[FA Worldmusic] artists under the radar

[Mark Gorney]

I did not study sociology nor have I done any community work but I think
it's important to distinguish between "ethnic" and "immigrant." 

An example of the former would be East Indians in the San Jose and Fremont,
CA area and Persians and Middle Easterners in the Los Angeles and Detroit
areas and many other locales. These groups are characterized by citizenship,
command of English and a higher income level and are probably more
likely/open to be 'bridged' to "dominant European-American mainstream"
audiences. 

An example of the latter would be Mexican, Central American and African
immigrants in communities across the US. These groups have higher levels of
non-citizenship, poorer or lack of command of English, lower incomes levels
and a higher degree of insularity (I don't mean that in any pejorative
sense). It's my view it would require more effort to reach these groups and
provide a bridge, but the challenge is no less intriguing. 

I have done some outreach to "ethnic" communities (can we come up with a
better term?) and like Dmitri have had mixed results. It helps when there is
'ethnic' media (newspapers, radio) to serve the needs of the community and
harder when the marketing for local performances are done by more grassroots
means such as word of mouth, postering, etc. 

In the case of outreach -to- these communities, will they buy the cd? If so,
where? (sales to "ethnic" stores helps.) Will they attend the concert even
though it's being held at X venue where the ticket price is X dollars? I saw
Youssou in San Francisco not long ago and there were people from Senegal
dancing on stage; obviously they found out about the show, but when Niger's
Etran Finatawa performed in Arlington, Virginia recently, the audience was
mostly Caucasian (including, I am told, "a lot of State Dep't. and Peace
Corps types"), and not that many Africans. 

Regarding exposing local performances to a wider audience, I am confident
that promoters of local shows would be open to outreach and that a native
language speaker from the community would volunteer to provide translation
where necessary. From a media perspective, one might be more successful in
communities where the influx of immigrants is newer (the Khmer in
Philadelphia, the Hmong in Minneapolis, Somalis in Seattle), and the market
in question is also important - are the residents of whatever city
sufficiently open-minded to be interested in the sometimes very different
music and culture of these communities?

On a minor note, it really helps to actually be in the city in question -
the difference that on the spot research and direct, person to person
contact makes in these instances is immeasurable. 

Mark
 
-----Original Message-----
From: fa-worldmusic-bounces+mark=worldisc.net at folk.org
[mailto:fa-worldmusic-bounces+mark=worldisc.net at folk.org] On Behalf Of
Dmitri Vietze
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 7:56 AM
To: 'Kutay Kugay'; fa-worldmusic at folk.org
Subject: Re: [FA Worldmusic] artists under the radar

Kutay Kugay wrote: <<What I was referring to about connecting with ethnic
communities weather immigrant or resident was more to do about building
inroads to those communities by integrating their constituents with the
world music community and vise versa.>>

I reply: Great point. I used the term "immigrant," because the term "ethnic"
is so vague; everyone is technically "ethnic." But then again, technically
everyone is an "immigrant" or descendant of immigrants too. Sorry 'bout
that. But regardless I take your point that communities connected to
cultures outside the "dominant European-American mainstream" are
disconnected from that "mainstream." I, of course, I agree that there are
tons of opportunities to close gaps in access to information, resources,
expertise, in BOTH (or all) directions. 

Kutay Kugay wrote: <<It also has so much to do with building mutual trust.
Language may be barrier at times but it's much more than the mechanics of
communication.>>

I reply: Again, of course, I agree. Developing mutual trust takes more than
offering language translation or funding projects. My question to everyone
here: who has made a concerted effort to reach across cultural communities
to bridge these gaps? Give us real life examples. What did you try? What
worked, what didn't? What were your biggest challenges? (I know you lurkers
have something to say! Don't be a chicken.)

Kutay Kugay wrote: <<I was not specifically wanting to address the WMC
without naming it. I know it's just getting off the ground. This issue of
not connecting with the communities and their artists and activities is a
much larger problem of the society in which we live in.>>

I reply: yes, the patterns in our larger society replicate themselves even
in the self-declared forward-thinking arts and "world music" scenes. I just
wanted to put out the concept  that there are no associations or
organizations in charge of fixing this. It's just us. So talking about it is
one thing, doing something is something else. Not that I am saying dont say
it unless you plan on fixing it. But what can we here on this list, in the
field, do to change this? What can each of us do on a daily basis? What can
we do as a concerted effort? If we do not answer this and take action,
nobody will.

As a publicity firm, we go in waves of making efforts to reach out to
non-English media. Sometimes we succeed more than others. We have more
consistent success in connecting with an artist that is already big within
their own "ethnic community" and help to provide the background and context
that is often assumed within the fan base, but unknown to new audiences.
That is one of our main emphases in how we approach publicity. This has been
effective with groups like the Arabesque Music Ensemble, Marcel Khalife,
Mariza, Auktyon, and many others. 

In some cases, it seems that promoters that set up tours in "their own
ethnic community" do not see a need to reach additional audiences. In other
cases, it seems they do not know how or dont even have the framework for
considering it. That is, they may believe there is no market for it outside
of their target community. Or maybe there are different cultural
understandings on how marketing is done. Or concerts are based in a
particular framework of community centers, religious settings, or in the
homes of doctors or lawyers. And much of the marketing is done by word of
mouth. 

Here in Bloomington, we have a different dynamic, which I am sure is
replicated in university towns around the US. A small department may have a
budget line for a musical presentation for their students. They book some
amazing band known within their country / ethnicity / genre / niche. The
group comes and performs to 100 people, does a couple of master classes for
students, and nobody outside of that department (including me!) even knows
they were in town. This has nothing to do with cultural differences so much
as what they call here the town and gown divide. Two different worlds in a
small town. 

Much respect,

Dmitri Vietze
rock paper scissors, inc.
511 W. 4th St., Suite 2
Bloomington, IN 47404-5171
TEL +1-812-339-1195
FAX +1-801-729-4911
music at rockpaperscissors.biz
www.rockpaperscissors.biz
 
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