This is good. But I do think, in the early days of playing out, that unless your band is consistently as close to flawless in performance as your band can be, and unless you have the money to kiss good-bye on securing a venue, insurance, lighting, sound, promotion, merch people, security and/or already have a large enough following to pay for all that on the back end of a gig, maybe playing a few free shows to get things going in that direction isnt such a bad idea. When your absence is felt more keenly than your presence in terms of a venues receipts - when you can guarantee a venue will profit from your appearance because enough folks who otherwise would not have shown up at that venue show up and pay for the privilege of basking in your greatness - *then* you can call the money shots. Being good is not a consideration if you cant pull the numbers because you have more friends than fans in the audience. No venue is in business to break even, let alone lose money, as a matter of furthering your art. Ironically, on the other side of this equation is when you *do* have a lot of shows under your belt, a strong following, and *are* selling out wherever you play, and moving CDs and merch at those shows, and coming home from touring with money to burn: That the radio stations who are playing your music and the magazines that write about you absolutely expect you to play their events for *free*, and you damned well *happily* and *gratefully* do so, regardless of how famous you are, because they are a part of why anybody outside of your town even knows who you are. The most successful acts I know play the most promotional shows - shows where they receive no compensation for performing. Yes, hotel and food and other considerations are covered, and you are treated like royalty, but they are at that point where you dont get hung up on money, because you know its there, because you put into play what needed to be put into play early on... which, yes, included playing for little or nothing at places youd rather forget, for people who acted like they were doing you a favor by allowing you to grace the stage. Truth is, they *were* doing you a favor. It only takes hindsight and a little success to see it. ;)
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 15:31:43 +0000
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