Had a little chat John Wilder, guitarist of Ain’t Yo Mama, on his band’s gig-promotion strategies. This is how they do it.
How they deal with concert promotion:
- The first thing I do after getting a date at a venue is come there one Saturday night between 11pm and 1am and see who the party girls are. I get to know them and give them a couple of t-shirts, some stickers, and a cd. I tell them to wear the t-shirts to all the clubs they hang in particularly the venue we are playing in. I go in the men’s restroom and put stickers above all the urinals, and instruct the girls to do the same in the woman’s, and also to put them in any restroom they happen to go to.
- weeks before the show I go visit the local newspaper and inquire about running some adds for the gig. Then I ask for a free story or writeup in the paper, if you buy a couple of adds they will do whatever you want and papers need special interest stories to fill space.
- We make up large posters for the show and place them in Wal-Marts, grocery stores, high traffic mall areas and if we can get away with it around other clubs or venues.
- We are developing an email list, and everyone I see or meet I mention it to them.
- I also call the local chamber of commerce office and inform them of what is going on.
- The weekend before the show I take piles of flyers to my party-girls and have them plaster them on cars that are in the parking lots between 12-1am, I figure this is the peoples cars I need to get at.
You have to take a shotgun approach to getting people. If you are just starting you can count on friends, but over time no matter how good you are they will get tired of going to the shows. I catch a lot of flack about being a sexist on here, but I give 90% of my personal attention to the females to get the word out. Why cause if you can get the hot girls the guys will follow, did everyone read that? Bring the women and the men will follow.
I’m working on a bigger show for later this fall where we will start using radio ads, also I have some friends that own a furniture business that may, and Im keeping my fingers crossed, they may sponsor us and pay for advertising and provide us with a TV or Appliance to give away at the shows. In my case the Band is called Aint Yo Mama, before the last set we are having the AYM “HOT MAMA” contest, we pick 5 of the best looking women in the house get them on stage and judge them by crowd response with our soundman’s db meter. The winner would then draw a ticket out of the bucket for door prizes like the TV or appliance.
If you are in the music business somehow you have to separate yourselves from the pack. It doesn’t matter how good you music is or isn’t, what matters is getting attention to your band.
