Before I tell this story, I want to fully disclose that I’m involved with this project. I DO NOT receive monetary compensation for my work (nor have I ever) on this project, but I do receive the releases we put out for free in digital format. Thus far I haven’t received the actual vinyl releases for free, but this may happen in the future, so I’ll go ahead and disclose that now, too.

In other words, I put in a lot of work at night and on the weekends and get “paid” in free music a few times a year.

I’ve written before about collaboration, and this is an extension of that story.

In 2006, a few members of the dubstepforum.com message board mentioned in a thread (conversation) that the forum had a lot of unsigned talent among their 5,000 members, and enough resources on the forum to start a record label and get those talented artists exposed to the limelight.

In short order, Pressing Issues was formed. Members of dubstepforum.com came together from all over the US (NYC all the way to San Francisco), Canada, the UK, and eastern europe to work in A&R, marketing, operations and design roles.

The logo? Community chosen
The music? Submitted by the community and voted on by the community
The initial funding? Provided by the community

Everything about this project came from the community.

Pressing Issues took a hiatus in late 2008-2009, but is now back planning the 3rd release. Even though dubstepforum.com has exploded from 5,000 to almost 35,000 members, Pressing Issues is still about the community.

The greatest thing about the concept is that every community has the power to come together and make a project like this happen. We all have our unique talents, our individual interests, and something special to contribute to group projects.

I challenge musicians and aspiring musicians out there reading to see what your community can come together to accomplish. As already shown, something as simple as a post on a message board can quickly transform into something much bigger. In this case, a record label. In your case… who knows?

Way back when (2004), I joined a forum called NCDnB (North Carolina Drum and Bass).  I eventually became a moderator of the site, and became close with a few of the users. I don’t remember how it came up, but somehow we stumbled upon the idea of crowdsourcing a CD. We had the talent, we had the resources, and we had the drive – so why not?

Enter, “Now That’s What I Call DNB”.

Yes, it’s a total play off of the “That’s What I Call Music” CD’s, mainly for the nostalgia purposes (ok, plus the laughs).

This was done on a fairly shoestring budget. A local designer did the artwork (for free), the producers made the tracks (for free), and the only thing we ended up paying for was the printing of the CD jackets, the CD’s themselves, and the CD cases.

Total cost? Under $300.

From a social site, to a socially-produced CD, and sold at shows by the promoters on the forum, this was a group project and community effort from start to finish.

Community at work!

What can you and your community come together to accomplish?

For those that don’t know, I’ve been a big fan of electronic music since my teenage years.  My tastes have evolved over the years, starting with trance but quickly migrating to the “darker” side of things including drum n bass and dubstep.

Through the years I’ve been fortunate to meet some amazing people involved in the music business.

A not-so-recent conversation with Headhunter, a dubstep producer and DJ visiting from the UK, has remained in my mind for over a year. The conversation happened in the parking garage of a Charlotte Uptown establishment, en route to a gig after leaving a social media meetup.

The group at the meetup had been talking about the usual suspects – Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, WordPress and how “MySpace is dying”.  Throughout the conversation, Headhunter remained fairly silent, seemingly content with watching the game on TV and chatting with those around him as most were doing.

When we left to go to the car, we got into a conversation about “What is social media?”.

BINGO. A lightbulb went off.

To many electronic artists, the things they do to market themselves are just that, “just what I do”. It’s not about a new hot term, or this new thing. It’s how things have been done for years – way before big business started getting the picture.

If you’re into electronic music, check out your favorite artist and see how active they are.

I’ll use Headhunter as my example, not only because I’ve already mentioned him, but also because he’s a very talented producer and DJ and I’m always happy to point people in the direction of his music. Really, I am.

He blogs

He has a page on MySpace

He’s on Facebook

He’s on YouTube

He shares his music

He posts on message boards

He gets social media. He knows the norms, he interacts with his fans, and he maintains his presence in the social web throughout his travels.

To people in the social media world, this is a case study. It’s something to be explored, dissected, and asked “So, what’s the ROI?”.

To DJ’s, producers, and others involved in the electronic music scene, it’s the way they market themselves. It’s how they get their gigs, and it’s how they make their living. What’s the ROI? Their life is the ROI.

“It’s just what I do.”