hey all!
This was set to run on Friday, but for some reason didn't. So here it is. I'll update again THIS Friday, for realsies.
This is the third in my “Promoter’s Commandments” series. Click here for the first and here for the second. All caught up? Good!
So let’s assume that you’ve accepted losing money, and gone ahead and promoted yourself silly to get a crowd in the door. You haven’t won yet. You still have a lot of room to screw the pooch with your show. And in my experience, nothing does it better than Band Overload.
There are a few reasons I think people shoose to turn what should be tiny shows into the NEXT-next coming of Woodstock. Sometimes people are googly-eyed running their first shows and want to include as many of their favourite bands as possible. Other times, people think that by booking the most acts possible they’ll draw more and make more cash. Both semi-logical theories, but ultimately ridiculous.
My housemate Luke has an awesome story about this. He used to play with a band called A Moment’s Embrace who did reasonably well in the indie Christian screamo scene. They once got booked for this huge show where the promoter had done everything right and there were around 500 people there, and AME were headlining. The only concern was that the promoter had overbooked and made a massive beast of the show, with seven (!) bands on the bill. Of course the openers went waaaay over their time allotment, so AME didn’t get on until well after midnight, when the crowd had dwindled to maybe 100 people. To add insult to injury, one of the openers sold out all their merch, while AME, who were supposed to be the “stars” of the show, were forced to pick up the scraps after their truncated set.
So to review: EVEN IF you book a band people actually want to see, and EVEN IF you manage to pull enough people to make money, and odds are they’ll leave after the third band of 10. There’s no better way to piss off your headliner than by thinning the ranks of the audience before they get on, and even you’re paying them a handsome fee to be there it’ll be tough for them to justify coming out for you again when you delivered an audience to someone else at their show.
Now, some people will undoubtedly say that if the headliner is big enough people will stay to the end. You’re right, but generally they won’t be there for the beginning. I know that if I see more than two openers on a flyer I make sure to get to the venue an hour and a half after doors. I’m all about finding new bands, but I’m also about seeing what I paid for and not wasting my time. If people show up late and miss the opening acts nobody gets the exposure that you (presumably) wanted them to have. A good general rule is to think about your own concert experiences before making decision about your own show. Does anyone enjoy hearing more than two openers before the headliners?
Showing posts with label promoters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label promoters. Show all posts
Monday, July 21, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Promoter's Commandments II: Thou Shalt Not Expect People To Come Just Because There's A Show
Hey, kids. Due to getting back late on Friday from a day trip I didn't do the post I thought I would. So this is the second in my “Promoter’s Commandments” series. Yep, I have a series. drummerthoughts is epic, I tells ya.
Unless you’ve booked Elton John because there are a lot of tasteless people in the world (that’s for fans of the other blog…kidding!), chances are you won’t be able to just throw up a couple of posters and wait for the crowds to start rolling in. Most lay-promoters are people who are either in a band or who love music and aren’t in a band, so it makes sense that they are friends with musicians and want to book local talent. This is great. But you have to realize that unless your goal is to get the ten or fifteen people in your scene to show up (HINT: It shouldn’t be!) then you need to do more.
You’re the promoter: your job is PROMOTION. That means hand fliers, posters, and cold-calling every newspaper, radio station, magazine, etc. you can think of. I did some promoting for two Runaway gigs, one in Hamilton, one in Kitchener. I had to call six newspapers to get mentioned in one, and I called five radio stations and got mentioned on none of them. This is a very crappy and demoralizing part of the job, because most people will treat you like dirt for bothering them. If it’s a pretty underground show look to your local alternative weeklys, as they’re usually apt to cover any show that’s happening (and you have a good chance of getting an article rather than just a mention in “Upcoming Events”). No point in not trying the majors, but don’t be surprised to get stonewalled.
The age of cyber-networking has made things a lot easier to advertise, but there’s a false sense of security in this sort of thing. Like I said in my first Commandment, a good general rule is to use your own experience as a measuring stick for setting up your show. How many group/event invites do you get on Facebook or Myspace that you ACTUALLY read? And of those that you read, how many do you ACTUALLY respond to? For me it’s in the 75% region, and that’s only because I don’t get many. Don’t get me wrong, definitely set those things up as a “hub”, but that’s not enough. You should personally invite as many people as you can via email, messages, phone or talking in person (weird, I know).
Bands, always always ALWAYS make sure to ask the promoter what she or he plans to do to promote the show. This is, in my experience, the easiest way to separate those who are interested in having a good show from those who are content to set up a sound system and drink with their friends in the other band. And if the promoter is “looking for your help” with promotion, make sure you’re getting a flat rate AND a percentage of the door, because you are now doing two jobs.
Unless you’ve booked Elton John because there are a lot of tasteless people in the world (that’s for fans of the other blog…kidding!), chances are you won’t be able to just throw up a couple of posters and wait for the crowds to start rolling in. Most lay-promoters are people who are either in a band or who love music and aren’t in a band, so it makes sense that they are friends with musicians and want to book local talent. This is great. But you have to realize that unless your goal is to get the ten or fifteen people in your scene to show up (HINT: It shouldn’t be!) then you need to do more.
You’re the promoter: your job is PROMOTION. That means hand fliers, posters, and cold-calling every newspaper, radio station, magazine, etc. you can think of. I did some promoting for two Runaway gigs, one in Hamilton, one in Kitchener. I had to call six newspapers to get mentioned in one, and I called five radio stations and got mentioned on none of them. This is a very crappy and demoralizing part of the job, because most people will treat you like dirt for bothering them. If it’s a pretty underground show look to your local alternative weeklys, as they’re usually apt to cover any show that’s happening (and you have a good chance of getting an article rather than just a mention in “Upcoming Events”). No point in not trying the majors, but don’t be surprised to get stonewalled.
The age of cyber-networking has made things a lot easier to advertise, but there’s a false sense of security in this sort of thing. Like I said in my first Commandment, a good general rule is to use your own experience as a measuring stick for setting up your show. How many group/event invites do you get on Facebook or Myspace that you ACTUALLY read? And of those that you read, how many do you ACTUALLY respond to? For me it’s in the 75% region, and that’s only because I don’t get many. Don’t get me wrong, definitely set those things up as a “hub”, but that’s not enough. You should personally invite as many people as you can via email, messages, phone or talking in person (weird, I know).
Bands, always always ALWAYS make sure to ask the promoter what she or he plans to do to promote the show. This is, in my experience, the easiest way to separate those who are interested in having a good show from those who are content to set up a sound system and drink with their friends in the other band. And if the promoter is “looking for your help” with promotion, make sure you’re getting a flat rate AND a percentage of the door, because you are now doing two jobs.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
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.
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.
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