I was recently accepted to write for the LA Concert scene for examiner.com
I understand I get a press pass for access to events.
My question is what this allows me to do, and how to use it. The only way I’ve gotten backstage before is luck, knowing a musician, or buying the platinum ticket passes.
So, what exactly does a press pass do, and how do I use it? I want to use it to its fullest extent, but not abuse it.
Do I register with a venue ahead of time? Do I just show up with it? Do I have to have concert tickets already?
It does approximately nothing. A self-issued press pass (that is, one issued by a publisher) does not count as accreditation. Places that are picky about letting journalists in will generally demand accreditation by some authoritative body, such as the U.S. Senate or the White House.
The good news is that it usually doesn’t matter much. You’ll find that there very well might be advantages to being a journalist, but the press pass itself has very little to do with it.
A press pass won’t get you into an event for free, in and of itself. You have to contact the event organizer to get access to the event. Sometimes the event organizer seeks out the press, but in either case the press pass simply identifies you as a member of the press. It doesn’t confer any special privileges.
When you contact the organizer and they OK you, you will be put on the guest list (or they may have a separate press list). When you arrive at the venue, you go to the Will Call window (or sometimes to the ticket window), they check the list, and issue you a pass (if you’ve been granted backstage access, usually because you have been granted time for an interview) and a ticket to the event. Nobody gets into an event without a ticket, and waving a press pass won’t get you a ticket. You have to be on the list.
Have you done this? Do you have one, or know someone with one?
So what you’re saying is I contact the event organizer, not the venue or the artist, right? (Obviously unless I know the artist… ) I tell them, “I’m a writer for examiner.com and I have a press pass. I’d like to cover the show, take pictures, and come back stage to chat with some band members for the article I’ll be writing.” Then they tell me “buzz off,” or, “sure, what’s your name?” right?
Any other advice on what to do to get the most out of this? My goal is to get the most “inside” details for the readers.
No. You don’t say “I have a press pass.” It means nothing and in fact saying something like that could be considered funny. And don’t say “I want to come back stage,” because that makes you sound like a fanboy. (You’ll be happy to do the interview wherever it’s convenient for them.)
Tell them you’re a music writer for examiner.com and you’d like to cover the show and if possible get an interview with the band. You don’t have to say “for the article I’ll be writing,” because that’s implied.
Just be direct and confident. You don’t have to give them a whole song and dance. Everybody knows what music journalists do; you don’t have to explain it to them.
Just to emphasize: Be professional and don’t overexplain.
And don’t expect to get too much genuine “inside” information. They pay the bills with their image, so mostly you’ll get their “game face,” i.e., whatever personality they’ve chosen for public consumption, and perhaps some many-times-told stories.
This is just my opinion, but it seems to me that the most value a music journalist can offer is to be knowledgeable about music and performance and know how to convey the value of what musicians are doing artistically and entertainment-wise.
Prepare. Be sure you know how to talk the language of whatever genre of music is being played. Be solid on music history, on the kind of people and music that musicians themselves look to as models.
At the same time, don’t pretend to know what you don’t know. Be willing to learn from your interview subjects. If they mention an act or something you don’t know about, ask them about it, why it’s important, etc.
I’m not a member of the press, but I have several friends in the music business so I have been on the guest list for many, many shows of bands that tour nationally and globally. Over the years I’ve run into many music writers, both local and national, and this is what I learned from talking to them.
Yes, you contact the people putting on the show. This is usually neither the venue nor the artist, though it may be the artist’s representatives. Your fate is then up to them.
Since my experience is as an observer, all I can say is that the writers who got the most time with the artists were usually the ones who were so cool about it that you didn’t even notice they were asking questions. They just got people talking.
I was told that they can write a “one-off” credential for me. What I do is contact the concert promoter and ask them for access to backstage or the band. The promoter asks for credentials. I call my manager and he faxes or mails the credentials.
The only problem now is: How do I find out who the promoter for a particular concert is, and how to approach them to ask?
Start with calling the venue. Tell them you’re a journalist and you’re trying to get in touch with the organizers for X performance. Also check the performer’s own Web site to see whether it offers contact information for agents or public relations people.
I tried doing this a bit. Some performers list a promoter right on their page, others do not. It’s very difficult to find who is promoting some shows, and fairly easy for others.
When I can’t find out who the promoter is, I contact the band through their contact us link, and if that’s not available, I send an e-mail to the band’s webmaster through their contact us link.
Out of 5 inquiries, I have received 2 replies. One said that there are no more reviewer spots available, the other one put me on their list, me +1 (for Third Eye Blind 6/25).
My goal would be to send less useless e-mails (to promoters instead of to webmasters) and to increase my success rate (sending the requests earlier instead of later).
Does anyone know of an easier way to find out who is promoting a concert, and how to contact them?
This is exactly how to do it. You’re learning one of the critical skills of journalism. Dig, dig, dig. Expect to send a lot of “useless E-mails,” and make useless telephone calls. That’s the job.
Did you try contacting the venues directly?
Be careful about the “plus 1” bit. You should use it for someone professional, such as a photographer/audiographer/videographer (whatever is appropriate for your publication and medium). Don’t bring along your best friend or little sister. Whoever is there should enhance your status as a professional and be able to give a reason for being there other than “I’m a fan.”
Haha, there’s no quick “how-to” guide - if you’re good in this business, it’s because you plowed your way into it head first, huh?
A few times, they always tell me that they need a call from the promoter or the band. Sometimes the band can help, sometimes not - I think it depends on how helpful the band wants to be.
I’ve been doing my own photography and videography. Example where I did everything myself (NIN/JA):
I bought my ticket, and went with 3 friends, but took all those pictures and recorded all that video and wrote the article myself.
What if the +1 isn’t a pro, but hangs out, doesn’t distract me, and can give me their opinion after the fact? Perhaps a non-pro running a second camera from different angles.
Whomever you bring with you should be there for a professional reason and should be working, not hanging out. Never be in a position of introducing someone as “I brought him/her along just because he/she is dying to meet you.”
You can make that person your photographer, not your “second camera.” If he or she is taking pictures, then don’t be handling any cameras yourself. In fact, you can do a better job as a reporter by giving someone else the responsibility to shoot pictures. (Keep in mind, though, just as you don’t want a photog telling you how to do your job, you shouldn’t be instructing the photog what to shoot – unless he or she is clearly about to miss something important.)
I guess what I’m trying to say generally is that your manner should be completely professional and the same goes for anyone you bring with you. Both of you should be working. You can be enjoying yourself while working, but neither of you should ever give the impression that you’re there primarily to hang out with rock stars.
Once you’ve gotten the ball rolling, it’s fine for a photographer to ask questions, as well, and talk to other people. But it should be very clear who’s doing the reporting. The shooter should never step on your toes or interrupt a conversation. (Very often, a shooter can be very useful in this respect, casually chatting up background folks and digging up additional information.)
You can almost always find a contact with band management on the artist’s web site. When you contact them, give them a few sentences of information about the piece you plan to write. I know you are reviewing the show, but if you can be more specific about the angle you’d like to take and give a little detail on what you want to ask the band about, such as a new album or whatever else is going on, it helps convince people that you’re a professional and you know what you’re doing.
Don’t try to get a friend in there, and don’t suggest the person is there to hang out with you or contribute to your review. You are the writer of the article. If you need a photographer, ask if you can get a second pass for a photographer.
This. Journalism is very much a profession of relationships, and you don’t want to earn the reputation of the reporter who brings in random people who have no business being there, especially when you’re starting out. After awhile, you may be able to come to judgment calls and weigh concerts where the presence of an extra person may not be that a big a deal, but you don’t want to be doing this right off the bat. I’m a photographer and, back when I was doing editorial photography, nothing annoyed the everyday working photojournalists as much as the obvious non-working “press” that would show up and act like total clueless idiots in the photo pit.
Dude was wearing a shirt that said “Merkins” at the time. Love that name for a band.
I hope everyone doesn’t think that I’m trying to sneak a friend into the photographer’s pit for any reason. But when someone says they got me down +1, and I don’t “need” a second person (photographer, whatever), if a friend goes with me just for admittance to the show and to be a fan … not for “backstage” access, or to hang out with the band, or to pretend like he knows people, or to do anything other than a fan would do … that doesn’t seem like a band usage of the “+1” … especially when I didn’t ask.
And if I’m somewhere taking pictures, and he sees something I didn’t and can tell me about it, that seems like a bonus.
I’ve probably gone to 200 concerts and have hung out backstage with bands before. I’m not doing this to gain more access solely for my personal benefit or to get friends in. I am treating it like a job and a responsibility, just a job and a responsibility that happen to coincide with my favorite hobby. I’d hope that wold give me the passion to do it well.
I don’t think anyone thinks you’re “sneaking.” But there are ways to use your privileges that will enhance your professional reputation and there are ways to use your privileges that will not. Yes, they said you could bring someone. We’re just telling you that the manner in which you choose to exercise that permission will reflect on you as a journalist.
They’re offering you something for your convenience and to be co-operative. Don’t make them regret it. It’s not that I’m saying you are improperly taking advantage of them. I’m just telling you that now that you’re working as a journalist, your reputation as a journalist should be important to you. It just makes you look less serious if you bring someone along who’s not there for any journalistic reason.
People who are there “just to be a fan” should be getting into a concert the way other people who are “just fans” get into a concert.
In order to be effective, you need to set yourself apart from the people who are there only as fans. You don’t want to be viewed as a fanboy/fangirl or a groupie. You want to be taken seriously. And it’s not necessarily the musicians that count – it’s the promoters, the agents, the venue staff, etc. They’re the ones whom you’ll be dealing with on a regular basis.
That’s exactly what every single music journalist is doing. But in order to be successful they do it in a way that reflects well on them. This is even more critical for someone who’s young and starting out.