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Studios, Circle Rehearsal<br />
Studios, Northern<br />
Lights, Studio 18, and Atlas<br />
Rehearsal Studios.<br />
Of course with the explosion of<br />
the local music scene, came the<br />
need for talent management.<br />
Management was a "necessary<br />
evil" in most musicians eyes, but<br />
in an area where original<br />
musicians and<br />
bands were a dime a dozen, they<br />
needed an edge. Local<br />
management companies were<br />
more than<br />
willing to fulfill those needs, and<br />
in return, scoop up the rewards.<br />
After all, back then there was no<br />
internet which meant no MP3,<br />
no downloading of music, no<br />
myspace or facebook, and no<br />
websites.<br />
There wasn't even public email<br />
yet. So self-promotion back then<br />
was extremely hard to pull off<br />
successfully...especially in an area<br />
that is bursting at the seams with<br />
other talent that was potentially<br />
your competition. In order to<br />
make it big, bands needed<br />
management & promotion.<br />
Bands had to work<br />
extremely hard to build up a<br />
solid following. With no internet<br />
back then to get the word out<br />
about their<br />
42 BUZZ Magazine May-June <strong>2017</strong><br />
band and music, they had to "pay<br />
their dues" by using flyers and<br />
gigging as often, and at as many<br />
places,<br />
big or small, as possible. Hiring a<br />
management agency would take<br />
some of the work and stress load<br />
off<br />
of the band, and was an outlet to<br />
get their name and music in the<br />
hands of A&R Reps on the<br />
national<br />
music scene. Some of the local<br />
management agencies (just to<br />
name a few) that were in the<br />
area were:<br />
Chrystallis Management, Keith<br />
Collins Management, Capstone<br />
Music Group, and Steele<br />
Management.<br />
Tampa Bay became so much of a<br />
music oriented area during the<br />
1980’s & early 1990’s, that even<br />
other<br />
professions were trying to<br />
capitalize on it. Area music<br />
attorneys started advertising on<br />
television and in<br />
print ads all over the bay area.<br />
Another outlet that was available<br />
to help the local music scene at<br />
the time was the organizations<br />
like the<br />
local branch of the "AFofM"<br />
Musicians Union (American<br />
Federation of Musicians), and the<br />
"Florida<br />
Musicians Association".<br />
The support for the local music<br />
scene and the bands in general<br />
from the print media, radio<br />
stations and<br />
the record stores was<br />
phenomenal! Most of the record<br />
stores at the time had separate<br />
sections in their<br />
stores that were reserved for<br />
selling albums solely released by<br />
unsigned local artists. Record<br />
stores like<br />
Specs Music & Video, Peaches<br />
Music & Video, Bananas Records<br />
& Tapes, Ace's Records, Vinyl<br />
Fever,<br />
Vinyl Museum, and Asylum<br />
Records & Tapes all were great<br />
supporters, and featured local<br />
artists &<br />
bands in all their stores.<br />
The local instrument stores<br />
were doing their part in helping<br />
all the great talent as well.<br />
Seminole Music<br />
& Sound, Paragon Music, Bringe<br />
Music, Music Mart, and<br />
Thoroughgood Music all played a<br />
huge part.<br />
Many of these stores would<br />
constantly feature on site<br />
performances by the local bands.<br />
Bleeding Hearts
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