Every week we see another article that warns artists of the plagues of moving to a city like New York, LA or Chicago. While many of the arguments are indeed good and work as some generalizations and not the worst advice for some bands. Though like most generalizations this theory has some flaws. Follow me to the jump for another perspective on an a theory you will hear spouted all of the time.
Let’s get some disclaimers out of the way first.
- I am a lifelong NYC resident, growing up in the suburbs and living there at every moment I have had the choice to do so. I love NYC so you can take that bias as you will.
- I do think that theory that you shouldn’t move to some cities works if you have no confidence in your talents or will be looking for gigs as a “session player” in which case this can be a very overly saturated market and it may be better to cut your teeth elsewhere.
With all of that said I will make a simple argument that most of these articles neglect. It is 2009 and much of what makes or breaks bands of many genres in this day and age is blogs. If you are a musician who wants to make a living in any dance, indie rock, or any other of the more “hip” genres out there you would be a fool not to be in NYC. The fact is that nearly every taste making blog and the writers of these blogs live in this city, the few who don’t usually reside in LA or Chicago. Playing and living in NYC gives you more opportunities to get in front of these people and fall into their social circles (and if you think nepotism and being in the social circles of some of these writers doesn’t get average to below average band’s press, I would say you definitely don’t know the writers and bands I do). The fact of the matter is that on any given night you can meet another person who can take your music far. That does not happen in Oklahoma. These blogs based out of Brooklyn spread their taste across the country and serve as the bellweater for the rest of the musical climate. Taking over Austin may help but, if you have something good it can be a lot faster and easier to spread it in NYC.
Secondly, there is an argument that is often made that there thousands of things to do on any given night in NYC and it is near impossible to get someone to come to what you are doing. Where as in a small town like Boise there may be a dozen things to do. The statistic that is missing is that there are millions of more people looking to do something (in fact 8 million more people live in NYC than Boise, brining it to 32% more populated). Every city has a flavor and genres that do better.
Some dance groups can’t even play in certain US cities since their are virtually no fans of their genre (I have seen the soundscans of bands that sell 15K in NYC with 10 sales in Louisiana), when making a strategy for a move for your music you need to think about where this music exists and is vital. To argue that a indie rock band shouldn’t move to NYC in 2009 is silly when nearly all of the dominating acts in the genre come out of a few square miles. Use your head and look at your genre and which cities are moving and shaking and recognize that close proximity to the taste makers and the masses of a music mecca can do big things for your music’s ability to spread.