Would You pay Your Audience?

The above soundsl ike a radical thought, but its just one of the ideas submitted by events mag Time Out Chicago as they seek to improve the scene for live music

Sound advice
We weigh in on how to improve the local music scene in 2008.
By TOC Music staff


Get creative with self-promotion
You wouldn¹t know it by looking at the deluge of flyers on Milwaukee Avenue,
but promoting your band isn¹t as easy at it once was. Only geeks go to
record stores, people can easily delete mass e-mails from your bandŠso how
do you bring people out in 2008? Jazz keyboardist Jim Baker, who hosts an
excellent residency at Logan Square¹s Hotti Biscotti Tuesday nights, has
figured out one potential way: Pay them. Instead of putting his resources
into T-shirts and postcards, Baker gives people anywhere from a few cents to
a dollar, just for ³dutifully listening.² And apparently, more people are
coming out. While we wouldn¹t advise other acts to similarly go for broke,
hey, take a cue from the man¹s inventiveness.‹Matthew Lurie


Find more ways to overcome sinking CD sales
Struggling labels in all genres would do well to look toward Chicago¹s
Thrill Jockey and Delmark Records for inspiration. Last year Thrill Jockey
launched Fina Music, a digital music store that not only showcases its own
bands, but many other labels as well. Meanwhile, the venerable blues and
jazz imprint Delmark has carved a new niche in the DVD market, which matches
faces to names for acts like Little Arthur Duncan, Nicole Mitchell and Ari
Brown. Label head Bob Koester won¹t divulge numbers, but says the DVDs have
sold beyond expectations, occasionally outselling the same artists¹
CDs.‹James Porter

Add a little originality to mainstream-jazz monikers
Take a careful look and tell us if you notice the common thread: Chicago
Jazz Orchestra, Chicago Jazz Ensemble, Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, Chicago
Jazz Composers Collective and Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble. Here¹s a
radical idea: Unless you want to sound faceless, get rid of the words
Chicago and jazz in your names. Avant-garde jazz groups have been a model of
cool-name christening for too long (take Loose Assembly, Who Cares How Long
You Sink, Frequency, Block and Tackle, to name a few). A name should spark
the imagination, not dull it.‹ML

Foster the live R&B scene
As acts like R. Kelly and Syleena Johnson have proved, our contemporary R&B
scene still thrives. The only hitch? Rising acts are forced straight into
the studio because there¹s nowhere for them to gig. Sure, you can go to
clubs like the Prop House and dance to newish soul grooves, while places
like Morseland and Funky Buddha Lounge have attempted to showcase local live
R&B talent, but if there is a black equivalent of the Double Door or the
Empty Bottle, we have yet to hear about it. No one is doing anything with
the New Regal building (a.k.a. Chicago¹s answer to the Apollo) on 79th
Street near Stony Island‹that could be a golden opportunity waiting in the
wings.‹JP

Continue to support all-ages shows
For a while there, things were looking dire for Chicago music fans under 21.
When the Fireside Bowl returned to being a bowling alley in 2004, the city
lost its legendary all-ages venue for underground music. The second blow
came in 2005, when the Fireside¹s would-be successor, the Bottom Lounge, was
shut down due to the CTA¹s Brown Line expansion. Good thing other venues
stepped up. Reggie¹s Rock Club opened in the South Loop last September; the
Empty Bottle¹s bookings beyond its flagship bar expanded to more all-ages
spaces (next up is Congress Theater starting in April); and other clubs are
doing the same. As for the Bottom Lounge? It plans to reopen in West Town in
February, giving us even more to look forward to in 2008.‹AS
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