Top ten list on how to book gigs

ubw newbie Joined: Dec 10, 2007 Posts: 38

Hey everyone. We are a young group trying to understand the whole booking process to play shows. We've come up with a list of things to do. This is our first list and frankly its quite naive and jsut covers the basics. Any comments and suggestions are very welcome.

1. Press Kit
Yep. that good old press kit everyone is telling us about. Band bio, demo, and a list of songs. Video and audio samples are always the best.

2. Gig swaping
Some consider it to be a very important part of building up your fan base. Find bands through social networks in a city where you wanna extend that fan base. Agree on a venue and book a show. Next time you agree on booking a show with the band in your town. I suppose e could also call this fan-swaping.

3. Promoting the gig
Well for that one, we really dont have a clue besides the usual posters, flyers and social networking. I guess it all comes down to doing just that, but in a good way...

4. Finding Venues
Finding venues can be a hastle, mostly if your looking for small places where your band can start off. We suppose that if you dont have relations, Internet is probable the best solution. Their are tons of venues directories out there but most of them just indicate the popular ones.

5. Networking and e-profiles
Is it really that important to be active on most social network sites like Mindviz, Myspace, Purevolume, last.fm, Bebo and Reverbnation in order to post shows and get some attention? Probably not but i just decided
to post this for funzies.

6. Contacting venues
We are quite clueless for this one aswell. There must be countless techniques when talking and negotiationg with the venue booker. I think the best advice is to not be shy.

7. Organizing a tour schedule effectively
And yet another another crucial point that we know nothing about (how lucky of you all to have stumbled upon this great and amazing topic of mine...). All we know is that it aint easy ad that it costs tons of money. Its a good idea to sell merchandise to make ends meet. And one other thing: its better to tour where you have freinds and fans rather than going just about anywhere.

8. Selling merchandise
T-shirts, pins, caps, CDs you name it. Anythings that you can sell with your name on it brings in money and promotes you.

9. Getting an agent
Well, If you get a good agent I suppose he will take care of most of the above. Of course you pay a cut but if he's worth youll get gigs and thats what its all about. Probably the most important aspect is to know if he's reputable.

10. Open mic nights
A very effecient way to start out and make contacts. The people that come to these shows are curious and will talk to you if they liked your set. So dont hesitate to get out there and play your best songs

There is most certainly an eleven, a twelve, a thirteen etc...

But thats about all we got. Hope this helps, and if it doesnt well plz help us then Smile

Good luck to you all

Gigdoggy

moderator Joined: Jun 30, 2007 Posts: 415

you can post links to your work, i liked your post, most of us will never be asked and can't promote themselfv for a live...
Sad

ubw newbie Joined: Dec 10, 2007 Posts: 38

Thanks PPB
What do you mean by 'you can post lins to your work'
and 'most of us will never be asked and cant promote for a living'?
im intrigued

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 3:37 pm

with the first bit i think he's encouraging you to post links to your music as well. adds some credibility to your post (this bit is my contribution).

i'm not really sure about the last one either.

ubw newbie Joined: Dec 10, 2007 Posts: 38

thanks gorgatron

im new to forums, still dont grasp all the social aspects
www.myspace.com/gigdoggy

ill put it in my footer

any sugestions about booking gigs? Smile

thx
Gigdoggy

ubw newbie Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Location: Global Posts: 16

Hi Gigdoggy,

This is the second time I'm trying to reply to your post. I think my first reply had too much text Sad

so I will answer during several posts. Smile

Adding to your points in order:

1. Yes a press kit is very important and the things you mentioned are needed. However it's also important to remember that the media used to present your music or video needs to be standard, so CD for music and DVD for video. Forget about MP3, DAT tapes and VHS video.

2. Also an important aspect of finding gigs. You could take this one step further and divide the stage with your ally, they opening for you in your town and you opening for them in theirs. You could divide the expense of the gig and share the profit. Also they will be encouraged to publicise the event as they will be appearing. Another good spin off is that you also may be able to crash on the floor of the other band members' home reducing accomodation costs. Also, as you said, you would be playing to an audience that likes your gender of music...

ubw newbie Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Location: Global Posts: 16

3. There are many ways you can promote a gig along with the usual posters and flyers.
If you have a CD, you can enter in contact with the local radio station and offer the CD as prizes for phone ins in return for advertising on the air of your gig. Also if the radio station has interest, you could swap a percentage of the door money for advertising space.
You could send a release to the local press media. Send free tickets to local journalists so they may see your show and report about it...

ubw newbie Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Location: Global Posts: 16

3. cont. You should always promote your next gig at your current gig. You have a captive audience. Very Happy

All printed material should have your contact information and web address printed...

ubw newbie Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Location: Global Posts: 16

3. cont... Your website should also have all the information up to date.

4 I'll post tomorrow...

ubw newbie Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Location: Global Posts: 16

Hi Gigdoggy,

Continuing:

4. i think it's honest to say that a young band needs to consolidate their local scene first, before moving on to other regions. Finding venues is relatively easy. All you need to do is look at the posters of your competition. Where do they perform? Which days are most common? How much is being charged for the tickets? etc. Once your local scene is under the thumb, move on to the next town or city and do the same thing. If you made a buzz in your local area, for sure the venue managers will be waiting for you to arrive.

ubw newbie Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Location: Global Posts: 16

5. Social networks like Facebook are interesting as it allows you to direct your messages to a certain region. MySpace is still global, however I beleive they are changing to this format also.

6. Yes you're right, there are countless techniques and each case is distinct. However suffice to say, you must always remain professional and courteous, even if you get an initial "no"...

ubw newbie Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Location: Global Posts: 16

7. the most important part about touring is the planning stage. You need to plan for budget, accomodation, route, food, how you will keep clean.

The second most important thing is sticking to the plan as much as possible whilst on the road. If you have made good contacts with bands and fans in other regions making a tour won't be too difficult as long as you keep your feet on the ground.

8. You're right and wrong at the same time. Selling merchandise doesn't always bring in the cash. You need to take into consideration the production costs for your merch. For example, it's cheaper to make 10 000 tee shirts than to make 100 in terms of unit cost. The final price will take into consideration the production cost. if each tee shirt you make costs $5 to make, how do you compete with the shop that sells AC/DC tee sirts for $5 a pop?

You could aggregate value in your merchandise, for example put several product together, for example a kit including a CD, tee shirt, photo and ticket for a specific price. At least you get to sell your products for a profit.

9. Agents come in all shapes and sizes. The more important ones are those who deal with big names. They normally wouldn't be interested in smaller venues, as they would need to do the same work for a tenth of the money. However, you should always find out about other clients of the agent and also should ask about quantifying their service, so as nobody wastes their time.

ubw newbie Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Location: Global Posts: 16

10. I'm not a big fan of open mic nights. They could have a certain value, but remember you will be performing with the worst. Normally we all remember who really sucked and tend to forget about who sounded like a professional.

There is also the stigma of being "amateur" at these places. To me the only winner there is the venue owner. However you could use these places to gain stage experience.

Sure there are other things to think about, especially if you're wanting to produce your own gigs, like authoring rights, security, safety permits, permits from the local council, infra-structure of the venue, lighting, sound, licensing for selling liquor, the list is endless... and the band played on! Smile

Success,

Steve Allen

Top ten list on how to book gigs

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