BC’s Best Teen Band Contest Top 10 Workshops: Music Biz 101

On Saturday, January 15, 2011, the Top 10 bands for BC’s Best Teen Band Contest had the opportunity to attend a workshop series with some of BC’s music industry royalty at Tom Lee Music in downtown Vancouver.

Those in attendance received a crash course in the music biz, and definitely left knowing more than when they arrived.

“This is kind of our first foray into really launching ourselves and I think this is one of the best opportunities we’ve seen,” said Steve Dahl, drummer for Ivory Coast, about the contest. “We’re really going to try and put as much effort into it as we can.”

This kind of a break into the music industry is rare, particularly for young artists. Beyond the workshops, the Top 10 are competing for prizing that includes $3000 cash for artist development, a recording opportunity, a guitar plus much more.

The day of workshops began with an hour of media training from Youthink’s editor, Janine Verreault, and assistant editor, Oliver Lam. The artists picked up some handy tips on how to set up interviews and communicate with media. They also got to hear first-hand stories about some of Youthink’s interviews with artists like Lady Gaga, Oasis and Weezer.

After media training, the Top 10 were given a talk by SOCAN Education and Outreach Manager, Terry O’Brien. It was - to say the least - a lot of information to take in for just 45 minutes, but by the end, the bands had received a basic rundown of how songwriting royalties work.

Following the informative talk by O’Brien, the artists were treated to a tour of the Next Level Learning Centre on the fifth floor of Tom Lee before their next session.

For an overview of the music industry today, the bands participated in an informal discussion with Bob D’Eith, Executive Director of Music BC, Don McLeod, songwriter/producer/manager, and Shaun Verreault, lead singer/guitar player of Wide Mouth Mason.

McLeod started the session by having each of the band members brainstorm individual goals for their music careers and then asked them to discuss those goals as a band for homework. The purpose was to make sure that everyone on the team had the same goals – or at least was aware of other band member’s aspirations.

The Top 10 also got advice on songwriting, signing with record labels, networking, and just about everything else they need to know to make their rock star dreams a reality.

Among the many tips given at the workshop, perhaps the one that best summed up the day came from Don McLeod: “If you don’t have your best foot ready, don’t even think about taking the next step.”

I think it's safe to say, after Saturday, that all of BC's Best Teen Band Contest's Top 10 bands are eager and ready for the next step.

Read more about BC’s Best Teen Band Contest.