PERFORMANCE CONVENTIONS
If you have a really good band, or are a good solo act, send in your demo by the convention deadline, and you may qualify for a showcase spot. In a lot of these conventions, if you don’t get in, they still offer you a discount price on the entry fee, so you can still get in and listen to the expert panels, and get a chance to hand your demo to and talk with industry insiders. Get a program, and scope out the industry folks you hope to meet, and which companies they work for. Many of these conventions make industry folks wear their nametags, so try and go to panels these folks will be speaking at, and look at the nametags of convention goers and see if you can spot these people. Be polite, and rehearse beforehand what you would like to say to them so you will appear confident and enthusiastic when you go to talk to them. Sometimes, if you find one person with that company, you could try asking them where you might find their co-worker or if that person isn’t available, if they could hand your demo to them. Keep in mind that they will probably get plenty of musicians bothering them during this time, and may forget about you, and may even be tired of the whole thing. Be considerate and understanding, but do what you can to get your work to as many of these people as you possibly can. If they are speaking, listen to their speech and take notes—you will find out a lot about what they are looking for, and whether you fit the bill or not. You might even find a subject that interests them that you two could find common ground on and use that to understand what they want and how they can help you better. Check if they have a convention store, too—I was able to get albums sold this way, and they don’t charge much in commission, and many will do this even if your band isn’t playing at one of the convention venues. Look around, too—I was able to get into a non-convention gig for that week several times, and was able to advertise my showcase at that convention. You may not get signed, but even my band was able to get some out-of-town dates out of our trouble and how we did at our showcase that week.
