The art of promoting gigs – part 2

Yesterday I posted part 1 that covered how D4D Entertainment organize their band’s gigs. Well here’s part 2 folks! In today’s post we’ll see how they:

• Set-up their bills
• Apply the right ‘formula’ for the line-up
• Cope with band work ethics
• Work out the last details after the show

Enjoy.

- Setting up the bill for a gig -

After calculating total expenses, and revenue possibilities, we start setting up the bill
Since we are putting out money for this show, sometimes out of our own pockets, we obviously want to make this money back (and hopefully some extra cash as well).  We then discuss what bands fit the genre style for this date and who can bring the maximum number of fans or “heads” through the door.  Since we are one of the biggest promoters of unsigned/underground bands, we also look at what bands have the least number of fans but also who can put on a quality show and is willing to work for it.  For these bands we mix them into a big show so they can get exposed in an effort to assist them and gain new fans.  This approach has allowed some of the garage bands with no fans to become mega stars here in California.  We then ask the bands if they are available and interested in this opportunity.  We always make it clear to the bands that they have to “work” for the show and that it’s not going to be served to them on a silver platter.  An issue I have found with most younger or inexperienced bands.

- Applying the right ‘formula’ for the line-up -

Once we have the bands confirmed, we then work on “the formula” for the show.

• What time will we start?
• What are the set times?
• What is the breakdown time?
• Setup time?
• Sound check time?
• Who opens, who plays 2nd, 3rd, 4th or closes?

Here in California, when a band closes, that means they headline.  Bands, if you are headlining a show, it’s your night to shine! It’s your show so get out there and hustle!  The more work and effort you put into pushing “your” show, the better “your” show will be.  Don’t count on the venue, promoter or other bands to give you fans.  That’s your job!!! And another thing, don’t bitch, complain or talk smack if you have to open or you don’t like your spot.  Be thankful and lucky you are even playing!  For you crybaby bands who whine and complain about your spot, guess what?  You’ll probably never be booked by this promoter or even booked at this venue again.

I will now get off my soapbox and back to the formula.

For example you may have 3 rock bands.  Even though the genre/style can be classified under 1 category, there are variations of the style.  We usually tend to start with the lighter or less heavy band first.  The 2nd band will have a little more heaviness to its music or something different to bring. Then finally we have the hardest, heaviest band perform last.  What you have is a gradual incline or increase in rock or heaviness.  If you could see a graph, the line would start low, then steadily increase upwards to the right.  Sometimes we even try the opposite or mix it with a bell shaped curve (the lighter bands in first and last position with the heaviest bands in the middle).  My personal preference is the first one mentioned.  We will do the same with alternative or hip-hop type music as well.  There is always a formula to our shows and this approach has proven successful.

- An introduction to band work ethics -

Bands have to work?  What did he say?  That’s right kiddies, time to put the video game joystick down and get to cracking!!!  This means, “pushing” your show.  Tell your family and friends, tell people you work with, use the internet to email or myspace.  When the promoter calls you and says OK and the fliers are ready to be picked up,  pick them up, and get them out there!  Don’t just leave them on cars in a parking lot – get out there and hustle.  Go to the nearest sound gear shop and talk to people, introduce yourself, invite them out to your show and put a flier in their hand.  Quality contacts are much more effective than the shotgun approach.  Remember it’s your show.

If tickets must be sold, then sell them. You’re not the sales type person?  Sorry, not an excuse. Someone in your band is – you have to learn from them.  Do everything and anything you can to get the word out on the streets.  Remember, not only will the promoter and venue see which bands bust their ass off, the other bands will see that as well. If you’re trying to network and work alongside other bands, what makes you think they want to share a show with you in the future if you didn’t bring anybody?  Although I can go on for days on these issues, I”ll save them for another topic I’ll entitle “A Band’s Code of Ethics.”  A must read for all bands.

During the show we like to meet with all the bands to give them the run down of the schedule, start/stop times and also any special announcements we need them to plug in while on stage.  We also help load and unload your equipment on stage in order to meet our schedule.  When your on a D4D show, you will be guaranteed that the production will be on time, +/- 5 minutes.

- Working it out after the gig -

After the show is over, we then work with the venue to help clean up, discuss “numbers” towards the end of the night.  We look at total revenue made and see how well we did or didn’t do compared to our expenses.  Based upon how hard the bands worked in bringing heads through the door will help determine if they receive any cash at the end.  It’s also possible the bands may not receive any payout.  However if you look at all of the marketing and advertising including radio commercials etc, what you do walk away with is exposure and hopefully new fans. After this is said and done, we then move on to our next show, next venue.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t always run as smooth.  There are issues we run into from time to time such as venues canceling dates on us or bands canceling on the day of the show, even after getting them 1 – 2 weeks worth of airplay on the radio and their bands name is printed all over town… We always try to minimize our risks and keep the drama to a minimum, next to none.

For those bands who actually took the time to read this, considering you didn’t already know all of this, I hope you have a better insight and understanding of the other side.  Working together with the promoter can have desirable results for you and your band.

D4D Entertainment is the biggest and strongest supporters of unsigned, underground music.  We are also your one stop shop for Booking, Promotions, Advertising and Marketing, Radio Commercials, Merchandising, Graphic Design, Printing Services, Music Equipment, Photography, Videos, Studio Recording, CD duplications and the strength of unity for Independent Musicians and bands.  Plus, there’s more.  Our relationships with experts in these various fields allows us to get you the best possible costs.  We are also proud to announce that we are currently working with various sponsors to make all of this a reality. You can visit us at www.myspace.com/d4dentertainment. I”ll be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.   Also, if you know of a touring band who is passing through California, send them our way.  We are the biggest and hottest spot for live music in between San Francisco and L.A.  Central California Fresno is located just 3hrs south of San Francisco and 3hrs north of Hollywood L.A. Please take a moment to visit my bands site at www.myspace.com/nativeburnlive

Rob Escamilla

Thanks again Rob!

Bark!

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The art of promoting gigs – part 1

A few months back, browsing through MySpace as usual, on the look out for an amazing band to post in our daily vids, I encountered this promotion company called Diehardz 4 Diehardz (D4D Entertainment). At the time I felt like I wanted a fresh new post on band promotion or booking – a promoter’s perceptive on the dos-and-not-dos bands should respect in order to get some gigs. So I thought to myself “What the hell. I’m gonna contact these guys, and if they don’t answer like most of the promoter/booker types I had previously sent emails to, I’ll just pass on to the next guy”. Well Rob Escamilla from D4D did respond, and after a couple of emails he sent me the article bellow – a thorough examination of D4D’s inner workings on how they set-up gigs and work them out with their bands.

This article will be separated in two just to make it a little shorter. Today’s post relates how D4D:

• Organize their gigs

And tomorrow’s post will center on how D4D:

• Set-up their bills
• Apply the right ‘formula’ for the line-up
• Cope with band work ethics
• Work out the last details after the gig

Enjoy!

- Organizing the gig -

First things first: venue and date.
Some venues only allow certain types of genres whereas other venues are wide open and accept all genres however will only play certain styles on certain nights.  Also another important thing to mention concerning date: we need to allow enough time to properly plan and promote or “push” the show.  It does no justice for the promoter to take a last minute show and try to rush to fill it.  It also does you no justice to accept it.  Based on these two factors, venue and date, allows us to determine what type of show we can put on.  Luckily we have a large network of various genres to choose from so finding the right “style” for the night is not an issue. Message to bands:  don’t get all bent out of shape if the promoter/booker you are working with will not give you a prime night at any particular venue.  Chances are it’s not in their control.  Or if it is, then that just means you have not “earned it” yet.

How much time in advance do we usually start the promotion process?
This depends on which bands we have booked to perform. If they are local bands then a minimum of 1 month would suffice here in the states. The farther they are you may require a little more time. Also, if we are bringing down a big name which we know will draw a crowd, we may need an extra 2 – 4 weeks. Also depends on how big our show is. As a rule of thumb, you could say that the bigger the venue, the more time we will need to promote. The smaller the venue, the less time.

So now we have a venue and a date locked down, the next thing is expenses.
How much does this specific venue charge the promoter?  Thats right bands, the venues charge the promoters, not the bands.  Expenses may include lights & sound, security and may offer a “bar tab” to the bands which in some cases is picked-up by the promoters.  Once we have established the budget we have to work with, we then start calculating other expenses such as printed tickets, printed fliers, web fliers, design work, event shirts or banners, online or radio commercials.

Here’s a rough breakdown of what these expenses may look like:

Venue:
Sound – $100
Security – $10/per hr. each

Promotional Material:
300 printed tickets – $60
Design Art work – $75 100
High gloss printed fliers/Posters – $175
Radio Commericals (15 air plays – 50 seconds each) – $150

Some venues will let us keep the full door, ticket sales and some percentage of liquor sales.  What this means is the promoter is now responsible for having someone run the door, stamp, give change, check I.D’s etc.  Another expense to the promoter.

A note on pre-sale tickets and on how bands usually work it out with the bands on the bill.
This all depends on the budget you have to work with and your total expenses. Don’t let your expenses be a surprise to you! Know exactly what you are willing to spend. This will help you determine what is a “reasonable” cost for people to come out and see your show. You don’t want your price point too high or you’ll scare people away, at the same time, you need to be able to makeyour money back too. At our last show, the pre-sale ticket price was $7, or $10 at the door. We were able to allow the bands to keep $2 from each ticket they sold. As long as we received $5 per ticket, we were happy and the bands were happy to make their own money. We sold out this show with a maximum capacity of 285, we had about 350 people thorugh the door! This is one way to help motivate them to push their show and get heads through the door.

A note on radios.
All radio stations will be glad to take your money to get you and your event broadcasted over the airwaves. One of the DJ’s we work with has a show who showcases a 1 local band each week. If you have anything like this in your area, try and use this as an opportunity to showcase one of the bands on your show plus announce your event! Other than that, you will just have to work out a deal with their sales people on air time.

A note on press releases
The press releases we submit we keep short but informational. Just the details, such as what the event is, who’s performing, whats the date, time, cost for entry. At least 1 – 2 weeks in advance minimum will suffice. You can look into various sites in your area that allow you to post events for free. Sites where people search online for “things to do” in your area are great places to post your event.

And one last note on how we do all this for out-of-town bands.
What I explained above is how we normally work with local bands, however when we work with out-of-town bands or bands with a bigger name (i.e signed to a label who are on tour) the process is different. In that respect, we request a quote from their manager to see how much it’s going to cost us to bring them down to perform. This may include transportation, meals and hotel. Once a verbal agreement has been established, we then draft a contract, send it to them and have them sign it. Once we receive the signed copy back, we then move forward with the show. This is usually handled at least one month in advance.

D4D Entertainment is the biggest and strongest supporters of unsigned, underground music.  We are also your one stop shop for Booking, Promotions, Advertising and Marketing, Radio Commercials, Merchandising, Graphic Design, Printing Services, Music Equipment, Photography, Videos, Studio Recording, CD duplications and the strength of unity for Independent Musicians and bands.  Plus, there’s more.  Our relationships with experts in these various fields allows us to get you the best possible costs.  We are also proud to announce that we are currently working with various sponsors to make all of this a reality. You can visit us at www.myspace.com/d4dentertainment.

I”ll be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.   Also, if you know of a touring band who is passing through California, send them our way.  We are the biggest and hottest spot for live music in between San Francisco and L.A.  Central California Fresno is located just 3hrs south of San Francisco and 3hrs north of Hollywood L.A.

Please take a moment to visit my bands site at www.myspace.com/nativeburnlive

Peace,

Rob Escamilla

Thanks Rob for the great write-up. Tomorrow there’s more so stay tuned.

Mruff!

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Promoting, booking, club owning and band membering: Chris Walker tells the facts about getting gigs

Woof!

Back in June 2008 we had stumbled upon a great article of some mystery-promoter dude that, instead of explaining how bands should promote and book their shows, explained on the contrary what bands should not do in order to get booked.  Suddenly out of nowhere in December, this mystery author revealed his identity and landed a comment on that post we did about his article.

The dude’s name is Chris Walker, living in Memphis and who’s got a doggy named Danger (mruff to Danger), and we got in touch after that on several occasions. I asked him if he would be up for a little interview, seeing how he’s been a booker, a promoter, a club owner and band member, and he gracefully accepted.

So this is his condensed story. He explains how he got into booking bands and how he got into owning a club that hosted weekly Jeff Buckley gigs (though he’ll cover those anecdotes more in detail in future posts I hope :)

Enjoy!

Tell us a little about yourself and how you got into music

I have a big brother who is the best kind of brother to have. Instead of picking on me or resenting me for taking away my parents attention, he let me tag along with his friends and shared his passions with me like film and music and drawing. He gave me my first record, Destroyer by Kiss. He got into the punk/new wave scene around 1977. Being six years old, all I would do is sit in my brother’s room listening to Devo, The Ramones, Sex Pistols, Blondie, The Dickies and watch him draw crazy/hilarious cartoons and laughing the night away.

He took me to my first concert, Kiss in 1979 on the Dynasty tour at the Mid South Coliseum. When I got into punk rock as a teenager, not able to drive, he took me to the Antenna club, (the only punk club in Memphis at the time) to see Black Flag. I couldn’t get in, but they would let me stick my head in the door and catch a few songs. Kim (my brother) would go to punk shows and pick up t-shirts for me by bands like The Exploited and The Vandals. When I was able to drive, The Antenna started hosting all age punk shows. From 1985 to 1988, I frequented The Antenna.

How did you get into the music scene, and how did you manage to go from being in the band to becoming the booker and club owner.

I wanted to be in a band. I got into speed metal towards the end of high school and my friends from school and I started a speed metal band. We had never played a show but we had befriended some of the local punk/metal bands that we’d seen play around town. When we finally got up a 30 minute set with some originals and covers, we set up our first show by renting out the Southaven Jaycees building in Southaven, MS (a suburb of Memphis, thirty minutes south of Memphis) and inviting four other locals to play. We called it “The Thrash-A-Thon” and it was a smashing success. We ended up with 300 people at $5 a head and our expenses were around $800. We delightedly split the money up with the other bands and everyone had a blast. We made a whole bunch of new friends and we played local shows with the bands on that bill for years afterwards.

The success of that show had a massive impact on me. I have no doubt that if that show had been a negative experience, my life would be drastically different.

After a few shows with my band around town, we got our first show at The Antenna and I made contact with the guys in charge of booking the club. Around this time, if I wanted to see most of the bands that I liked live, I would have to drive to St. Louis, Dallas, Atlanta, or New Orleans. That got expensive and I started looking into how much it would cost to book the bands here. Memphis is what booking agents refer to as “a secondary market”. We get fill in dates in between the cities I listed above. When I started trying to bring bands to town, I would call The Antenna and try to set up a show with a bigger national act and I would put my own band in the opening slot.

This went on for a couple of years. I got tired of having to deal with the club so I borrowed some money and bought a little redneck hole in the wall named Barristers (it used to be a lawyer hang out) where I had started doing shows. I owned the place for 2 years before I had a child and had to get a real job. I opened another club a few years later called Last Place On Earth in 1999 and closed it in 2001. In that time, I managed to bring some really special shows to my hometown and I’ve been very fortunate to have parents and family support me in the way that they have.

What was the most satisfying job in your experience? (between being a band member, a club owner and a promoter)

That’s a hard question to answer because my whole adult life, I’ve been at least 2 out of the 3 of those at the same time and for a few years all three. I guess being a promoter would be the answer since I’ve always been that to this day and I’m not in a band nor will I be owning a club anytime soon. But if you ask the big time promoters around here, they would say “Chris Walker?…he ain’t a promoter!” which is the nicest thing they’ll ever say about me and I agree with them.

I pay bands or get someone else to pay bands to come here. It’s never about the money with me, it’s about the music. The music comes first. People who call themselves promoters are the same people who refer to musical recordings as “units”. Like “Yeah…this band is gonna be HUGE!…they’ve already moved 15,000 units!” When you were just discovering music, did you say “I wanna go down to the unit store and pick up some new units!” No! I do it because either myself or one of my friends likes/loves the band whether it makes money or not. A successful show for me is breaking even.

But booking a show that touches a lot of people and leaves a mark is always awesome. The Jeff Buckley shows would be a good example. GG Allin is also a good example.

Would you say their are more dishonest club owners or more monster-ego bands out there?

Just on pure numbers alone, I’d say there are more egomaniac bands just because there are WAY more bands then there are clubs. I don’t like to make broad statements like that though. Usually, it’s one or two band members who ruin reputations for bands and with the internet, dishonest club owner/promoters get weeded out after about a year or so just because word of mouth can spread so fast with myspace, message boards, facebook and blogs (like this one!).

What would be the best advice you could give to a band who just got a set together and is ready to play its first gig?

Have a plan. Set goals. Decide on what you all collectively want to do. Do you just want to play locally and put out the occasional recording? Do you want to make a living playing music?

My old band (Diarrhea Of Anne Frank) had no aspirations. The band was formed because I started running out of local bands to put on shows, yet we played The Knitting Factory in NYC because we thought it would be fun. We never practiced. We didn’t have songs. But because I know the psychology behind getting what you want, I pulled it off. If you just want to play your first show, go to the club that you frequent, make connections with the staff, then when you get to pitch your band to the talent buyer, explain to him why should he book your band. It would be a good idea to know why he should book your band by the way. Because most people aren’t used to candor, I get some dumbfounded reactions sometimes when I ask a band who is asking me to book them that question.

Sample conversation:

Band dude: “Hey man, I’m in a band called The Poo Flingers and we’d love to set up a show here sometime.”

Me: “Really? Cool. Will anyone come to your show if we do?

Band dude: Uhhhh….I guess….I don’t know….

Now what am I supposed to think? While your band is your passion, keeping the club open is the talent buyer’s passion and the show has to be economically viable. A lot of musicians think the club is responsible for these expenses but if the band wanted to DIY it and play a house party and get paid you still HAVE to have A) a P.A. system if only for vocals and B) someone taking money at the door. If you don’t think twenty people would come see your band play then you shouldn’t be playing in a club.

You say you booked the Knitting Factory with a band that basically never rehearsed. How did you convince them that you would pack the venue? if so, how? 9since you live in Memphis)

I booked us in NYC by booking shows in Memphis basically. Knitting Factory has (or had) a booking agency that books for the bands on their label. When they called me to book one of their artists, I told them I needed a gig in their venue for my band. When someone is asking for a show, it’s only fair to ask for one back. We played with a side project of the band, Oneida, which one of their members worked for the label. So NYC was probably the easiest show to set up.See…I didn’t have to convince anyone that OUR band would draw but I could put someone on the bill who would.

If you’re a band and you’re just starting, you’re probably not going to have the connections that I have. That’s why I was saying that you’re going to have to convince the talent buyer why he should book you.

Ask yourself: “How can I make it worth the club/talent buyer’s while to book our band. Will we make the club money? Probably not. I could let the talent buyer have sex with my sister. Or I could hook him up with some dynamite weed. Or I could tell him I thought his band/film/artwork/ass was awesome.”

If you know how to bullshit or kiss ass, you should be the one doing the booking for your band.

That’s really the only advice I can give but it’s worked for me like gangbusters. I call it “The Psychology Of Getting What You Want.” I’ve been pretty amazed at what I’ve been able to talk people into doing. If you want something from someone, you figure out what you can do for them and offer it in trade for what you want. You can apply this philosophy to your job, to getting into women’s pants, etc.

As a band member, what annoyed you the most with bookers and club owners, and how did you manage to deal with it?

I hate it when people (anyone…bookers, club owners, musicians, etc.) don’t do what they say they’re going to do. I try to have all the arrangements and details in email form so you can always go back to it and know what you agreed to. If you don’t get what you want worked out on the front end and have a written record of both parties agreeing to what you want, you have no place to complain (hence our gigdoggy gig-sharing platform! hehehe).

I agreed to pay Corey Feldman (yes, that Corey Feldman (the kid who acted in ‘Stan by me’)) $1500 flat for a show. When he sold out the venue and I didn’t give him one extra dime over $1500, he was quite irate and cursed me to my face. Truth be told, if he’d not been such a total and complete shit ass, I would’ve have given him some of the back end, but he was terribly rude and inconsiderate so I hit him with what we promoters call “Asshole Tax”.

Thanks a lot Chris. One last question: what presented the most work? the most stress? the most fun?

The most work: In this city, there is very little money and the people who attend the shows that I book don’t have it. That means less people which means less money coming in which means you have to cut costs which means you end up having to do everything yourself. There were a couple of shows at Barristers where I had to run the door, the bar, and sound for the show and clean up the place when it was done.

The most stress: I like rowdy bands. When I say “rowdy”, I mean bands who put on a somewhat violent show that interacts with the audience. See GG Allin, The Antiseen, Anal Cunt, and The Candy Snatchers. It’s very easy to like rowdy bands when all you have to do is pay admission, sit down, watch the insanity, meet the bloody/sweaty band members after the show and shower them with accolades while you buy their t-shirt but when you’re basically as legally responsible for whatever carnage they cause as they are, it’s nowhere near as much fun. I’ve booked everyone of those bands I listed and while I was sweating bullets when it was happening, I’m SO glad I did.

The most fun: I’d say the most fun is when I book one of my favorite bands who are not only outstanding musicians who put on a great show but top flight people and I know that the show is going to cover all expenses (if I made money…bonus!).

So there you are. A lot of bold truth in that interview. We send a warm mruff to Chris (and Danger), hoping to seeing him back on the blog talking about those Jeff Buckley and GG Allin gigs, and other doggy-band/music related things.

Bark.

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Q&A with The Los Dos Bros (part 2): booking agents and club owners

Last week we posted part 1 of our Q&A with The Los Dos Bros where they had a chance to explain their methods for booking and securing gigs. Now we give you part 2 focused more on dealing with booking agents and club owners.

GD: Do you guys work with a booking agent?

LDB: Having a booking agent is, obviously, awesome.  We had an agent in 2007, and after booking ourselves for 3+ years it was a great relief… although now we are without an agent again.  This year I was playing as a sideman in Louis XIV which led to The Los Dos Bros supporting them on the second leg of their US tour… something that probably wouldn’t have happened unless, well, I was playing in their band. It is very difficult to get an agent, probably harder than getting a record deal… most want you to have an established route where you can guarantee commissions for the agent… so it is back to the basics, band 101, establishing a fan base!  And that means booking yourself!

GD: And how do you manage bookings by yourselves?

LDB: Someone in the band usually has business skills, or at least the knowledge of making business happen on the phone… maybe someone is a telemarketer or did sales in the past… remember, this is basically a sales role.  You are qualifying, and closing a potential client, in this case, the promoter or club owner.  So find the person in the band that is comfortable doing the research and picking up the phone and making connections through myspace, and email.

In our case, the two of us, Derric and myself, do the booking.  I handle California and Derric handles rest of the western region (AZ, CO and NM)… so it is fair, we split the work duties (cause it is a lot of work!).  The agent that we had in 2007 was essentially a consultant to us starting in 2004.  He taught us the best routes, and the best places to play where we could establish a working relationship with club owners that understood the dynamics of building successful clubs or restaurant/bars that feature music.

Again, as you learned from our earlier discussions, we wanted to develop a route off the beaten path that we could repeat every 6-8 weeks… starting out with the club owners was of course difficult, having to prove on the phone that we were a band with enough material (enough to play 2-3 hours, cause again, these were the type of places we were playing), a band that understood that covers were critical (people want to dance) and at the same time having strong original material, a band with good sound equipment (most of these places don’t have their own sound), a band that would show up on time and not take 2 hour breaks… thus, where action speaks louder in this world, it was a sales pitch.  And we closed a lot of business cause we sold ourselves at a high level, came across professionally, and at the end of the day delivered on our promise.

So again, someone that can sell the band on the phone, having the necessary amount of music to play (which means a lot of practicing on the front end), a reliable tour vehicle, responsible band members, and the desire to work harder than you probably ever will in life (while barely breaking even).

This scenario is not going to work for everyone… if you are a punk band, or hard rock band, or psyche rock, or just weird, well,  this plan won’t work for you.  The types of places that we play tend to air on the Americana, pop and country side of the table… to get people dancing, country is always the answer… i don’t care if people hate country music, if they are drunk in a bar, and there are hot girls dancing, everyone will be out on the floor swiggin’ beers and gettin’ naughty.  We learned to master the country cover, people eat it up… and then when we play our originals, they actually listen, and many end up buying the CD.  This is not to say that country is the only answer, find your niche, and deliver a song that everyone knows, you will thank me for it.  And to boot, making people have fun will lead to private gigs (and festivals), cause people want to hire bands that can get people in a bar having fun.

GD: How about club owners? How do you deal with those guys?

LDB: Club owners are selling alcohol, not music.  Getting people to drink is key… we always sold the shot.  Calling out from stage that it was time for a shot, well it led to most in the bar ordering shots.  Yes, after playing 2-3 hours of music, drinking, we usually ended up drunk at the end of the night.  But after doing this for 3 years, we were a pretty kick ass band that can get people moving if the night calls for it.  Nothing like mixing in your ballads after a kick ass county bender, folks actually listen.  So club owners love us, and they always continue to book no matter what, we deliver a good time, every single time.  Continuing to play these types of gigs is of course not our goal in life, but it was the means to the end.  We were able to negotiate more money with club owners the longer we stayed with them (we were loyal, once we picked our place in every town, and liked it, we stayed with that bar, exclusively, which was part of the initial pitch with owners), and eventually we were getting free food, all the alcohol we could drink, and in many cases, hotel rooms.

GD: Any mruffin conclusions?

LDB: So to recap, ya gotta do the research to establish your route (and keep it within a days drive of your home base), make the connections with the bars/clubs/restaurant, get the gig, have a kick ass band, deliver 2-3 hours of high quality music (and don’t forget covers), make people drink, have fun, sell CDs and merch, meet the people (go out and introduce yourselves, make connections, this will lead to private and corporate gigs), and repeat!

They are The Los Dos Bros:

www.thelosdosbros.com
www.myspace.com/thelosdosbros
www.sonicbids.com/thelosdosbros

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How some bands deal with booking agents and venue promoters (1)

I haven’t dealt much with booking agents and venue promoters, and for some reason I imagine booking agents resembling someone like that guy on the right. Anyways, I went about asking bands their experiences on the subject so I’ll leave you with two quotes on the matter. I’ll post up more of these in future topics. Please feel free to leave some insights . Mruff !

Q: Why do some bands have booking agents, while others depend on venue promoters?”

A: Some bands get paid enough to interest a booking agent. Others have to do their own booking, which means working with the venue or venue promoter. NEVER TRUST or DEPEND ON the venue promoter… he works for the venue, not you. But do politely negotiate with him to get what you want.

Q: I know venue promoters find the bands and actively promote the shows, but do some venues only work with their promoters to fill up the slots?”

A: A real promoter sets up a show, gets financing for it, books the talent, hires appropriate support (sound, lights, etc.), puts on the show, and pays the talent.

A “venue promoter” is just a booking agent for the venue.

You should always do your own promotion to the extent that you can. Posting flyers, mailing your mailing list, sending press releases to the press, are all part of this. If your cash flow supports it you might hire a publicist ($100-$250 / hr, ouch) to do some of this for you.

Most venues will do some promotion – at least to the extent of informing the local press of their schedule. But you’ll get better coverage if you do your own promotion.

Q: Should booking agents be promoting the show as well?

A: A booking agent’s job is get you gigs… but the more money you bring in, the more the booking agent gets paid, so most booking agents will do some promotion or at least give you some guidance on what to do.

Q: Whats the best way to deal with these ppl?

A: Build your business to a point where you have plenty of money for the booking agent to take a cut of and then negotiate the best contract you can (hire a music attorney to negotiate your booking contract – if you’re making enough to benefit from an agent you won’t have any problem affording the attorney)

David Smith- an acquaintance from the SonicBids website.

My groups always worked through agents…some were amazing…some sucked. My main guy ended up as a Las Vegas show booker working with the William Morris Agency out of L.A. – he’s a Chartered Accountant from Montreal by trade and last time we spoke he had become the Business Manager for Natalie Cole.
I worked with one agent who booked us into a hotel gig in Cleveland and then we ended up driving approx 1,500 km to Northern Ontario for the next venue. Or like being not booked for 3 weeks due to all talk – no action. I busted one Manager through the New York Musicians’ Union for attempting to defraud the group with personal and living expenses which he claimed were to promote my band. He’s known locally and elsewhere so I won’t mention names. Like if you’re going to screw me at least ask me to dance first…
Don’t even get me started on the dumb-ass club owners – many of them still don’t have the good business sense to put it in the Mirror, Hour, Gazette or whatever the local rag is anywhere.
Bartholomew – www.myspace.com/bartholomew3

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How some bands make money off their music (1)

“Do we live off of our band? Well, not entirely we still have jobs but were working towards it. Best business model…well there is no silver bullet. It takes money to make money and it takes a bit of success to get free money. Obviously a record company ideally would provide you a front for cash but if you guys can get a good enough recording out to get played on commercial radio you might be surprised as to what you can get in terms of a government grants and loans. I Know the province of Quebec puts a lot of money into the arts so go to the provincial web page and see what they have to offer. Apply as often as you can. Money is a bitch and until you establish yourself you will always be burdened by it. Try to play shows with other good bands so that you can make cash off the door which hopefully means merch sales. If you don’t have a following then get creative…poster the free ways or high traffic/traffic jam areas. Its hard work so you cant be scared, just get out there! Posters! posters! Posters. Play shows but dont play too many our you’ll saturate your market. I cant say which model is best. No two bands go about getting a record deal the same way, other than working hard…really hard. It usually takes a band 10 years to full understand what to do. Once you guys get rolling and are touring within your province and nationally you should seriously consider “incorporating” your band into a business. Once your rolling tour wise I would focus on finding out who the “booking agents” are cause thats who can make your exposure to new audience climb drastically (there are pros and cons to that, mainly in the form of tax breaks but remember you will have to pay taxes). Remember that if you guy want private investors (record companies, booking agents you have to show them first that you are willing to invest in your self…good disc, tour often and build a fan base. I’m not sure exactly where you boys are at with the band but if your not touring and bringing in crowds don’t worry about too much, just work towards it. Don’t over shoot or you will be disappointed”.
(Texas Blood Money - www.myspace.com/texasbloodmoney)

“I’ve found it pretty hard to quit my day job when I first started. With all the money you need to invest in recording, producing, duplicating CDs, and getting merch together, it turns out to be a huge amount of money you need. So, unless you have an investor, you’ve gotta work. However, I’ve made some decent money from playing shows when I can. If you declare it as a business with the IRS, you’d be amazed at the things you can write off for your craft. Instruments, strings, fuel costs, classes, you name it. Merch sales definitely help a band that’s out on the road. Sometimes you can double or even triple what you make from the door on merch sales alone. It’s also very important to get your merch out in your home market. T-shirts and bumper stickers add a lot of buzz when they’re seen in a certain area over and over”.
(Mogote (Brain Probus) – www.myspace.com/mogote)

“I definitely think most of a bands revenue comes from playing gigs. the merchandise sales at the gigs usually helps get that extra gas and meal money, especially if your’re on tour.
Even the bigger signed acts don’t make that much from record sales. By the time everyone has gotten their piece of the pie there’s little left for the band. I think most of the focus should be on getting good paying gigs”.
(Dany Santos - www.myspace.com/santosdrums)

“The most consistent form of making money is the shows. We have made a deal with our promoter, after selling 20 tickets at $10 a piece we get the rest of the ticket sales. this is a great deal because at the end of the day it is up to you on how much money you really make by the effort you made to sell tickets and get people to come to your show. We’ve also booked venues before and even though it may be more expensive (sometimes less) all the profit is yours…you get to pick your set times and for how long. we are just getting to purchasing merch. Our goal with that is to make somewhat of a profit with it, most importantly to break even and still sell our products at a reasonable price. Hopefully an EP on the way and that should rake in some cash”.
(The Svens - www.myspace.com/thesvens)

“It all depends on what stage of your career you are at. There are a lot of “Indie” bands out there that rake in more cash from album sales than some signed artists to a major label (although the vast majority of indie labels are owned by the majors!).But let’s look at the initial stages of an Indie bands’ career.Record sales at gigs can increase the bands’ income by up to 70% depending on the venue.Don’t ever forget that CD’s are a souvenir at gigs and the listener can play your music any time they like and remember who you are, as well as show their friends what a great band you are.Also the CD cover can hold a lot of information,like contact numbers, website addresses etc, a lot more information than say a T shirt could offer.The band would have to have quite a solid position in the market to justify merchandise being bought. Would you wear a T shirt with a name or brand that you hardly know? At the initial stage of a bands’ career, the secret is to get the name out and always keep in touch with the fan base to make that baby grow. Once that has been consolidated, the sales end for merchandise will be in the bag”.
(Annonymous)

“Have Good Merch (and lots of it). It can be a night maker, or at least fill the van up with gas so you can get to the next gig”.
(Chris – www.bandmix.com/chris2203)

“Festival circuit, sell your products. Forget bars”.
(Irminsul - www.irminsul.biz)

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The way bands gig swap and share shows (1)

Why swap gigs?

I actually think that “gig swapping” might be the best possible way to get shows… the problem is you have to be in a position where the venue owner or booker lets you bring another artist in to actually make the trade. The idea is if they put you on a bill, you put them on your bill. And the best shows are those that expose your audience to theirs and vice-versa, and that the two artists are close enough in appeal that the folks who would buy your music and swag and tickets would buy theirs, too. It’s tougher than it sounds to put together a good bill, especially if one or more of the artists aren’t known names… but it’s possible, and gig swapping creates friends and partners and can prove to a club owner or booker or promoter that you can be trusted to get people in attendance.
Benjy Kantor, AR manager, www.sonicbids.com

For me, a good show is one that has multiple bands (2 or 3) on the bill because that draws more people in the door. Keep in mind that for every show you do there is at least one person there that hasn’t seen you before”.
Publik Parking www.myspace.com/publikparking

I think gig-swapping with other bands could be the way to go. Over time we’ve scored some great gigs and contacts but find it hard to break into new areas. We can offer support slots to bands in venues that like us, and, in return, that band can organize support slots for us in their neck of the woods. It’s quite common practice and a good idea.
Anonymous

Of course, hooking up with a local act is best for getting gigs, so you can cross-pollinate their draw with any friends you have in the area, and try and win them over.
Tims Myth www.myspace.com/tmyth

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How bands meet other bands:

For getting gigs with other bands, I think the best way is to go to other people’s shows and check them out. Hang around after the show, buy the band member(s) a beer and have a demo of yours handy. You can say you’re looking for an opening slot for the future and to keep you in mind.
Linda M www.myspace.com/lindamsongs

Most of the bands, we meet either at shows or through myspace. Many bands are willing to do swaps. It usually works out well. I spend many hours each week organizing our show schedule. It is tough to be in communication with that many people but I know a thing that is tough is providing the same size audience that may have been provided to you. It is hard to make shows equal in value you for both bands when swapping shows.
Take One Car www.myspace.com/takeonecar

I made friends with some folks in NY and we just kind of took it from there… we trade out shows to get each other on the road as often as possible back and forth and anywhere in between… still trying to make it out to Europe one day ($$$!) and that’s about it… just networking, really. myspace is a great tool. Always people looking to get in the van… maybe I can visit you guys sometime!.
Dave Johnson www.myspace.com/davejohnsonsmusic

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Mruff?

Gig swapping is considered by many as a very important part of DIY booking and building a fan base. It’s about networking with other bands. Whether you’re looking for a gig in your home town or you want to extend your reach to out of town gigs, gig swapping is definitely something to look into, if not to depend upon. The process can also be thought in terms of fan swapping. Its important to find bands that you relate to, so the fans will relate as well. To find bands you must network, and all the social media sites out there can make it easy. You’ll find tons of bands willing to swap, share shows and basically just help out. A great way to find them is through band forums as most of them have dedicated threads for sharing gigs. Google around by typing in the search bar ‘gig swap + (city or region where you wanna swap or share a show)’ and kablamo! you’ll most likely find a local music forum hosting threads for sharing gigs. Be creative with your website: the Everyday Heroes have a gig swapping form bands can fill. Cool idea.
gigDoggy www.myspace.com/gigdoggy

More band quotes on sharing shows and gig swapping here:

• The way bands gig swap and share shows (2)
• The way bands gig swap and share shows (3)

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