CONCERT DATES AND YOUR RETURN I hear this more than anything from aspiring artists, “We play a lot of small churches and small venues. How do we get into the concerts?” Churches, concert halls, supper clubs, festivals, business openings, and a host of other venues fill different needs at different times of your music career. And in some cases they will fill open dates on any tour schedule. You, your vision, passion, energy, business need and finances will decide when those dates should be booked. Oh but wait! So you want to play more concert dates. It seems like other artists you know are performing all the time, so surely there must be a secret formula to getting concert dates. That is the case, or all the other musicians up on stage are friends with the venue owner or have a manager getting the concert dates for them, right? We assume that if someone is performing all the time they had help getting that concert booked? Many times we assume a scheduling agency is the end all to concert dates. But we seem to forget, an agency will not just start booking an unknown artist without a degree of demand and popularity. So in reality, the agency prospects are slim. But nine times out of ten the singer up there on stage has no insider information, no manager, and no friendship with the venue owner whatsoever. The concert date happened because of their hard focused work. So the burning question is….what is the Secret Formula to booking concert dates? I could reel off a few quick bullet points to whet your appetite, but to be honest that wouldn’t help you very much and here’s why: if you came up to me tomorrow and asked me how to get concert dates, the first thing I’d say is, “What type of concert do you want?” You see, not all concert dates are created equal. Some concert dates will pay well but won’t help you build a following; some concert dates will pay next to nothing but will be massive fan builders; and some concert dates… well they don’t get you fans or money but can still be valuable if used properly. Confused? I don’t blame you. Building a music career is not so easy as it seems or as many assume. You see, before you can get concert dates you need to understand the type of concert dates that are out there and what each one can do for you. Once you understand this, it makes going after concert dates a whole lot easier because you can look for a concert that is going to help you with your business/ ministry (yes, you are a business and a ministry if your genre is gospel music) and is suitable for where you’re at in this phase of your career. Here are examples of just some of the types of concert dates, place them into a matrix that works on a scale of high versus low pay and high versus low fan building. High Pay/ Low Fan Building: Corporate Functions. This can be a co-op, wedding, reception or any other sponsored event where you have limited concert time or access to attendees. High Pay/ High Fan Building: Paid Festivals, Community Sponsored Concerts planned by city council or department. These venues have advertising, full government approval and lots of community good will. Low Pay/ Low Fan Building: Street (busking), Parking Lot, Flea Market set ups. Since most of these venues are tips only, crowd volume is crucial. It can also depend on the time of day you perform. Public performances, (aka busking) can also require a permit in some areas/ cities. Open Mic Nights are exactly that. It is a community talent show. Sometimes you get a few dollars or a drink tab, but usually not. You are there performing for the love of your music. Low Pay/ High Fan Building: Fronting for more well known artists where you get exposure and a limited dollar amount of income. Sometimes as a new or lesser known artist you may be scheduled and receive a percentage of the tickets you sell. That is negotiable with the concert promoter. House party is a very limited concert in a living room or back yard. Attendance is only a few. It builds great good will and there is an intimacy between performer and those attending. Bear in mind that this is not an exact science. The music industry is highly unregulated and I know that some musicians have done very well with ‘low pay/low fans’ concert dates like street performances if they go on a regular basis, however this is not always the case. Let’s break these down a little more with the why, rhyme and reasons. Low Pay/ Low Fan Concert dates: If you think that you should or would scratch Low Pay/ Low Fan concert dates off your list straight away… well, think again. Every concert has its purpose and each is more accessible to you depending on what stage you are at in your music career. For example, street performances and open mic nights are a great way to test out new material or to gain performance practice when you are just starting out, and they are the easiest concert dates to obtain; you can do street performances in most places by obtaining a simple permit or license and open mic nights take pretty much anyone. In fact, I personally use both of these types of concert dates for this very purpose. I’m currently working on some new material so when I’ve got my material ready, I’ll hit up an open mic night to take my new songs and skills for a test drive. Similarly, if you are in musical theatre, the best way to grow your resume is by doing free community shows. You’ll meet people in the industry and can work on your performance skills while you hunt around for new opportunities. High Pay/ Low Fan Concert dates: High Pay/ Low Fan concert dates. These are what I call ‘Bread and Butter’ concert dates because basically, they pay the rent. For contemporary singers, these might be club or corporate cover concert dates where the venue pays you to play music their clientele will like, which usually means well known covers. For me as a soloist, these are corporate concert dates at some stuffy legal firm’s client night and I’m there to provide background music and look pretty. Yep seriously. Why else would they hire a soloist if they just want background music? It’s all for show. This is definitely not the place to pull out my banners, set up my merchandise CD plugs at the end of every set. You’ll be lucky if you get to hand out a few business cards during the break and get a quick thank you from the head honcho. Use these concert dates to fund the Low Pay/High Fan building concert dates that we’ll have a look at next… and make the most of the free canapés while you’re there. Note: Some artists only want these types of concert dates. This is when it’s not so much about building a name for themselves than it is making money as a musician without having to leave their local area (Which is totally fine by the way. I know plenty of very good musicians who make their living this way) — but for those of you who want to make a mark, raise your profile, and reach for what can happen when you do start becoming known (i.e. a higher charge rate, better concert dates, a deeper connection with fans, getting your message out there, and all the possibilities that come with being a person of interest) then read on. Low Pay/ High Fan Concert dates: I love/ hate these concert dates. I know they are going to be good for my profile but I also know I’m going to run at a loss and as someone who relies solely on income derived from music, the costs involved can bite. Yes these are the concerts where promoters want you to sing for free to open the program. Many support concerts with better known artists will fall under this category (initially at least.) As anything in the music industry, there will be exceptions but when you have a limited fan base, then you don’t really have much value (in terms of business dollars) to add to a concert. Yes, the opportunity to perform with a band that does pull a crowd is a good opportunity for you, because it means you get to play for fans of a similar sounding band. If they like that band, then they may become your fan too. However, it’s not such a good deal for the venue or the band with the bigger name. The reason is because these types of concert dates usually operate on a ticket or door sales basis. If you have no fan base then your ability to help with the door sales is going to be minimal and therefore you shouldn’t expect to be paid for something you didn’t provide. The catch here however, is this: if you are a singer who uses an accompanist or session musicians in your band, then you still have to pay your musicians and you will have to fork out of your own pocket to pay them. It is easier if you have a band dedicated to doing any concert dates they can to ‘break in’ but for singers, this is frequently not the case. The good news is if you make the most of these concert dates, you should start building fans from the first concert and it does get easier. That, or you can do a heap of advertising to get people through the door… but that is a topic for another day. The bad news is that every time you want to break into a new market (location) you will have to repeat the support concert process, unless of course you have a major radio hit and venues are clambering over each other to book you… and we all know this is definitely not the norm. However, playing support concert dates is the fastest way to go from zero to fans and get you one step closer to the juicy concert dates we’ll have a look at next. High Fans/ High Pay Concert dates: Ah yes, now we reach the realm of the Rich and Somewhat Famous and I can hear you thinking ‘Now we’re talking. Now, just tell me how to get heaps of these concert dates, really well paying and in front of lots of people. My answer? “Patience, Grasshopper. They are not YOUR fans… yet.” I’m not saying this to hold you back by any means because on average, festivals and promoted shows with advertising dollars behind them are hands-down the best way to get your name out there as an artist. The concert in itself would be enough, however most Festivals are accompanied by advertising dollars to spread your name further and have media salivating over the opportunity to get you on their interview list. Yes these are the best concert dates to get, but they are also by far the most competitive. Festivals are expensive to put on and so the Festival Promoter needs to ensure they will attract an excellent turnout each year. They do this by booking artists that they know will draw a crowd, which means that you need to be doing pretty well and have a solid following to get one of these concert dates (that, or be good friends with whoever is in charge.) Yes, the promoter wants you to have a certain loving fan base. In hopes they will get your fans to participate in other concerts they promote and pay this concerts bills. Don’t worry, there’s a catch to Festivals which is your secret way in. Create a list of the Festivals that support your type of music in your local area (and beyond if you can afford the travel costs). Most bigger Festivals don’t even accept artist applications so scratch those off initially. Your best bet is to target smaller festivals and then build up from there. Keep an eye out for contests to play at bigger Festivals but realize the competition is going to be fierce. Some Festivals do offer freebie or parking lot opportunities which you can snap up if you perform solo and acoustic, then make the most of it; get your banner out, play loud to promote, promote, promote! Low Pay/Low Fans category is a show that you put on yourself. You hire a venue or agree to a split of the door sales and then it’s your job to book the support acts and get people through the door (this is where your fan base comes in handy). These concert dates are great for a reason to promote yourself in the local media and can be decent earners if your door numbers are solid. Do a good job and your fan base might actually bring more friends along next time. So let’s go back to the start and revisit our original question: how to get concert dates. Now that you can have a think about the type of concert dates that you want, doesn’t that make it easier to know where to start looking? My advice is to pick the concert dates according to what your needs are as an artist. If you are just starting out, go for the Low Pay/Low Fan concert dates where you can get some performance practice singing in front of a crowd. That way, if you stuff up, it’s not going to be such a big deal. If you’re past this stage, then have a look at other bands concert dates happening in your local area that sound similar to you and reach out for a support concert dates. Whatever the stage you are at in your music career, go for the concert dates that will benefit you the most… and once you have it, make the most of it.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 22:56:06 +0000
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