Welcome to Indie on the Move's compiled listing of annual music festivals, conferences, and business seminars helping bands and musicians increase their industry knowledge, broaden their networking reach, and spread the word about their music, shows, and tours (click on a state name for city by city listings and contact links).
Whether you are chosen to perform as part of a conference showcase or simply attend one or multiple industry related panels, music festivals, conferences, and business seminars can be an exceptional opportunity to network with other bands, venue reps, talent buyers, promoters, agents, record labels, and managers, and when truly taken advantage of can drastically improve your touring prowess, press and radio exposure, online presence, and more.
After all, it is at these annual events that people from all corners of the music industry come together to learn about the newest trends in digital media, social networking and music marketing, discuss and strategize recent developments in every sector of the music marketplace, and meet and greet up-and-coming artists that are creating a buzz.
And with regards to the larger festivals like Lollapalooza or Bonnaroo, be sure to think outside of the box. While many of them do not regularly book independent acts for their official showcases, the national and international bands that do perform often draw some of the biggest built-in crowds imagineable and provide a large influx of music lovers to each respective event location.
So...be spontaneous...book a show at one or several of that city's smaller local venues/bars/restaurants during the festival and sell some merch! Even playing an ad-lib acoustic set in the event parking lot can go a long way in gaining you some new fans.
+Making the Most of a Music Festival