CMJ 2008

To call the CMJ 5-day music marathon, held annually in New York City a music festival does not do the event justice. As the advertisements emphasized, “Huge is an understatement.” With over 1,000 artists, 70 venues, 100,000 fans, films, panels, celebrities, record labels, promoters, managers, and all the pizza, museums and other charms of NYC involved in the event, it’s no wonder participants anticipate it from one year to the next.
“This was my third CMJ and each has been different,” said senior and WXJM Programming Manager Sarah Delia. “This year I saw a lot more smaller bands, but it was just as good a time. CMJ is a great way to learn about new music even if you’re not a music or music industry major. Anyone can enjoy it.”
Delia was one of 19 JMU students to make the long haul to the big apple last Wednesday, October 22 to be a part of the marathon. Each year members of the JMU student-run radio station, WXJM go the distance and spend four days exploring NYC, discovering new music and making important contacts for their own future careers and for the future of the station.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to see what other stations are doing and advance our own careers in the music industry,” said senior and Progressive Rock Music Director Carrie Brothers. “Part of my job as Prog Director is to talk to promoters and labels on the phone, so to finally meet them in person is huge. Going to CMJ has enabled me to make so many new and important friends and contacts in the industry.”
This is part of what makes CMJ such a valuable experience for volunteers and managers at WXJM and especially for those pursuing careers in all facets of the music business. Though perhaps an unknown fact to those outside of the industry, those within it know, it is one built on a network of friends. Meeting face to face with active professionals and making connections with bands, managers, promoters and labels is essential to a successful career and is substantially aided by attendance at such festivals including and similar to CMJ.
“Every year I have learned so much about common problems of other stations, I’ve had the chance to see what others are doing and I’ve discovered so many new bands,” said Delia. “It’s cool to hear what others deal with and see the similarities in problems like dealing with the FCC, budgets and putting on successful shows.”
This year, Harrisonburg’s own were even recognized for their successful 2-day event held each April called MACRoCK, the Mid-Atlantic College Radio Conference. JMU alumnus, Jennifer Disse spoke at a college-day panel on Thursday morning where students from various universities spoke about their experiences in hosting successful shows and events and gave advice to students involved with their own stations. Following the panel, a Q&A session was held, which fielded questions from students who traveled from as far as Los Angeles and Georgia to attend the prestigious independent festival.
Other panels featured during the festival included discussions about putting on successful metal shows, digital distribution, changes in artist management and even one discussing how Americans vote, with their hearts or minds. Though Disse’s panel was comprised of recent college alumni or current students, other panels included various artists, producers and managers including George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic, True Master, the producer of Wu-Tang Clan and Mark Bass, the discover and producer of Eminem.
Though CMJ is an independent music festival and generally focuses on bringing attention to lesser known artists and professionals in the industry, Clinton was a special guest this year because of his involvement with CMJ for nearly twenty years. His many contributions to the festival and College Music Journal were recognized with a formal presentation of a personalized CMJ Gibson guitar following the panel.
Though the legendary George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars with guests El Debarge, Shavo and more were arguably the biggest act not only in CMJ, but in all of NYC last week, other major acts included Broken Social Scene, David Banner, Talib Kweli, Beach House, The Cool Kids, Minus the Bear, The Dears, Yo Majesty and hundreds more.
“My favorite show was Jay Reatard,” said junior Jessica Lonette. “There was a lot of energy in that show and so much crowd participation.”
Other favorites included Brooke Waggoner who performed at last year’s MACRoCK, Terrordactyl, Jay Nash and the Ettes.
“I loved Monotonix,” said Brothers. “They had the most energy I have ever seen in a show and were scaling buildings and spitting water on the crowd. I saw them twice in one night and it was intense.”
Part of what makes CMJ such a unique and opportunity-filled event is the way the festival is set up, allowing fans the chance to wander between venues all over the city, picking and choosing between artists and showcases they prefer. At any given time, day or night, there are numerous bands performing, sometimes several at one time in the same building.
For example, on Thursday, the prestigious Knitting Factory had three stages open throughout the entire day, enabling dozens of performers the chance to entertain the daytime crowds.
One of the featured bands during the showcase included Team Genius of Brooklyn, New York, a group of eight musicians who manage a music chairs-like performance, juggling between over 14 instruments. Though the band was not in complete attendance during their daytime show, they later performed with full ensemble at the Charleston in Brooklyn the following night.
However, upon speaking with singer, mandolin player and guitarist Emma Firth, it became clear once again, what makes CMJ such an incredible experience. Within minutes of speaking with her about the band and JMU, Firth realized she was familiar with JMU because her boyfriend not only attended, but was a DJ on WXJM in 2000. With an industry so small, it truly is a network of friends.
Yet, CMJ is not only an opportunity to find friends through networking, it’s simply a place to find new friends and new music.
“I went to an Ireland showcase and it was really interesting,” said Brothers. “There was such a variety of music! It proved there is more to Irish music than Sinead O’Connor and The Coors. And hanging out with all of the bands afterwards was incredible.”
CMJ gives fans the chance to see and meet bands and professionals from all over the world, including Ireland, Spain, Australia, Canada and all over the United States. But, perhaps more importantly, it enables the students from JMU and WXJM the opportunity to see and get to know their fellow peers, away from the pressures of classes and constraints of campus life.
Though the trip was only five days, it was a five-day adventure of tackling the challenge of navigating New York, packing in vans and hotel rooms and taking advantage of everything the city and the festival had to offer. As any of the 19 participants from JMU will tell you, it might have been a tiring, expensive, wild trip, with some days that felt never-ending, but upon leaving Sunday; it was not nearly long enough.