So you want to do CMJ, but think of yourself as a little too fancy for the free shows but not quite 1% enough for the $500 full pass. Well, first get off your high horse. After you’ve come off that, you can look into a CMJ pass deal from Living Social that gets you in to all of the showcases next week.
The CMJ Showcase Pass will give access to the showcases that aren’t free, which include some big names like Real Esate, Talib Kweli, Father John Misty and Hockey, among others. Unlike the full pass, you won’t have access to any of the panels or career counseling, which we’re sure will be thrilling. But also unlike the full badge, this will only run you $159. Which sure, is still a bunch of money, but if you get to enough $20 and $30 showcases, you can probably make the badge worth it.
Of course, you could also just talk to everyone you meet and see if they’re getting rid of their badge, which is how I got one at CMJ 2007 and spent a long weekend pretending to be “Zack Hangauer” of indie-folk band Fourth of July.