Celebrating one whole year of Mostly Music
And what a year it’s been!
Alongside the busyness of life in general, including family commitments, our own gigs, album launches, personal projects, and everything else that keeps life on the happy side of chaos, it feels like a huge achievement to celebrate a whole year of Mostly Music being alive and out in the world.
I want to start with a little bit of the back story, which will then pave the way to share the ups and downs of the past year, what we’re gauging from the numbers, and what’s in the pipeline for the future of Mostly Music.
First, allow me to introduce the — and I quote — “small collective of local musos” who are behind Mostly Music. We are Jess Deacon and Cam Steel. Partners in life, love and music. A very small collective just now, but who knows what might happen in the future.
It’s Jess who’s writing this blog. Hi, hello, kia ora! I am a writer and musician by profession – at least that’s the simple way of putting it – and I wanted to share the reason that Mostly Music came about because I believe it’s a helpful way of acknowledging its importance in our community.
When I started gigging on the Kāpiti Coast nearly ten years ago, I was pleasantly surprised that there was such a thriving, bustling community of musicians across the region. Back then Facebook was a reliable way to share information because people used to actually use that platform and engage with it on a regular basis. At the time I had the idea to create one Facebook page to share all the events that were listed on Facebook for goings on in Kāpiti, but at first I was put off because there were a couple of pages that looked like they were trying to do the same thing, and privacy permissions often meant that certain events couldn’t be shared publicly.
Then life got busy and I didn’t revisit the idea again until I had finished studying jazz performance at the New Zealand School of Music in late 2020. That fateful year. Music got something of a reset that year, and it’s fair to say that when live gigs started happening again, there were more than a few fist pumps going on within the music community.
By this time my musical network had grown substantially, and I had more of an idea of what was regularly happening across Kāpiti – but only because I wanted to know and I was actively looking for it. I felt so strongly that there was something that could (should!) be done about the scatter-gun approach of sharing information about live music events.
When I chatted to Cam about this reimagined idea, we spent the best part of six months mapping out the ins and outs. We carried out market research, we spoke to musical groups, we discussed live music with local venues, we searched the world for the most appropriate event sharing system, and we tapped into our own skill sets to design and build the platform that became Mostly Music.
One day I might delve deeper into the things that made us make certain decisions along the way, but this blog is about celebrating our first year, and I believe there are two key things that we have done which has helped us make it to the one year mark.
Consistency. Because of the number of years I had spent keeping an eye on local music events, musical groups, and goings on, and actively finding that information for my own interest, I knew that if we committed to offering a weekly gig guide, once we sent the first one there was no stopping. There have been weeks that we’ve nearly forgotten to update the website or check the email account (despite multiple recurring calendar reminders) because… life! But we’re proud to say that we have sent a gig guide every single week since November 2022. The reason we knew consistency would be key is simple: if you know you can rely on something, you’ll refer to it again in the future. We get it because we’re the same! And for the nearly 280 of you currently on our database, we haven’t wanted to let you down and be seen as unreliable
The Brand. Neither of us are designers, but we appreciate good design. We felt sure about the fact that Mostly Music needed to look like a grown up, well put together brand which would stand the test of time. So we engaged an amazing local designer, who I work with on a regular basis, to help bring our vision to life. The brief wasn’t easy. Part of Mostly Music’s core purpose is to celebrate and acknowledge all genres, all performers and all venues. No discrimination, no favouritism, and no exclusion. We wanted a colour palette that represented the colours of the earth and the authenticity of music, so as not to lean too far into one particular music genre, and we wanted a logo that was strong, sophisticated and classic. The writing style we use in our communications is intentionally lighthearted and upbeat, and reflective of the variety of people who live in our region. One year on we are still in love with the brand, we feel proud of the ‘voice’ of Mostly Music, and we look forward to seeing it popping up in other places.
The last year has taught us so much, and it’s given us lots to think about as we move forward into our second year. Before I share some of the ups and downs, I want to share some statistics.
In the year since Mostly Music launched, we have seen:
5,463 people visit the website
Our email database grow to 278 people
A 65% average open rate for the gig guides (leagues ahead of usual open rates for e-newsletters!)
517 gigs listed on the website
A steady increase to the number of people finding the website via Google when they search things like ‘event kapiti’ ‘live music kapiti’ – typos and all
THE UPS –
These numbers make us smile! It really solidifies our initial assumption that the general public is interested in what’s going on in the Kāpiti music scene. We’re pretty certain that the more people know about what’s happening, the more interest there will be in local events, and the more people will get out and support the musicians who are performing and the venues that are hosting them. The ol’ domino effect analogy. No rocket science around here.
We’ve also had some excellent feedback from people who have kindly shared their thoughts with us, including:
“Love this platform! It’s so helpful knowing who’s playing where – love supporting live music”
“Love what you do, staunch supporter here”
“You are doing an awesome job!!!”
“Keep up the good work – it is most helpful each week seeing what's on locally.”
“Terrific website, well written summaries, keeping our music and musicians alive and in work”
“Really appreciate your time and trouble to produce this guide and very impressed with how much music we have to enjoy in the Kapiti Coast!”
“It's an excellent thing you've done, no more missing out on stuff you see on social media too late”
All of that, and the other conversations we’ve had through our networks has given us great assurance that we’re onto a good thing here… we just have to keep going.
THE DOWNS –
But it can’t all be rainbows and butterflies, can it? There are two big challenges that we haven’t quite figured out how to overcome yet, but we’re happy to talk about them because we’re here to share the real story, and you never know who might be reading what.
First, we did genuinely think that more musicians would use the platform than we’ve seen. We’re not sure if it’s because it feels like another thing to do to get the word out there, or if it’s because there’s no word getting out there in the first place. This might be especially true for musos playing at venues that have regular live music where the ‘no marketing’ approach works, or for regularly programmed events that see a good turn out. However we believe there will always be someone who wished they knew about an event, so don’t not tell people about your gigs, musicians!
Second, we are finding it hard to get the word out there because we are operating on no budget. The theory is watertight in principle: musicians list their events with Mostly Music, people engage with the platform to see what’s happening, attend live music events because they have been able to find out about them, which increases visibility and revenue for musicians and venues, and so the machine purrs again and again. But for the machine to purr, more people need to know about it, and be feeding it. And for the two of us who are doing what we can with day jobs, children, musical commitments, and the rest, it’s a challenge.
Without more time to invest in growing the visibility of this platform, and without the marketing budget to make it happen, it’s a bit of a chicken/egg situation. We have grand plans for what Mostly Music can – and will – become, but if anyone has any philanthropic ideas or leads, we’d love to hear from you.
Downsides aside, we get a real kick out of hearing that people have found Mostly Music helpful in finding out information, or spreading the word for their own events. Our goal is to grow the audience so that musicians have a place where their events are found and attended and we feel passionately about doing that so as to contribute to the sustainability of musicians’ revenue streams.
So what happens next?
A bit of hustling, a bit of forward planning, a bit of out-of-the-box thinking to pave the way for the year ahead. We have our sights set on musician profiles, hosting events and workshops, and – if the stars align – a physical place to call our own. Oooh, now that would be a fine thing, wouldn’t it? We have also decided to make some Mostly Music merch because this beautiful brand deserves to be printed somewhere! Check it out here.
If you’re interested in being part of year two and beyond, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you. hello@mostlymusic.nz
Musically yours,
~ Jess & Cam
