Part 4 - The Laid Off Founder - The evolving production model of BalconyTV and struggles in monetization

2006/2007

To BalconyTVs credit we were steadfastly producing and publishing a new video every day. There were no shortage of artists that wanted to come up and have their Beatles rooftop moment on our balcony. My inbox was full with requests as was our MySpace which was a huge platform for musicians at the time.

While we were attracting more well known names from the Irish music scene including Paddy Casey, Declan O'Rourke and John Spillane to perform, we ultimately prided ourselves on featuring the up and comers. Other online session shows came around internationally at the time included the Black Cab Sessions and The Take Away Shows/ La Blogotheque. Unlike both these shows which featured only big artists of indie repute, at BalconyTV we purposefully did not try to be hip or boutique in our approach to the artists we booked. If we felt an artist was good we would give them a shot no matter their level of profile.

I was determined to have a new show everyday hail, rain or shine (including weekends and holidays), however it became simply impractical to film a new show every single day of the week and it caused too much disruption in our apartment where we lived. So after a couple of months producing, we decided that the best thing to do was to film 7 shows every Sunday evening and then we would have a new show for every day of the upcoming week. We would shoot the shows between 7 and 9 o 'clock every Sunday evening. This made sense as the street sounds coming from below the balcony were at their quietest around this time.

I would book artists into 15 minute slots in that 2 hour period. Tom and Pauline would alternate each week on who was on presenting duty. As our bell was broken on the ground floor, the musicians would have to text one of us to run down and let them in. Remember we were 5 flights of stairs up with no elevator. It was good exercise for all involved, and a surprise to the artists who had to lug up equipment.

If artists were late, or early...or if the weather was acting up things could get out of hand very easily, and our apartment would be full of musicians would have to wait to get out on the balcony to play their tunes. It was like a bizarre music festival in our apartment every Sunday night. It could be chaotic and stressful and I had to be quite militaristic about getting the shows in the can. I think some at the time felt I came across rude as I hurried artists on and off, but I simply had to get it done.

When an artists time came I would position them on the tiny balcony. If it was a band I would always position the singer closest to the microphone as I always felt the song itself was the most important thing. I would then have the artist play a 10 second sound check. I became good at knowing if the sound was right. We were not seeking perfection at BalconyTV. Passable would do. And with that it was time to role camera with either Tom or Pauline introducing the show.

As I filmed I prayed nothing would go wrong thus avoiding the dreaded re-take which would put everything back. This was unavoidable at times. Even though Sunday between 7 and 9pm was the quietest time of the week on the street below - there would still be street cleaners that would cause a loud hum as they moved slowly up and down the road and footpaths. Double decker busses and huge lorries would also be disruptive.

The worst was when there was unexpected road works. When that happened we were really fucked. And on more than one occasion the whole of Dame Street was being torn up with drills and various other loud street cutting devices. On those occasions we would often have to run down and bribe the road workers to pause their work in exchange for pizza. That actually worked even if it caused a dent in our wallets.

I would always advise the artists and bands coming up that they should bring a simple acoustic set up but often they chose to completely ignore me and instead bring full size amps, electric guitars, drum sets ups...and worse - the dreaded electric piano which never looked or sounded good on the balcony.

Then there were the weather issues. When it rained heavily the balcony would literally flood. We would need to get pots and pans to scoop up the water so we could film. It would take about an hour to de-flood the balcony. And if it was raining when an artist was to perform well thats just the way it would be. I was always worried about a musician being electrocuted to death even if it would be good for ratings.

But overall this all worked. And for years after, we would film in this style every Sunday, every week, with no exceptions.

Our apartment and balcony was high above the The Oak and Thomas Reads bar which by confidence had a Sunday night gig called the Sunday Roast. The Sunday Roast was hosted by an eccentric American living in Dublin called Kieron Black. Kieron was like a cartoon character. He was always unbelievably upbeat and smiley. You always felt good around Kieron. He had a band called The Amazing Few who had performed on BalconyTV which had a good local following, but when not working on that, he would organize music nights featuring local musicians.

Because of the Sunday Roast, it wasn't uncommon for bands after they were finished taping with us, to then go downstairs and play for Kieron, or just to have some drinks and hang out. Overall it was a bit of a scene even if we didn't know it at the time.

I came to know the little music circles and clicks in Ireland and Dublin in particular. There was an eclectic ensemble in Dublin at the time called The Happy Gang. The Happy Gang were made up of a range of musicians all of varying styles who not only played in the band, but they all their own solo projects going. It took me quite a while to work out their group dynamics, but to me they felt very avant garde. I thought they were really great and were like an Irish version of the Velvet Underground.

After a few months making BalconyTV I decided to roll the dice and enter us into The Digital Media Awards which were the main Irish Internet Awards. I entered BalconyTV into the best music website category. To some surprise we found out we were nominated - up against huge telecom backed music websites.

Me, Pauline and Tom were giddy with excitement as we had to get dressed up for the award ceremony which was held in the Burlington Hotel. We were out of place at the mostly corporate soirée. I remember being inwardly cynical about the soulessness of the whole event but I played along awkwardly.

Ironically Dave Fanning, the legendary DJ who had interviewed me a couple of months before was presenting the awards. By the time our category came around we had a couple of drinks onboard. I was nervous. When then winner was read out... BalconyTV! the three of us jumped up with glee like we just won the lottery. We were proud as punch. Here was our ramshackle music platform beating the big guns.

After the awards it was the story of BalconyTV that featured most in the coverage of the Digital Media Awards. We were the novelty act that stood out and were worth writing about.

Despite the success, I still didn't get the phone call from Mr. Coca Cola to sponsor BalconyTV. I began feeling a strange sense of guilt that we were doing what we were without making money. The questions on the subject began to irritate so much that I decided to attempt to monetize if only to stop people asking the question. If I created a visible look that we were making money, people would stop asking us about it. I hoped.

There was a completely novel website in the naughties called The Million Dollar Homepage. The founder wanted to sell exclusive pixels on one webpage for a dollar each. The goal was to sell one million pixels. Incredibly, as gimmicky an idea as it was, he succeeded in selling out as brands scrambled to be part of the exclusive page. The website which became nothing but a kaleidoscope of adverts became a piece of web art. Ripping off the idea, I decided to try sell exclusive pixel space on our landing page. That didn’t work. To sell advertising, you need to spend considerable time knocking on doors. And our web visitor numbers were not significant enough to make it happen by itself. To add to that, I hated asking for money. I had no appetite for it. It made me feel fake. Slimey. I wanted the money to just come based on our genuine efforts. But it didn't.

We tried to sell merchandise through a third party vendor. But without a huge passionate visitor base, that didn’t work either. The third party vendors shirts were not the greatest quality either, and that put me off using outside vendors going forward.

Looking at the bigger picture, I became convinced that what we needed to parachute us to new levels was a brand sponsor. I thought we were well tailored for that type of association. But how does one reach out to the major brands? How does one knock on their door? I didn't know. There’s one thing trying to email a producer in a radio station or a newspaper in a bid to get attention. But the Contact us page on the Coca Cola website is not so welcoming. Not letting it put me off, and doubling down on my determination to make things work out, I sent the emails regardless. I sent hundreds of emails to various brands. I got nothing back but tumbleweeds.

After a full year of making BalconyTV (365 shows) we thought it would be a good idea to have an event celebrate a year of the show. I had the idea to stage The BalconyTV Music Video Awards - a tongue in cheek play on the MTV Video Music Awards. I thought it would be cool to award the best performers from the previous year. We would have just a few categories - Best Male, Best Female, Best International Act and Best Band.

I got excited about organizing the event. I wanted it to be great in its own right. We booked the Sugar Club in Dublin for the night. I filmed the view from our balcony to act as the backdrop for the nights show. We scheduled some great artists to perform between awards. Tom and Pauline would be the presenters for the evening, would some guest presenters introducing the awards.

The legendary Irish songwriter, broadcaster and writer Shay Healy presented the award for Best Band (to RoySeven). He had performed a funny song on BalconyTV and was very supportive of our efforts. Before presenting the award he said to the audience...

"I think its a bit of a scandal in this country that our two national broadcasters don't provide a platform for musicians starting out and it's taken BalconyTV to come along and do that job for them."

Another highlight was when Paul Brady surprisingly turned up just to watch the show. When I found out he was in attendance I felt it was my duty to try get him up to play a song.

"Paul, would you be interested in playing a song?"

"I didn't bring a guitar."

"Well what if I got you a guitar."

Brady was our surprise performer of the evening. He got up and did a fantastic performance while saying...

"I want to thank BalconyTV for giving me my big break."