The best advice I can give you about this is be prepared. Be a fucking Boy Scout. The advice about streamlining your gear is spot on. Get a mixer and give me a stereo mix (mono is even better). Ask questions while booking the show. Know how many bands are playing and what the order is. The one thing you should always remember is that we are on a VERY tight schedule. We got four hours to get five bands in and still find time to get all these drunk assholes out of the bar. Know your set up, know how to explain it to me quickly and clearly, and MOVE YOUR SHIT! Any band should be able to set up in less than 20 min and tear it down in even less. Just be professional, tell me what you want with out any rockstar ego, and everything will be great. We'll all have a good time.

The big thing is the fact that soundguys have to deal with hugely inflated egos everyday. If you present yourself as someone who is there to have fun and not as a wanna-be rockstar, you'll find everything will go much better.

All that being said, most soundguys are just dicks. I really haven't figured out why yet myself.

Most AM radio stations have converted to talk or are concidered the unwanted step sister to FM stations these days. (It wasn't always so... it was just the reverse in the 1960s!)

The demographic that you are seeking may or may not listen to AM.

I agree a far cheaper route would be to find an internet radio station, as you would need to have the transfer of the FEDERAL license approved by the FCC... and that's not impossible, but it's really not a casual thing!

PS: How were you thinking of offsetting the huge electric bill that the transmitter would generate? Who decides who gets to appear in prime time? Who fixes the inevitable equipment break downs?

I will put in a strong word for The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program. Great place to learn theory and how to score films at the same time. It's a hard program for beginners but it's awesome.

http://www.pnwfilmmusic.com/

All the stuff Megan and Ben say here is really smart.

Megan's point about building relationships with other bands is really right on, and I would take it even further.

Not only bands, but artists, venues, labels, etc -- find people that are doing things that you think are cool and let them know and try to get involved. This will take time but building these relationships is wholly worthwhile -- not only for whatever band you are currently working on but for future bands / projects as well.

Some years back I met a girl -- at some point that first night I asked her what she wanted to be / do. She said she wanted to be a secret agent. I asked how you became a secret agent and she said it wasn't something you pursued - "THEY find YOU", she assured me.

I think getting signed is like that. Labels will come to you, or (and this is more often the case) they won't.

Alphabetical.
Genres are for squares.

I really like Raven Sings the Blues - http://ravensingstheblues.blogspot.com/

I also spend a lot of time on websites of record labels I like and / or distributors that carry bands I like. There are still labels that you can pretty consistently count on to release good records.

Florida's Dying is a really great distro. Almost everything on there is super good - http://www.floridasdying.com/

Also, lots of really great record stores have weekly mailing lists outlining good stuff coming out that week / being reissued / etc. Apart from the local stores, I really like the updates I get from Other Music in NYC and San Francisco's Aquarius.

When I'm stumped, I just ask Ruben what I should buy.

I miss the Rocket, but mostly for nostalgic reasons. It was almost impossible to read (because of the tight layouts), and blogs are easier for me to keep up with than weekly newspapers. I read a lot of music blogs these days. I know of two local ones - Three Imaginary Girls, which Ben London mentioned, and Sound on the Sound.

Some of the community colleges have pretty good recording/ music programs that are pretty reasonably priced. Shoreline's program is pretty good. There are also a lot of resources available through the VERA Project. The Art Institute is always an option but it is pretty expensive. Local Studio Glenn Sound also holds some pro tools classes and there are some good audio classes through the UW extension program.

Awww, I totally miss The Rocket.
These days I comb through the friends lists on MySpace band pages to hear what the bands I like are listening too. Also I use Amazons suggestions feature to explore things "I might also like". Also lots of blogs.
There is so much music out there and I don't listen to just one genre, it's like trying to find a news source that you can get actual news from, kinda hard. So it takes more digging and exploring but pays off in the end, for me anyways.

Oh, this is the great question of all time. I could literally talk to you about how to organize your records for a hundred hours and not get tired. You certainly would.

In the great documentary "Vinyl", one of the nutcase collectors sorts all his records by artist, INCLUDING THE, meaning "The Beatles" goes in T, not B. Which is seriously not right in the head. But then, neither is anything else.

By artist, you say? Well, what about solo LPs? Does John go with the Beatles, or under "Lennon"? What about Yoko? Does she go with John, or under O, or god forbid under "Beatles"? What about John AND Yoko records? What about Beatles rip-off records, like The Beetles Beat? What about a guy who changes his name, like John Cougar Mellancamp Cougar or whatever his name is? That one's easy, get rid of them all, but you get the idea.

What if you want to keep Future Bible Heroes and The Sixths with your Magnetic Fields? They're sort of the same band, sort of not. Or Cinerama and Wedding Present?

I sort by genre, myself. When you reach a certain quantity, it's just easier. Plus, I find those borderlines, where genres overlap -- or even worse, where an artist, particularly one with a long career, spans multiple genres over time. Bob Dylan -- folk, rock, or folk-rock? I'm not even sure that some of his later genres are even classifiable. But that's where the interesting stuff frequently is.

I enjoy making this problem even worse by inventing new micro-genres all the time -- I separate "jazz" from "jazz vocal", which creates all sorts of delightful problems, especially since "jazz vocal" shades into all sorts of vocal records that aren't really jazz at all, like Buddy Greco (hey).

Really, what you have to do is change your mind all the time. Right now, we have everything in four broad categories -- "before rock", "rock", "punk and after" and "huge unsorted pile spread all over several different rooms".

One of the great things about iTunes is being able to do all this genre-fucking at the keyboard. The built-in CDDB genres are total bullshit -- just the sight of "Punk and Alternative" makes me cry out in rage -- so I make my own. My biggest pet peeve is "World", as if there was anything remotely similar between Francoise Hardy (60s French pop) and Kanda Bongo Man (80s Zairean soukous) and Luis Bonfa (Brazilian bossa nova guitarist). I've created at least fifty new genres there.

There is no known medical treatment for this condition.

Awesome

http://www.awesometheband.com/

Humans killed the video star

I don't have a list.

How about:

-List your goals and plans for your band so you know what you need from an agent and who you're ultimately looking for.

-Consult with a number of agents and promoters to find a good fit. Remember, you're interviewing them, and they're considering taking you on as a client.

-Network and find out if any of your friends or favorite bands have agents and promoters they like. You never know when someone has information, or a contact that can help you. Cross pollenization is also key.....Create the scene. Share your goals and information with others, and they in turn will share with you to find resources. Success won't occur in secret, or behind closed doors.

First of all......600 LP's? When are you having a listening party, and will you please invite me?

Second...Genre requires you to think, alphabetically is simple and child proof!

Yeah, that happens but.....

Never let a booker/promoter get in the way of your shows and career as a musician.
There are going to be times when they don't do anything and the house still gets their 35% cut. As artists and business people, we must continue to find ways to make the shows happen, and make some $ in the process.

Occasionally, doing the work that is someone else's job is necessary to advance your own career, but if you feel taken advantage of, then perhaps there are other clubs/bookers/promoters (and bands!) willing to work with you in a way that makes for a good show and better business.

The best shows offer something unique, and it doesn't matter wether you've booked your Mom's backyard, or the Paramount theater! Just make it kick ass!

P.S. Please invite me to your backyard BBQ rock and roll fest this Summer!

Your collection is small enough where your current system seems like the most logical way to organize it. Unless you're a DJ who has gigs for different occasions, organizing by genre isn't all that helpful.

If your LP stash, say, doubles, then you may want to start filing the records according to genre—especially if you like busy work.

The online Stranger and Seattle Weekly are what i use when i need help.

As far as finding new music, I go out to hear bands I already know, then get introduced to the other bands on the bill. It's my favorite way to "discover" new music.

I'm not sure what "leading edge music" is, but I constantly find artists with fresh creative approaches to using the same 12 musical notes and 26 letters of the alphabet.

Do you want a general music program or one that focuses on a specific style?
Is there a particular instrument you want to study?

There are three kick-ass high school jazz bands in the area - Garfield, Roosevelt, and, believe it or not, Mountlake Terrace.

They are all nationally recognized, and have performed at the Essentially Ellington festival in New York on numerous occasions. Garfield and Roosevelt have actually each won it a few times. Garfield has even toured Europe, including playing at the Montreaux jazz festival.

2 bits:
a) am radio must be received on most car radios since so many traffic warnings are only issued on am

b) you might be more interested in PIRATE radio.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100436/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_radio_in_North_America#Partial_list_of_pirate_radio_stations_in_the_United_States

1st
600 lps? Is that like, an entire bookcase?? Plus HEAVY. Dayum.

2nd
Alpha. Genre sometimes changes over time and you'll just have to fret or reorg later. Alpha doesn't change.
Then chrono for each artist.
...though I tend to first separate songs from instrumentals (like classical or film scores)

If you need a bit more chaos to your music organization then organize alpha, but sort first by DECADE. 70's starts with ABBA, 80's starts with adam ant, and so on...

Genre. Just do it. Not only will you still be able to find everything easily, but you'll also have a MUCH easier time of finding something to play when you only have a vague idea what you're in the mood for.

For example, now if you want to listen to country, you might immediately think Hank Williams, but forget all about Dolly Parton. Grouping by genre solves this problem.

And, don't sweat Neko Case. Wherever she ends up, you'll always be able to find it (if only because you agonized about it). Have fun with it. Hell, I have a Butthole Surfers section and a Velvet Undergound section because I had no idea how to classify them!

When I organized my music by genre, it was like rediscovering my collection all over again. By genre is the only classification that actually requires you to think about your music, so it's rewarding, even if it isn't necessarily the most efficient or obvious.

Interact with the fucking crowd. It doesn't matter how you do it, just don't make a performance look like you're checking your goddamn email.

"... but it would be CHEAPER to buy and to run, and operate on a volunteer basis, which would be easy given the amount of talent in Seattle trying to build a reputation/portfolio."

The amount of talent isn't in question. It has always been, and will continue to be, a question of anyone's ability to manage it.

The short answer is that if you're asking this on Questionland, you probably aren't serious and don't have a business plan worth discussing. The longer answer is that, yes, AM radio still exists, lots of people still tune in, and you most likely don't have nearly enough cash.

Just sayin.

I would do it chronologically, that's how I organize mine.

Bookers have a lot of days to fill. So if someone else steps up and does some work filling some of them, that can help lighten the load a bit, and allow them to be more effective on the other nights they have to fill.

I know I helped organize a monthly songwriter night at the Sunset Tavern for 5 years. I'm sure one of the attractions of it for the owner/booker was that it was 1 less night a month he had to handle.

But I benefited too. I got to play every month in a great venue. I got to know a lot more great musicians, and a lot more people got to know more about me as a performer and about my music. People still ask me about that night five years after we stopped doing it (got too busy in the rest of my life).

So maybe the booker likes your thing (and/or likes you personally), but doesn't feel he or she knows the landscape of bands that fit with you as well as you do. So it's better for everyone if you put a good bill together.

Or maybe they like you and your music, but the reality is that your band does not draw well enough for them to put energy and resources into putting bills together for you at this point in time (but this could change if your thing grows more).

Or maybe they've come to find that when the bands put a bill together, they are more inclined to work harder to promote it and get people out to the show.

All that being said, if you have local bookers at reasonably good clubs, who will answer your e-mails and phone calls, and are open to you putting bills together and making a show happen at their club, you may not be all the way to where you'd ideally like to be, but you have definitely established some legitimacy with these people. A lot of bands are not yet so fortunate.

I just moved here to do this very thing! I have such a passion for the music that comes out the Pacific Northwest that I just packed up all my stuff and moved out here a month ago to get my foot in the industry here. Let's talk if you are interested. I went to school for Music Business and currently looking to manage and help out local Seattle indie bands. If you're still interested in someone helping out please email me: lydia.nicolena@gmail.com and maybe we can figure something out.