An Open Letter to C3 Presents in Regards to Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic
Dear C3 Presents:
Thank you for finally responding to my media request for Willie Nelson’s 2015 4th of July Picnic, but frankly I find it disrespectful that you would wait until less than 48 hours before the event to respond, and then do so with a denial, especially when the event has now sold out and I now have no opportunity to attend even if I was willing to purchase tickets. Numerous emails were sent over the last couple of weeks and months to follow up, concerned about this very scenario transpiring, and no effort was put out by your staff to be fair with media members, and now many of us have been left in the lurch for this important event.
It is your show and you can choose who covers it and who doesn’t, and receiving media credentials is always a privilege. Please don’t think that I am unaware of those facts, or am unwilling to pay admittance if I choose to cover an event, as I do very often, despite the paltry money earned in the web publishing business. However, your unprofessionalism with your response to media has made paying to attend an unavailable option for many of us. Nor would simply purchasing tickets gain my photographer access to the photography areas, or give us an equal playing field with other media members for covering the event.
Making this matter even more disrespectful is that this event is happening in my own town, and I am not just talking Austin. I am a Del Valle resident—the specific part of Austin when the event is happening—who lives just two miles from the Austin 360 Amphitheater and the Circuit of the Americas, and this fact was included in my media requests. Whenever music events are held at the facility, I can hear them from my house. Whenever cars are running on the racetrack, I can hear the roars of the engines. The various events at the facility cause traffic in my neighborhood. Commuters from events throw trash out their windows that ends up in my yard. The infrastructure of our community is strained. It sometimes takes 20 minutes simply to take a right turn from my street when events are happening.
There is also an economic windfall for the community, so I don’t want to come across as ungrateful. But this is my neighborhood. My turf. Your coming into my community to hold your event, and it only seems reasonable that a fairly well-respected and widely-read music journalist who has covered numerous Willie Nelson 4th of July Picnics in the past—with absolutely no issues receiving credentials previously—could simply receive a timely denial to his press request so other accommodations could be made.
When the mainstream-centric “Red Fest” promoted by Jeff Foxworthy was held at the same facility in May of 2014, Saving Country Music was able to receive press credentials without a problem. In 2011, when Saving Country Music was statistically 25-times smaller than it is today, there was no issue gaining press access for the 4th of July Picnic at Billy Bob’s in Ft. Worth. In fact it is extremely rare that press access is ever denied to Saving Country Music for events all across the United States, and I regularly receive personal invites to many major festivals . . . except for events in and around the Austin area for some reason. And if press access is denied, I’m more than willing to pay. And sometimes I pay anyway.
Don’t you think that Willie Nelson and his management would want a site called “Saving Country Music” covering and attending his picnic? I know they sure have in the past without any problem. Don’t you think Saving Country Music embodies the spirit of what Willie Nelson is trying to do through this event? I can guarantee you that many of the performing artists and their management teams could vouch for the value of having Saving Country Music in attendance. The simple fact is I could likely reach out to some of the artists and probably obtain tickets and even backstage access (unless these privileges have also been significantly restrained like press access), but it’s not the artists’ job to get media into events like this, nor is it right for media to rely on artist when there is supposed to be an environment of impartiality between media and performers. This isn’t about the ability to obtain tickets or access, this is about C3 Presents actively choosing to exclude Saving Country Music from the press corps of this event.
My media request was first submitted on May 2nd, and was followed up on numerous times. There was nothing Saving Country Music could have done to avoid this situation; only C3 Presents. And this type of situation was the concern that many had when it was announced Willie would be partnering with C3 to put on this historic annual event. The concern was draconian cost-saving measures would be implemented, and corporate bureaucracy would get in the way of the spirit of what Willie’s annual 4th of July celebration is supposed to be all about. We were promised by C3 that once they sold a controlling stake of the company to Live Nation, nothing about the culture would change. But locking out local media who are based within walking distance of the event, and who have a long personal history of covering this event and many of its performers, is all the fears of C3 and Live Nation’s corporate perspectives eroding the spirit of the Willie Nelson 4th of July event coming to fruition.
When Willie Nelson lights into “Whiskey River,” I will be able to hear it, however faintly, from my house. When the fireworks are shot off right before Eric Church plays, I will be able to see and hear them from my front porch. And all of this will only add insult to the injury your mismanagement of the media has caused since I can only be at the event in spirit. I don’t make any money off of Saving Country Music, and never have. And I don’t want cover the 4th of July Picnic to impress my Instagram friends or brag about how I was there. I want to go to Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic to work, and to work hard, and to give exposure to the event, the artists, the venue, and the promoters. My motivation is not money or access to music stars, but sharing musical experiences with my readers because I believe the joy of music is more fulfilling when it is shared. And that is what makes it so disappointing that I won’t be able to attend this year’s event, because I won’t be able to share those experiences with others who don’t live two miles away, and can’t be in attendance.
Please don’t take this as a plea for last minute tickets or media access to the event from you or anyone else. You have put together one of the best lineups for a live event that I have seen in years, and hats off for that. But if you don’t want me there, then I don’t want to be there, and I certainly don’t want to inadvertently promote a company who doesn’t want me to be there.
So you win. Congratulations. I will not be attending the 2015 installment of Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic. And we’ll see how that decision bodes for you in the future.
P.S. You’re welcome for the free promotion.
July 3, 2015 @ 8:48 am
Fly a quadcopter with a video camera over the festival. While you’re at it, fly a blimp with http://www.savingcountrymusic.com on it.
July 3, 2015 @ 8:55 am
I didn’t know your mom’s basement was in Del Valle
July 3, 2015 @ 9:02 am
Darius Rucker’s evil scheme is working
July 3, 2015 @ 9:06 am
Dude. This is the least professional thing I’ve seen you do, and I look at your site often. Act like a professional outlet first, THEN ask PR companies to hook you up with media passes, as they do for other professional outlets. You’re not a kid, so don’t act like one.
July 3, 2015 @ 9:37 am
Look, don’t think for a second that before I posted this I knew for a fact that there would be many people, if not the majority of people, who would not read the letter in its entirety, simply get the gist of it, and go on Facebook and other places to say, “Gee, what what an entitled and arrogant prick Trigger has become.” And you know what, I’m okay with that, because I don’t give a fuck what anybody thinks.
But in truth this matter is much more deeply rooted, and strikes right at the heart of a crisis in independent American music right now that nobody is paying attention to. The largest corporations controlling live music are encroaching on cultural institutions that have been around for decades, and they are implementing their cookie cutter financial strategies and encroaching on the spirit of what made these events cultural institutions in the first place. What used to be the most beautiful and open live music scene in the country is being absconded with by corporate fat cats who are driven solely by profits, and it’s time folks started taking a stand.
Saving Country Music was able to get into Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic in 2011, and feel free to go back and read how “professional” the site was back then. I have never dealt with an event that didn’t answer the media request until right before the event, leaving MANY media outlets in the lurch, not just me. I’m just the only one with the BALLS to speak out about it. It is C3 Presents that has been unprofessional.
This isn’t me being pissed off that I can’t get into some event, because trust me, if I really wanted to get in, I could. This issue hurts my heart, because I can see where all of this is going, and what it’s doing to the music scene in the city I live in. I’d rather be laughed at than keep my mouth shut and let this continue on without facing spirited dissent.
July 10, 2015 @ 11:44 am
you knew well in advance this event was happening in your hometown. you say, you made several attempts to get media passes but you also knew the event would sell out . I think you wanted to be comped passes . if I wanted to go I would of bought my passes and when my media passes came in sold my bought passes . simple why take chances ?
July 10, 2015 @ 12:07 pm
I didn’t say I knew it would sell out. I didn’t think it would sell out. The Circuit of the Americas is massive, and I went to a festival there last year with huge mainstream names, and the place looked barren it was so big. The previous Willie Nelson picnics I’ve covered didn’t sell out. I didn’t even think it was possible for it to sell out. I’m not sure that it even did sell out. I just think they cut off selling tickets. It’s a massive complex.
Tickets to get in were like $35.00. It would have been no skin off my back to purchase a couple for me and my photographer. They literally stopped selling tickets the same hour I received my denial. I don’t believe in buying tickets to resell. There’s too much of that going on in live music. Hind sight, I might have gone that route, but again, never in 1,000 years did I think they would stop selling tickets.
July 3, 2015 @ 9:19 am
This open letter sounds like you’re channeling Bobby Bones.
To be clear, C3 sold controlling stake of the company and you wrote a lengthy piece about how tragic that is, full of scathing comments about their new ownership. Then you requested media access to their show and when you were denied, you wrote a scathing open letter about how YOU have been disrespected?
You are too good for this, Trigger. You’re good at your job and it’s not like you to whine. :/
July 3, 2015 @ 9:41 am
So are you saying there is a connection between me writing about how Live Nation was going to buy a controlling stake in C3 Presents, C3 Presents then denying those claims, only to sell a 51% stake to Live Nation months later? And that’s why they won’t let me into their show?
That would allude to C3 having a motive here. I’m not saying this is true or not.
July 3, 2015 @ 11:54 am
I’m completely on your side on this one, Trig. Your comments and requests are totally reasonable. If music journalism has degraded to the point where only the writers who kiss the asses of the corporate promoters get access, then it’s not really journalism, is it? I think anyone who follows this site should know that your motivation is not self serving, but has to do with bigger concerns about the implications of big corporate music promoters taking over and some of the unsavory consequences. The fact that this event is in your hometown and backyard…and that it’s Willie’s event, who obviously has supported the local guys throughout his career makes it an extra slap in the face.
July 3, 2015 @ 9:45 am
Hopefully you’re attending the tribute show at ACL on the 6th – ticket prices are disgusting for these events. I opted to take a shift serving tables Saturday knowing the tickets wouldn’t be available and those that were… are way the fuck out of my price range.
Ticketmaster. C3. Who else made a deal with the devil to gouge fans in every way they can? This is what is killing country music.
Bless you, Saint Trigger. A martyr to those who share the sentiment of greed trumping good in a strange world of twang and autotune…. and where even the artists are bent over a barrel. (Except theirs might be a little lower to the ground.) I’ll be praying for ya Saturday night that the songs are heard and it’s upwind from you. I understand it that Willie has some fragrant stuff. Get yourself some snakes and sparklers in the meantime.
July 3, 2015 @ 10:03 am
Damn, that sucks that you can’t cover the event, especially since it’s the best lineup I’ve ever seen. Sorry to hear about that Trigger. I enjoyed reading your coverage of it before and was looking forward to again.
July 3, 2015 @ 12:59 pm
I enjoyed it as well.
I certainly understand Trigger’s point.
July 3, 2015 @ 10:17 am
I stand by you Trig! I’m glad I decided to not spend air and motel fare to attend this year. But I was looking forward to the live blog (sad face).
July 3, 2015 @ 10:33 am
Dang it no live updates
July 3, 2015 @ 10:41 am
C3 Presents’ refusal to respond to you in a timely fashion was unprofessional and a lesson in Bad PR Practices 101. To that end, there is nothing unprofessional about calling them out on it. The problem is that to people who aren’t in p.r. or the media business, it can come off as whiny. It isn’t, but that’s how it comes off to outsiders.
One thing I learned in my nearly four decades as a reporter is that nobody cares about a reporter’s problems except another reporter.
July 3, 2015 @ 10:43 am
This sucks balls Trig. I was looking forward to reading a review of one of the most badass line ups ever. Keep fighting the good fight. Take the 4th off for a change. Thanks for your hard work!
July 3, 2015 @ 12:43 pm
I worked for C3, actually Charles Attal Presents for about 3 years. I do not attend C3 events because I’ve seen the way they treat people behind the scenes. They don’t give a shit about the music, the fans, the culture, or the message. All they give a shit about is money. Period. So fuck em. Tell em I said fuck em. It ain’t even worth getting on the toll road.
July 3, 2015 @ 2:45 pm
From the “Hensley Haters” :
KARMA
July 3, 2015 @ 4:23 pm
Kathy,
I actually think this is an issue Jon Hensley and I would have seen eye to eye on. Not that C3 is not letting me into the fest, but the fact that basically one huge corporation is taking over the entirety of the live music space, and has made aggressive moves into the independent world through the acquisition of C3, Bonarroo, and other traditionally-independent live music assets. During his tenure as Shooter’s manager, Jon Hensley had to deal very specifically with declining guarantees that many independent musicians are facing if they won’t play ball with the big corporations. That is why he and Shooter started doing meet and greets, because it was one of the few ways they could pay the band fairly and have decent accommodations on the road. The discrepancy between the have’s and the have not’s is increasing, and this is an issue that affects all independent musicians the same.
The other reason I think Jon and I would see eye to eye on this issue is because he was a fighter.
July 3, 2015 @ 5:44 pm
What are you still doing here? Don’t you have any life beyond lurking on websites you claim to hate and waiting to troll? If you really have no other life I’m sorry for you.
July 3, 2015 @ 6:02 pm
I have now blocked “Eric” from sending me messages from this site. I don’t troll anything.
I don’t hate anything.
Kyle, please post Fuzzy’s IP address and yours, like you did the other people, I already know they are the same.
July 3, 2015 @ 6:37 pm
I’m from Michigan, not Texas. And Really? You honestly think that you’re so in the right that only one person has a problem with you? And that that one person would have two e-mail addresses, two wordpress accounts, and actively switch back and forth between the two just to change icons out of spite for someone so insignificant as you? You really need to ask the mirror or the wall who is the most self-absorbed of them all.
July 3, 2015 @ 7:22 pm
Let me be clear.
I have received numerous emails from “Eric” of copied and pasted posts from this site. That’s what I meant.
Kyle, I’m not turning this into anything. I like others posted my comment. And you did post IP Addresses.
Everybody knows who Fuzzy actually is.
You can hide behind your keyboard all you want.
I did not realize the box was checked to send me an email when someone responded on my last comment, I will make sure it isn’t checked again.
July 3, 2015 @ 6:44 pm
Kathy,
First off, nobody can send you messages from this site. If you don’t unclick the box below the comment, you mat receive a message from the site if someone responds to a comment you left.
I’m not sharing anyone’s IP address.
And please, let’s not have this descend into a Jon Hensley battle. Thank you.
July 3, 2015 @ 6:46 pm
Really? No “I am not now, nor have I ever been Fuzzy TwoShirts?” haha just goofing off Trig, you’re the greatest.
July 4, 2015 @ 5:07 am
Kathy, I do not know who is the “Eric” sending you spam, but I am not the one.
Regards,
The only regular SCM commenter who uses the handle “Eric”
July 4, 2015 @ 5:27 am
I have solved your riddle, “Kathy.” You are one of the aliases perpetuated by Lil Dale to amuse us. the giveaway was the nobody could naturally be so stupid, therefore it has to be an act. Lil Dale, Kathy isn’t funny. I liked your previous act better. Also, can you explain fab’n’forty country to me?
July 4, 2015 @ 8:26 am
aww shoot, u no Im not that smart, fuzz. An I love the site not hate it. an for fab n 40. wood say some of my faverette groops like lil bigtown, sugarland rascall.flats r fab n 40/divorcee cuntry. probly the bigest genre in cuntry musicc if u thank about it. aww well hell I dont no.
an jj watt sux an the texans sux to. my titans’ll sweep em this yeer. I garendammtee it. Role tide.
July 4, 2015 @ 8:45 am
all so I wanna say happy birthday to America! at the rate were goin she may not be around much longer but wile shes here God Bless America! in a lot.of others cuntries trigger wood be arested an thrown in jail for speekin out against state sponsored music festivals so Im glad we live in a cuntry that alows free .speech but like I sed it mite not.be for much longer.
so vote trump/coulter 20016.
July 3, 2015 @ 2:48 pm
I didn’t even get a refusal letter. Like you, I applied in May with 2 follow up emails. I held off on other plans in hopes of receiving credentials. I’ve yet to to get a response from C3. I don’t live in Austin and would’ve been traveling 6 hours to get there. Now I can’t even buy a ticket to an event that has the best lineup I’ve seen in a very long time. You on the other hand….. If I were you, I’d pull the artist string even if it were just to give C3 a big ole F**K YOU.
July 3, 2015 @ 4:28 pm
One of the reasons I decided to write an open letter is because I was not the only one who has experienced this issue, and many of the journalists and photographers who are, are not in a position where they are able to speak out because it would reflect negatively on the organization they are working for. I also think it would be unfair of me to use specific personal connections to gain access to the event when so many of my peers, including many who have been covering the event for years, are being locked out. You have to draw the line somewhere with how much press you give free passes to. That’s understandable. But C3 appears to only be interested in working with people they have personal relationships with. At the least the could have given everyone else an option by notifying them earlier.
July 3, 2015 @ 6:29 pm
Thanks for writing this piece and being the voice. You’re right, most of the others won’t speak out about the matter. I didn’t know there were others (veterans of the picnic) being shut out by C3 as well. I hate to hear this because the coverage we’ll get will likely be generic at best. This would’ve been my first year had my credentials come through so I don’t feel bad for not getting them considering I’m not local and have never covered the picnic. I understand how it all works and media passes are limited etc. However, a standard email acknowledging my request would’ve been nice (and professional). I could’ve picked from several other gigs this weekend but I was really hoping for this one. There’s something to be said for common courtesy in this industry these days….
July 3, 2015 @ 3:24 pm
Sorry to hear about this, Trigger. It seems like the bigger corporations become, the more unprofessional they ironically get.
I see that this thread has also brought the idiots out of the woodwork again…
July 3, 2015 @ 6:39 pm
Apparently Kathy J has blocked you… What did you do Eric? Did you do that funny thing you do?
July 4, 2015 @ 5:08 am
Ha! Isn’t it funny that I leave this thread for a few hours, and so much transpires in my absence?
July 4, 2015 @ 5:28 am
Haha I think some of the stuff that goes on in these comments section is an absolute hoot.
July 3, 2015 @ 3:32 pm
Trigger, you’ve proven time and time again that you are an objective Music journalist. Nothing I can say could make this bullshit situation any better, but know you have a community of support behind you. Keep fighting the good fight, and know that your efforts have not been in vain. I’ve only been a faithful reader for about three years or so, but in that short span of time, you and your work have introduced me to so much great music that I otherwise may have never heard. Thank you for that.
If the money behind this event wants to keep you from covering it, that is their loss. They are the ones missing out by not receiving coverage from a news site that informs countless thousands (millions, I hope) on a daily basis about the goings on in the music world.
I found your open letter professional and painfully honest in its assessment of the situation. Keep up the great work, man. We’ll keep right on a-readin’!
July 3, 2015 @ 4:17 pm
Thanks Jaimito.
July 4, 2015 @ 5:05 am
I agree completely with your post, Jaimito.
July 3, 2015 @ 4:50 pm
Willies roadhouse will stream it live tomorrow. Wish I could double it with a great live blog.. Blogs must be hard if ur not near a computer
July 3, 2015 @ 8:09 pm
press badges? we dont need no stinking press badges.
Triggerman..you have to go. bum rush the show if you have to. us readers are still expecting a report.
July 3, 2015 @ 8:25 pm
Given the way festivals have been going lately, they may have been simply looking out for your best interests.
Sorry these corporate creeps have excluded you.
I wish that they would play the fireworks during Eric Church’s performance.
The rest of the line-up is, of course, quite impressive.
If I were going to a “music festival” this weekend, it would be at Soldier Field to see the Dead.
They need you more than you need them, amigo.
July 4, 2015 @ 12:35 pm
So, not to rub salt, but how’s the picnic sounding fro your front porch?
🙂
g
July 4, 2015 @ 4:24 pm
I’ll say this:
All the death threats I’ve received over the years, all the threats of lawsuits and bodily injury, all of the personal sacrifices I have made to keep the site going, all of the financial strain it has caused me, nothing, NOTHING has made me seriously consider closing up shop and saying fuck it all as much as this has. And it’s not because I really want to be there and I’m not. It’s because I can see what is happening to music, and more than anything else, it shows me that all hope may be lost. Independent music in America has been sold.
July 4, 2015 @ 5:07 pm
Well, screw the large corporate venues. As long as there are bars, cafes, theaters, and town gatherings out there that feature independent country music, the music will survive and maybe even thrive.
Let us heed the immortal words of Wayne Mills:
“I’ll be there when they burn the last honky-tonk down”.
July 4, 2015 @ 2:06 pm
Why isn’t willies roadhouse streaming it? It’s suppose to?!? Suppose to start at 4pm
July 4, 2015 @ 2:58 pm
I see that the Austin Chronicle and the Austin Statesman are at the event. what’s different about them?
July 4, 2015 @ 4:20 pm
This is the thing: The 4th of July Picnic is happening at the “Austin 360 Amphitheater.” Austin 360 is the entertainment/music arm of the Austin American Statesman, which is the local newspaper. C3 has exclusive deals with Austin 360 and the Statesman where C3 advertizes with them, and then they sponsor their events. Same with the Austin Chronicle, which is Austin’s alternative newsweekly. Then when they throw an event like this, they give press preference or exclusivity to their sponsors, which is all manner of compromising journalistic ethics because it pretty much ensures positive press coverage. And this is how the music scene in Austin, TX works.
I can tell you from my experience, Austin, TX is the only place this kind of stuff happens. Sure, local concerts partner with media partners all the time, but you never have situations where the rest of the media is excluded. This doesn’t happen in Nashville. Nashville and Music Row are much more inclusive to the media than Austin. This wasn’t about Saving Country Music being overlooked, or not being big enough to deserve a press pass, or there not being enough space or anything like that. They did not want Saving Country Music there. And by not answering my request until they had cut off ticket sales, they assured this would happen for me and other media members.
July 5, 2015 @ 7:39 am
“They did not want Saving Country Music there.”
why? not being dense here. just curious as to what the reasoning is for this.
BTW I live in Austin, so you don’t need to explain things to me.
July 5, 2015 @ 8:42 am
Hey Jim,
Well, I guess for the reasons I iterated above, which are that C3 and Austin 360 are inclined to use their own media partners (and Austin 360 is a media entity itself) instead of letting outsiders and unknown quantities come in and cover their events.
Having a media outlet be the named sponsor for a music venue, and then be one of the only media outlets to cover events held at that venue is such a compromise of journalistic ethics, I can’t even to begin to express it. It would be like The New York Times publishing books, and then turning back around and covering and reviewing the books they just published, and not allowing other book reviewers copies.
But even then, I’ve never even heard of a big music event not seeing the value of having the media be involved, outside of Austin that is, especially with such a historic event such as this, where people who have been covering it for years are locked out.
And just to reiterate, I have no problem with them denying press passes. I have a problem with them waiting until the event was sold out, and less than 48 hours before the gates open, and then sending out the denial emails. I had been in direct contact with them two weeks before the event, telling them I was afraid of that very scenario transpiring. In fact I knew this is what was going to happen. I could see it all transpiring right before my very eyes. I knew it before they did. And then it happened. It is customary in the industry to notify media at least a month ahead of an event if press credentials will be granted. People have to make travel accommodations, schedule staff and photographers. This NEVER happens at events outside the Austin corridor, at least that I’ve ever heard of.
Also, I’m just being extra explanatory about the various entities involved because some folks reading these comments may not be from the Austin area, and may not know who Austin360 and others are.
July 4, 2015 @ 6:35 pm
I hope you keep your head up, amigo.
This is exactly the type of corporate overreach and heavy-handedness that your site exposes.
I would never go to a Live Nation concert now.
They can have their drunkfests and fatalities.
July 4, 2015 @ 8:36 pm
Listening live on XM Radio… Mere and Willie both sound exhausted. I love them both and they like old friends. They need to rest and get their strength up.
July 4, 2015 @ 8:59 pm
Only kids act up when they don’t get what they want. This site has gone to shit. Maybe it’s your time of the month but lately your content has became shit.
July 4, 2015 @ 9:11 pm
Read the letter. I could have got in if I wanted.
July 4, 2015 @ 9:17 pm
We went. It was fun, but the vendors ran out of food around 5:30. Lots of hungry, drunk people. Isbell, Sturgill, and Kacey were excellent.
July 4, 2015 @ 10:04 pm
Did Sturgill play any new songs? Anyone record the streaming coverage?
July 5, 2015 @ 4:12 pm
I am wondering who decides who will be in the lineup of entertainment for Willies 4th of July picnic.
July 5, 2015 @ 7:06 pm
I would imagine it is a combination of Willie Nelson’s camp and C3 Presents. Willie’s picnic always has a few mainstays like Johnny Bush, David Allan Coe, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and of Willie’s family.
July 5, 2015 @ 6:19 pm
Trigger, we really appreciate all your hard work, time and financial resources you put into this site. If people didn’t like it they wouldn’t be here reading it. I like the site for coverage of music and discovering new music. I for one really appreciate what your doing.
July 5, 2015 @ 7:10 pm
It’s funny you say this. It’s a crap shoot. Anyways I had the conversation this weekend with a friend that one of the major reasons I want to do a concert or festival is to deny the radio station media credentials. They expect them but you would have to pay to advertise the event with them. Just to block them from covering the event and the guaranteed access they always have. It sucks this happened to you though.
July 6, 2015 @ 9:43 am
Damn shame Trig. Keep your chin up SCM is needed more than ever!
July 6, 2015 @ 10:03 am
As a publicist and avid reader, I have to say that it probably comes down to the fact that whoever was handling press was probably not familiar with SCM and didn”™t take the time to research its influence on the country/Americana world. They probably just dismissed you as another hobbyist amateur blogger, which to be fair, there are a LOT of. However, it is part of their job to be familiar with as many media outlets as possible, and I think it shows a lack of experience on their part. Maybe they haven”™t worked on many country events.
You definitely deserved to be there and I think responding to you should have been a priority. I can”™t think of another music outlet who has the type of fan interaction that SCM does. Just go look at a Rolling Stone online story and see if you can find one with more than 2 or 3 comments. Your readers are also the exact demographic this event appeals to.
The other possibility is that they were worried about a bad review, given your penchant for extremely honest reporting. They are worried about their jobs, and if they convince the client to give you press credentials and in return they get a bad review, they might get in some trouble. Yes, it”™s kind of unethical and extremely crappy. But their main goal is going to be getting as much positive press for their client as they can so they can keep their jobs. I”™m not defending this mindset, just explaining the motivation. When I was working for a larger PR firm there was immense pressure to please both your boss at the company and the client, and you don”™t want to put yourself at risk to help out a writer.
The other possibility is that they just screwed up. As an independent publicist, I get 100-200+ emails a day and there are times when I just can”™t keep up with requests. Sometimes they might even have an intern or assistant going through emails and sorting them into categories. They might have waited too long to compile the press list or something and missed their deadline to add any more press comps to the ticket list and were forced to deny you. It shouldn”™t happen, but some times it does.
Anyway, just trying to give you some insight behind the PR process. They might be jerks, they might just have been inexperienced, or they might have just made a mistake. Either way, please keep doing what you”™re doing!!! You can cover any event I’m working even if I have to buy the press comp myself.
July 6, 2015 @ 12:30 pm
Hey Tyler,
Thanks for the insight.
I totally understand that folks get busy and sometimes things don’t get done. Just like you, I can receive tons of emails every day, and understand it takes a lot of effort to keep things organized and to answer everyone. However in my particular instance I was in communication with the right people, so it was not a situation where anything was overlooked. And like I’ve been saying, I was perfectly fine with buying a ticket. I just needed to know that my request had been denied, and I told them that on multiple occasions.
I understand what you’re saying about the hobby blogger, but in 2011 when Saving Country Music very much was a hobby blog, I was able to get credentials. I was able to get credentials in 2013 too, when the site was probably a 1/4 of the size it is now. I hate talking about these matters because it can come across like you’re bragging, or your arrogant, like “Don’t you know who I am ?!?” This has been one of the challenges for Saving Country Music because it is not a legacy journalistic name like Rolling Stone, and because I can’t point to a huge social network followership because the site is primarily designed around a Google model. I could have 10-times the reach as another outlet, but since that outlet is more recognized or paid for a ton of Facebook likes, they get in and I don’t. People can see the engagement in the comments section or go to Alexa or another internet rating service and see the true impact, but maybe those things are too much to ask of someone trying to make these decisions. That’s why it’s just more fair to make these decisions early, and let media plan around the fallout. I was lucky because I wouldn’t have to travel to the event. Since I’ve covered it in previous years no problem, it never occurred to me this was going to be an issue until 7 days before the show they were still sending me emails saying, “Well let you know closer to the event.”
I could have gotten in. But I feel like they didn’t want me there, so I didn’t want to be there.
And even though I may be known for more critical coverage. I’m not going to go into someone’s event like that and trash it. I never have, and I never would. I didn’t do that to Red Fest at the same venue.