As Music Nominating Committee Chair for the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards, I’m in my busy season. The public nomination process has been completed and the OEA Music Academy is now doing their work to craft the final nominees and ballot for the upcoming Jan. 8 awards show.

Again this year, the OEAs have tweaked the process to find the best possible balance between public nominations and critical review.

Just like last year, the top public nominee in each category automatically advances to the final ballot and just like last year, some well-organized local artists managed to generate enough public nominations to score a spot on the final ballot.

Some of the top public nominees are fairly well-known acts that perform regularly around town but, just like last year (am I saying that too much?), some unknowns have secured spots on the ballot.

Now Tim Wildsmith may have been known to you last year when he garnered enough public votes to land a number of automatic nominations, but to most in the local music community the reaction was, “who?”

To Tim’s credit he proved he was more than worthy of the attention capturing strong airplay on KIWR 89.7 and wowing music fans at the best venues in town.

That exemplifies the mission of the OEAs; to provide our community an opportunity to connect with artists.

That being said, Tim understood that this is the music business and he was well-prepared to take advantage of the opportunity handed him.

As a local artist, what does it mean when we say “the music business?”

Well, in my opinion it means ponying up your own money to create and record your original music. If you’re not willing to spend your own resources to create, why would anyone else want to?

It means performing live so fans can connect with your music. Sure, they can listen to your recorded music but there is no substitute for playing live to build a fan base.

And since the Internet now plays such a massive role in the discovery of music, you cannot be taken seriously unless you have a Web site.

It can be as simple and free as MySpace, but you must have a presence on the Web where fans can preview your music, see when you’re performing next and view pics, videos and read blogs.

At this point, not having music streaming somewhere on the Web is simply ridiculous.

Interesting to note that more music is being watched on YouTube than is being streamed on MySpace. That doesn’t necessarily mean music is being discovered on YouTube – it may just be fans watching vids of their favorite artists – but it points out the importance of working towards having both audio and video of your music available on the Web.

You also want to be using electronic communication to stay in touch with fans to alert them of upcoming shows because you have to be as responsible as the venue in promoting your performances.
And you want to be able to monetize your art by offering merchandise for sale at shows and on the Web. Physical and digital.

Organizing your family, friends, civic groups and members of your church to help you score a nomination deserves kudos, but make sure you are doing the business of music so that when people see you nominated you resemble a real serious artist.

Good Luck!