Band Websites which never bring in a Band Booking?

Band websites were always meant to help bring in the odd band booking or two and communicate with your fans - even if you're just a weekend warrior.

If your band website isn't helping you this info may be of interest. 

These guys supply band websites which offer:

- Customisable merchandising store  for selling CDs T-Shirts etc  which  is "easily" configurable to Paypal

- Music Player so you can include demos (essential for help landing the band bookings)

- Automatic synchronisation with your bands' Facebook, Twitter and Myspace accounts so you don't have to be signing in and out whenever there are updates for your fans

- Free first month trial

Pretty neat

Facebook for Bands - Getting More Fans to your Band Booking

On the subject of Online Music Marketing (see last post), here's some useful ideas about getting more fans to your band booking. Specifically on the topic of Facebook for bands.

High audience numbers will often do more for you in terms of band promotion and getting asked back by the venue than playing well will. Especially if you know how to get the crowd going for it when you play.

Below are some useful tips around Facebook for bands and gig crowd numbers. Couple of things which struck me were:

1. Don't call the band booking an "Event", it's a "Party". 

Big difference in the mind of the potential punter - and so the likelihood of them coming along

2. Get your long term fans to invite ALL their Facebook friends and show them HOW to do it

Not least of all that they should be inviting their friends to a "Party" not an "event" - as per point 1. above

3. If you're charging for tickets, increase this and include a "Free" CD in the cover price

CDs can be great band promotion tools for you - and doing this means everyone leaves the show with an advert for you.  Even if there's no charge for tickets you could offer free (or discounted?) CDs at the show - if you don't want/can't easily sell them.

Here's the post in question

Band Booking - Playing "Support" to a major act (and other online music marketing tips)

Found some neat band promotion ideas from a guy who went from obscurity to supporting people like the Foo Fighters, Chilli Peppers and Metallica.

There's loads of useful stuff on his website but if you're interested in online music marketing Hagop has some good starters.

One key pointer is the suggestion that any new band target the fans/audience of bigger bands of a similar genre. These can be huge signed acts or those with just a slightly bigger following to yours at the moment.

He talks about the need to find where fans of these other bands congregate to talk about the music they love.Whether that be Facebook or Twitter etc. This was you can aim to "divert" some of the attention they're getting - in your direction.

I especially liked his idea about posting your own performances as "Video responses" to large acts videos on youtube.  The writer (Hagop Tchaparian), likens this to playing a band booking outside the venue where a larger act is gigging. 

Nice. 

Here's his website

Band Booking - How to Compete with Band Agents

If you're coming up against the Band Agents objection when you're trying to get a band booking at certain venues - this might interest you.

Here's a brand new post just published on the Band Promotion Tips page at the Gig-Getter site under

How to compete with Band agents

Band Booking - How to Make Hard Work of it

We all know there can be benefits to hanging around in bars. 

There are though, far more efficient ways to get a band booking than the recommendation one writer made this week. 

He suggested going to the venue(s) you want the band booking in and said:

"If you tip well, the bartenders will remember you and by your third or fourth visit you may even be able to get them to hand your press pack to the person that books shows at the venue."

That might be fine for the odd local venue that you're going to anyway. How many venues though can you reasonably get around in a week? How much would this cost you in time and transport - not to mention beer?

Personally, I've always found it far easier to pick up the phone and spend half an hour ringing round a few venues. With the right questions you can pitch around 10 venues in less time that it takes to get served in most bars.

Visiting the venues for anything other than having a good time (or watching other bands sometimes) sounds like making hard work of gig-getting to me.

Here's an outline I use when making calls if you're stuck for something to say on the phone to get a band booking

Band Booking - Getting a Crowd to Your Gigs

"If you don't promote your shows no-one will come to them. If no-one comes to them you won't get a second shot"


So says the poster of this tip-packed piece about getting a crowd to your band booking.


Put another way, it's one thing to get gigs, quite another to get people into the venue for the band booking itself.


Some of the specific tips you might like are:


 * Space out your plays
Don't play any town too often. You want people to think a gig by you in any town is something special - not something they can see every week.

* Don't list all your future gigs on your website - just the next one
You don't want people picking and choosing which gigs they'll go to. The idea is to "get every fan to come and see you every time you play"

* You're not playing a band booking because you make good music - you're playing so you draw fans and so sell beer (a sobering thought eh?)
This is actually a great leveller. I've long said the band booking doesn't go to the best musicians. Rather those who know how to book the gig, get the people into the venue and then give them a great time

Here's a link to the post

Band Bookings & Stage presence

 I just found this cool site  which seems aimed perfectly at semi pro bands and solo artists like you and I.

The blog positions itself as:

"Articles about making it in the music business. These articles are not aimed at the bands who are already signed to major labels, they are aimed at the hard working local and regional bands who plug away each weekend and are trying to make a living" 

The page on the link below has some good stuff about the importance of dressing for Stage presence (once you've "mastered the music") and getting the gigs in the first place. Will be a useful blog to keep an eye on I suspect. Interesting to hear what anyone else thinks.

MusicBiz