"It covers alt country, klezmer music, blues, jazz, polka, classical, big band," said commission executive director Paul Naktin." more ›

You’ve got to hand it to the University of Chicago for releasing the findings of a study that calls out the City of Chicago for not nurturing its hometown music scene, right on the heels of the most lucrative 3 days on the city’s annual music calendar. The study examined the economic impact of the music industry on the 50 most populous metro areas of America, pulling together data like number of jobs related to... more ›

Last night’s Chicago Music Commission panel on "Promoting and Marketing Music - DIY Marketing to the Public" was a back-to-basics discussion on the smartest ways to promote your band in an era when you’re competing with a million other bands. Mark Roth of Centerstage Chicago moderated a panel with Jim Kopeny of Chicagoist/Tankboy Productions, Doug LeFrak of Feisty Management and Jay Prasad of Pure Entertainment, who spoke about the successes they’ve seen in the several... more ›

Just a reminder about our post from this weekend that you may have missed whilst you were out counting up all the girls dressed up as Rainbow Brite and all the guys dressed up as the Crocodile Hunter. Chicagoist’s Jim Kopeny, a.k.a. Tankboy, will join three other panelists at the Chicago Cultural Center tonight at 6:00 for a discussion entitled Marketing Music – Part I: DIY Reaching the Public. If you ever wanted to know... more ›

If you’re a local musician and you’re not already taking advantage of the Musicians at Work forums offered through the Chicago Music Commission, Chicagoist recommends you start this Monday with “Marketing Music – Part I: DIY Reaching the Public.” And not just because one of our writers will be speaking there. Thanks to MySpace, podcasts and e-mail, it’s easier and less expensive than ever to market your band. Yet technology is only as good as... more ›

If you look at this weekend’s music listings, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s nothing more than a typical winter weekend of local and national acts hitting Chicago’s stages. But the significance of this weekend is far greater than the bills would suggest. For the first time, Chicago’s music venues are working together to ensure their own survival. Last week, we told you about the 2006 Hawk Winter Music Festival. Today, Greg Kot and Jim... more ›

For Chicago's entertainment beats, 2005 is best summed up by the phrase: change is good. At this time last year, if you had told us that 2005 would bring not one, but two world class rock festivals to Chicago’s parks, we’d have patted you on the head and cooed “Aw, you’re so cute.” But wonders never cease and so it was that the city of Chicago finally realized that in order for Chicago to become... more ›

Last night, some of Chicago’s best-known music writers and editors got together to answer a simple question: how does an unknown band get nice things written about them? The discussion, presented by the Chicago Music Commission was titled “Pitching Your Story: Media and Local Music” with Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot serving as moderator. In attendance were Scott Plagenhoef of Pitchfork Media; Peter Margasak of the Chicago Reader; David Jakubiak, with the Chicago Sun-Times;... more ›

Though the summer’s not quite over yet, yesterday’s Chicago Tribune took a look at what’s next for Chicago’s newest music venues. more ›

Chicagoist was out at Martyrs’ last night for the launch of the Chicago Music Commission, which kept the focus not so much on the “commission” but on the “music.” The soft-sell approach was probably best considering the crowd of “extras from High Fidelity” (in the word of one Chicagoist writer), ex-hippies and others with nothing better to do on a Tuesday night. It was a night to “solidify the base” as political consultants like to... more ›

When Chicagoist first learned about the concept of eminent domain—when the government requires you to sell your privately-owned land to them to make way for new roads or other projects—we thought it was a sucky idea. But since the government helps you get a new house, we figured we’d be OK with it if the government helped you buy a mansion or something (we were 12 at the time so logic was not our strong suit). But a mansion is not going to help the folks at the Bottom Lounge, which has been scheduled for demolition under eminent domain as part of the CTA’s Brown Line Expansion Project. more ›