How to Get Started Getting Gigs

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Here's a question I got this week from a band in New Zealand

"What's the first things we need to do to get started playing local gigs?

These guys had only played a couple of private parties for friends and wanted to start gigging regularly. 

I suggested two key first actions which will help get any band or act started gigging regularly.

 1.  Start searching and compiling a list of all the venues in your area which feature live bands

A lot of would-be gigging bands (or solo artists) make the mistake of only focusing on one or two venues to target for gigs. Usually these venues will be the ones they go themselves as a customer or the most well-known venues in the area.

The problem(s) with this of course is that if it's the most well-known venue it's the one most other bands will be targeting. So, the competition for bookings will be tougher. 

Take a little time and do some serious research to find those more obscure, less well-known live venues when you're starting out. They'll generally be easier to get gigs at.  Not least of all because most other bands will be chasing the more obvious targets. 

The more venues you can find out about and then target, the greater your chances of getting out of the bedroom and onto the stage playing gigs. Like many things it's a numbers game.

2. Study all the other bands in your area playing the kind of music & venues you want to

When you do this you'll be able to see what makes your band or act different. Once you know this it'll be clear how to pitch your band to the venues you target. You don't always have to go and watch these other bands live (although you should try). You can learn plenty by their look and sound on their websites and Myspace/Facebook pages.

You need to do both these things before you even think about approaching venues with a pitch or a CD. Many bands plough straight into dishing out CDs without any thought for what they stand for as a band and how they compare/differ from every other band out there.....

How to Get Gigs 

Rouse the Crowd - New paperback latest update

To everyone who keeps asking - I can only show you a picture of the new Paperback version of the Audience Interaction manual. 

Printing delays again, but I'm promised we'll have stock to ship from this coming Friday 26th March.

You can pre-order from here and it will also be avilable on Amazon some time next week. 

Here's the Amazon link so you can keep your eye out for when they have stock.

Sorry for the delay again - I'm leaving the office now to go and beat the printer (again)

How to Get Gigs from Reluctant Venues

I wrote something in this month's Gig-Getter newsletter about the one method of getting gigs than many musicians overlook.

Namely, mailing (or emailing) a regular newsletter of their own to venues where they want to play.

I get more queries about how this method "could possibly work" from new bands than anything else I write about.

For everyone who can't see the point of making the effort to publish a one-pager every couple of months while their trying to fill their gig diary - I have a question.

How else will you continue to try to pitch those venues who initially say "Thanks but no thanks" when you first approach them for a gig?

I've used newsletters not only to get gigs when we needed them, but they've been responsible for literally £00,000s worth of business for my marketing company as well.

Don't think you band needs to have huge news to talk about. All you're doing is keeping your name in front of the venue and gently reminding them of why they should book you. The alternative when you're turned down is to either forget about the venue or try them again with another call 6 months or so down the line.

What happens if another band lets them down one night or there's a change of management in between times?

Try putting together a newsletter for yourself if you're not playing live as often as you like. MS Publisher is a good a format as anything.

There are some more ideas via this link below



Power of Newsletters to get band gigs

Is there a "Best day of the week" to get Gigs?

Large marketing companies whose business it is to know what works and what doesn't, spend $000's analysing things like the best days of the week to try and sell or pitch their products.

The fact is, not all days of the week are created equal when it comes to the average attitude of your potential "buyers".

As far as gig venues are concerned, whether you're approaching them in person with a personal visit or trying to interest them on the phone, some days of the week will work better for you than others.

It's not only days of the week, but times of the day that can make big differences to whether or not you get the gig.

There's one main reason for this and its no different from when someone tries to sell you something. It boils down to have much time you feel you have available to listen. How open you are.

For venues, Thursdays, Fridays and the weekend are not generally good times to try and approach them. They should be busy and preoccupied with their daily trade. If they're not at that time of the week the chances are they won't be around long enough to become a regular venue for you.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will prove to be your best days for targeting new venues for gigs. This is when the bookers will have more time to listen and will be able to think and plan ahead rather than managing the busy day to day affairs. Time-wise, leave it until after 2.30pm.


If you can't call in the afternoon (the best time in my experience), then do it after 6:00pm but early enough to avoid the main evening trade.


How to get gigs

How to Get Gigs with a price cut

Some bands recoil in horror at the prospect of cutting their gig fees to land a booking.

"The price is the price" they say, and if a venue won't pay it,

"F*** 'em".


I understand this point of view and any band does need to be able to say:

"No thanks. Not at that price".

But, if you're not getting enough gigs at the price point you're aiming for, or there's one particular venue where you're very keen to get a yourself booked, it can help you to offer a "Special" price.

"Special" in this case means a "One-off" price. A "Trial price" to prove yourself to the venue.

The understanding being that if the venue (and you) want to agree a repeat booking, it will be at a your usual higher price. You see this kind of price-promoting all around you on every conceivable kind of product.

If it helps, you can look at the difference between your usual cost and the discounted one-off as a marketing investment. No different really from spending money on advertising. Just do make sure you raise the price after that first appearance.

How to Get Gigs by Covering all the demo bases

Which is the right or definitive demo tool?

I just got involved in a discussion about which demo method is essential for bands to use get gigs.

Fascinating to hear how sometimes completely opposite approaches can be equally as successful for different bands and circumstances

To demo or not to demo?

You can get gigs without the person who books you ever having heard you play - for sure.

The kind of venues that will take you "blind" though are generally at the lower end unless you've been recommended by someone who has seen you.

So if you want better quality gigs you're gonna need to let people hear what you can do before they commit.

Should you give out Demo CDs to venues?

Yes, but only when they're expected and wanted.

Dropping them off either by themselves or as part of a promo kit in the hope that the "right person" will listen to them - and then book you, is futile. It's a waste of time and money.

Surely you need to talk to the venue first? "Qualify" them, as salespeople say.

This means checking out whether they have any potential interest in booking a new band (i.e. yours)- now or possibly in the future.

But what's the one killer tool?

Demo CD? Video? Mp3s? YouTube? MYspace? Own website or Facebook?
In simple terms, you'll get more gigs if you cover all bases.

Venues differ on how they want to see what you can do. This means if you have your demo and some promo/marketing material in all the recognised formats you'll naturally multiply the number of venues who will book you. If you're getting all the gigs you need with one or just a couple of the above that's great. If not, you know what you can do.

And finally on the subject of demos.....

Should you put together a demo/promo kit BEFORE you've even played your first gig?

Two schools of thought here. one says you need the promo kit to get gigs.

The second says that if you agree you can get some bookings without people having heard you (see "to demo or not to demo" para above), you'd be better off without a promo kit. At least to start with.

The reason being you need time to fine-tune what your band is about, to really discover your strengths and weaknesses. Once you've done that you can put your promo kit and demo together confident that you won't need to adjust it any time soon and that it will get you more quality bookings.





Any thoughts?

How to Get Gigs: Sonicbids?

Sonicbids is very active advertising itself as a method of getting band gigs. If you've ever thought about adding it to your repertoire to get gigs yourself you might be interested in the responses to a post from the great Backstage with the Bands forum on Harmony Central

Personally I've never been keen on paying anyone else to do what we can do fairly easily for ourselves. A proactive DIY attitude with a phone, demo and newsletter (backed up Facebook) is all any half decent band needs as far as I can see..