tacomamusic.net

Home of the Tacoma Music Listserv

Welcome to the the tacomomusic.net listserv. Our mission is to provide a communication network for the thriving community of musicians of all genres in Tacoma, WA. We strive to be a resource for musician classifieds, show promotion, equipment sharing, show coordination and any other netowrking you may need to grow your band and fan-base in Tacoma.

Rules & Regs

Content control is at the sole discrepancy of tacomamusic.net's administrator. We are paying for this service so that it can be free to you, and will not tolerate abuse and jerkdom going out over the wires. As such, We ask that you adhere to the following guidelines:

Don't spam - You are free to promote yourself, try to sell your music or technical services, and work to support your work in the Tacoma music scene. However, unrelated solicitations and blatant spamming will result in warnings and eventual banning.
Don't troll - Have a bad experience with a venue, vendor, or otherwise, and want to warn your fellows? Great. Critisize, inform, counter-promote. But don't do it just to be ornery, and don't do it just because they're your competition. In short, don't be an asshole. Again, warnings and bannings.
No adult content (within reason) - Part of growing a scene is getting to them early. Encouraging teenagers to participate as audience, start bands, get involved is at the core of our mission. That means try not to piss off the parents who are looking over their shoulder. Frankly, most adult content is likely to fall under rule 1 anyway, but we ask you to give due consideration to potentially offensive content in show fliers and the like. Yes, scantily clad women are a staple of concert posters worldwide, but please show at least a little discretion

Hopes & Dreams

When this concept germinated way too long ago (I've been sitting on it and not doing anything for far too many months), it was with the following ideas in mind:

Show Promotion - The best people to promote to are the other people invested in the community. They're the ones going out to shows, buying local CDs, telling their friends about the great band they saw last night. And they're the kind of people who are likely to be on this list in the first place.
Show Organization - Running a venue is a lot of work, and the more of it you can take out of their hands, the better. That means putting together your own lineup of three or four bands. The more bands you play with, the more bands you WILL play with, if that makes sense. Get on a bill with one band you know and two bands you don't, and suddenly you know two more bands. That's two more bands to book shows with, and two more sets of fans to court.
Peripheral industries - No scene is made of just musicians. This city is full of the sound techs you need to put on your basement show, graphic designers to make your posters and CD sleeves, computer geeks to build you a website, and fans with friends who want to promote you. Some will work for money, some will work for a couple free CDs and a sample for their portfolio.
Share your gear - Maybe a little more rare, but there are kind souls out there with PAs to lend out, festival tents to play under, or a few parcans to light you up.

The big thing I really want to see is this: genre-equality. I'm a life-long rocker, but I've been amazed at the quality of some of the hip-hop artists in and around Tacoma, and also have strong ties to the folk and bluegrass scene in the area. Branch out. Don't ignore a posting just because it's outside your usual scene. There are worthwhile people and and worthwhile acts in all branches of the Tacoma scene, and they all deserve your attention.

The Big How-To

So here's how it works: send an e-mail to list-request@tacomamusic.net. Put the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the body, and nothing in the subject. That is all. You should receive confirmation shortly. After that, direct your messages to list@tacomamusic.net, and they will flow out into the hordes. Or whoever is on here, really. Please note: you are required to join in order to participate. The privilege of promoting yourself comes at the cost of letting yourself be promoted at. This is not about supporting just you. This is about building a community out of all the musicians and music-lovers in Tacoma. If you're tired of the e-mails, and wish to cut your ties, it's as simple as signing up. Send an e-mail to list-request@tacomamusic.net, no subject, body of "unsubscribe". You will be free of us forever.

Go Forth!

Questions? Feel free to e-mail the list administrator (that's me!) at admin@tacomamusic.net. I'm in the same boat as you. I play in two bands, have a home recording setup, and put on shows in my basement. I want this to work for your sake and mine. That means listening to anyone who has ideas they want my help with, or something they want to see out of tacomamusic.net. We've got this whole domain here that's not being used for anything but this page and e-mail service, and I'm open to ideas. Beyond that... just tell people. The success of an online community like this hinges entirely on the breadth of users. If it's just me and my friends on here, there is simply no point to it.

The other key to forming a community is to act like a community. When you sign up, introduce yourself. Let people know you're here, what you're looking for from the e-mail list and the community at large. Everyone on here is on because they care. People are more likely to support you if they feel like they know you, and if they feel like you are personally invested in the process.

Thanks,
Joe Izenman