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Zone's Eye View of "The Nashville New Music Conference" aka "2NMC"

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350 Bands, singers and songwriters all went to the Nashville Music Conference (2NMC), in the hopes of learning some tricks of the trade from industry professionals, having the A&R reps listen to their music and get some much needed advice in this difficult and ‘dog eat dog’ business. The reality can be summed up in a couple of words, disorganized and chaotic.

When you first entered the registration area, you had to weed through the flyers, business cards, band photos, cd’s etc., just to get to the event schedules. No one seemed to know where to go or what to do. And, if you tried to find one of the coordinators to ask questions, forget about it. Even if you found one, they had no time for you and seemed to have more important things to do than to help the musicians who spent a lot of money on registration, travel, equipment rental, etc.

Another problem was that the musicians, A&R Reps, Event Coordinators, and Sponsors all had the same type of pass that you were required to wear. No one even knew “whom” they needed to talk to. Many of the musicians ended up giving demos to other musicians because they couldn’t find any Industry reps or distinguish them from the artists.

It was evidently the responsibility of the musicians to promote their own showcases and try to attend all the panels crammed so closely together, because the only thing 2NMC promoted was CD Street, who was obviously their main sponsor. You couldn’t help feeling bad for the other sponsors who didn’t get that “royal treatment”, not to mention the musicians themselves. Disappointment was like a big cloud over the Ramada Inn. No one had eaten or slept because they were left on their own to do all the work, even though they were told upon registration of all the industry support that would be there.

Some of the musicians were nearly in tears from small turnouts to their showcase and most had no A&R rep even show up at all. The artists weren’t expecting to get signed on the spot, but rather they wanted a critique on their music and how to make it better. For most bands, this didn’t happen. For some lucky artists who attended the listening session with a panel of four A&R reps, they got to play the first 60 seconds of their chosen track and get a brief opinion from each panel member.

The artists traveled to Nashville expecting to get some tips, answers and objective critique from professionals, and instead had a hectic, chaotic weekend and most played to a very small crowd of people. Although disappointed, most kept a positive attitude and did the best networking they knew how. The camaraderie between the diverse genres of musicians was a wonderful thing. Everyone was so supportive of each other and there wasn’t any egos or competition in the air. They got the most help from each other since they couldn’t get much from anyone else running the conference.

Many people had trouble with the keynote speaker events and the panels, since they were all scheduled at the same times. They had to decide which was more important and blow off others that they really wanted to attend. Transportation was another problem. Some of the venues were not anywhere near the Conference at the Ramada, so they either had to rent a car or take an expensive cab ride. This prevented a lot of the artists from going to see and support other bands.

The networking parties that were scheduled each night (sponsored by CD Street) were either cancelled at the last minute or moved across the street. I heard both stories, but regardless, no one was notified so many people who wanted to attend were once again let down.

I attended the conference to cover the event itself, and a group of musicians quickly making a name for themselves from Los Angeles. “30 Round Clip” was featured in BuzzPlay.net, and several of the local Nashville Entertainment Guides. I received their press kit along with their CD and I was off to Nashville to see what they were all about. Flyers went out everywhere, in the Ramada, in various clubs, music stores, etc. A&R reps were approached (whether they wanted to be or not!) and asked questions and tips. The panels were hit to try and absorb as much information as possible, all bases were covered. The band even worked out a deal and got two hours of rehearsal time in one of the best rehearsal studios in town. “30 Round Clip” was determined to give the best performance possible. I don’t believe (I’m not positive of this) that any other band was able to rehearse, other than maybe in “The Grill” (the small restaurant in the Ramada) and possibly some acoustical or with minimal equipment at some of the local clubs in town. “30 Round Clip’s” CD was heard by the panel of industry reps and it got some great feedback and suggestions. With all this combined, they had several A&R reps at their showcase that evening, which was certainly more than most were able to have.

"30 Round Clip"  Photo By Glen LaFerman

“30 Round Clip” found themselves in some frustrating situations even before their gig though. The equipment they had rented and already had the settings ready for that evening had been used by another band, which meant everything had to quickly be re-set. The drummer, Rick Steel, had has snare stand stolen, but was able to borrow one in time, but the kit itself wasn’t sturdy enough for Steel’s powerful playing. The soundman at the venue didn’t quite hit the mark either, but regardless of all the mishaps and frustrations, “30 Round Clip” still blew the roof off the place. Free merchandise was passed out to the crowd and all the chaos and troubles from the conference were dismissed after they finally got their opportunity to play live for the crowd as well as the A&R reps attending. Several other bands from the conference were there to show their support, and congratulate the band on a great set. As stated before, the main support system for everyone there were the other artists attending the conference.

The one thing that weighed heavily on everyone’s mind was the fact that CD Street was promoting their own clients “Slave to the System”. Their flyer read, “cdstreet and 2NMC Present Slave To The System! If You Want To Rock, This SHOWCASE Is For You!” So one band out of all the participants got promotion from 2NMC and their main sponsor “CD Street”. This was a pretty big slap in the face to most of the other musicians who worked so hard on self-promotion, and this band had all the support and all the work done FOR them. I don’t think there was anyone there who did NOT notice this. Needless to say, it just added to the frustrations they had already experienced.

I only hope all of the artists who made this trip found something positive to take home with them. And, if there were to be a “3NMC”, I would certainly hope things are more organized and more time is given to the artists to talk to Industry Professionals and actually “be heard”.