Making a Scene Presents

Making a Scene Presents - How To Build A Simple Artist CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Without Getting Overwhelmed

The Fan List Is Not The Boring Part

Somewhere along the way, independent artists were tricked into thinking the “business side” of music was a separate, joyless dungeon where creativity goes to die under a pile of spreadsheets. The myth says the real artist writes songs, plays shows, makes records, and posts into the algorithmic void while some mysterious business goblin with a laptop handles the rest. That myth has been very useful for platforms, labels, middlemen, and anyone else who benefits when artists stay disorganized.

The truth is much simpler and much more dangerous to the old system. Your fan list is not the boring part. Your fan list is the beginning of your independent music business.

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Making a Scene Presents an Interview with The Silverteens

The Silverteens are a Minneapolis band with deep roots in the city’s rock, punk, new wave, and power pop history. Long known for an eclectic live set that pulls from obscure 1960s garage rock, late 1970s punk, power pop, and other high-energy corners of rock and roll, the band brings together musicians who have been active in the local scene since the 1970s and 1980s.

What gives The Silverteens their character is not just their song selection, but the history behind the players. Each member carries decades of experience from Minneapolis clubs, original bands, cover projects, and the underground music community that helped shape the city’s identity. Their sound reflects that background: raw but tuneful, loose in the right places, sharp when it counts, and rooted in the joy of playing songs that still have electricity in them.

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Making a Scene Presents - The Next Music Manager May Be A Workflow Designer

The Old Music Business Loved A Gatekeeper

For a long time, the dream was simple. Find a manager who knew the right people, could get the right meetings, and maybe knew which hotel lobby to haunt during a conference. The manager was the person with access. They had the phone numbers, the relationships, the mystery spreadsheet, and the ability to say, “Let me make a call,” which always sounded like wizardry even when it meant leaving a voicemail.

That version of management is not dead. Relationships still matter. A good manager can still open doors, negotiate deals, protect an artist from bad contracts, and keep the wheels on the van when the business starts moving faster than the band can think. But for most independent artists, the first manager they need today is not a gatekeeper. It is a system. More specifically, it is the ability to design workflows that turn attention into relationships, relationships into income, and income into a career that does not collapse every time an algorithm sneezes.

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Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Kaatwalk

Kaatwalk is a Twin Cities-based singer-songwriter whose music is rooted in quiet honesty, emotional presence, and the kind of storytelling that turns everyday moments into something deeply human. Inspired by artists such as Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, and Joni Mitchell, she writes with a reflective voice that values truth over polish and connection over perfection.

Her sound moves easily across folk, Americana, indie, and singer-songwriter traditions without being boxed into one genre. At the center of it all is the song: intimate lyrics, stripped-down arrangements, and performances that feel personal, lived-in, and real. Kaatwalk draws from shared experiences, small details, emotional undercurrents, and the moments people often carry quietly. Her music gives those feelings room to breathe.

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Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey's Interview with Trace Foster of Close Enemies

Close Enemies is a rock band built on contrast: raw emotion and polished intensity, grit and melody, chaos and calm. Their sound blends hard-hitting guitar riffs, driving rhythms, atmospheric textures, and haunting vocals into music that feels both familiar and fresh. Rooted in the spirit of classic rock but shaped with a modern edge, Close Enemies creates songs that hit with power while still leaving room for mood, depth, and emotional weight.

http://www.makingascene.org