned by a DJ with a taste. Unlike other venues which look forward to host bands, this venue hosts a nee band only of the band approaches and if the owner likes their offering.

Bayou
It is a place known equally for its food and live music. Since the manager was away I talked to Joe who was at the reception. Even though she didnt participate in the decision making, she seemed to be knowledgable about the love music scene there. She said there are always new musicians coming there and based on performance, they get more gigs or never return. And they find bands through multiple sources.