Playing bang gigs -Don't keep your website a secret

More interested visits to your bands website or myspace page will (unless your site is a disaster) inevitably lead you to to get more gigs and a bigger fan base - even if you're weekend warrior.

At the bottom of the page here is a post which when you click on it takes you to something entitled "How to drive traffic to your website". More accurately I think it's really about maintaining/creating interest in your myspage page.

The writer re commends:

1. Changing you main image frequently
2. Change you page layout frequently
3. Sending newsletters (if you read Gig-Getter or subscribe to my monthly newsletter you'll know these can be killer methods in your tool-kit to get gigs - never mind drive traffic to your site...)


These are all good tips but without this next one you're really missing a trick


4. Mention your site when you play gigs
Many bands feel awkward about doing this last one so if this is the case with you need you should remind yourself why you're doing it. Keep your focus on giving those people in the crowd looking for more info about you - exactly what they want.

If you get your website (or myspace address) in front of people when their interest is at it's highest (ie when they're enjoying the gig) you give yourself the best chance of them visiting and contacting you re future gigs.

We've played gig where we've forgotten to mention the website on mic and the traffic versus the spike in visitors the morning or Monday after when we have told people our address confirms how valuable this is. You might also want to get a visual reminder of your website /msypace page onstage either on the back of your monitors or use a banner/backdrop behind you..
Either way, don't waste the opportunity by keeping your website a secret

Improve your myspace page

The Importance of Getting Gigs

Here's a great post below about "Working in the music industry".

I love point 2 : Never Give up playing live.

Though of course I think it should rank as #1...


Most successful live acts would also agree with the writers' point 3 about continually improving on your instrument.

If you want to make sure you keep your band at the forefront as far getting gigs is concerned you'll be polishing up your technique and your act as a matter of course.


10 Essential Tips for Musicians

How to Keep Your Gig Crowds Going - after the Gig

I must have missed this post from one of my favourite blogs when it was first published earlier this month.

Check out point number seven in particular here where the writer talks about making 3 versions of a song available.

This technique could be easily used to keep up the interest of your fans even if all you do is play gigs part time at weekends.

Different versions of any song could be messaged as links via Twitter, Facebook, emailed to a subscriber base or just as downloads from your website.

Even if you're a covers band you could keep fans in the loop as you're learning new material by letting them hear (or even see by using video) how rehearsals are developing. Record and "release" different versions from live gigs and even work on a cleaner or extended "Studio" version.

Then if you gig your own material of course there's always making money with these different versions. Whatever your situation this could be another way of staying in touch with your gig crowd in between gigging in a particular venue or region.

Some interesting food for thought here...

Music 3.0: 10 Music Marketing Ideas



How to get the crowd going AT Gigs

Can a band like yours really get gigs?

If you're just starting out you might not believe you'll ever be good enough to play live, or that no-one would want to pay you for effectively having a night out every weekend.

Well, I remember before I got invited to join my brothers band a few years ago. I was amazed that people were actually paying him and his mates to bash out a couple of sets worth of covers on a Friday or Saturday night.

Eventually, out of curiosity, I went out to watch them one night.

They were "O.K" as they (a little self-consciously) served up a mix of rock and indie material to a handful of very vaguely interested drinkers. Their gear was bog-standard, their stage presence less than zero.

I still couldn't work out why a bar or club would want to hire this kind of "entertainment".

So now, working with other bands and solo artists I can understand musicians who "rehearse" just for pleasure and never even consider playing in public or who doubt they could ever command a fee.

The fact is though, there's very much a market up and down most countries in the world for "weekend warriors" playing songs the crowds know and love. It doesn't matter how mediocre you feel you are when you start. It's all about gaining experience playing gigs and being committed to get better.

That includes improving your technique, tightness, choice of material, ability to get gigs, your stage show and your gear over time too.

That same band of my brother's (which includes me now) has since gone on to appear regularly at the Hard Rock Cafe for the last 6 years.

Believe me, if you'd been to watch that first 3/4 empty gig I saw them at you wouldn't have believed it possible either....

How to Get Gigs

Using Your Demo to Get Gigs

I read another mention of something I've long subscribed to in terms of getting gigs and marketing your band in general. Namely that you don't give out your demo (or press kit) unless it's asked for.


Why is this?



After all, hasn't every one of us seen some people who give out their business cards like confetti, to everyone they meet. In the hope of course that someone (anyone?) will buy what they're peddling.


The danger with doing this if you're using a CD as a demo is that you risk a venue making a decision about you without knowing all the facts. Without you first selling them on what's in it for them. The crowd (or couple of car loads) you'll pull into their bar or club or the exclusivity for example(maybe you don't play anywhere else in their town). Whatever it is that makes you different from the hoards of other bands beating a path to their door.


If the demo gets into someone else's hands at the venue before the decision-maker you run the risk the most important person will never even hear you. They won't even know you send the demo.


To use a demo (or press kit) to successfully get band gigs you should only send it to venues that sales people would call "qualified".


That's to say, people who have heard your pitch and expressed an interest in you. Just make sure all contact details and at least one strong testimonial are on the CD itself..

How to get Gigs where the competition is Intense

Here's an interesting approach to getting gigs if you're based in an area with a lot of other bands trying to get booked at the same venues. It's is an excerpt from an interview with someone called Corey Smith and "Maroon Weekly" are the people asking the questions. You might be interested in the info I highlighted in blue italics

Maroon Weekly: I’m interested in how you got started. From what I understand, you began by playing the Athens scene in Georgia, right?

Corey Smith: Oddly, I didn’t start in Athens. I went to school in Athens and I live twenty minutes from Athens. Athens is sort of my adopted home. But Athens, much like Austin, is a difficult music scene. There are so many musicians there that it is hard to get gigs and hard for people to take you seriously. So I actually didn’t start there. I started playing out further in the country. I played a bunch of smaller college towns and kind of built up a buzz. And oddly, when I was playing those smaller markets people thought that since I was from Athens I had a big thing going on in Athens. But I really didn’t. So it wasn’t until later when I went back to Athens after we had generated a buzz that we were able to do really well there.

So the lesson about how to get gigs here is that if you can't get them in your home town to start with - look just a little further afield.

Build up a track record and following then you'll have more leverage when it comes to booking your band closer to home..

Here's the full post the above quote was taken from

2 Questions to Get You Another Band Gig

I was out with a new rock band who were playing a venue for the first time this week.

The guy who booked the gig wasn't sure how to approach the venue manager to get the fee after they'd finished playing. Nor when I asked him, did he know what he should do about a repeat booking.

He'd said he'd probably call them in a couple months to try and get another date. Before he went over to ask for his money I made the suggestion of two questions he could ask which should get him the cash (without the embarrassment he was clearly feeling) and get 2 repeat bookings there and then.

1. "Was that OK for you?"

Asking this question of the venue manager after you've finished playing does three things for you.

A) Makes it clear you've completed your side of the bargain (i.e. playing the music) and that now is the moment for them to fulfill their side (coughing up the money)

B)Gets them to give you some feedback on how they feel the gig/night went

C) Assuming the feedback is positive it gives you a testimonial you can use by quoting them on your future marketing/pitching for your band.

Then the following fairly long question (which obviously you can adjust to suit yourselves as far as actual months go). I suggested he ask this while the money was being counted out by the venue manager

2. "We've been getting quite a lot of gigs coming in over the last few weeks and we haven't got that much left. Do you want to put a couple more dates in the diary for this year now while we've got them? We haven't got anything before October though.."

What the above does is:

A)"Shows" the venue you're in demand

B) Encourages the venue manager to make the follow-up booking now while you're there

C) Saves you the time and money by not having to call separately to re-book.


It also targets the venue when their enthusiasm for you should be at it's highest - i.e. when you've just come off-stage after a great gig.

The rock band in question got their cash and two more bookings.

If you're not playing great gigs yet leave it several weeks and call them back.

In the meantime you might want to try this for better crowd reactions and the Rouse the Crowd eBook itself.

More ideas on How to get gigs here and in the Gig-Getter eBook

The Impact of your "Confidence" on a Gig Crowd

An incident this week reminded me of importance of "appearing" confident when you're gigging - even when you don't feel it.

I was at a conference where there were a number of people making speeches to an audience of several hundred. Everything was going fine until one guy got up who was clearly nervous.

You might have been at a similar kind of event yourself. Within a minute or two a growing number of the audience began shifting around uncomfortably in their seats.

I have admit it was pretty painful to watch. I was probably not alone in willing him to be able to relax so that the rest of us could too.

What was interesting is that the effect he had on the crowd had nothing whatsoever to do with what he was saying. The content was actually quite useful (well, relatively so).

The problem was all about how he looked while performing (nervous) and his "delivery".

When I though about it, he had nothing to be nervous about. Nobody really cared what he looked like (pretty much the same as everyone else). Nobody wanted him to make a clown of himself on stage and the point of this is that no gig crowd will want you too either.

If like many of bands, especially when they're just starting off, you're nervous when you play - it can help you to remember that every gig crowd will generally be "on your side". That's to say that when you step out there in front of them, they'll actively want you to have a good gig and give them a great time.

They'll even be prepared to forgive a few cock-ups as long as you don't make them feel uncomfortable in the process. The secret if you don't feel confident is to "Fake it 'til you make it". Just act as if you feel confident. Eventually your feelings will follow.


More ideas here:

Developing Confidence Onstage

You're never too old (or late) to Get Gigs

And in case you thought you'd left it too late to start getting gigs (or to start up again) check this out.

Here's a guy gigging 30 years after his previous performance. he says he "can't wait for the next one".

Well if it's another 30 years he needn't worry about it I guess.


Heartwarming though to see someone back gigging- but man, what a waste of 3 decades!


How to get Gigs

A word from the BBC about How to Get Gigs

You might like some of the ideas in the link below about How to get Gigs. Although it's aimed I think mainly at Original/Indie bands most of the tips will apply to covers acts too.

"Getting to know" the venue promoters by regularly visiting the venues will work - but you can obviously only do this if you have the time. Watching other bands play the venues you're aiming for though is always a good investment of your time. You can learn how good you need to be, how you can improve on what these other bands do and also network for gig-swapping or even to host your own gigs as the writer Henry Carden (himself a promoter), says in point 4 of the link below.

Hosting your own gigs with another band (or two) is often a great way to break into gigging before you have the experience you'll need to get work in more prestigious venues. With a little work at self-promoting your events it can also guarantee good crowds and some income to help with new gear.

Here's the link - the tips will work if you're not on Teesside btw!

BBC - How to Get Gigs

Get Gigs from a Music Agency?

I watching a video about how to get gigs and it recommended "sub contracting" out through an agent to get your first gigs.

The idea being that they music agency would take on untried acts and "train" them to do bigger gigs.

I've got a couple of issues with this for bands who are just starting out trying to get gigs.



1. Most music agencies won't touch you if you haven't gigged before


2. Why would you want to surrender a % of your gig fee to someone who will never care as much about your music as you do?

OK so a music agency can in theory take away a little of the effort involved when you're trying to learn how to get gigs. But I don't know why anyone would chose turning up at venues they've never heard of just because some middleman or woman tells them too.

Not when you can be master of your own destiny - and gig fee.

How to Get Gigs..... at Gigs

The best way to get gigs is actually by playing live.

One of the facts about gigging as a semi-pro or weekend warrior which surprises some bands when they first start is the number of gigs which can come as a result of people seeing you play.

People booking you for their own private function after they've seen you play in a bar or club. And also of course, follow-up bookings from the venue you're playing at.

All this depends of course on you being able to put on a half decent show. However, as your experience gigging grows, you'll probably learn how to maximise the art of getting gigs at gigs.

You'll get a whole lot more work once you adopt the attitude that

No gig should be an end in itself.

If your band isn't getting enough work you should start approaching every live gig as means not just to having a good night, but to generate as many further gigs as possible.

Here are two specific tips which can really help you.

1. Make sure people know the name of the band and how to contact you
This might sound too obvious to be true but you'd be surprised at the amount of acts who put on great performances with no banner up behind them on the stage or no details of who they are anywhere to be seen. I've been to a lot of gigs, thought the band were great and had to ask someone behind the bar the name of the band.

How can people contact you after the gig to book you if you don't know who you are?

For example, we had a call this week from someone who'd seen us at the Hard Rock Cafe and wanted us for a 40th birthday party. They'd taken a note of our name and number at the Hard Rock. We had the details on the crowd-facing side of our on stage monitors.

So, get your name, number and website address up on stage where people can see them. Leave fliers on tables with contact details and "email or call to discuss your party or corporate event"

2. Ask the venue management for more gigs when you come of stage
Don't leave it for them to call you when they need you again or for you to ring them in a few months when you're scratching round for another gig. Take your gig diary with you every gig night and sit down with the management for a moment or two after you've played. When you collect your fee is usually the best time.

Tell them your available dates are getting taken quite fast and ask whether they want to put a "couple more" dates in the diary together.

I've taken 5 more dates at one time from venues in the past like this so give it a try.

A more Pro-active way to Get Gigs

If you're like most part-time bands you'll have a web presence.

The best of these bring in a steady stream (OK, "trickle") of gigs.

Although your sites can work well for inviting your fans to gigs, sitting back and waiting for your site or myspace page to land you gigs can get very frustrating.

A lot of the bands I've worked with have great web presences but admit there's nothing like taking the pro-active approach and directly pitching your band when you want new gig venues.

Some marketers look down on this approach, calling it "Interruption" marketing. Interruption meaning YOU approach the venue rather than THEM approaching you.

It's all very well taking a more passive approach to getting gigs providing your web presence is filling your gig diary.

If it isn't - you might want to get a bit more pro-active....


How to Get Gigs

Learning How to Get Gigs - the Hidden benefit

A post about how a bassist could get himself more into the spotlight in his band made me realise something about being the band member who gets gigs. You might have discovered for yourself that if you become the key gig-getter in your band the other band members start to treat you slightly differently.

It can give you a lot more say in the band especially if you're in a traditionally "supporting" role like the bassist in question.

I am of course am allowed to describe bass as a "supporting" role - I play it.

There's no doubting things changed for me in a big way when I started bringing back all the gigs and a lot of Gig-Getter users email me to say the same.



Here's the post I was talking about earlier if you want more of the spotlight for yourself - by whatever method suits you.

If it's by getting gigs try this:


How to get gigs