by Dan O

I talk too much. Bandcamp allowing me to send a message to the artist I just purchased the album through is a dangerous game for me. I decided early on to limit myself beyond their character limit. To create rules of interaction so I wasn’t blasting paragraphs of praise in messages to the artist and posting comments. Too much of anything is annoying. 

I only send one message to an artist at the point of purchase on Bandcamp. I type Freemusicempire Loves You and it means a few very specific things to me. The biggest takeaway an artist should glean from my message is that I want to book them on State of The Game. If I ever sent you this message while buying your album it means I am holding a spot in hopes to talk about this with you. Why not just say that? Why not just type State of The Game wants you to come on?! I love the art of coded language. I don’t really care if you realize this means booking is a possibility, it’s a promise I’m making to go after the booking. 

That’s not the only reason my message isn’t more booking specific. Musicians are often spending endless hours on projects. Albums can take years only to be digested and tossed aside in a week or a month. Whether the booking works out or it never works out…take this love with you. Know that FME is out there and loves you. This project matters and you matter. I know things get dark and it can feel like no one cares. I try to send as much love as possible knowing those moments will come. 

I also want to book you. 

If you don’t get a message it doesn’t mean I don’t want to book you. Lots of things can be happening. 1) maybe I don’t have a spot for the project 2) maybe your a frequent guest and I’m taking this one off because I see important work on the horizon 3) maybe I really dig it but I’m still figuring out how I would talk with you about it 4) maybe this is a major artist I have no hope of booking. The possibilities splinter into a thousand glimmering shards. Try not to read too much into the silence but I’m glad you know what it means when I send a message.