KEN Mode Featured on… Forbes.com?!?
There have been so many articles on MetalSucks about the business side of the music business that I wouldn’t even know which one to provide as an example; point is, we’ve heard time and again from musicians that if you want to take your band to the proverbial “next level,” it can’t just be your creative outlet — it has to be your business as well. Alas, rockin’ professionally is not the way they make it look on MTV. It involves actual work. That being said, the rewards are, well… getting to play metal and hopefully spending less time in a windowless, soul-draining cubicle!
Case in point: KEN Mode, a band whose business practices have landed them a feature on Forbes.com entitled “Rockin’ Is My Business, Part 1: Why Musicians Need A Business Education.” Here’s an excerpt:
KEN mode played Pitchfork earlier that day and [Jesse] Matthewson’s voice is shot. In a barely audible hoarse whisper, he introduces me to his brother, Shane Matthewson, who drums for the band, “He’s the one who looks like an accountant.” Which he is.
In fact both Jesse and Shane have Bachelor’s of Commerce degrees, the Canadian version of a BBA. Jesse specialized in marketing, Shane in accounting. Both of their parents are accountants as well, and the pair is quantitatively minded. “It’s cool getting to apply the knowledge you’re learning at school to your own business,” says Jesse. Their small business is their band.
The article continues:
As for any small business, the odds are against success for a rock band, especially in heavy metal. “For a band that makes the subversive kind of music that we do, we’re starting off in harder territory than pop or country,” says Jesse. The Matthewson brothers have compensated for metal’s relative marginality by putting their business education to good use. They write detailed business and marketing plans, including a brand strategy that streamlines their logo, image, merchandise, and their online presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Their accounting is “squeaky clean” and they use data-based decision-making to run their merchandise sales, a key source of income for young touring bands.
Their savvy is paying off. They haven’t held day jobs for a couple of years. In 2012, they won the Juno Award – the Canadian version of a Grammy – for Best Heavy Metal/Hard Music Album. As Shane says, “Knowledge is power. When you’re able to analyze data and use what is going on to your advantage, that’s a good thing.”
I imagine the phrase “They haven’t held day jobs for a couple of years” caught your eye. That is a long, hard road to climb, but if it’s one you even dare to attempt, you need to make like the fellas in KEN Mode and get the business side of your business together — you can’t just drink and try to fuck groupies all day.
Read the rest of the article here.
[via The PRP]
