Many people seemed to be confused by the function of the Wild Weekend. Here are letters of correspondence that I hope are informative for all concerned and will lay some concerns to rest.

Letter #1

Hello Nadine:

First off, I want to give you a very hardy thank you for the Wild Weekend. It seemed, by all accounts, a rousing success.

Nonetheless, I was wondering about a few things. What was the total draw of the event? What was your overhead? What was your agreement with each of the venues? Did you get 100% of the door at each show? In the spirit of frankness, I guess what I want to know is: what's in it for me?

Considering we brought in AT LEAST 150 people (probably closer to 200), at $10 a head, and bands were only paid $50 apiece (which meant $300 total paid out to bands at my gig), I'm just wondering what the ultimate incentive is for bands to play the festival. Each band payed $30 just for the right to even be considered for your event, which didn't guarantee that they would be accepted to play. How many bands submitted demos? Considering we spent at least $20 to print flyers to hand out and promote the show, we were lucky to just break even. Bands were told they would be playing in front of industry insiders, etc. I must say, I saw no insiders, except for the guy who played guitar in Psychefunkapus. So, if my band is supposed to forsake money that we normally would make for our hard work in lieu of getting attention and exposure, I just have to know, what attention and exposure did we get that we don't already get? The show my band played that night was very typical of the kind of show we normally put on, in terms of draw, etc., and we usually get a $300 guarantee. If 129 bands played at your event at $50 each, that's $6450. At 24 venues over the course of the weekend (can I assume it was $10 a head at each show?), you would have had to have an average of around 27 people at each show to make your money for each of the bands.

I know (as I'm sure all of the bands do) that there were many expenses involved in putting on the event, so please don't take the directness of this email as my being antagonistic. It's just a curious question from a curious individual, and is to be taken as nothing more than constructive criticism. I encourage and appreciate your feedback in the hopes of doing everything I can to help unify our music scene and make it better. Thank you for your time and attention.
Regards, anonymous nww2002 band

Reply:
Hi anonymous nww 2002,

In regards to your earlier questions... what is in NWW for you?

Without the Wild Weekend, I doubt that your song would have had the chance to be heard and picked (not in a paid contest by by merit) to be on a compilation CD in 13 Northern California Tower stores... a CD advertised on the radio for two weeks and advertised in a newspaper for three weeks and advertised on the web indefinitely.

Without the Wild Weekend, I doubt that your song would have had a chance to be played on LIVE 105 as a 'happening' new song on "Fast Forward" and I doubt that anyone, on any radio station, would have taken the time to actually talk about your band and encourage them to go see your show, as I did on air.

If you are in it for the money, you are in it for the wrong reasons, as I can well attest from personal experience. The facts are this: we did 112 paid at your venue, your evening, meaning we barely broke even after paying the club's fee, paying the bands, paying the backline costs, stage and production management.

That of course does not even consider the six month cost of the event from start to finish...staffing, time and money spent reviewing CDs, contacting clubs and bands...And then there is the advertising, radio, print, placement in Tower Records, CD manufacturing, web services, internet services, industry outreach, industry newsletters, printing, graphics, rentals etc. etc. etc.

I'm proud to say I pay all my staff, on all levels, at least something...AND I pay the bands...when was the last time you got money from cmj? sxsw? eat'm? That application fee is nominal in comparison to other festivals and our expenses. AND once again, we also provided all bands that applied with informational resources of equal or greater value.

The one month limit on playing is only for clubs in San Francisco- we do not limit playing anywhere else in the Bay Area. We enact this rule to help ensure bands have their best draw for our sake and their's. So despite your claims that you " brought in AT LEAST 150 people (probably closer to 200)" as one of 6 bands, your draw was more accurately 18.66 people.

The point of NWW is multi-faceted...to let the industry know we are here (and yes they do come and were at your venue both nights)...but also to celebrate SF music, to break the isolation of rehearsal studios, to meet, talk, connect and reenergize, to move forward with a greater sense of appreciation, knowing that you, as a musician, are part of something special, are supported and are respected. It's about promoting a LOT of talent, not just a few bands, making people aware of the talent in this area and helping bands gain some much needed momentum.

I had a blast and hope you did too. However, if you are unhappy, or don't understand the event, simply don't apply next year. There are a wealth of music activities here, and mine is only one of them.
Very Best Regards, Nadine Condon
Executive Producer

Letter #2

Hello, I was have been reading all the Nadine bashing happening on Craigslist over the past few weeks and wanted to get your side of the story. I’m trying to keep an open mind. So I was curious, can you tell me about any industry contacts that last year's bands made, if any, as a result of a rep seeing a particular band during the weekend? (I have not heard much of any of those bands in the past year.) Did any deals get made? Any contracts signed? Do these "reps" actually watch the shows or do they hang out at the bar and have everyone kiss their ass while they get drunk on free piss?

Do you know the status of any of those deals now a year later? Also, why do you have to accept money from bands that you know you are going to reject? It would seem more pure and less corrupt for you to go out to the clubs during the year and scout out groups that have a good, professional sound, look with a good size following and then approach them with an offer to play your weekend. Maybe you already do that, I don’t know.

Thx for your time.

Reply

Hello, I didn't read the "Nadine" bashing on craigslist. I was too busy working on the Weekend to pay it much mind. Anyone who goes to my sites knows the kind of person I am. But I am happy to answer your questions to the best of my ability.

Your questions are not easy to answer because it requires a true understanding of how the business actually works and few people really understand the actual machinations of the major labels. Art and commerce is not the enemy... artist frustration is the enemy. Frustration comes from not educating yourself to the realities of your chosen artistic field ... or an inability to understand the importance of negotiating what you want versus what you are willing to compromise, i.e. the realities of life.

In 2001, several bands last year got offers from major labels ON THE SPOT, after their shows...but they turned them down, hoping something better (i.e. more money) would come along. Today, those bands are still struggling. Several other bands developed relationships with industry reps that led to a)demo deals, where labels pay for bands to record new material, to see if they like them and b) contacts where the labels introduced them to songwriters or producers to work with on a spec (speculation) basis.

Part of what the Wild Weekend does is stress making industry relationships...it's a real process, not the movies. This is called artist developement. One way to begin this process is to start making friends in the companies so that your music develops as their business careers develop. Artist developement has been dropped by major labels. It's up to festivals like my own to encourage, support and nurture it.

In today's major label world if the president of a company wanted to sign you tomorrow it would still take 9 months of shows and more to get it settled and atleast 18 months to get a record out...you have to make sure product managers, A&R dept, publicity, promotion folks are all on the same page. - this is an oversimplification of things, but should give you the gist of how it is a "process"....

This year, 2002, I'd say a good 30-40 bands had interest from labels that went to see them. If you think that number is too small, you should realize that of 100 tapes submitted to a record label, 10 have possiblities, 3 might get demo money or production or songwriting help and the chances that 1 of those 3 might get a deal are about 20% of that. Brutal but true. That's why it's more important than ever to champioin local music, so musicians keep playing. That is my main concern- to keep musicians playing, so they can find their true voices.

Now whether or not reps get drunk or not is not my concern. I just get them here. I can't force them to be good boys and girls. Also, I can't make them talk to certain bands or go see bands. Bands need to make themsleves attractive to industry reps through good music demos, good sets, good advance promo... to assist this process, I write a detailed tipsheet of the nww bands to give them a leg up with the industry. I introduce people around whenever possible. I am devoted to artist develpement. As I said in the SF Chronicle, it's not about getting signed, it's about making music....

I promote the event and a lot of talent. Industry people know that I have major label taste, so they are willing to come up here and see talent over one convenient weekend, professionally packaged into a well run and well informed event. And bands can come see each other, hang out, break the isolation of their rehearsal halls and actually be lauded and paid, and gain some much needed momentum and attention.

I do not go in to any Weekend knowing who will play and who won't play. I would never reject anyone outright without listening to the music. The application fee is nominal in comparison to other festivals and our actual expenses. We also provide all bands that applied with informational resources of equal or greater value. This is a very expensive event to produce with an expensive club overhead, backline costs, production and stage mangement, talent costs, radio advertising, print advertising, industry outreach etc.

We DO scout bands all year long, and yes of course we look for bands with good sound, good draw, good music. This is the best of the best, not a popularity contest. I have a 20 + year reputation in this business, not just in this town, all over the country and the world. I've had bands eventually get signed off of every single show I've done, dating back to 1990.

This is not American Idol. I believe in assisting people with their career choices so they continue to be creative, regardless of how they are judged by the outside world....not whether they are the latest flavor of the month. I try to help bands establish their own criteria of success, not MTV's criteria or your criteria.

I can tell you do not know much about the music business ( this is not a put down) and I can also tell you were seriously misled by whatever you read on the net. I don't know what you're talking about in regards to corruption and purity. I encourage you to go to my sites to get a clearer picture of what I and my colleagues actually do. We are professionals. We believe in doing, not talking.

Thank you very much for taking the time to research this more thoroughly and please continue to support local music.

Very best regards,
Nadine Condon Executive producer

Other Questions

Q) Does submitting $30 ensure my band a spot during the Weekend?
A) No, the submission fees are used to cover administrative costs as well as publicity to make sure the event is a huge success and everyone who has an interest in live, original music doesn’t miss a thing.

Q) Why can't I play in the city in August?
A) You are being asked to not book any other "club shows" in the City of San Francisco during August. This only means club shows. It does not include noontime shows, free parking lot shows, college shows, or shows outside of SF . Please understand the reason: NWW is a showcase weekend and we want to be sure to highlight your performance in its best possible light. That includes making sure you have the best turnout possible of your supporting fans. Competing SF shows in the same month will dilute not only the importance of your NWW appearance but your fan base.

Q) What does a showcase mean and why is this different from just another show?
A) Nadines Wild Weekend shows are real showcases, which means that your band will be seen by music industry professionals along with the general public.

Q) If I already sent Nadine or Motogirl or K-Line PR or SFmusician a package. Do I have to send another?
A) Yes, you must send another package along with your check. All of the people involved in Nadines Wild Weekend use your packages for different purposes and each use if different.