Better Than The Van - Exclusive Interview
I wanted to get this in before the 4th of July holiday weekend, so in case you are surfing around you can lend your couch, spare bedroom or basement to an indie touring band coming to your town. Or if you are planning your tour, you can find a sweet pad to crash at and keep your sweat off the backseats of your van.
How might you be able to do either of these, well you can sign-up over at Better Than The Van, and start connecting with people that can help make your 1nd, 2nd or 100th tour more ‘comfortable.’
I had a chance to talk with one of the founders, Todd about the site, where its going and how bands are using the internet to help them get on the road and start connecting with people.
The interview went down like this:
Greg: With the evolution of Web 2.0, it’s only natural for more and more bands to start looking to the Internet when jumping on the road, right….
Todd: I think it’s always been natural for bands to look to the web for a lot of things. It’s current state as “2.0″ has certainly made things easier. You can book a whole tour just using MySpace if you want. That wasn’t possible before. Web 2.0 has centralized a lot of communication. In the past it has been more fragmented and time consuming, but the advent of social networks and their ability to condense / serve a lot of these communication needs into one place is huge. I’ve met bands who are booking their tour while on the road. They get a handful of dates and fill in the rest while driving to shows.
Greg: Better than the Van links bands to couches, spare rooms, PB and J and anything else the fans are willing to give up. How are you going after the fans?
Todd: Helping run a record label was a big education on how to connect with people, outside of being in a band. Word of mouth is an old standard but it really is true. If people find a cool idea, they will tell a friend. If the cool idea provides a good experience then it will spread further. We’re aiming much of our press push at sites/blogs/magazines that I would naturally send records to. Our approach is to promote it like we would a band. So I guess I don’t find much separation between fans and bands in regards to BTTV. People are fans of bands and bands become fans of other bands. If you give them all a place to meet each other under a common need, good things usually come of it.
Greg: Do you have any plans of launching applications or widgets for this platform?
Todd: Right now we’re sticking to the basics of a social network, as bland as that may sound. We want to fill a specific need and use the familiarity of a social network structure which allows people to get a good handle on what type of people they’re meeting. If people want to “‘hang out” on the site I’m all for it, but I don’t anticipate that to be the case. I could be wrong though! It’s pretty apparent that MySpace and Facebook own that world. BTTV’s current incarnation is to be a simple tool for people to use. In the near future a search widget for bands/ fans to put on their blog or site is in the works and I’d like to add a map feature to the search, kind of like what they do at Trulia.
Greg: Have you heard from any bands? What are they saying?
Todd: My friend Keri who manages Tapes n’ Tapes is really into it and has some good ideas. Sean, who runs Daytrotter, also gave it a thumbs up. He has so many bands through I thought he’d like to know. He’s offered to help get the word out, so I’m hoping something pans out there. The feedback coming into the site has been positive as has the press we’ve received. It seems like we’re doing something right.
Greg: The site has a very simplistic and minimalist look and feel to it. Wasn’t hat the intention? Serve a need and get out of the way?
Todd: Yep, pretty much. Keeping it simple and to the point is the idea. I think people appreciate that.
Greg: How do you plan on getting to the next level, and what might that level be?
Todd: I would like to see some kind of tie-in with SXSW next year. They have a great volunteer program that gives bands free places to stay during the week. People offer their homes and SXSW sends them a band. I’d like to make BTTV a part of that. What we can do right now is continue to get the word out and have people use the site. Eventually I’d love it be a full time thing; maybe hit the road with some cameras and make a cheap documentary about the people who use the site. Or follow a band who stays with people from the site over a chunk of their tour.
Greg: Being musicians, and from that touring environment, to seeing the new landscape of the music business, how important do you think touring is to young indie bands and how can betterthanthevan.com help them out?
Todd: When I was at the label French Kiss was picking up one our bands (The Plastic Constellations) and in a meeting the band asked Syd (label owner/member Les Savy Fav) what he expected from them. His response was, ”tour, tour, tour”. I couldn’t agree more. It’s where you find fans, meet helpful people and befriend other bands. The web can accomplish a lot but not everything. It’s the personal contact that’s important. BTTV becomes another way for fans to meet bands and bands to meet bands over a common experience. It’s intended purpose is to be a resource that can be tapped when needed. As the community grows it becomes more valuable for both bands and fans. It, hopefully, becomes some sort of common ground.
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It looks like these guys have a great idea in place. The key will be generating synergy between bands and fans. One aspect will not work without the other.
The other key is privacy, which they address with this from their FAQ:
Is it safe?
Yes. Using a commenting/guest book system the community validates members through their experiences. It’s the collective intelligence of our users that we feel is great way to keep things on the up and up. A lot of sites rely on this approach with great success. If you DO experience anything or anyone questionable please email: help@betterthanthevan.com right away with the details and we’ll get on it right away.
I look forward to keeping an eye on these guys and hopefully we will all be hanging next March at SXSW, both Interactive and the Music Fest!
