Help! What genre is my band?

Hi,

Not being in a band, I have to admit that it might be different for me as a writer, although I am published and listed in the National Library of Canada, I have to admit, that in many ways that was a side effect of the poetry and work I did.

I don't like to say that you have to know or limit your audience, the main reason why being that if you are so far and away an original that no one can copy or know how to do, none of those "groups" will exactly appreciate or understand your work, and your ability gets dropped into the tank even more.

popeyethecat wrote: ...  Currently our audience is friends and family and maybe 3 people who saw us in a pub once and liked it  When Yes did CTTE they had a big record label and management backing them and they could offload the marketing tasks to others.  ...

I am not convinced, or sure, that any band that was ever managed in those days by a label did not have something special, or peculiar to their ability, which is what got them there in the first place. Later in the late 70's, it became about the copy, and the next copy and the next copy, and everyone forgot what music was about in the first place, and the "hit" now replaced the love for the music itself ... today, even PA lives by its "Top 5" and listings, and in one thread a year ago or so, I complained ... at least 25 of the "top 100" were repeat listings with a different album, and that means that at least 24 other bands were totally ignored by many folks that supposedly "voted" for so much of this crap! Several folks amended their listings immediately, so they agreed with me, you could say ... it's about the music, not your favorites!!!

All it tells you is that you are convinced that putting things within a certain area is going to help you get more attention ... and maybe what you might want to do is just do what Steven Wilson did ... he ignored that label thing and sold cassettes of an imaginary band he created in his garage, by himself!!!! Guess what ... everyone bit all of a sudden and many hats and dressed folks showed up at his door in the next couple of years!

The marketing is an "illusion" that lasts for a while ... and the only truth worth listening to, is the one you create and live by ... that has the ability to help you get somewhere without being told what to do, or how to do it, so it can sell a bit more.

You have to believe in your work and its fruition ... and above all, yourself ... not an imaginary audience that "tomorrow" is going to tell you that they are not this or that anymore and lost their feeling!

You have to have some respect for the audience, but you have to let them go. As we say in theater, if you do 100 shows ... not one audience will be the same as any other! And if that does not teach you anything, you are in the wrong business!