Promoter's Commandments I: Thou Shalt Not Break Even

This is the first non-review I’ve posted here (as, you know, the second post) and I need to clarify something before I go further: I am not a music guru, nor would I consider myself such. I have never been full-time in the music industry and I cannot claim to have made a lot of money doing it. These are just personal opinions formed over playing shows and being around the industry for 10 years or so.

I played a show last weekend that I had been pretty excited about. It was a festival, and festivals generally mean lots and lots of people. I can’t say for certain that every musician thrives on getting up in front of large amounts of people to ply their trade, but I will say the majority of us love it for one reason or another. Some are extremely pragmatic: “The law of averages says one in five people will buy my CD after my set, and I counted twenty-five people here, so I’m goin’ home with $50, baby!” Most others, like me, are simply performers by nature and love the chance to entertain, interact with, and impress an audience (and even entertainers, the potential for $50 in sales doesn’t hurt. Band’s gotta eat.) So festivals = lots of people = band excitement.

Unfortunately, when I arrived at this festival just after noon (it had been going since 11) there were a grand total of three non-staff at the grounds. Three. There were literally more people on stage than there were in the audience. We went on around 7 or so and the crowd had swelled to 20, but it was still a bit disappointing. And hurtful financially.

This seems to be a common theme throughout my “career”: shows you think are going to be well attended that wind up barely drawing flies. I think a lot of this has to do with promotion, and why some people should never do it.

I appreciate people volunteering to put on shows and provide places to play, but I really don’t think people understand how music works and why promotion is possibly the hardest thing to do. As a promoter, your job is to sell the show. You have to generate interest and compel people to come out. I’ve only promoted 5 shows in ten years, mostly because after the first one I recognized what a time-sucking money hole it is. Not that being a musician isn’t a time-sucking money hole, but I enjoy performing. I don’t enjoy promoting.

So this is going to be the first in my series of Promoter’s commandments:

THOU SHALT NOT EXPECT TO BREAK EVEN

This is the very first truth you have to realize as a promoter: You are going to lose money. Fact, fact, fact. Get used to it, because everyone else in the lower-paid echelons of the music industry (roughly 90% of us) already have. Posters are expensive. Sound equipment, hall rental, etc. are expensive. And yeah, you can get some of it back by charging $15 - $20 at the door for four local bands and not paying any of them, but odds are most people will be turned off by the price tag, and having people out to listen is kind of the whole point, right?

As a band member you often hear promoters throw themselves at your mercy saying they “didn’t break even”. This may seem harsh, but that was not, is not and will never be the band’s fault. Unless you had an agreement with the band that they would co-promote with you (and what good are you then?) the band’s job is to show up to play. Yours is to get people out. If this freaks you out, then feel free to promise the band a percentage of the door in lieu of a fixed amount. WARNING: Most established bands will run fast and run far away at the mention of a “percentage” payday. You get what you pay for.

So how will you lose money? Let’s run a cost analysis:

SOUND SYSTEM RENTAL: Minimum $150
HALL RENTAL: Anywhere between $100-$1,000 depending on size and length of time
POSTERS/FLIERS: Minimum $50 ($150 if professionally designed, which everyone should do)
GAS FOR THE BANDS: If local, about $10-20 each, so around $30-$60
SOUND PERSON: $50

So even at the lowest end you’re looking at being $400 in the hole before you’re out of the gates.

This is especially relevant to fundraisers. Fundraisers can work if everyone from the band to the hall owner to the designer to the sound guy agrees that they will take no money. But you still have to make sure you do all the other stuff right to ensure you get a crowd, and therefore, you know, raise funds.

OK! So now no one wants to be a promoter. I’m still going to post some other “Commandment” blogs later.

IN OTHER NEWS!!!!!

My awesome girlfriend Krista just got back from Europe and she brought me a CD by a band called The Do. I like it enough to review, so I may post that next week. I think on Friday I’ll tell the story of the best show I ever promoted. Stay classy.