5 Tips for Playing Successful Shows

19-Apr-2018 By Guest Blogger

Back To The Ocean Performing at Youbloom Festival

A few tips to playing successful shows

Imagine you just moved to a new town. No friends or musician pals, let alone connections with the local music scene. What do you do? The easy answer would be: get a band together and start playing successful shows , but that is not always the fastest track to local success.

When you’re trying to establish yourself as an artist in the local scene, your goal should not simply be to put a show together, but to put together a successful show. The difference is enormous. Here’s a few tips of how to make that happen.

1. Know your Target

As an artist, you should be crystal clear about what your skill set, goal and target is. An emerging artist should not count booking a show an end goal in itself.

The details are what matters the most: who is coming to catch your band play? Are you going to be performing for a near-empty room, with only your roommate and parents there to watch?

If you’re a rock ‘n’ roller, on the other hand, your natural habitat should be the DIY scene. Do your research. Who are the best local bands that gravitate towards your sound? Where do they usually play? Are they playing successful shows? Where do they go for a pint?

2. Be a Fan

Once you’ve gathered your data, take action. Go see their shows, follow them on social media, see what they’re up to and what their strategy is. Artists should learn from each others’ success as well as mistakes.

Back To The Ocean Playing successful shows at youbloom festival — If you’re a songwriter and producer you may wanna play acoustic rounds and hang out where the local songwriters are, rather than at a dive bar populated by rock bands.

3. Don’t be a Stranger

Most importantly, befriend these fellow rockers. Approach them after their show, buy them a beer and make friends. If you’re the shy type who likes to stand in the back and just enjoy the show, get another member of your band to be the social one. Or, fight yourself and make an effort to exchange a few words and perhaps a little booze with them.

Whether you’re a hit writer or an indie rocker, you never know where meeting new people may lead you. You might end up co-writing a number 1 hit on a chill afternoon session with a writer you met randomly at a show. Or, you might end up headlining a national tour with a small-time band that broke through – and all because you had the guts to go talk to them after a set at your local dive.

Don’t be afraid to push yourself out of your comfort zone, because that is what’s going to change your perspective on things and ultimately lead you to a more efficient strategy for your career.

4. Offer Up your Skills

Take time out of your own life to make friends with those acts that already establish themselves in the local scene. Ask if they would like you to open for them. That way you will most likely play to a room full of people who are probably into music or musicians themselves.

5. Schmooze

Playing Successful Shows at youbloom Festival — Back To The Ocean and Anna Christie perform at the youbloom Festival

By opening for your new-found friends, you’ll be making a name for yourself as a new band around town, and you’ll be gaining their fans in the process. Throw a nice after-party after the show where you can properly hang out with your new fans and you’ll have a recipe for success.

Networking and making friends is crucial and takes a lot of work and dedication. If you’re looking for a simpler way to join these networks, check out youbloom Connect – where you can get partnered to perform with other local artists, build a steady fan-base, and even get your band on the road. Whether you reach out, or decide to do it alone, do yourself a favor: get out more and meet like-minded people. Many of them might not be your next musical partner in crime, but the worst that’ll happen is you’ll have more friends.

Luca a freelance writer, blogger, musician and songwriter. Born and
raised in Italy, his passion for Rock n Roll made him move to London where he
lived for one year and gained a certificate in Songwriting from ICMP.
Luca relocated in NYC in 2014 to pursue jazz music and liberal arts at the
The New School from which he graduated in December 2017. Luca currently
reside in Nashville, TN

How youbloomConnect Works

16-Apr-2018 By Robert Loustaunau

youbloomConnect is a global community of Artists, Fans, and Hosts – curating unique shows to create unforgettable experiences

No band is an island.

But a lot of the time they’re treated like they are. Whether you’re an artist, venue host, or just a fan of great music, we’re all looking for the same thing: each other. youbloomConnect helps you find what you’re looking for. When artists join youbloom, they enter a network of exceptional musicians to partner and perform with. Fans request their favorite bands to come play local shows while youbloom finds the venues to make it happen. By uniting fan, artist, and host on one platform, youbloomConnect makes it uncommonly simple for you to curate an unforgettable, live experiences.

Here’s how it works:

youbloomConnect For Fans

Connect works to deliver amazing experiences for fans by empowering them to create the shows they want to see. Fans can initiate a show with their favorite artists by requesting them. Connect works to make the show happen. Fans can also help the show to happen by becoming a Street Team Fan.

From the moment you request an artist, to the night of the show, youbloomConnect will keep you in the loop. You’ll receive weekly emails that show the stats for your requested artists, upcoming performances, and local shows we’ve hand-picked for you. When enough fans request the same artists as you, they are notified, and a show is organized. Once the show is set up, there is a 5 day period when fans who successfully brought a band to their city can buy tickets at a 15% discount, before being offered to the public. Updates on all requested artists, upcoming youbloom shows, and fan signup forms to share via social media, arrive in your weekly email from youbloom.

Request as a Fan

What is a Street Team Fan?

Exceptional fans have the opportunity to join the Street Team, working behind the scenes, with bands, and nabbing some extra perks in the process. Street Team fans promote their favorite artists across social media and increase fan sign ups locally. They help make the buzz around town when a youbloom band is on the way.

We will keep track of how many fans you get to sign up, and let you know how you’re doing in a weekly email. Street Team members will receive all the benefits of fans plus 1 free ticket to see their favorite artist for every 4 tickets sold for that artist. Once a show is scheduled, we’ll let you know so you can start promoting sales and earn your tickets.

youbloomConnect For Artists

Artists use youbloomConnect to maximize performance opportunities and in turn, ticket and merch sales. Once signed on as a youbloom artist, we search the entire youbloomConnect database to find you artists similar in genre, fanbase, and travel radius. We then provide you with artist matches in a weekly email that you can pair with and promote through social media and other channels. Connect works to get you performing together.

As an Artist, you’ll also receive updates from hosts who would like to host you! Usually, a show does not take place for at least a month after it has been set up to allow time for youbloom, artists, fans, street team fans, and hosts to market the show. When signing up as an Artist, you’ll have the option to host intimate youbloom shows of your own, by opening up your own home or studio as a Connect space. By different bands working together, it becomes easy to reliably plan a tour, fill venues, grow an audience, and sell more tickets and merch, sustaining music careers locally and globally!

Apply as an Artist

youbloomConnect For Hosts

A host can be a promoter or just a venue. They use youbloomConnect to book artists. With bands working together to produce a show, and fans/Street Team members confirming ticket pre-sales, hosts can book bands with better reliability that the show is going to bring in people and turn a profit. When artists have gained enough fan requests in a city, Connect notifies local hosts and begins organizing shows. Artist and hosts are brought together to foster new relationships and accelerate shows taking place.

What is a City-Rep?

Similar to the Street-Team fan playing a more dynamic role in requesting artists, the City-Rep can be a host or promoter who has established a relationship with youbloomConnect and plays an integral role in showcasing incoming youbloom talent in their city. For more information on how to become a City-Rep, email us at: cityreps@youbloom.com.

For more information on how youbloomConnect works, refer to our FAQ page. If you want to hear our story, visit the About Uspage.

Also, check out youbloom’s music festivals held in Dublin, Ireland and Los Angeles, California every year.

Our music summit and festival is where fans, promoters, and hosts discover and request upcoming talent. Artists can learn the essentials of navigating the industry while showcasing at nightly concerts and and meeting music industry leaders through seminars and networking.

See youbloomLA, youbloomDublin and youbloomConnect FAQs.

Our Mission

youbloom’s mission is to enable amazing experiences through a combination of curated shows, fan experience optimization, fan crowdsourcing, artist partnering and host matching.

youbloom Showcases Irish Artists at Germany’s Music Expo: Musikmesse

02-Apr-2018 By Robert Loustaunau

Musikmesse, Europe’s leading music production trade fair, is set to unveil its first-ever musical showcase

Set in the commercial hotbed of Frankfurt, Musikmesse is most known for its massive musical instrument expo. This year, the trade show will expand its scope with a live music portion showcasing Europe’s rising talent. Over the course of 3 nights (April 11 -13), leading music companies from Russia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary and Ireland will be presenting their finest artists.

Last year, Musikmesse partnered with Prolight + Sound to bring in over 100 thousand visitors from 144 countries. As the trade show continues to revolutionize the music industry and tech scene, that number is expected to swell. And an audience rich with exhibitors and burgeoning artists makes Musikmesse a networking hot spot on par with SXSW.

youbloom, the international music company based in Ireland will be showcasing three emerging artists at this year’s Musikmesse: Dreaming Of Jupiter ,Shane Ó Fearghail and Candice Gordon.

youbloom will be featuring artists like Dreaming of Jupiter at the Musikmesse Festival 2018. emmanuel hammond photography blessedlens.

According to youbloom’s CEO Phil Harrington, “youbloom Dublin obviously has a clear interest in showcasing Irish talent abroad and Musikmesse -Frankfurt clearly offers a great platform for connecting our scene with potential new international business partners. Yet, there is more to it for the overall youbloom brand portfolio, as we’re currently launching a new online service, targeting musicians worldwide, called youbloomConnect.”

The showcases will take place at Hotel Maritim, right next to Messe Frankfurt, from 6:00pm – 10:00pm each night on April 11th,12 and 13th, 2018 .

The youbloomConnect Irish artists are:
Dreaming Of Jupiter – www.dreamingofjupiter.com
Shane Ó Fearghail – www.shaneofearghail.com
Candice Gordon – www.candicegordonmusic.com

For further details please contact:
Robert Loustaunau
robert@youbloom.com
phone: 657 – 348 – 9662
www.youbloom.com

About youbloom

youbloom’s vision is to make live music performance easier and better for all.

youbloomDublin launched in 2013, youbloomLA in 2014 and youbloomConnect in 2018, for more info, visit www.youbloom.com

youbloom was created and is supported by musicians and industry experts including Bob Geldof, Rupert Hine (Renowned Music Producer), Mike Bone (Music Industry Veteran) and Phil Harrington (Entrepreneur, Musician, and Founder of youbloom).

Connect with youbloom on social media for more music industry insider secrets on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & LinkedIn.

Musical Medicine

22-Mar-2018 By Josey Dunbar

Have you ever stopped to wonder why music is everywhere you go? Why these unavoidable tonal patterns are essential to human life and apparent in every aspect of society?
Maybe it’s a nice distraction from daily life, or maybe it’s much deeper than that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Music philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, made this claim by insisting that humans ‘listen to music with their muscles’ through the use of facial expressions, keeping rhythm, and using their bodies to sing along. He projected music as something which requires the whole person rather than a mere half-listening ear.

Scientists have found that the act of simply experiencing music with others stimulates a ‘binding of the nervous system’ which can physically heal people. So hooray! Every musician can be a doctor! (Sort of).

Studies have shown that there are certain places in the brain most stimulated by the rhythmic sequences of sound. The Auditory Cortex (a fitting title) is primarily part of the temporal lobe on either side of the brain and the cells within are organized depending on their ability to receive high or low frequencies.
The Cerebellum is located at the back of the brain and is the body’s center for rhythm balance and coordination. The Center for Neuroskills attributes a musicians ability move their body to play their instrument as envisioned, is all thanks to a highly functioning Cerebellum.
And Finally, The Limbic System gives you the ability to react to music with your emotions, and feel the pleasure of a song you love. Disease researchers have also noted this as the place where humans feel music rather than hear it.

While our brain is busy experiencing the influence of this amazing art, our bodies, minds and nervous systems are able to improve with the simple influence of these tone patterns.

One mind-blowing study conducted by a series of educators in music, drafted the hypothesis that performing a musical instrument can protect the human brain from degenerative diseases. This was based off the scientific evidence that playing an instrument improves cognitive ability.
In order to prove this theory, music educators studied twins; this would eliminate favorable genetics as an indication for dementia prevention. The results of the study showed that musicians who play well into adult hood were thirty-six percent less likely to develop dementia.

Another fascinating discovery showed that playing an instrument leads to a higher IQ in early adulthood. In this study, researchers found that children under ten who had a sole year of instrumental music lessons had a significantly higher intellectual quotient than those who did not attempt to learn.

So now that you know how powerful music can be in the human brain, you may be wondering how to take it even further to develop some supernatural abilities (at least I am). Sadly, no discovered have been made on that —yet— however, there are several ways for us to best utilize the gift of music.

Music can be used for reduce stress and depression through improving mood, reducing stress, boosting immunity and aiding social bonding.
It can also lead to enhances in cognition. Through learning to play an instrument, even as a beginner, you will improve certain high brain functions which truly can enhance brain development.
3) Finally, don’t forget to use music as a memory booster. Science have found that music can be used on young brains to retain formation and enhance learning.

To take your insight of how music can brighten your day, please try youbloom connect. For more details, please check https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI6_Rg3fNgQ

Josey is a content writer for youbloom as well as a member of the marketing team. She is music obsessed and a diehard Tom Petty fan. Josey currently lives outside of Los Angeles where she enjoys excessively sunny days, train adventures and organic chai (yes, Josey is high-maintenance about her chai).

ELLYD Interview Part1

23-Feb-2018 By Robert Loustaunau

ELLYD has played on some of Ireland’s best stages including Electric Picnic, The Secret Village Festival, Battle of the Lake Festival, The Button Factory, Whelans, and The Workmans Club. In January, the young folk-singer released her latest EP, Lighthouse, accompanied by an Irish tour which she is now in the midst of. In between gigs, ELLYD found some time to answer my questions about her career and where she sees her music taking her next.

You’re in the middle of an Irish tour right now. How is that? Where are you visiting?

Yeah it’s been great so far. I’ve been playing various venues with very different vibes so it’s been so much fun. I started off this tour with a private show at Davey Davey Salon in Dublin. Then I played at The Ruby Sessions, followed by my official launch for my EP ‘Lighthouse‘ at The Underground. I was in The Gallery Wine Bar in Westport at the start of the month and my next gig on this particular tour will be in The Spirit Store on March 15th. The wonderful Elga Fox will be joining me again so I’m very excited for that one.

How has this tour been different from your previous tour in Germany?

Germany was amazing and I really hope to go back soon. The venues I played over there were very intimate and the audiences were insanely attentive. The venues I’m playing in Ireland are mostly bigger and therefore not as intimate so it’s different in that sense. Also, over there I never knew what to expect, from the venue, sound, and the crowd. Whereas over here, I’ve a bit more of an idea. The beer is better in Germany though :)!

I’ve gotta ask, is that you in the jabawokee mask in the Lighthouse music video?

It is!

Could you tell us more about the ideas influencing the video and music for “Lighthouse?”

This song started out about a young man who didn’t feel he could go on in this world anymore. It’s obviously a sad, emotional song and I wanted to reflect that in the music. Originally the video was being made by an outside company but that fell through because of weather issues so I had to quickly come up with a different concept.

Because I was making this video myself, I needed it to be simple but effective. My friend Emma helped me out a lot and did some of the camera work for me. I wanted something that would stand out in a meaningful way so that’s where the mask came in. I suppose the idea behind the mask was that this song is not about just one person, it’s about many. The person behind the mask could be anyone.

There were times in the past when I was afraid to share songs because it made me feel very vulnerable and now that vulnerability is an ally in my creative world.

What kind of music/bands are you listening to right now?

Right now this minute, I’m listening to Dermot Kennedy. The past few days I’ve been listening a lot to VINCI’s new tune ‘We Are Ghosts‘ and James Brown has made his way back into my ears this past week too.

What’s the best show you’ve ever played? Why?

It’s hard to top Electric Picnic – just because it’s Electric Picnic.

Strangest show?

I remember I did a small Irish tour with my friend and singer/songwriter Thomas John. This one night we had a gig in Fanad – a beautiful part of Donegal. There was a small shop a few miles away that we walked to the next morning and TJ brought his guitar with us for some reason. We were just walking down this narrow country road with a guitar and singing songs.

Keep writing, keep learning and keep it fresh.

Anyway when we got to the shop (that was also a post office, chemist, butchers – you name it) the owner became a bit curious and asked us to play a few tunes. More customers came in and we kept playing. We were there for hours! It was such a mad little morning and nobody left until we did. Was definitely the strangest impromptu show I’ve ever been involved in!

You’ve come back to youbloom festivals. What benefit do you think networks like youbloom and youbloomConnect provide up and coming artists?

It’s of huge benefit. I’ve always said this music business is an endless learning environment and what better way to learn than from other people who are actually involved in this business, in whatever form. There’s such a great variety of music and people from various parts of the world that attend the youbloom Festivals.

What type of support do you think is most beneficial to independent artists trying to become successful/well-known.

Radio play, radio play, radio play.

With her EP “Lighthouse” now out and a tour underway, 2018 is bound to be a hectic and promising year for EllyD. Next week we will be releasing the rest of our interview with the artist and you can find plenty more of EllyD on YouTube and Spotify and at @ELLYDMUSIC on twitter. Youbloom is striving to help talented, independent artists gain the attention they deserve. If you like what we’re doing here, check out our newest development, youbloomConnect, where we help artists to find their fan base.

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