Getting Gigs and Agents - what you need to know

I already tweeted one of these articles last week but when I came across another two it became perfect sense to put them all together in one place.

The first one from Grassrootsy gives 4 tips on what a booker is looking for when booking a band - and it's really insighful.

While hashing things out in the group, I took note of how a booker decides who to book for his venue. Now the following list isn’t set in stone and will probably be different for each individual booker, but these 4 factors (in order of importance) will guide a venue into booking you.

Go here to see what those 4 tips are.

That piece itself links to an interview on the same site with a booker who goes into detail about his own experience booking bands and promoting the shows:

The more people you can bring, the more leverage you have. You gotta give something before you take it. So when emailing venues, talk about how you can team up with a local band or two and bring 30 REAL people. Don’t BS and lie to the venue. We have a 25% rule. Whenever a band says they will bring 50 people, we just assume it will be 12 or 13. Then we don’t usually want to do business with them again because they exaggerated their draw when we could have put on another like-minded band with a draw that could have made the night profitable for everyone.

It's long but well worth a read.

Lastly, there's this piece from Dave Cool - and it's a must read.

It talks about how you find a booking agent, but almost the whole piece is great advice for how to be better live and get more gigs - like this nugget:

Get your live show to the point where people are going home blown away and talking about you when they leave the venue. So rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse again, then play as many shows as you can. And be sure to build your set list in a way that makes for a great show, not just a series of songs played one after another.

Read the whole thing here.

The definitive book on this subject is Jeri Goldstein's 'How to be your on booking agent'. It's spot-on and WILL help you get more gigs. Not cheap these days though as it's in demand and currently sold out. You can get it on Amazon or for a Kindle. I recommend it.

Making money from music is a struggle

I saw this post yesterday thanks to Jon @MicControl.

It's a sad truth, but one that artists need to get their head around before they embark on a life where making music is their only or main source of income.

Even a level of success which looks profitable to the outside world often leaves an artist in a strange netherworld of some fame, yet no cash! At the same time, most people around them will asume that they have made plenty of money. This is amplified in a band where there's not a lot of cash generated and it has to feed more mouths. Have look at this classic rant from Steve Albini which explains why an artist signed to a record company can end up selling a lot of records and yet make no money.

The DIY musician can do better than the signed artist if they can fund their record releases and touring to profit, but it's not easy for them either.

Forewarned is forearmed.

The idea that musicians—even well-known musicians who sell out large club shows—have money is a misconception for the most part. Financial concerns and viability obviously vary from artist to artist; no two musicians are exactly the same when it comes to money and how it’s made and spent. But what most fans fail to realize is how much it costs to be a musician and how much more it costs to be a musician on the road.

Read the whole post here.

Martin Atkins wisdom on touring

Martin Atkins is a great combination of artist whose really done it all and an engaging speaker.

This video just has a couple of gems in it from a Q&A session he did after a talk. The first one is a bit specialised for people in a large band, but there are other bits of gold about not overplaying your area and how to promote shows cheaply. Plus, is SXSW a good idea for a brand new band?

If I was an aspiring musician - I'd listen to Martin a lot and buy his book! You're going to learn some great music promotion tips from him every time.

Just call it a 'show'!

This article is about one promoter's use of Adwords to sell tickets for a tour / show.

But, the data showed that the response rate to the Ads was nearly 5 times higher when they used the word 'Show' rather than 'Tour'.

It's safe to assume that this is human nature at work and using the word 'show' on your flyers and posters will be more effective in bringing the punters in. Worth knowing as a little trick in your music promotion armoury.

Media Junction were recently asked to promote a tour by a global superstar. There were five gig dates happening in Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool and London. The promoter agreed to work with us on a ‘Test & Learn’ strategy to ascertain which headlines and keywords were most effective.

We segmented the audience in to 3 groups:

1. People who were searching for the artist name
2. People who were searching on specific terms related to the Tour
3. People who were searching for terms related to the artist & venues, e.g. similar artists, song titles

Read the piece here.

 

More touring more easily and more success

Songkick data shows that long tail artists are touring more and are finding it easier to reach their audience to work out where to play.

Internet awareness of bands has made this scale of touring more viable. And necessary, as the record sales income won't necessarily keep you afloat.

Is touring a key part of your strategy for 'making it'? It can be and should be if you can build your fanbase and give it what it wants.

For artists known and loved by hundreds or thousands (as opposed to millions) of fans, getting signed to a label is no longer the defining moment it once was.

Instead of selling records, “making it” has become about finding the best shows to play. Every type of band, from mega-stars to garage bands and reunion acts, is spending more time on stage these days.

Songkick, a web app that can track the music you and your friends listen to and alert you when those bands are coming to your area, released key observations on Thursday from its treasure trove of U.S. concert data. The study proves that, as suspected, bands of all levels are playing more shows each year since ’07, despite a slight dip in ’09.

Read the piece and see the data.

Ten ways to get more gigs

We are all always looking at ways to improve how we get a gig.

This is a great post on KnowtheMusicBiz that looks at the 'what's in it for me' attitude that every promoter or venue that you approach will have. It's natural that they need to have their best interests at heart, so don't fight it - play up to it.

When I used to play drums in a band I wrongly assumed that to get gigs I have to send demos out – the better my music, the high the acceptance rate. It seems sensible right? My thinking was basically that if I send more demos and make better music then I will get more gigs, which is true, but a bad way of thinking (IMO).

Here’s why.

The theory above does not take into account the two main criteria that promoters subconsciously take into account when booking bands; will they make me money? and should I make a personal effort to help them? (by this I really mean are they a friend, or have they been recommended by someone close, or do they just seem like really nice people).

So if I were to work on arranging gigs for a band now I would be thinking:
1. How can I offer more financial value to the promoter at gigs
2. How can I build a relationship between myself and promoters I’ve never met.

Here are ten ideas to think about.

Read the piece here.

The touring bible - what to do and not to do

Photo by jacquie tranchida

You know that one day you'll be on the road, the big tour, which will finally give you the real break to promote your music.

But, what's the etiquette for making it a survivable experience?

This article in the Guardian tells it better than I could! - read it here.

5 tips for independent musicians

A bit of an old video, shot and posted by Andrew Dubber - who knows what he's talking about.

Martin Atkins has seen and done it all and knows more than most about music marketing - from both sides of the fence, as both a working artist, and a respected expert.

Watch the video and learn.

Martin Atkins from Andrew Dubber on Vimeo.

Touring and career development

I believe that touring is essential to help build your fanbase.

This video on Artist's House sets out a seemingly simple path of gathering fans, playing clubs and growing in a series of steps to world tours and a mega-agent.

It's interesting and kind of how it is - but would that it was so easy for every artist!

Watch the video here.

29 things you can do to improve your touring

Parts 1 & 2 of a three part post series about tips for touring.

There are some absolute gems in these two posts and I can't wait for the third installment - plus check out Amanda's post on what to do to get a gig.

Martin Atkins who wrote the posts really knows his stuff and the first tip alone on the 'five pointed star inward-facing crush technique' is, honestly, brilliant.

Read Part 1 of the 29 tips here.

Read Part 2 of the 29 tips here.

If you want to get Martin's book - which I'd recommend to any band - you can get it here - Tour:Smart: And Break the Band

Virtual touring - a way to avoid cost but at what price?

A theme develping today of posts all related to gigs and touring!

But what if you want to avoid the cost of touring (despite crashing on sofas and splitting gigs)? Gigs and tours are, after all, an integral part of your band marketing.

Can virtual touring be the answer?

The virtual tour might be but isn't necessarily a web hosted live show. It could be that, but it might just be getting the focus of a website to be on your band for a day with added interaction from your band.

My concern would be that, although the cost is much lower than mounting a tour, how much is the face to face interaction that you'll miss worth to you and your fans. Perhaps the virtual tour is an add-on to touring, not a repalcement.

MTT has a two part post of which only the first part is up so far.

A virtual music tour is similar to a traditional tour in that the band/musicians make several appearances, and in several locations, in an attempt to promote and sell their music. On a traditional tour, musicians make contact with clubs, bars or other suitable venues (suitable venues: house parties, small music festivals, state fairs, and Geri’s Bat Mitzvah) to book live shows. They then travel to each city, spend time at each location playing their music and possibly spending time with the audience in an effort to sell their music and merchandise. Many musicians will agree, for the effort and expense involved, touring and playing live doesn’t sell many CD’s or music downloads. (Although it can be a heck of a lot of fun, if you have the money.)

Read more about it here.

Fans and artists connect to make touring easier

If you're an indie artist trying to put together a tour on no budget you soon realise that a load of your budget gets blown on even the cheapest place to stay whilst on the road.

Whilst we and others like us are always trying to come up with the best tips for musicians, sometimes an idea comes along that is just brilliant and that we couldn't have thought of.

Better than the Van is one of those.

Hooking up fans and artists with floors to crash on and gigs to swap. Simple. Going through a revamp at the moment and US centric, it could do with all the support it can get if it is to become the awesome resource for touring indie bands that it deserves to be.

Having put bands on the road with no money for decades I know that this could make the difference for many bands between touring and getting a break and not being able to afford it. Please sign up if you're in a band or have a floor that a band can crash on!

Read about the updates due here.