Got all the Band Booking Venues You Need?

If you're struggling for ideas about where you could play next, check out the latest post over at band booking hub

There are some good tips to point you in the right direction. 

The key is to build up a large number of "Target venues" to aim at.

The larger the number of venues you're pitching - the greater your odds in favour of you filling your gig diary. 

 Also, if you have plenty to go at, you'll feel far less pressure/stress when you contact any of them if they're "just another name on my list".

 Contrast that with only having a couple of places to aim at. You'll need to score them both or it'll be the TV again at the weekend....

Get Ready to Rouse the Crowd at your Band Booking

Getting the band booking is one thing as is going down well when you play. 

What happens though if your confidence doesn't match your desire to book and play the gig?

  

I found someone writing about how to overcome pre-gig nerves here:

Gig Nerves

Nervousness does happen to the best of us and will get in the way of performing to your full capability when it strikes. Here's some more help:

Develop Confidence in front of gig crowds

Who Cares about Your Band Booking?

Holiday reading over the last few weeks reminded about one crucial reason to do your own band booking. 

Why I and many others do it rather than hand over the band booking to a 3rd party (like an agent).

 The writers of the DIY Music Manual  I was reading, were talking about all aspects of being an Independent artist (i.e. one not signed to a label). 

They posed the question about who cares as much about your music as you do yourself?

The point here is that no A&R man, no band manager or agent is likely to hold your interests (and your interests alone), as close to their heart as you do.

That being the case, whether you want a career in music or you're a weekend warrior, should you rely on someone else working with other priorities (and artists)  - to put your band first? 

The facts is, if you know how to get the band booking, put on a good show and build your fan base  - you don't need to surrender a % of your income to a 3rd party do you?

Band Booking versus band agents

Can Band Booking & Band Promotion really be this simple?

When your head's a little muddy after the weekend it's nice to read of an approach to band booking and band promotion that isn't complicated.

I came across a very simple little post which reduced the "art" of band promotion (without band management) to 2 key actions.

1.Get Your Music in Front of People

No point sitting in the bedroom waiting to be discovered. You need to get started initially looking for local events where your band can play.   Do whatever you need to do to get people to know your name. This means band bookings and lots of them.  You need to make sure you hand out flyers with your contact details (website, Facebook,Myspace,Twitter page, Youtube etc). 

On these flyers you might want to state your availability for private functions and you can even offer a discount (with limited time period) for anyone mentioning the flyer and where they got it  - when they contact you to book your band.

 2. Create and Interact with your fans online   

Start with your friends and be you can be pretty sure that their friends will over time notice and  start adding you.   This can  work wonders for gig crowd numbers if you manage it in the right way. Commit to working on building your fanbase on it every day.  If you goals are loftier than than plenty of band bookings, once you go international with your fanbase members it can only help you secure band management or a deal too.

Check these other online music marketing tips

Band Booking when venues are closing down

We've all seen the ongoing headlines about headlines about bars closing every day because of  the economic downturn. Some of these are obviously live music venues. So, the market for where you can play a band booking is likely to be shrinking isn't it?

Quite possibly. But it's not all doom and gloom. 

Keep in mind the following:


 

1. Effective Band Promotion is more important now than ever beforeIt's becoming increasingly vital to know more about band promotion than your competition. Mastering this will make sure can stand out from the herd fighting for band bookings in those remaining venues which are open.

2. There are still plenty of band booking venues.You'll hear it argued that in "recession", venues will cut back on having live music or at least reduce gig nights. A few will for sure. In reality  though, these will be the places that never had a crowd there in the first place.

To avoid becoming a "casualty" and closing down too, successful bars and pubs will more need a "Draw". Something to get people out from in front of the TV or Wii and into their venue. Without their point of difference (ie having live music on versus the bar down the road which doesn't) they will be MORE likely to fail not less.

3. Getting asked back for another band booking is simple and essentialReduced numbers of  gig venues means you need to make sure you're getting repeat band bookings from as many places you play as possible. The keys are to ask for the next booking on gig night itself and ideally get more than just one further booking at a time.

4. If you can Succeed when times are tough you'll clean up when they're not
This is a key point I advise all my business clients on. When times are tough you need to improve every aspect of your business to stay profitable. From a band situation this means you look at everything from how much you pay for your guitar strings through to the quality of your band booking performance (see point 4 below). Make  improvements everywhere you can.
 

Once you're set up to  prosper when times are tough your band booking success will be easy when the economy picks up again.

5. You need to Stand Out at every band bookingIt's never has it been more important to give each audience (and venue) a night to remember. This doesn't always  mean playing naked or setting  your drummer on fire when you play.Just think about how you can work some "events" and audience interaction into your shows. Aim for a "stand-out"  moment or two that people will remember and tell others about when they wake with a hangover the next morning.

 

And You thought Band Booking could be tough in your home town?

 Ever had one of those days when it just seemed tooo difficult to get a decent band booking?

How about regularly having to cancel gigs due to security threats?

Take a look at this and you might think again

Why you can't get a Band Booking

Band Booking trouble? You're not alone.

The just-published Gig-getter survey of  original and cover bands and musicians across 15 countries  gave the four most common  band booking problems as:

1."Knowing the right contacts"

I have to say, this one's always seemed a bit of a cop-out to me. Finding out who to talk to to pitch and develop your band is only ever a matter of a little research. To then make it work you just need the right words in the right order and commitment to applying yourselves

2. "Getting into NEW venues"

Finding "new" venues (i.e. ones you haven't yet played), should be an ongoing process. Everyone in the band keeps their eyes and ears open. Keep adding to your list of potential venues you can pitch. Oh, and if you make sure you're getting asked back everywhere you play you'll actually need less "new" venues over time anyhow..

3. "Finding suitable venues for our genre of music"

See points 1 and 2 above. A little research (boring though it may seem) , can go a long way

4. "Finding venues that pay - well"
This is where you have to give the venue Reasons why you're worth what you're trying to charge. It comes back to:

- Establishing your USP over other bands pitching for the same venue

- Building a fan base and so crowd numbers for the venue

- Being able to put on a live show people will remember and talk about (and which in turn helps further develop your fan base)