sjones

+1. It seems like some of the stickies could use a fair amount of updating.


But on the topic at hand of marketing your band, and to be more specific the topic of getting gigs, here's some things I've learned over the years. I may make this into an article at some point. I've been getting the urge to write some articles lately.

(Note: I don't live in a "large" market by any means, but I live in an area which has a music scene that is growing quite nicely.)

-- Have friends/fans record live performances. Especially of "good" shows. And by that I mean shows where there's a good crowd, good sound, and energy in the band. Normally when I contact someone about setting up shows for the first time, I send links to a few videos fans have posted of us on Youtube. Having good recorded music is a great thing, obviously, but having video of your live show goes even further in showing someone what you will bring to their venue.

-- Some advice for bands trying to "get their foot in the door", so to speak, and get those first bookings:
-- Since you're in this situation, it's assumable that you and your bandmates are lacking connections and don't really have much personal recognition in the local scene. MAKE THOSE CONNECTIONS. Go to shows, meet bands your music meshes at least reasonably well with and exchange contact info. Bands and people booking shows are always looking for bands to add to their upcoming shows. Get on those bills as openers. Play to as many people as possible, as long as it's in an appropriate environment for your music. For instance if you're playing metalcore you're setting yourself up for failure if you book yourself with a blues act. Make sure the music will go together within reason so you'll have a higher probability of people in the audience enjoying it. Getting your music heard by as many people as possible is the key.
Make connections with bar/venue owners just the same as other bands. This will be important. Make contacts, exchange information, and follow up with an email of some sort. Include links to your music, videos, and whatever else makes your band look good. Be professional around business owners as well. Don't go into a bar acting like a rock god and expect to get a gig.
Bar owners are in the business of making money. You could be the best band in the world but if they're not seeing any profit at their register at the bottom of the night you're not going to get many more gigs. We all have bad nights where the draw just isn't there though, or where something just goes wrong otherwise, and having a good working relationship with a bar owner can be the difference between you getting a mulligan or you never getting a show in that venue again.

-- Expect to play for cheap. And most likely in some dives. If you're just starting out with a band and no one involved has prior connections from a previous project, expect to be playing some pretty seedy places until you grow a fanbase. You're also likely to play for very little or the door. But, making connections is important, and so is getting the music out there. Who knows, that club you played at for $50 bucks 3 months ago might have an opening slot on a show with a national act coming up soon and want you to play?

-- Burning bridges is not recommended. Turning a potential connection into an enemy over a minor issue is stupid. Don't do it.
On that topic, I will say this; it's ok to burn some bridges. For instance, earlier this year my band won a poll to play a show in an absolute landslide. Well, the guy who was in charge of it (who also had a band involved), blackballed us because, for lack of a better term, we weren't a "Butt-Rawk, Red State Rock" band like his, or many of the other bands on the show. He rarely responded to us, talked down to us when he did, and after looking at his band and personal facebook pages it became clear he was an amateur douche. We told him to get farked in the arse, and went our merry way. Turns out, two bands we've talked to about that show said "We should have followed suit." Turns out, not only did he scam bands by telling them the venue said they had to sell tickets to play (they didn't) and rake in over $1000 by screwing over fellow bands, the crowd was much less than anticipated and it wasn't worth the time to show up to play. Self serving, scamming douche-holes like that NEED to be told to ****-off. They NEED to be exposed for what they are. So in some cases, telling someone just how big of a pompous ass amateur dillhole they are is acceptable.
(Funny story, I actually DJ on the biggest rock radio station in a neighboring market to that particular dillholes. I'm going to be running some local/unsigned artists in a special segment very soon and I'm anticipating he'll be one of the first to submit music. Guess whose music will NEVER hit the airwaves on my watch? That's right, captain douchewad mcgee, that's who.)


eh, anyway, I'm just rambling now. I think I'll be writing a full article on this subject soon.

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