How to Gain Exposure as an Artist, Find New Artists or Get the Experience You Want at Music Festivals   

If you are a music-lover and festival-goer, whether you’ve traveled hundreds of miles to attend, or have simply used a sizeable chunk of that coveted Personal Leave, odds are you’ve been planning this odyssey for months now.  With the big shindig finally here, are you prepared for anything and everything?  Do you know how to fest like a pro?

Music Festivals provide prime opportunities for networking, artist discovery and advancing music careers.  Regardless of if you’re scouting for new talent, an artist trying to get noticed, or simply a lover of live music, there are a few keys to having the festival experience you envisioned.  To help you get there, here are tips and tricks of the trade gathered from the most seasoned of festival-attenders and industry insiders.

Advice for Artists

The most important aspect of your musical career is, of course, getting your music heard.  This can mean marketing your work, creating the brand and image you want to portray to your audience, or simply getting your songs heard.  But how do you do those things?  Do you know how to book a world tour?  Who is promoting the music you’re creating?

Answer: festivals provide the ideal environment to meet the people who make these things happen.  So as much as you want to hit that day party or hang out in the artist tent, attend a Panel or Keynote speech.  The SXSW Music Conference, for instance, offers a plethora of them, covering everything from how to make money when you self-produce your album to what you do when your lead guitarist ends up in rehab.  They are a goldmine of free musical education from the people who have actually made a living in the crazy world called the music business.

When you do hit the day parties, take note of the labels sponsoring them.  Meet as many people as possible and find out what they do.  Don’t just market your music at these events, market yourself – on the business end, it’s you as an individual that the labels and managers will likely be working with, so present them with someone who is driven to learn and succeed.  The key to being able to play music full-time is to have a great team of people to handle everything else for you – so use your festival downtime to meet some future prospects or simply benefit from some of their words of wisdom.

Scouting the Best Festival Talent

With hundreds (and in some cases, thousands) of acts featured on the bill for music festivals, finding the next big artist can be like searching for a needle in a haystack.  If you’re attending a music festival with the intent of signing or acquiring new bands, then odds are you don’t have a lot of time to waste.  To maximize your talent hunt, there are a few things you can do to help yourself out in the long run:

• Doing your homework is crucial.  Know your must-sees, who is generating buzz online, and whose shows are starting to sell out.
• Look into the bands headlining smaller venues or stages – these are often unsigned artists that people are starting to take notice of.
• Conversely, see who all the non-festival-goers are going to see at the day parties or post-fest night shows.  These are the artists who appeal to more than the consummate live music fan; they are the bands getting the homebodies out of the house.

Most festivals showcase a few of their hometown heroes on the bill.  These are groups of musicians and songwriters with whom an entire city has fallen in love, and that’s not something to be taken lightly.  Many of the major festivals happen in what are deemed “music cities,” so know that these local fans have plenty of talent to choose from.  Get to know who the local favorites are and how often people from their hometown still want to see them play – odds are it’s a band the rest of the country would pay to see live, too.

Festival Survival Tips

No matter your reason for attending a music festival, the long days and longer nights can take their toll pretty quickly.  To make sure you survive the entirety intact and have your best fest ever, here are a few tried and true tips from seasoned festival-goers.

• Fashion Vs. Comfort – When attending a multi-day music festival, it’s important to get familiar with the clothes in your closet that achieve both fashion-forwardness and comfort.  Festivals often inspire a more laid-back, boho approach to street style that can open the door for you to take some fashion risks you might not normally in your daily life.  Say, pairing a cute dress with a pair of Chuck Taylors, or splurging on a pair of designer overalls (hey, I said they might be fashion risks).
• Festival Footwear – Hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers embark upon a single city over the course of just a few days.  There are lines to get into the venues, lines to get to the bar, lines to cross the street… lines, lines, everywhere a line.  While a lovely pair of sandals might seem like the perfect footwear for a balmy spring or summer fest, you leave your tootsies open to a litany of foot assaults from other, more heavily-clad feet.  I know they perfectly complement your new romper, and they’re sooo comfy, but do your feet a favor and arm them with the protection they need from other drunken, boot-clad attendees.
• Maximize your Day Partying – When big festivals come to town, big businesses do, too.  The throngs of eager consumers provide the perfect platform to plug some product, and beer, liquor and food companies tend to take full advantage of this.  For the thrifty fester, these day parties can be a budget game-changer.  Stop in to a tent or event sponsored by a local eatery or brewery to nosh on some great eats and local brews on the cheap.  Odds are they’ve booked bands to draw a crowd too, so you’re likely to catch a great set while you’re there.
• Beyond Clothing — What To Pack – There are a few essentials that can make or break your fest. Some items you should always keep on hand that are probably not already on your must-pack list are a portable rechargeable battery, sunscreen, band-aids and ear plugs.  They may seem trivial, but a wicked sunburn, massive foot blisters and a constant ringing in your ears can really put a damper on your week.

And of course, from one music lover to another, the best advice I can give you is to be open-minded – look up from your phone every now and then!  Be present.  Meet new people, fall in love with new bands; rediscover the simple joys of adventure and experience.  In the end, following that advice will ultimately lead to a festival experience that you’ll remember for years to come.