Eric And Michael of TatarusPlease note that this is part 3 in a series of articles I started on Saturday. Part one is HERE. Part two is HERE. Please read those first or some of this might not make complete sense.
So today I want to tackle 'What is a band's responsibility when it comes to a show?' Because if we don't stir the pot, who will? Now I am pretty sure I will piss a few people off with this one. The reality is that local bands stay local for a reason. With all due respect to Don 'Wicked D' Harrison (Don and I have some great debates and are both very passionate about this kind at Network Or Die, if you get a gig with Metalica or AC/DC it will be well worth it, you will gain new fans, and people will remember you. Now don't for a second think that if you get one lucky gig playing for some massively huge band that you can pack the local stadium yourself. In any marketing adventure you can expect between one and ten percent of a return. Opening for a bigger band is just that. It is a marketing method. If this was so futile and fruitless why do labels and managers pay tons of money to get their bands on bigger tours? There is a pay off. Now don't cough up some huge amount of cash or sign some contract where if you don't sell all your tickets you end up owing the promoter. CLICK HERE for yesterdays article for more on why that is a bad idea.
Wade Campbell of Inside The GatesNow of course there is a reason why so many promoters do the ticket pre-sale. Most bands are lazy. Lazy bands are one of the things that fuels Pay To Play. It's the reaction to lazy bands that do nothing to promote themselves. Hungry bands move forward. Lazy bands stay local. Sure you can do nothing but get on stage and play. You can cop an attitude and not do a damn thing to promote yourself, but you will be left behind playing to the same 20 people every single night. If you want to move forward it is your responsibility to promote yourself. The band managed by RockMyMonkey played their 4th show ever opening up for Lynch Mob. Tatarus were all set to just open. They approached it with the full humility a band about to play their 4th show ever should. Problem is that they are also young and full of energy, so they outsold one of the bands and ended up bumping them. Because of this they had to scramble and lengthen their set. They didn't plan to play that higher exposure slot with a longer set time. Well, now they got a Saturday gig at that venue. Lesson? Work your ass off and you move up. I say this also to point out that it is never too soon to start kicking maximum ass.
Jerry A of Poison IdeaNow you might be saying, 'Why work so hard if you only get a ten percent return?' Well, simple. Let's say you play to 1,000 people. 100 of them might remember you. Then the next time you play a high profile gig they might buy a shirt. By the third time your band ends up opening for a band they were coming to see anyways, they are a fan of your band and will start showing up at your headlining gigs. This stuff takes time and it takes a ton of work, but it does pay off. This is the same reason you should play like you are playing to a packed arena even if there are 20 people in the crowd that are just sitting there. Maybe it is a Friday night and they are exhausted from a job that started at 8 am, a family that needed dinner at 5 pm, and bills that needed to be paid before they got to that shitty bar to see you play? Just because they are not going nuts, doesn't mean they are not impressed. You can't read their mind and they might be loving it even if they look like they are about to fall asleep. It is your responsibility to entertain them. Not the other way around.
Dano of The AthiarchistsSo how can a band with little money make sure they move up to those higher profile gigs? Well, selling a ton of tickets on a pre-sale is one way. If you are playing some tiny bar with no high profile headliner, you can pass out handbills to everyone you can. In our city the store owners are very supportive and if you ask really nicely they will let you hang a poster for your show in their window. What about a free ad on Craigslist? Have you contacted your local paper to make sure the gig is listed there? If you really want to be adventurous, hang out in front of a venue where a band that plays your style of music is playing. When the show gets out, start handing out "download cards" of your band. Give a 'secret' url where people can download free tracks. When they go to download the free songs make sure they see a flyer for your next big show. In fact, hand out those download cards right after you open for a major headliner so people have an even better chance at remembering you.
The basic message of this article is this, lazy bands go nowhere. Hungry bands move forward. Your local club has about 20 shows a month. If you think they are going to spend a few thousand dollars to promote local bands, you need to lay off the crack pipe. Want to rise above those clubs? Then work harder than the other bands playing those clubs. Simple as that. Sure you can cop that attitude about how the band is there to play and the promoter's job is to promote, but how far has that gotten you so far? Yeah, I thought so.
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What is a band's responsibility when it comes to a show?
So today I want to tackle 'What is a band's responsibility when it comes to a show?' Because if we don't stir the pot, who will? Now I am pretty sure I will piss a few people off with this one. The reality is that local bands stay local for a reason. With all due respect to Don 'Wicked D' Harrison (Don and I have some great debates and are both very passionate about this kind at Network Or Die, if you get a gig with Metalica or AC/DC it will be well worth it, you will gain new fans, and people will remember you. Now don't for a second think that if you get one lucky gig playing for some massively huge band that you can pack the local stadium yourself. In any marketing adventure you can expect between one and ten percent of a return. Opening for a bigger band is just that. It is a marketing method. If this was so futile and fruitless why do labels and managers pay tons of money to get their bands on bigger tours? There is a pay off. Now don't cough up some huge amount of cash or sign some contract where if you don't sell all your tickets you end up owing the promoter. CLICK HERE for yesterdays article for more on why that is a bad idea.
Wade Campbell of Inside The GatesNow of course there is a reason why so many promoters do the ticket pre-sale. Most bands are lazy. Lazy bands are one of the things that fuels Pay To Play. It's the reaction to lazy bands that do nothing to promote themselves. Hungry bands move forward. Lazy bands stay local. Sure you can do nothing but get on stage and play. You can cop an attitude and not do a damn thing to promote yourself, but you will be left behind playing to the same 20 people every single night. If you want to move forward it is your responsibility to promote yourself. The band managed by RockMyMonkey played their 4th show ever opening up for Lynch Mob. Tatarus were all set to just open. They approached it with the full humility a band about to play their 4th show ever should. Problem is that they are also young and full of energy, so they outsold one of the bands and ended up bumping them. Because of this they had to scramble and lengthen their set. They didn't plan to play that higher exposure slot with a longer set time. Well, now they got a Saturday gig at that venue. Lesson? Work your ass off and you move up. I say this also to point out that it is never too soon to start kicking maximum ass.
Jerry A of Poison IdeaNow you might be saying, 'Why work so hard if you only get a ten percent return?' Well, simple. Let's say you play to 1,000 people. 100 of them might remember you. Then the next time you play a high profile gig they might buy a shirt. By the third time your band ends up opening for a band they were coming to see anyways, they are a fan of your band and will start showing up at your headlining gigs. This stuff takes time and it takes a ton of work, but it does pay off. This is the same reason you should play like you are playing to a packed arena even if there are 20 people in the crowd that are just sitting there. Maybe it is a Friday night and they are exhausted from a job that started at 8 am, a family that needed dinner at 5 pm, and bills that needed to be paid before they got to that shitty bar to see you play? Just because they are not going nuts, doesn't mean they are not impressed. You can't read their mind and they might be loving it even if they look like they are about to fall asleep. It is your responsibility to entertain them. Not the other way around.
Dano of The AthiarchistsSo how can a band with little money make sure they move up to those higher profile gigs? Well, selling a ton of tickets on a pre-sale is one way. If you are playing some tiny bar with no high profile headliner, you can pass out handbills to everyone you can. In our city the store owners are very supportive and if you ask really nicely they will let you hang a poster for your show in their window. What about a free ad on Craigslist? Have you contacted your local paper to make sure the gig is listed there? If you really want to be adventurous, hang out in front of a venue where a band that plays your style of music is playing. When the show gets out, start handing out "download cards" of your band. Give a 'secret' url where people can download free tracks. When they go to download the free songs make sure they see a flyer for your next big show. In fact, hand out those download cards right after you open for a major headliner so people have an even better chance at remembering you.
The basic message of this article is this, lazy bands go nowhere. Hungry bands move forward. Your local club has about 20 shows a month. If you think they are going to spend a few thousand dollars to promote local bands, you need to lay off the crack pipe. Want to rise above those clubs? Then work harder than the other bands playing those clubs. Simple as that. Sure you can cop that attitude about how the band is there to play and the promoter's job is to promote, but how far has that gotten you so far? Yeah, I thought so.