Takin’ it to the streets "When you’re dealing with heavy music, you sell records by word of mouth more so than radio," says David Benveniste. To that end, the LA band manager and entrepreneur has built a network of 40,000 music fans throughout the world that can be tapped by his StreetWise Concepts & Culture. The company germinated through his grassroots efforts at marketing and promoting System of a Down, whom he manages. When System’s homonymous 1997 CD debuted, it sold 4000 copies the first week with absolutely no commercial airplay. Nearly a million sales later, "Chop Suey," the first single from System’s follow-up, Toxicity (due in stores late August), was added by LA’s tastemaker station KROC, on July 11. Another testament to the effectiveness of StreetWise’s way of doing business — mailing advance tracks from forthcoming albums to its network, soliciting opinions on potential concert line-ups, using the Internet to alert people to concerts and band news — is the contracts from labels that the company has received to seed the market for albums and tours by Papa Roach, Linkin Park, and a plethora of other artists capped by Radiohead and Foo Fighters. "The kids in our network are so organized, the word spreads almost instantly to fans all over the world, and we constantly get an incredible amount of feedback." To an extent, Benveniste even lets his network make business decisions for him. "It’s all about credibility. I ask them if we should take on certain bands, and if their response is negative, we don’t do it. I can name 10 bands we’ve passed on, because it’s about trust." He also tries to make good on the "Concepts & Culture" part of his company’s name by sending out reports on the environment and on social issues. "We’re building up a lot of influence. Maybe enough to do some work for good. I hope that one day I’ll be able to take the whole thing political." — TD

So it is safe to predict that over both days of its Mansfield stay OzzFest should sell nearly 40,000 tickets. These are priced at $75.25 for shed seats and $38.50 for the lawn, which means the box-office gross should be more than $1 million per concert. Then there’s the income from the merchandising of T-shirts and other souvenirs. Goodman notes that merchandising at metal shows is especially lucrative because of "a big pride factor" in the dedicated fans that Shavo Odadjian speaks of. "Metal is still somewhat independent of radio and commercial success," Goodman elaborates. "It has a strong underground following that has always been in place, like with Korn, Tool, and Rage Against the Machine. Many kids identify with its organic, raw power. They can discover this music themselves, and the young male demo is very active for live music. Merch is very strong for this reason."

If a mere 10 percent of both day’s attendees buy this year’s $32 OzzFest T-shirt, with a devil extending his middle talon on the front, that’s another $128,000 in revenue. Then there are food and beverage sales, which get a boost from OzzFest’s being a day-long affair. All of this amounts to a very impressive pile of dollars.

OzzFest, "Family Values," and other package tours have become the key to taking a metal band to the mainstream and the gold and platinum sales mark. "At OzzFest," observes David "Beno" (say "Bean-o") Benveniste, "you’ll see a 40-year-old with a beer belly digging the bands and a 14-year-old kid wearing make-up. That’s where the old meets the new, so there’s no better spawning ground for a band to go in as a baby band and come out blowing up." Benveniste manages System of a Down and Slipknot, among other groups, and runs a marketing and promotions company called StreetWise Concepts & Culture. (See "Takin’ It to the Streets," above.) He says that System of a Down’s two years of exposure on OzzFest’s main stage is what finally compelled radio programmers to tumble for their breakthrough single "Sugar" after their debut CD had long been in stores. " ‘Sugar’ got a lot of airplay after they said it would never get airplay. OzzFest is also where Limp Bizkit blew up, Soulfly, many others."

It helps that Benveniste is a master of a style of word-of-mouth marketing that gets right to the hearts of metalheads and hard-rockers. Before System of a Down were signed, he recruited fans in Los Angeles to put up posters, pass out flyers, and give away tapes to bolster attendance at System’s shows. They worked ’zines and logged on to Internet chat rooms to help build a buzz. "After pounding the streets in Los Angeles for nine months, we took it national after they got signed in 1997." Today StreetWise Concepts & Culture has access to a worldwide network of 40,000 metal and hard-rock fans. Labels have contracted the company to build grassroots support for albums by Linkin Park, Papa Roach, the Deftones, Alien Ant Farm, and even Foo Fighters. "We go to chat rooms, send kids tapes, let them know a band’s coming to town. Psychologically these kids feel like they found this music, and when they know it’s going to radio, they request it on their own. And when radio play meets the streets, that’s when things really go."

This year Sharon Osbourne turned OzzFest’s second stage over to Benveniste and StreetWise. "We’ve had tentacles all over the nation spreading word on OzzFest seven to eight months before it went out," he explains. "We floated the names of bands that might be touring with OzzFest and got feedback from the fans back to Sharon. When you leak information to the Internet about a tour that has some attractive elements, kids log on because they want to be the first to tell their friends." Benveniste also designed a forum for fans to vote for bands who might appear on the second stage. Shavo Odadjian offers System of a Down’s perspective on its OzzFest involvement: "It built us. OzzFest brought us to a whole new audience. It gave us credibility with a strong fan base and made a lot of connections for us, because bigger bands watch you while you play."

Such packages also provide better touring economics for many bands. "A lot of times when we do our own tours, we carry the lights, sounds, and other production expenses," says Slayer frontman Tom Araya. "When someone invites you on their tour, the only expense you have is your crew and your gear."

Slayer, who’re marking two decades as a blood-and-guts metal band this year, are currently part of the "Extreme Steel Tour," an event that’s headlined by Pantera and shared by StaticX, Morbid Angel, and Skrape. It’s the only notable metal or hard-rock roadshow of the summer that’s playing indoor arenas rather than outdoor sheds. The reason? "Air conditioning," Araya deadpans. "It’s on all the posters!" Fans, however, seem cool to the tour, which is not on Pollstar’s Top 50 chart. Perhaps "Extreme Steel" would do better in more relaxed outdoor venues or with a more formidable headliner. Either way, Slayer are reserving their big push for a tour in the fall or winter to follow up the late August release of their eighth album, God Hates Us All (American).

That’s a near-perfect title for a metal CD. It’s the kind of conclusion one draws while in the midst of adolescent turmoil. Not as poignant as the lyrics of Staind’s contemplations of suicide, unchanneled rage, and psychological pain. Not as hard-focused as System of a Down’s reflections on political corruption and the market-driven mind games of the mainstream youth culture. Yet it’s part of the language of alienation and sonic extremity that has spoken so eloquently to the youthful audience of metal and hard rock for decades — and provided the music with staying power that the industry can, and does, bank on.

page 1  page 2 

Issue Date: July 26 - August 2, 2001