How to Get Gigs Without Waiting

How to Get Gigs Without Waiting

How to Get Gigs by taking action

You might identify with this. I got a call from a guitarist in Europe about which was the best way to get gigs without waiting for venues to contact them. 

Like most musicians he had his band up on the relevant websites, a pretty well optimise site of their own and was active on Twitter on FB so potential bookers could find him. But he still wasn't getting enough gigs and wanted to get more proactive about it. 

He asked me whether calling on the phone, dropping by the venue in person or mailing was going to get them out more.
If you've tried any or all these methods you've probably come to the same conclusion as me and most of the artists I've helped. When you want to know how to get gigs, the quickest, cheapest, easiest and least stress-free way to do it  is using  the phone.

How to Get Gigs if it's not by phone

Even when you don't  want to wait around in the hope that people or venues might contact you and offer gigs, you can still feel uncomfortable at the thought of picking up the phone to call someone you don't know. That's why preparation and working on your attitude are crucial to success.


If you don't believe me about how to get gigs using the phone - let's take a quick look  at the alternatives to calling when you want to be proactive and bag that band booking.

 

1. HOW TO GET GIGS - IN PERSON

This is fine if time and expense are no issue for you. It can take up a lot your of time and money to travel to a venue if you take the face-to-face "selling" approach.

If you've tried this as a method for how to get gigs,  you've probably often found the "booker" concerned wasn't there or he wasn't available to talk to and you've had  to hang around and wait for them to be free. This can happen even if  you call first to set up a
meeting time.

If you're  visiting a music venue  as a customer of course (not making a special journey there) you can try to talk to the manager/booker without any additional cost or wasted time while you're there. You just need to make sure he or she's
got time to listen to you pitching your act while they're working...

 

2. HOW TO GET GIGS BY POST

Personally I still recommend this method  for bands and musicians  for at least a couple of times a year. It will  still gets gigs.  You can send venue bookers who are hard to get hold of on the phone or who've previously said they don't have any space for your band - a one sheet band newsletter. 

This costs the price of a stamp, printing, an envelope and a little time. The largest amount of time is in coming up with the "news" you'll include.

More about newsletters for band booking


Mailing is more time consuming and expensive than the phone but can work well alongside your other efforts if you find it really difficult to face using the phone to get gigs....

How to Get Gigs using the Phone


Image above courtesy of openclipart.org 

How to Promote Your Music - 2 New Band Booking Articles

How to Promote Your Music Articles

 

2 new how to promote your music articles now up on the Gig-getter band booking resource site.

How to Promote Your Music by Staying Motivated
Features a guide to using subliminal mp3s to keep you motivated to pitch your act for band booking success.

How to get Your Music Heard - Tips for Better Demos
How to make your band booking demos stand out from the crowd and how to get your music heard and not binned or ignored by venue bookers

Band Flyers - Worth the Effort?

How to Promote Your Music?

Band Flyers: Yes or NO?

In the internet age, when any band or musician considers the question "How to promote your music" do they really need to even think about band flyers as part of this?

Traditionally, pre Facebook and website notification days, band flyers formed a key part of any musicians promotional strategy. 

Particularly when it came to publicising any band booking. 

Now though, it seems whether of not to bother using band flyers divides opinion amongst semi-pro musicians across the world.

Band Flyers - The Good

 " I lost count of how many events I've gone to just from passing a flyer or ad letting me know what, where, and when." - US Gig-Goer

The statement above is typical of how positively the right target audience can  respond to band flyers as adverts. Band flyers can be a whole lot cheaper to produce than full size gig posters for example. On size alone, you should be able to get 4 band flyers (A4 size) for every band booking poster with the typical A3 dimensions.

Once you get these band flyers out there, theoretically that's 4 times the exposure for your band.

Band flyers are a very versatile method of publicity in terms of where you can use them. Shoppers at the mall, students at Unis/college campuses lunch-room and your local record store to name just 3.

Maybe even more importantly about how to promote your music with band flyers is this.

You give your potential fans the chance to meet the band in person when you give the band flyers out. Clearly that's never the case with posting a Facebook event or a band booking update on your own website.

Band Flyers - the NOT so Good

Critics of band flyers as an important tool in understanding how to promote your music argue mainly the following.

"All that band flyers do is alert existing fans to an upcoming gig or event".

So ,are they  no use for attracting new fans?

Certainly you'll keep your existing fans abreast of what you're up to and make sure they know about your upcoming band bookings with your flyers. But, are they really so useless at attracting people who've never heard of you? Doesn't that depend on what you say on your band flyers? Who you target with them and how you go about giving them out?

For example, aren't there people who are more likely to go and watch live bands than other people and who may be very interested to learn of an act they've never heard of who are about to play in their town?

Your job in this case might be to target these kind of people with your band flyers.

Band Flyers take too much time and effort

Critics also point to the time and effort involved in distributing band flyers. Here they do have a point as well. If you're going to make the investment required to design, print and distribute your own band flyers, you need to target the right area & people. You also need make sure you really capitalise on the fact that your fans are meeting the band in person.

Ultimately your band flyers may or may not form a useful part of knowing how to promote your music successfully. Even if you don't succeed in significantly increasing your band booking  crowd numbers with them, one thing is certain. Simply by getting your band flyers into people's hands or in front of their eyes you're unavoidably increasing awareness and exposure for your act.

You just better make sure you're saying the right things in the right way when you give them out.

Band Flyers Tips

How to get Gigs ebook

How to Promote Your Music Onstage

How to Promote your Music Onstage

How to Promote Your Music Onstage - 3 Keys

Knowing how to promote your music doesn't just come down to the marketing you do before and after your shows. 

There are important and very effective actions you should be taking onstage if you really want to promote your music successfully.

 

How to Promote your Music by Telling them Your Name

I don't know about you, but I've list count of the amount of times I've gone into a bar or club and seen an act onstage without any idea who it was I was watching. Don't make the same mistake these kind of bands make. make sure every person in every crowd you play to is in no doubt who you are.

You can do this via a large flag/poster at the back of the stage, a bass drum skin with your name on,  or band flyers or business cards scattered round the venue. Also, don't not be afraid to tell people who you are on mic. Remind them of your name at least once per set. At the start and end of sets are obvious opportunities for this.

 

How to Promote Your music by Selling it

OK, so you're onstage and people know the name of your band or act. How are you going to translate this into selling your music and converting some of tonight's gig crowd into fans?

You need to make sure an enthusiastic gig crowd can get hold of their own copies of your material.  Always try to agree at least  the availability of a small table somewhere at the gig venue where you can sell your CDs and other merchandise which will help promote your music.

Tell the crowd on mic, where this table is. More than once - but obviously don't overdo it.

Make sure your music is available as mp3s for purchase online on your website and social media. If you haven't done this you can try these guys

 

 

How to Promote Your Music by Playing Great Shows

Of course neither telling people who you are or where they can buy your songs and merchandise will help you promote your music if you disappoint onstage. You've got to compel them to take action and become fans by playing gigs they'll remember - and for the right reasons.

Rehearsing until you could play your material in your sleep, crafting and using set-lists with highs in all the right places, looking like your enjoying yourselves onstage and crucially - interacting with your audience will all set you apart the dime a dozen bands and acts out there.

More on how to promote your music onstage here

How to Get Your Music Heard on Gig Night

How to Get Your Music Heard on Gig Night

How to get Your Music Heard

When you're trying to get a band booking or a gig for your solo act, there's more to it than simply convincing the venue owner to give you a shot.

Of course understanding what you need to say and do to actually get your band booked will play a huge part in your success. But
if there's no-one there to see or hear you play the gig how are you going to develop that all important fan base?

And, why would  a venue give you a repeat booking if the bar (and tills) are empty on your big night?

 You need to go one stage further than just getting the band booking - even when you play great shows.You have to understand how to get your music heard - and that means a crowd on gig night.

 

How to Get Your Music Heard on Gig Night

So in case you're one of those musicians who believes all the band has to do is to get gigs then turn up on the night and rock out -you'd better think again.  If you've ever played to an empty house  you'll know you've got to work at getting an audience. Especially with a new or unknown band playing out of town for example.

 

How to Get Your Music Heard  on Gig Night- 5 Tips

1. All band members need to invite people.
Don't leave this aspect to one or a couple of band members. Even someone with few (or any )friends might have family or acquaintances they can invite on gig night when you're starting out.  If they're really strugling think about making them chiefly responsible for actioning some of the other points  below.

Remember, how to get your music heard successfully on gig night involves trying to get some "extra faces" for the venue and their tills. You should be trying to create some sort of buzz that you can only get through enough people in front of you when you play the gig. Don't be ashamed to offer to give your close friends lifts to the gig when you're just starting out or struggling for a crowd.


2.  Flyers/posters (aka"low cost advertising") are essential for any band booking

Pre-dating the internet, posters and flyers are two of the of the more traditional ways to try to get people to your gigs. As far as posters go, create your own with a consistent "branded identity". Put them up in the venue itself as well as where you can (legally) around the town ahead of your forthcoming band booking.

With flyer, some enterprising bands I've worked with will visit shows of similar genre bands to their own and distribute flyers to the people at the show or punters queuing outside..

More ideas below:

How to get Your Music Heard via Flyers



3. Write and Distribute Press releases
Done well, Press releases don't just build your audience numbers on gig night - they'll boost  your band's credibility in the long run. Hit local and national music press and don't forget the local "rags" as well. More people will see the latter rather than the dedicated music press.

More on Band Booking Press releases


4. Take advantage of free internet gig-listing sites.
If you're serious about learning how to get your music heard on gig night, put the heading above into Google and contact all relevant sites.


5. Publicise the band booking with Social Media
Make sure you're using Facebook to make an "event" of the band booking and Tweet things like your set-lists, pictures of rehearsals or other gigs, the venue as well as full details (and a map) of the gig and how to get there


How to get your music heard with Facebook

More info here:
How to get Your Music Heard on Gig Night Tips

The Best Live Bands and Band Booking Covers

Do the Best Live Bands  play covers?

Whether you play original or covers, when you're one of the best live bands in your area - you know how to get your music heard.  

Sometimes, despite the criticism I get from some quarters for suggesting it, this can involve original bands playing covers.


There. I said it.

Again....


A recent survey of Gig-Getter readers and subscribers revealed that over 50% of the best live bands (ie those that gigged most frequently) as semi-pro and amateurs play both covers and original material at their gigs.

Not only that, but you're pursuing super-stardom for your band, think of some of the biggest pro bands on earth that you know. How many of them included a cover or two in their original sets and maybe their first album? More than a few.
Here's what I've learnt from some of the best live bands around the world I've worked with about band bookings and covers:

Why some of the Best Live Bands play Covers (at least to start off)

1. Playing covers AND original material will increase the number of gigs you can get

2. Even the most anti-covers band mate can get creative with a cover song by adding their own identity to the version  your band does.

Finally, and this is something some of  even the very best live bands miss out on- you don't need to pick an era to focus on. In fact the more band bookings you want to be playing, the wider your choice of material should be. If you want to be "out" regularly and frequently you'll need to have a lot of songs in your "portfolio" and you could for instance, consider having a 60's set, 70's, 80's, right up to present day.

 

Best Live Bands - Covers Only

For those of you actually in covers bands, again the very best live bands like to have dedicated genre sets for certain places. Classic rock, punk or whatever. You can and of course mix these sets up when the type of venue or occasion calls for it. This way, providing all band members are too precious about what they play, you can be ady available for any type of booking...

More about how to get your music heard despite playing covers

Below is a posting from Harmony central about the most marketable era or type of covers for bands to play when they want to maximize gig numbers.

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2077423

How to Promote Your Music When venues are Closing

How to Promote Your Music when Gig venues are closing Down

The question of how to promote your music through live work when venues are struggling with with their finances can be troubling.

In many countries across the world more clubs and bars than ever before are closing their door and ceasing trading. Some of these are obviously live music venues. So, the market for where your band can play is likely to be shrinking isn't it?

Quite possibly. But it's far from being all doom and gloom.

You need to remember the following:

 

How to promote Your Music by Playing Gigs

1. Make sure you really now HOW to promote your Music and act
It is becoming increasingly essential to know how to promote your music and band better than your competition. You need to make sure you'll have to stand out from the herd fighting for the gigs in those remaining venues which are still profitable.

How to promote your music to live venues

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

The reality is that to avoid closing down too, successful bars and clubs will more need a "Draw". Something to get people out from in front of their iPad or Playstation and into their premises. Without their point of distinction (ie having live music on versus the bar down the road which doesn't) they can actually be MORE likely to fail not less.

3. Getting asked back is simple and essential
As venues number shrink it becomes ever more vital you make sure you're getting repeat 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 further booking at a time.

4. Succeed when times are tough and clean up when they're not
This is a principle 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 should examine everything from how much you pay for your guitar strings through to the quality of your live show (see point 4 below)and strive to make improvements.

If you know how to  promote your music successfully enough to prosper when times are tough you'll be raking it in when things are good again.

 

How to promote Your Music Onstage

5. You need a stand out live Act
Never has it been more important to give every audience (and venue) a night to remember than now. This needn't mean wearing fancy dress or setting fire to your drummer when you play. But think about how you can work some "events" or interaction into your shows. Your aim should be a moment or two that people will remember and smile about when they wake with a hangover the night after your performance.

How to be a Stand-out Live Band

Remember these points and you'll know how to promote your music no matter how many venues you have to target

How To Get Your Music Heard

How to Get Your Music Heard Tips

If you think about it, the problem of how to get your music heard is the number one issue for any aspiring band or musician. Even when your act is established, building your fan base is all about exposing people to your music. If you can’t do this, how will you get people to buy what you write or play?

Band Booking and How to Get Your Music Heard

The website Live & Unsigned recently interviewed The Hoosiers, a band who struggled for over a decade (12 years to be precise) trying to get signed. They’re in the fortunate position know of being able to look back and reflect on what worked and what didn’t over the long term in order to answer the question of how to get your music heard.

As a band writing and playing their own material, they stress the quality of this material, the songs themselves as a major factor in whether a band makes it or not. In fact this is equally important for original acts and cover bands alike. No-one’s going to leave the house to go and   see a cover band show with material they’ve never heard of or which leaves them cold are they?

The Hoosiers stress the importance of gigging not just as one of the main solutions to how to get your band heard, but also to give you the “real buzz” which will keep your morale high as you strive to get that deal.  More than this though in the experience of a lot of the artists I work with, you can use playing band bookings in order to hone your songs. See what works and what doesn’t in front of your audiences and growing fan base. Fine-tune and adjust even parts of songs as you get live audience feedback. 

Gigging will of course, also “tighten” and perfect the performance your act ready for a “bigger stage” and help your cash-flow in the meantime..

 

How to Get Your Music Heard via a Band Booking Schedule

What about if you’re starting out or based in a small town where there are only very few live venues for band bookings? What do you then about the problem of how to get your music heard?
The Hoosiers recommend you play these few venues “mercilessly” so that you become “recognised” and “appreciated”.  You can also slowly and steadily expand further afield and do the same in the next town.  

 When you’ve done this and have perfected your live act via regular and frequent band bookings and built your gig crowd numbers – start to invite industry officials to come and hear you.

One final thought from the Hoosiers about how to get your music heard. They recommend “Battle of the Band” type bands bookings when you’re starting out. They point to the advice you can get form professionals on the panels at these sort of events about your look, your sound and your playing.
If you do the same you’ll find it can be very helpful to get your act in front of people who know more about bands and the music industry than you do.

Just make sure you can take their criticism -albeit most of it will be “constructive” anyhow.  If you do this, along with playing regular band bookings you can solve the number one challenge of how to get your music heard.

Live & Unsigned Article 

Band Booking Guides