Brendan O'Hara performs with his band, The Big Bounce, at the Colony Theater during a CD release party for 'Champagne & Apple Juice'. (Chris Cutro / The Miami Herald)
BY SALVATORE FAZIO AND ADRIANA GALINDO
The most important lesson Brendan O’Hara, 29, has learned from entertaining exclusive nightclub audiences is the value of flexibility and independence in the music business.
“You have to trust the creative side of yourself, but adjust to the market,” said O’Hara, lead vocalist, pianist, guitarist and co-manager of Brendan O’Hara and the The Big Bounce Collective, which has successfully played at South Florida venues for the past two years.
Galena Mosovich, 27, the band’s co-manager and director of public relations and marketing, agrees. The secret to self-advancement in today’s music industry business, she said, is “Indipreneurship” — a creative and independent approach to following entrepreneurship principles.
“We don’t necessarily follow the traditional model of success in the music business, she said. “We are not signed to a major or an independent label. We do all of our business development, business and fan relations, marketing and social networking.”
Since forming its entrepreneurial music effort in 2008, The Big Bounce Collective has racked up more than 1,000 fans on the Facebook social network, an average of 33,000 website hits per month and an e-mail list of about 3,000 people.The Hollywood act has performed in art festivals, corporate functions and upscale nightclubs including Miami’s Florida Room at The Delano and the Clevelander in South Beach, Blue Martini in Miami and the chic club Ella in New York City’s East Village.
The Big Bounce isn’t alone. Increasingly, bands are abandoning the search for international record deals in favor of self-managed careers, said Serona Elton, entertainment industry consultant and assistant professor in the Music Business & Entertainment Industries study program at the University of Miami.
“It’s a trend more today than ever before,” said Elton. “There are more opportunities to make a living as a performing musician in terms of live shows versus an old-school model where everybody seeks an elusive record deal that turns them into a superstar.”
According to the Nielsen Soundscan, which tracks sales of music and music video products in the United States and Canada, only 2.1 percent of the 97,751 albums released in 2009 sold more than 5,000 units.
“If you’re trying to become a household name and sell millions of units, it probably won’t happen unless you are able to align yourself with an entity that has both the experience and the money to back the marketing effort it would take to do that,” said Elton, who worked eight years for record company giant EMI.
O’Hara understands that all too well.
“There’s no real record deal. There aren’t many out there,” he said. “At this point I’d rather cover my own risks and rewards. It’s not a secret that the major label model is sort of like drug trafficking, where they only invest if the profit margin is worth the risk.”
The Big Bounce recently released its first studio album, Champagne & Apple Juice, a self-financed and self-promoted effort distributed through Tunecore, a service that places songs for download in the virtual shelves of music stores such as iTunes, Rhapsody and Amazon.
Most of the funding for the album came from live performance revenue, which on average ranges from $1,000 to $3,000 per show, said Mosovich. For 2010, gross revenues from The Big Bounce’s live performances is projected at over $100,000.
That live performance schedule does more than just finance the album: It has helped build the band’s buzz. For more than 23 months, The Big Bounce has played hotspots including Florida Room at The Delano, one of Miami Beach’s most exclusive lounging hotspots, where O’Hara plays each Tuesday night.
“The Florida Room has been an incredible part of the genesis of taking this music into a specific demographic,” O’Hara said. “We targeted an audience that prides itself on being part of that which is hip.”
Whether The Big Bounce performs its original bluesy hip-pop hybrid music as a voice and piano setup or as eight-piece group with horns is a client’s choice. That ability to expand or contract the band’s size — and the price that goes with it — is a key selling point.
“At the smallest, The Big Bounce could just be me,” O’Hara said. “We’ve learned, over the course of the gigs, how to do a gig and keep your cost low and your profit high.”
Until April, The Big Bounce had two permanent members: O’Hara and vocal percussionist Michael Rodney, 22, known as Komakozie. After the album’s release, the pair split. To fill out the band, O’Hara uses the same strategy as when they were a duo, hiring local musicians already familiar with his sound.
Another successful strategy: Get the audience onto the dance floor.
At the release concert for Champagne & Apple Juice at Miami Beach’s Colony Theater, dozens of concertgoers took over the stage, turning it into a dance floor.
“They are great performers and they get the crowd involved,” said Carla Crotts, 29, who has followed The Big Bounce’s local performances for more than a year.
The group’s rise to local celebrity status has also sparked the interest of sponsors, in part because of The Big Bounce’s appeal to nightlife-savvy business professionals.
“We’re lucky to have a clientele that can justify spending $12-20 on a cocktail,” O’Hara said. “They figure, ‘Hell, my bill is already $60. What’s another $15-20 for a CD?’ “
To help offset the cost of organizing the recent album release concert, Mosovich forged a partnership with Russian Standard Vodka.
It was an easy decision, said Russian Standard Vodka’s South Florida market manager Kristin Pietrantonio.
“The Big Bounce has a very strong Miami following, and our brand is huge in Miami,” said Pietrantonio. “The people who follow the band are our target audience, so it seemed like a natural partnership.”
For others embarking on an independent music career, Moskovich has this advice: Take baby steps.
“Start small and build a foundation base before you start piling on the expenses.”
8/08/2010
Making it locally in music equal parts entrepreneurship, showmanship | Palm Beach Entertainment: Events, movies, restaurants, nightlife & more
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