Next BIG Nashville’s Jason Wilkins – HuffPost 9.29.10

Mike Ragogna: Since you’ve segued into this question so nicely, what advice do you have for up-and-coming artists that are starting right now?

Jason Wilkins: Take advantage of investor capital money right now. Meaning, there are a lot of digital music start ups that are vying for similar spaces or they’re vying for attention, and they’ve got decent amounts of money behind them right now, so a lot of times, their services are cheap or completely free, a la Band Camp. There are all different kinds of things. There are ways to get your videos up there, there are ways to deliver your music and also bundle it with a t-shirt that people can custom design online. There are so many ways to do customization experiences for people, and that seems to be one of the few things that you can actually get folks to spend money for. The bad thing about it, to me, is that I remember wanting to be in band and not wanting to do the business side. I wanted to play music, and go out there and tour, but now it really does demand of you to do that stuff. If not you, then find a friend who really likes doing that stuff because it’s almost impossible to get attention without engaging people in that way–engaging people through Facebook, and Twitter, and those kinds of channels. I think taking full advantage of all that stuff is paramount to actually getting some attention.