8 Publicity Ideas to Help Get Band Gigs

Publicity, whether via the press or just your own newsletter, is obviously vital if you want your band to cut through the crowd and get noticed.

Here are 8 ideas for what you can talk about in any releases you make to the press or via your own publications (including your website or Myspace/Facebook pages).

1. Hometown of the act: Pretty simple, but you'd be amazed how many bands don't include this on the info they send out. Essential if you want people to book you - even if you're "just" playing covers

2. Date and circumstances of the band's formation : Don't be afraid to spice this up a little. You can include "why" the band was formed

3. Info on any previous bands members were in : Unless of course you're ashamed of them!

4. "Stories" : Any interesting little pieces of info about any band activities (gigging, recording, writing etc) and the way they go about them, which gives "personality" to the act

5. Song Info: Why it's about, why it was written. This info will help clarify point 6 below..

6. Musical Genre/Category of the band: Sometimes this is hard to define or you may be reluctant to label yourselves - but this does need to be clarified.

7. Gig Schedule - If you don't yet have many, call this "Next Gig"

8. Info on previous gigs - A good opportunity to use a great picture of the band in action

One Perfect time to Get a Band Booking

I got an email off Ted, a very excited new gig-getter this week. He´d just put down the phone after booking two gigs for his band at different venues in the space of 5 minutes.



The gigs were at venues Ted´s band have never played at before. Venues in fact they´d never even visited. What excited him so much was the fact that instead of punching the air and coming off the phone when he´d got the first booking (like he´d done in the past) he pushed on past that. He used his own momentum, the positive feelings he felt after that first booking to get a second booking somewhere else.



I´ve often thought over the years that in any kind of selling or marketing, one great time to pitch whatever you´re talking about is when you´re on the "crest of a wave". When you don´t need the booking so much , because you´ve just got another one somewhere else.

The great buzz you can get for short while when you´ve just booked a gig somewhere new can be harnessed. You can use it to achieve even more at that time.

You might want to try this if you haven´t already done so.



Anyhow, Ted didn´t say why he chose not to push on past two bookings on that selling session. Hopefully it wasn´t blind panic about the impending need to rehearse.

Which reminds me....

What's talent got to do with getting band bookings?

Saw an interesting contrast between two bands over the last few days.

I went to see both halves of what used to be one great covers band as they played separate gigs close to where I live.

One of the two new bands had the guys who most people would say were the "stars" (if you can get stars in covers bands!)from the old band -including the dynamic front man.

The other band had the "journeymen" players, background musicians from the old band. Both had added a couple of new musicians to make up the numbers.

Musically both these two new bands were great, but the one with the wild frontman certainly had the edge in terms of putting on a show. The interesting bit though came when talking to the members afterwards.

The "band of stars" had been rehearsing material since the start of the year and had managed to put together one set of 10 songs. The gig I saw them play was their first together and they were doing it for no fee. They had no other gigs booked.

The other band had been gigging solidly since the original band split up. They played two sets and have gigs lined up well into the future. Crucially this band contains a couple of guys who not only know how to book gigs but who have the drive and determination to make it happen. Neither band has an agent or manager.

It struck me that like most things in life, success doesn't necessarily come to those with most talent but those who want it more - and who know how to get it.

Good news about playing Gigs

Three items of good news in the press caught my eye over the last few days.

1. Buoyed no doubt by the success of this year's Glastonbury event (see pic right from drownedinsound.com) a PRS spokesman has come out and confirmed that:

"Live music is more popular than ever" and admitted that although consumers are spending less disposable income on recorded music, the share going on live music is rising.

2. Being a musician is one of the top 10 "jobs" LEAST affected by the recession
If you're part-time muso who's a road sweeper or dentist by day you're doubly lucky as those two professions also feature in the top 10 compiled by the Daily Telegraph in the UK

If you're a more mature player here's one especially for you:

3. Taking up a hobby like as guitar playing has been identified by researchers at Warwick University as a "pre-emptive strike" against a mid-life crisis.
Even better if you're being paid to strut your hobby in public..

gig-getter main site

The Best way to Get Gigs playing private functions

If your goal is to avoid paying a cut of your gig fees to an agent or any third party, there are a few proven ways you can get your share of the more lucrative private function and corporate event gigs.

1. You can do a search for all the businesses based in the area you want to play gigs.

Call these businesses and ask the name of the person responsible for booking any corporate hospitality or events. When you've got that, write to them with details of your act and include a demo CD or website address to access mp3s of your band in action.

You can take the same approach with hotels where their "event planners" can be canvassed. This can (among other benefits),help to open up the possibility of you playing wedding receptions when couples book the hotel for their function. Follow your intitial approach up with a phone call to check they recieved the items and ask whether/when they are planning any events. Follow up regularly after this with your band or act's newsletter.


2. A les speculative approach is to target just those businesses or companies where you have some connection. Someone in the band is related to someone who works in the business/hotel etc. This way, you can get the name of the event planner from your contact, mention the connection when you get in touch and of course, get your friend/contact to help by "pushing" your act on your behalf. Obviously this approach will generally give you less target businesses in the first place.


The best and by far the most reliable way method for getting gigs at private functions will come as a result of playing "everyday" gigs.

As long as you're giving people a good time when you play (check here if not) you'll get approaches from people who see you play live. These people who see you will also recommend you to friends/contacts who are thinking about what to do for any upcoming event.

The bulk of the "private" gigs I, (and most other bands I know) play, come via this route. For this reason, the more times you can get out and and be seen gigging , the more private work you'll get.

You can even invite event planners, businesses execs/owners and couples-to-be to your "public" gigs to check you out for themselves if needed.

Finally, a couple of factors which can increase your chances of getting private work.

1. A wide song repertoire (catering for various age groups)
2. Lights to enhance the show

and most importantly:

3. The ability to offer music/DJ in between your sets.
This last one isn't as difficult as it sounds. I know plenty of bands who hook up an mp3 player or lap-top up and use that when they're offstage.