the new "major label deal"

my dutch punk-rawker pal tony slug (nitwitz / bgk / loveslug / hydromatics / spades) posted a rant on myspace awhile back instructing bands _not_ to hit him up for eurotour hookups, to which i replied, "'touring europe' is the new 'major label deal' for bottom-of-the-foodchain u.s. bands." which, of course, it is: cloud cuckoo land. hoping for a major label deal is like hoping for the chance to take out a loan from the mafia. (oops, i mean, the _vending machine industry_.) europeans are wonderful ppl who really know how to treat musicians. however, the likelihood is that if you visit their continent, you'll come back (at best) with empty pockets. a vacation-with-gigs can be fun, but is that what you're really looking for?

mo' bettah advice for bands that wanna advance themselves: get yr web presence together, including a continuous infusion (weekly works well) of new content and something interactive like a forum. sell your stuff online, and don't make ppl get a paypal acct to buy it. releasing product more often than every five yrs or so is a good idea, too, esp. if you wanna tour. optimally, the cd promotes the tour which finances the next cd. realistically, you gotta at least break even. you're not doing this shit for the money, but it can be a _very_ expensive hobby if you're not frugal. fuck corporate welfare. learn how to market yourself and _do the legwork goddammit_. do that and you can have a sustainable career doing what you love for as long as you wanna. so sayeth me.