EXPOSED MUSIC FESTIVAL

FESTIVAL NAME: EXPOSED MUSIC FESTIVAL
Exposed Music Festival website
Facebook site
Myspace site
Reverbnation
COMPANY NAME: 2/20 Productions
RUN BY: Dan Janssen
FORMERLY: Slave To The Metal
HISTORY: Dan Janssen (Dan Janssen Productions, 2/20 Productions, BluePrint Artist Development - check those generic photos!) ran the Slave to the Metal and Get Your Rock On one day pay-to-play events discussed here. Dan and his former Last August bandmate Scott Sykora, co-produced the Exposed Music Festival. The website is still under Scott’s name but he seems to be currently out of the picture. Adrian Breeden of Pesky Jezter Entertainment (check out that statement of principles/biography and get back to me if you figure out what it means!) also helped co-produce the event and made boring promotional videos (and in my opinion the "Pesky Jezter Studios" is just this guy's bedroom). Dan is in charge of the facebook site and writes the blogs I totally disagree with (if Last August did so well with their pay-to-play shows, why aren't they still a band?).
COMPANY HEADQUARTERS: Kent, Ohio / New York
WHAT: “The Nationwide independent music tour that helps bring your band to the next level.”
FEST STATS: Usually two day events, typically all-ages, tickets good for both days, average 10 bands per show
CITIES AND BANDS: Over 40 cities, 750 bands, 75 shows during 2010 (750 bands x $200 minimum tickets = $150,000)
FESTIVAL HOSTS: National “star” hosts/MCs event (Mistress Juliya or Jennifer "JennCity" Arroyo). Mistress Juliya used to host the Slave to the Metal Tours and went on tour with Dan Janssen at (3:45). They also made a "hilarious" Doritos ad that didn't win some big Superbowl contest (with bloopers).
FESTIVAL PARTNERS: Jagermeister, Stand and Deliver Records, Blue Print Artist Development (again, this is just Dan's company).
,


FESTIVAL INCENTIVES: Record label evaluation, possible national endorsements, exposure
Is it a fast track to being signed or not? They explain that Exposed just has "direct access to the labels who support our shows".



TICKET SALES: REQUIRED - $10 from the bands / $12 door. Tickets good for both nights of the festival. Bands are given 75 tickets and expected to sell 50. They are required to sell 20 ($200) or face being kicked off the show with only a few days advance notice.



CONTACTING BANDS FOR THE FESTIVAL: First they contact all the bands on facebook by "liking" them (by Nov. 2011, they had more than 4,402 "likes"):


This allows the user to then contact different bands by writing directly on their facebook wall, over and over and over...

The show requests are all the same...




BANDS WARNING OTHER BANDS ON FACEBOOK
BANDS DECIDE TO CANCEL
AN EXCHANGE BETWEEN BANDS AND THE EXPOSED MUSIC FESITVAL OWNER
EXPOSED MUSIC FESTIVAL VIDEOS - A video is worth a thousand words


WHAT THE BANDS SAY:
This isn't written by me, it's written by the bands. I'm just sharing it.
(Facebook screen captures: real bands, real comments - and if you are sensitvie to excessive cussing, watch out - some of these bands are not happy!)

Craigslist comment about 2/20 Productions and their Get Your Rock On festival


Comment about MC Jenncity and the Exposed show

THE SEATTLE EXPOSED MUSIC FESTIVAL (OR) GETTING THROWN OFF THE SHOW FOR LACK OF TICKET SALES: Exposed Music Festival came to Seattle (Studio Seven) for their two day event on August 12-13. This band excitedly tried to sell tickets for 1 1/2 months.





To the Exposed MF's credit, the band names were actually listed in the local music paper, even though some of them were incorrect. They listed "U.P.", the band that was trying hard to sell tickets, for August 13th.


But being listed in the music paper doesn't help when you are being 86'd for lack of ticket sales. Two days before the show was to take place, "U.P.", who tried to sell tickets got this nasty surprise:


Other bands chime in with their opinions...


Another band, also advertised in the Stranger music paper (above), got kicked off the show for the same reasons.


And apparently it happens in Colorado too!
Here a band tries to sell tickets all through November. They'll even meet people to sell them:


This show was for November 22, 2011. On Sunday Nov 20th, they are still working on ticket selling.


On November 21 (comment at the bottom), they are still trying to get the word out, but by the night of the show (comment at the top), they get kicked off.

BACK TO TOP


BANDS WARNING OTHER BANDS






This band does the math on tickets...




Bands from other cities discuss this fest and Slave to the Metal


This band is excited...their friends, not so much.

BACK TO TOP

BANDS DECIDE TO CANCEL








When a band had decided to cancel, the Exposed Music Festival wants to know why. They also confirm that bands should just go ahead and sell tickets to "close family, friends and coworkers" (My personal opinion: Where is the exposure from this?) FYI: Exposed Music Festival can cancel on bands, but they would rather not have bands cancel on them.


This band wants to play but is rejected. You can see that the festival owners will actually take money up front to play their event. My personal opinion: It's all about the money...and yes, this band should do band swaps with other bands. That's a good way to avoid doing pay to play shows.

BACK TO TOP


AN ACTUAL FACEBOOK EXCHANGE BETWEEN BANDS AND EXPOSED MUSIC FESTIVAL OWNER
This is a series of facebook comments between several bands who played an Exposed Music Festival in Charlotte, NC. Be sure to read the responses from the company carefully and notice how many of the comments follow the "10 Most Common Pay-To-Play Arguments".



This musician takes issue with the "shine" comment above.

"JB" continues...

Exposed blames the bands for "not having the support of your local scene"...

Let's look at this particular statement again. Is Exposed Music Festival saying that label reps are secretly attending their events?
Exposed Music Festival: Back in the day, if a label rep or scout were in attendance at an event or show...you didn't know about it unless they were interested in what you could offer. Who's to say they weren't there? Think about it...a lot has changed over the years...but a lot hasn't as well.

BACK TO TOP

VIDEO LINKS - CHECK THE CROWDS/CHECK THE EXPOSURE
Sometimes it's just best to really examine the videos taken to see what these festivals are really all about. The organizers of this festival will tell you that hundreds of people will be there to see you perform (and actually there should be). They'll tell you about the great exposure your band will get, more than you could get on your own. I've listed videos from the Exposed Music Festival, not to look at the bands (every band that gets on a stage gets a big A+ from me), but to see what kind of venue and what kind of crowd shows up. The point being, you cannot always guarantee huge exposure at every one of these festivals. It is my personal opinion that these bands are mostly playing to their friends (be sure to check the small amount of applause) and maybe some of the other bands (although Jenncity even chews them out for not sticking around!)...and couldn't they do that without selling tickets?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auvfzJacy24 : July 11, 2011, Richmond, VA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctJIf2z4KzE : Nov 6, 2011, Jackson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfOi1x9VSjk&feature=youtu.be July 27, 2011, Worcester, MA (Check the Jenncity introduction: "We ain't done yet bitches, whoever is left here in the room. One time, give it up for Sxxxx Cxxxxx, they did a great fuckin' job, out here tonight. I gotta give it up to them. They could have stuck around and saw the other bands but I ain't hatin'. I ain't hatin'..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2RVHA5OYb0 : July 17, 2011, Antioch, CA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJGiWIcqeQQ : Aug 13, 2011, Seattle, WA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8xE_Kg7q3M : Oct 30, 2011, Virginia Beach, VA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBd8zUAKVfM : May 28, 2011, Charlotte, NC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kuI4LNC27E : May 6, 2011, Erie, PA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxW2FWokC2A : Aug 23, 2011, Antioch, CA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRQ8UGy5Yd0 : Nov 13, 2011, San Antonio, TX

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xqdtyiDf6k : Oct 30, 2011, Virginia Beach, VA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7LOcltP1Vk : July 7, 2011, Kansas City, MO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk53o5Ypx8E : Nov 5, 2011, Atlanta, GA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFGICxNz6Lk : Oct 31, 2011, Charlotte, NC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5HWEDUm_Ls : July 22, 2011, Charleston, WV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEPnOrUl2BY : Nov 18, 2011, Tempe, AZ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsdsKPn6M9I : Nov 18, 2011, Tempe, AZ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu61bw9CeL0 : May 2, 2011, Houston, TX

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgVGL_UUWGU : Dec 12, 2011, Houston, TX


BACK TO TOP
BACK TO FESTIVALS
BACK TO NEVERPAYTOPLAY