there are 3 kinds of productions actually:
1.) one who is after the money.
2.) one who thinks he can help the "music scene" and start a career out of it.
3.) one who just does it for fun and doesnt care about money.
the first one are ppl of the slimiest kind... they dont like music, they care about what is uso, but lastly, and they only care about your ability to sell tickets. kick them in the kneecaps if you must.
the 2nd one usually consist of ppl who are also musicians themselves ... they dont wanna have real day jobs, so they are giving the "production" thing a shot. a lot of them lack organizational skills (ok, a lot of prod on a budget have little to no organizational skills despite being type 1, 2 or 3). deep inside them is a conflict between good and evil... good, meaning getting the 'good' bands... and bad, meaning getting that one band just because it has the ability to make the ticket selling "quota." of course, these guys care about profits... and they have the tendency to overestimate the "music scene" by booking gigs at clubs that require 10K deposit and breakage fee... then they rent high end amps, cymbals, etc. sometimes they make a band play eventhough they dont reach the quota because as ive said, they also are musicians and they know what you feel. However, someday they'll either evolve into Type 1's or Type 3's ... or even better, they just dont run the production thing ever. Their lack of capital and organizational skills added with the poor economics will eventually drive them bankrupt.
the last one ... now these guys are usually found in underground gigs... they really dont care about money but they want to have a gig once a month... so breaking even is their goal. they avoid those expensive places and would be doing their productions in the places that understand their niche. their equipment range from very poor to so and so... so you wont expect any tube amps from prods like these. however, the good thing is that there is no ticket selling at all... you will be booked after they like you and your music. eventually these guys disapear because they have to get day jobs eventually and cant focus on just the music anymore. and the glaring disadvantage of prods like these is that they are limited to certain scenes i.e. punk, metal, hardcore, etc. there is no room for variety here. of course there are excemptions to prods like these but they are too rare to have a subtype of their own.
OK, so which prod is right for you:
-if you are a band that plays bad but not bad enough to make ppl throw rocks at you.. you join:
prod TYPE 1. invite all your friends and relatives ... sell those tickets and make a quota - or hell, pay for the tickets yourselves!!!! you need to have the stage experience ... BUT ... only do this once. doing it more than once means you are pathetic and you are supporting those slimes.
-if you are a band who doesnt have connections or you belong into a musical segment that is 'unknown' meaning, you dont sound like anyone at all (but please, be realistic... i have heard 45699745 bands claim to sound unique but all i can hear is a metal, and punk sound alike). you join:
prod TYPE 2. you dont belong to a scene, so this is your best bet... a variety gig. it would take a lot of gigs for you to be known, and im sure you would quit even before you got popular, especially if you sound too weird and loud at the same time. speaking of bands like that... i really admire Updharma Down. they surely are a band thats not metal, punk, jazz, pop, etc. i dont know how they started out or how they landed a contact... but im sure they started gigging in prods that organized variety music, shopped their music, and got some ppl interested.
-if you belong to certain music genres with known scenes i.e. punk, metal, hardcore, etc. or your music is the current uso i.e. pop screamo, metalcore, mall emo you join:
-prod type 3. yep... they exclusively cater to these bands. search them on myspace, make friends with them... hang out with them, watch their shows... and you are always assured of a good time. however, the moment you betray them and start shopping your music to the mainstream... or begin playing in prods that are against their beliefs, prepare to be excommunicated. while these prods are hassle free... its disadvantage is that there are a lot of invisible rules for you to adhere to. it is no problem if it turns out your beliefs are similar to theirs.
-*-
and lastly... no, ppl wont watch you because you are a 'good' band. ppl will watch you if you:
1.) play well
2.) gig a lot
3.) are nice to everyone around you and dont carry your musics image in your day to day leaning.
you should see a lot of steve vai type guitarists who are ignored because they gig once every 5 months and they go home right away without watching other bands play.
