Band Bookings, Your Gig Crowds and Twitter

Talking of online marketing (which I was earlier), Twitter is something else a number of bands I work with have started using as part of their promotional repertoire.

I like this guys ideas about asking for requests from fans for an upcoming show via Twitter,


Twitter for musicians


And how about instantly sharing audio and video links to your fans, maybe for example, giving them "sneak previews" so they feel closer to you. As the writer says, you could film your soundcheck with your mobile and let them share some of that experience.

Check Rocking Twitter where another writer sensibly reminds us to keep our Tweeting efforts "all about the fans"....

Easily said of course, but asking the fans questions like "should we play this one at the next gig?" are immediate and gonna get people involved and interested so they may well be worth exploring....

Finally here's a cool list of 10 Top tips for musicians on Twitter

How to get Gigs via Facebook

Some people complain about Facebook versus Myspace for promoting their music. Trouble is with myspace is that as the best-known music site there's a lot of competition on there to get noticed.

There are a couple of acts I know here in the UK who have started to use Facebook as their main online gig-getting tool.

If you want to try yourself, here's something you might find useful. It's from this website

"FACEBOOK FOR NEWBIES - HOW TO SET UP A PROFILE
STEP ONE: Create a Band / Artist Profile

STEP TWO: click on the third button down, it will say: Artist, Band, or Public Figure

STEP THREE: Select Band or Musician After you select it, a pull down menu will pop up. Select band it if you are a band, or musician if you play solo or want to create a solo-page (you can create as many as you want so you can create one for you and one for your band).

STEP FOUR: Enter Your Name Name your page and select create page. You are now off to the races!

The rest is pretty self-explanatory - you will upload your photo for your main user icon, your bio, band members and photos and details.

STEP FIVE: Click Create Page Now you are live and ready to add Apps! What is an App? It's short for application and it is simply a cool additional tool that you can add to your page so that you can display features such as music, photos, and videos.

Facebook has a great page that explains how to help you with apps.

And the whole list of available apps is here: http://www.facebook.com/apps

The writer goes on to recommend her favourite apps for musicians as follows:

1. Music By Reverb Nation
Play Your Tunes

Musicians and bands can post unlimited songs for streaming or download, add bios and band photos, sell your music and have your friends add your music and share with their friends (viral marketing for you!). This app also includes links to your homepage and you can add up to 30 of your songs (full-length) to your Facebook Musician Page. And the best part: great stats track song-play activity.

2. Vod:Pod
Display Your Videos

I am a big advocate in creating small casual videos to share with your fans. Videos are an excellent viral marketing tool. This app is the easiest way to show your videos and your favorite videos. This is a good place to display backstage moments, live shows and of course your music videos

3. zuPort
Show your Flickr photos

If you are a Flickr user zuPort automatically imports your public Flickr photostream so you can show off even more photos to your friends. zuPort: Flickr keeps your sets, collections, tags, comments and everything else linked so you only have to update only once.

4. Twitter
Tweet Away and Have It Synched!

This app allows you to update your status on Facebook straight from your mobile phone. So you can be on the road but your Facebook page can be updated from your van! Pretty cool eh?

5. Facebook Mobile
Bring Facebook on the go

This app allows you to use Facebook on the go. With it, you can quickly to upload photos and notes from your camera phone straight to Facebook. You can also receive and reply to Facebook messages, pokes and Wall posts using text messages, or use your phone's mobile browser.

6. iCast By iLike
Tell your fans your news

Send bulletins to fans with iCast, the best bulletins system on Facebook. You can send multimedia or mobile bulletins, or just plain blogs. Your bulletins will show not only to Facebook fans, but also via iLike across 10 different networks. They are the go to app for communicating your music to your fans.

7. iLike this Artist
Show off to your fans

Musicians, you can show off your fans on iLike on your artist page. This will add an "iLike this artist" button on your page, and will show your (larger) fan count across the entire iLike network.

Personally, I'm gonna explore this online gig-getting avenue and add to our usual offline efforts as part of our 2010 plan....

New band Members and Maximum Gig-Getting

A guitarist in a semi-pro band contacted me yesterday about new band member he and his band mates wanted to bring in.

They'd auditioned him ( a drummer) and he was a cut above anyone they'd worked with before. What concerned the guitarist was making sure they didn't run into problems down the line with this new guy like they had with previous band members.

Typically, this had resulted in gigs drying up.

I told him that from the bands I've worked (and my own 4 piece) it's proved crucial to establish ground rules with any new band member before they join. I suggested a sit down discussion away from rehearsal rooms.

In this guitarists case, the area he wanted to cover were:

1. Set Lists - Getting agreement that the drummer had no issues with any of the current material and whether he had any suggestions for new numbers

2. Equipment - Agreement that any future general band requirements (ie, lights, PA, transport etc) would be met from gig monies and not any one individuals pocket.

3. Rehearsals - are not for learning. the work should be done in advance. See the blog post yesterday for more on this

4. Song Inputs - Like each band member, the drummer would be expected to create his own part for the original songs, not to wait to be told what to do.

5. Timing - Agree a date when the new guy would be expected to be "gig-ready"

6. Gig-Frequency - Al;though this should really be established very early on to avoid even auditioning unsuitable band members, the level of gigging activity they were aiming for needed to be agreed between all band members.

7. Type of Gigs and Minimum Payments 8. Set-up and Tear Down - all band members to arrive at each gig at the pre-agreed time and all to contribute towards the physical labour of setting up and tearing down.

9. No "hangers on" at rehearsals - The drummer had alarmed some other band members by arriving for his audition with a friend. The guitarist wanted to spell out the "band members only" rule for all future get-togethers.

Some of these are pretty good general rules. Ultimately, if a new band member has issues with any of the ways you operate, it's far better to establish that up front rather than waste everyone's time and have to cancel gigs then recruit again a few months down the line.

Watch for how he/she reacts when you spell out what's expected. Even if they agree to what you're asking, if they look uncomfortable about it they're probably just paying lip service and will disappoint you at some stage.

Ignore laying down the ground rules early - at your peril....

Remember Playing in a Band 1st time round?

Those of us who gigged in bands a little as youngsters and then gave up in order to "grow up and get a real job" might like the sticky post below from the Talkbass.

It asks for input from more "mature" musicians about things they wished they'd known about how to be in a band and make it successful when they were younger.

There's some great stuff in all the replies which might not be obvious to everyone.

For example, not letting one person have the final say on song selection for set lists etc...

In terms of the original posters' points I agree completely with his comment about learning new material in advance of the full band rehearsal. In fact, here's some additional opinions from other musicians on Backstage with the Bands on that same topic


Going back to the "things we wish we'd known when younger" post personally I'd have to say:

1. How to Get Gigs regularly and repeatedly
2. How to use public gigs to secure private work
3. How to interact with the people you play to
4. Why playing bass is the coolest job in any band (!)

Winning the Gig Crowd (& Battle of the Bands)

You might have seen the example of what the judges are typically looking for on Battle of the Bands competition in my E-Book about crowd-pleasing: Rouse the Crowd

The fact that B.O.T.B judges look for good Audience Interaction as well as technical ability should be useful info for any band, not just ones considering entering that kind of competition.

Here's a post from L.A this week about just this point.

The competition winners having superior interaction skills....

Winning the Gig Crowd & Battle of the Bands

Band Gig Openers - For Cover Bands

Below is a great question about what Cover Bands open their shows with.

In our case "Gimme All your lovin" works well, as does "Cigarettes & Alcohol" or "She Sells Sanctuary".

But you do need to keep in mind the audience you're playing to...

Cover Band Gig Openers

Always interesting to read other band's opinions and here's my comment on the post:

From the work I've done about gigging with most cover bands I'd say 3 key points are:

1. Showcase your band's strengths Not every song in each set will have a cool keyboard solo, lead guitar break or even backing vocals. If these aspects are something your band is good at (in relation to other band's in your area) - get them out there early on. - NB, You need to have done your prep about esablishing exactly what makes your band/act different from others in the same genre/area

2. Make it Easy to Play To keep nerves at bay and get off to a start which will help everyone's confidence, don't try to start with something too difficult to play. Keep it simple.

3. Wake 'em up Don't "ease" the crowd into your show (ie with a ballad). Grab their attention with something that makes an early/fast impact

Crowd-Pleasing E-Book

The Importance of a Front "Man"

A lot bands seem to worry about having a "good-looking" front person.

Someone who's "easy on the eye" may well be more of a crowd pleaser before they open their mouth...

Beyond a band's musical ability, choice of set-lists and way they move/behave on stage, the effect an act has on a crowd will come down to their ability to relate to that crowd.

This will include a combination of the above but you have to have someone who can communicate (to some extent) with those people in front of you.

To do this, they can look like Bluto from Animal House (above), Brad Pitt or Jenifer Lopez. Or, as in many cases, someone with a lot less visual impact. Often (as I mentioned in a reply to the post below), I've found that someone who's very good looking can actually irritate audience members of the same sex....

The Importance of a Front person

IMHO personality is the key. It's important to make the band member who has some ability to "connect" has a microphone. To talk even if they don't sing. No matter whether they're at the front of the stage or on a drum stool nearer the back....

Band Members and How to Get Gigs

Here's a post which although aimed at musicians trying to start a band, makes a couple of points that got me thinking about band members and how to get gigs generally.

Get Your Band Together

I commented on the paragraph about "Auditions" as you can see.

The amount of times I've heard of bands recruiting a new band member only to have to get rid of them a short time later because it "didn't really work out"....

Most times this is due to not understanding in advance of the audition process EXACTLY what it is you're looking for. Not "guitarist" or "keyboard player", but as the guy who wrote the article suggests: "Time availability, commitment level, self-discipline".

If you don't find these things out sooner, they'll come and bite you later.

There's one other point later in the piece with regard to gigging. Although the writer is dead right when he says "The more you play, the more you will grow" (meaning the more you gig the better you'll get at it - both in terms of confidence and familiarity with the material).

I'd also add: "The more you play - the more gigs you'll get". Meaning, the more people who see you, the more chance you'll have of repeat work, private parties and functions etc. And of course the bigger and faster you can build your fan base or attract management or an agency.

Is Getting Gigs "All about the draw"?

I was reading this post and the answers afternoon and it got me thinking again about the importance (or lack of it) of taking some of your own audience to venues when you play.

One of the replies on the forum mentioned above says:

"If you bring 100 people you are worth more than a great band who only draws 10 people"

There's definitely something in that, but if the venue in question is somewhere where the management love their music and like what you're band is about, you can often find they'll work with you to swell audience numbers. They'll advertise in advance at the venue itself (you can offer to supply posters and flyers), and of course some will advertise in the press.

The switched on ones will have Facebook or MySpace friends to publicise gigs.

But of course the band themselves need to do their bit. Keeping and building a database of "fans" (no matter how few) is a key part of making sure you don't play to empty dance floors..

You can take it a step further and do press releases for any publications local to the venue. This is not difficult and it won't cost you anything.

Here's something relevant from the old Gig-getter blog site

And if you're really stuck for an audience, one about Borrowing other band's fans

Gig-Getter in the Dock

I've always asked for feedback for my gigging guides so I can't complain when I receive a negative review about like the one that appeared about Gig-Getter on Amazon recently.

The lady in question does have some valid points that are worth consideration.

She talks about the book being for "complete novices" and it's true, it's not aimed at seasoned pros who have all the work they want. But then again, in anyone in that position is unlikely to need any help with how to get gigs anyhow.

There's a comment about the amount and nature of the content. A "mere 100 pages or so." and "common sense". Actually, I'm quite proud of these facts. I don't know about you but if a "How to" guide has too many pages, and sounds too complicated to succeed with, I get overawed.

Some people do like to go into massive detail with their subjects, as if they're some complicated "black art". Getting gigs is a pretty simple process that anyone can accomplish no matter what their background.

Like I say on my website: getting gigs is all gig-getter is about. Not getting record deals, finding band mates or merchandising. Just getting gigs.

The fact that i recommend the occasional cover song as gig-getting aids for original bands has been mentioned (and commented upon) before on this blog and in plenty of other places. Not just by me but by successful pro artists as something many of them do to help get their original act established. I freely admit though, there will always be original artist who take issue with this recommendation..

Finally, (phew) the reviewer points out there's no mention of myspace in Gig-Getter. Actually, there are a few of mentions, but I do take her point. I don't talk about using myspace for getting gigs. But I figure most bands have tried (or are trying) this method for gig-getting.

I think the response to this point is probably best summed up via another Amazon reviewer who says:

"I was initially surprised that this guide contained very little information about getting gigs using online techniques.

Having seen the results now first hand; Gig-Getter works and works well. I now suspect it's because the book uses a more proactive approach than relying on website or myspace hits. If you've got an online presence what you'll learn with this guide is how to supplement it. If not, it's as good a stand alone system for getting gigs as I've found. "

Anyhow, you can't please everyone all the time and I'm genuinely grateful to the lady in question for giving me the opportunity to try and explain my thinking on these aspects.

Now where did I put that Robbie Williams bass tab....

How to Get Gigs from Venues you'd given up on

Got a nice surprise yesterday when I venue I'd all but forgotten about called me up out of the blue to offer us some gig dates.

In truth it wasn't "out of the blue" as they'd just received our latest newsletter. But this venue first went onto our mailing list almost 2 years ago!

Like I've always said, circumstances do change at venues, whether it's new management, one of the roster of existing bands breaking up or increased gig frequency meaning they need some more bands.

Of course, you can't just keep phoning a venue that's initially turned you down and asking them if things have "changed yet". You can though, keep in touch via your newsletter so your name is always in front of them when they need a new band...