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

How to Get gigs by keeping at it

Sometimes you'll hear people complain about others who are more successful than them in any walk of life. Maybe they get the most attractive or highest number of partners. Maybe their business ideas make most money or as a footballer they score more goals than any other striker.

As far as semi-pro musicians go, perhaps they get more gigs in a month than you play in a year.

Usually, though, all you'll ever see (or at least remember) of someone else's success are the fruits of it.

So you see the beautiful partner on the arm but not the rejections experienced from numerous other attempted pick-ups. You see the fast cars and wads of cash but not the hours and money wasted on other failed enterprises. You see the goal tally on the scoring chart but forget how many times they blasted over the bar or missed penalties.

The point is, any success is made up of a lot of failures on the way.

It's the ones who can push past the

"Thanks, but we've got all the bands we need right now"

and who keep on pitching that get all gigs.

This is the kind of persistence that leaves onlookers complaining:
"How does he get all these women - he's not even that good-looking"


or:

"I can't understand how he scores so many goals - he's not even a good player"

and of course:


"How do they get all those gigs? They're cr*p!"


How to get Gigs

Can you get gigs if you don't have talent?

Or put another way:


"Is it the best bands that get the most gigs?"

Nope.

You too must know great musicians who never get out from in front of the bedroom mirror with their Fender Strat?

One thing that working with so many bands and solo artists has taught me is that the number 1 ingredient for getting gigs isn't musical ability. Or number of hours spent rehearsing.

It's actually.......


Commitment.



Eh?




"Commitment" between everyone in the band to being an act that gets out gigging every weekend (or whatever your gigging frequency goal is).


This is sooooo different from deciding you'd "Quite like to get out and play a few gigs if we can".

It's the difference between dropping in on some venue once in a while to leave a demo for someone to listen to versus:

contacting a set number of new precisely-targeted venues every week to pitch your act.

Of course, if you really are completely talentless it will be hard to get repeat bookings (and maybe even your fee on gig night).

Personally, I'd bet on any committed semi-pro bunch with no talent ahead of a band of half-hearted musical perfectionists any time.

At least as far as landing the initial show goes..


How to Get Band Gigs

Get Gig Fees Sorted - 6 Tips

No-one gigging in a part-time band wants to obsess about gig fees but yesterday's post did get me thinking.

When you're started out, how do you set (and get) the fees for playing gigs that you want?

Here are 5 ideas, a couple of which you'll be familiar with if you've read Gig-Getter.

1. Agree your minimum gigging fee between band members early on
This will avoid anyone making a band booking for a fee the others aren't happy with. Sounds obvious perhaps, but I've lost count of the number of bands I work with who don't get the minimum agreed together upfront.

2. Offer Lower "Trial-Price" Gigs when starting out
Many times I've made an offer to a venue of a fee for first appearance with the sentence:
"Assuming everyone's happy with the night, fees for future gigs will be reviewed" This means reviewing and moving the fee upwards of course.. This can help a great deal to get you gigging and most importantly build your track record.

3. Aim to move your minimum fee upwards as you build a track record As you'll see from yesterday's post about gigging for $0 - my band has never been out for nothing. However, in the early days we'd typically gig as a minimum for £150/$93 a night. This went on for the best part of 12 months - although we did start doing private functions for significantly more. the next year we acquired the Hard Rock Cafe as a regular venue and raised our minimum fees accordingly.

4. Consider early Gigs an an "Investment" Not just if you're playing "trial price" gigs, but as investment in your sound and shows together. the more often you gig the tighter you'll get (rehearsal is no substitute) and the sharper you'll be able to make your stage show.


5. Maximise profit made from each gig
Aim to get a repeat booking on the night from any venue you play at. Ideally book them in blocks - i.e. 3 or 4 at a time. Also, give yourself the best chance of being approached about private work whenever you appear live. use fliers, monitor stickers and/or a backdrop with contact details clearly shown.

6. Remember it's NOT just about the money Sometimes it's easy to forget how lucky you are as a gigging musician. Getting paid for doing what you love. I still have to pinch myself some Friday or Saturday nights. There I am a middle-aged old git, getting off to songs I loved as a kid , maybe Anarchy in the UK or Highway to Hell but someones giving me money for doing it...

How to Get Gigs