The ‘New Normal’ is here to stay, so we’re giving you five creative ways to bring back touring as soon as humanly possible.
The spread of COVID-19 has changed the music business in ways we never imagined. Fans and artists alike want things to go back to the way they were before March 2020, but that is a fantasy. The past is dead, and no amount of begging or wishful thinking will resurrect it.
We live in a new reality where the old way of doing things no longer works. We can either complain or adapt, and we at Music Biz believe change is always a positive. Discovering new ways to do things challenges us to be more creative, more inclusive, and more understanding. All of that is something we as a species could use more of right now.
The biggest obstacle the music business faces right now is touring. The vast majority of artists make the bulk of their living by being on the road. There have been no tours for the last three months, and there is only a handful currently scheduled for the fall. Those that are daring to step out and perform again do so with the knowledge their dates may be canceled when the “second wave” of COVID-19 takes the US by storm this fall.
With all the questions and concerns surrounding touring, it’s easy to understand why so few feel comfortable announcing or discussing their plans at this time. Still, the conversations around live music are ongoing, and the fan demand for talent has rarely, if ever, been higher than it is right at this moment.
In this episode of Music Biz, host James Shotwell shares five ways touring can resume in the near future. No solution is perfect. At least one is inarguably terrible. But all these ideas need to be considered and at least attempted if we have any chance of discovering what works best for everyone.
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Touring is an increasingly important element to a successful music career, but getting on the road too early has inevitably lead many promising talents awry.
There are few things more exciting or fulfilling than being on tour. Not only are you afforded the opportunity to perform your music for people who want to hear it, but you can see the world as well. Being on the road allows musicians at every level to see how the rest of the human race lives, and through doing so, many find the inspiration to create their best work.
There is a catch, however, and it’s a big one. Artists who attempt to tour before they have the right elements of their career in place are destined for hardships and failure. You may be able to string together a tour, and you may be able to make a little money doing so, but unless you have plans in place you will, eventually, burn out before your dreams of success in the music business come to fruition. It has happened a million times already, and it will no doubt happen a million more in the future.
In this episode of Music Biz 101, host James Shotwell breaks down the five (5) things every artist and group needs to do before they consider getting on the road.
The following post is a guest piece from one of our favorite industry lifers, Christopher Bianchi. Heed his advice.
When I started off playing in my friends basement, the thought of “tracking our music sales” was something that had literally never crossed our minds back then…Although it should have and I’m glad now of having grasped the concept many years later of how important it is to not only TRACK how many units you’ve sold but also to REPORT THEM with the proper outlets so they count.
Why?- There is the obvious- so the band or artist knows how many units they have sold. Then things stem further based on the situation such as: the booking agent or concert tour package. This is a way the agents and promoters all over have knowledge of your band and how it’s truly selling. From there they know how to appropriately place and book your size rooms, tours, festivals and events. That stems onward further into Record Labels. As an unsigned band- the label will see the proven sales numbers as a strong reason to invest in a partnership with your band. They can see that you’ve put in the work, time and effort to make noise and can now step in to help take things next level. This is also how you chart on Billboard with your first week and total sales.
Stemming even further from this- Endorsement and Partnerships will want to see hard proven sales numbers as a way to base there investment into that particular band or artist.
How?- This is surprisingly enough an outlet that goes unnoticed so very often with all sizes of bands. How to properly track and also register the sales you make?
You are going to need a few things in order to do so:
1. A Barcode for that particular album, single or EP. (These can be purchased often for a few dollars from numerous websites online. You purchase and register the title to that barcode- all done right on the website such as: speedy barcodes.com. From there you are on your way. They will send you a download of the barcode that you will use for registering via soundscan as well as adding to the official album back of the artwork when printing. You will use this barcode number to input the album with Atvenu.
2. Register the barcode to Nielson Soundscan. This is a VERY IMPORTANT part of the process. Soundscan are the title tracking company responsible for keeping all the numbers on file for sales. You must go to “Register A New Title” and input all of the information of your release. Album, EP, or Single. Add the release date and the barcode number with the rest of your information. Then hit submit. It takes a few days to register into the official system.
3. Atvenu– This is the platform that the artist uses to enter in all show and concert data such as: Date, Venue, Amount of Albums Sold, Cost. From here this is where on after each event you will submit the number of physical sales. The app runs a simple $10 per touring month for any artist which is WELL WORTH the investment to PROPERLY track your album sales. You simply add the album, barcode number and at the end of each show you have a line where the venue rep will sign (From any iPad,phone,etc)
Then you are able to submit easily that nights sales. The app then tracks all numbers and reports to Nielson Soundscan on your behalf every week.
Why not just report to Soundscan myself you ask?… Great question. That is because the Nielson system only accepts sales from certain special accredited sources. You must be a professional Record Label or something of the like in order to submit sales yourself. It also costs A LOT of money yearly. In order to do so independently, you must submit sales through a platform.
When it comes to digital release- these sales are automatically reported to soundscan via CD Baby, etc. However, to ensure especially in the physical department- It’s always the best bet to hand register each title.
Now PULLING official Soundscan reports are a whole different thing but luckily digital sales report to you monthly and physicals will be tracked through again the atvenu app!
Good luck and keep rocking!!
Christopher Bianchi is an Artist Manager at Mercenary Management who has been involved with the business side of music since he was just 14. Now in his late twenties, Chris lives with his wife, Kayla, in Ohio and spends his days helping artists of all sizes reach the next level(s) in their careers.
The following post is the latest in our ongoing content collaboration series with the fine folks from SonicBids. If there is ever a music related topic you cannot find covered on our blog we highly recommend giving their site a visit. Heck, go ahead and make them a bookmark. They’re great people doing great work for the same reason as us: They want to see the industry continue to grow for many years to come.
Being a musician involves wearing many hats. Most great musicians have mastered the art of both practicing their chops alone, and displaying those chops in front of large crowds. As an introvert, you may feel more comfortable practicing alone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be an amazing performer as well; you might just have to change the way you approach performance in order to make it work for you. Here are some tools introverted musicians can use to improve their stage presence and overall performing abilities.
1. Throw away the misconceptions
Many people (including introverts themselves) have misconceptions about what introversion actually means. Susan Cain, bestselling author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, points out that shyness and introversion aren’t the same, even though most of us assume they are.
“Shyness is the fear of negative judgment, and introversion is a preference for quiet, minimally stimulating environments,” she writes. Barbra Streisand, for example, is someone that most of us would immediately identify as being comfortable in front of other people, but not so, says Cain. “Barbra Streisand has an outgoing, larger than life personality, but a paralyzing case of stage fright: she’s a shy extrovert.”
Another misconception is that introverts get stage fright. But even if you’re a shy introvert, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have performance anxiety. (By the way, if you’re curious to see if you’re a shy introvert or not, you can take this online shyness test developed by researchers at Wellesley College.) Most shy people are moderately shy and can get by just fine in front of people despite their shyness. It’s only when this shyness becomes extreme that it can lead to cases ofperformance anxiety (which, by the way, it something you can conquer, just as other performers like Barbra Streisand have).
2. Develop a pre-gig routine
Just like in other areas of DIY musician life, introverts have the upper hand over extroverts in some ways when it comes to performing. Psychologists have found that introverts often make better public speakers than extroverts, because introverts tend to take more time to prepare and think things through. So while your extroverted bandmates might be chatting it up with fans or other musicians before the gig, you can feel justified in taking this time to go over the setlist in your head, warm up your voice, or simply spend some quiet time alone.
3. Prepare some topics for between songs
Sometimes the most daunting thing about performing is not playing the songs, but thinking about what to say between songs. Because introverts don’t tend to be as quick on their feet as extroverts in social situations, it could be a good idea to prepare some topics beforehand to help fill those awkward silences if you’re the one tasked with talking to the audience.
4. Know when to fake it…
As Cain has pointed out, introverts don’t always act like they feel. “Introverts are capable of acting like extroverts for the sake of work they consider important, people they love, or anything they value highly,” she says. This is because of a phenomenon she calls Free Trait Theory, which says that people are born with certain natural dispositions, but can successfully act against these dispositions when pursuing “core personal projects.” So even if you don’t feel like going up onstage every time you have a gig, you can learn when to turn on the extrovert tap, so to speak.
5. …and when to be real
At the same time, going too far into Free Trait territory can be dangerous for your stage presence, if not for your personal health. According to research from Cambridge University, faking your personality for too long could lead to health problems such as decreased immune system functioning. Plus, there’s always the danger that you could get tired of pretending to be an extrovert onstage and come across as fake and awkward.
It’s also important to remember that performing onstage isn’t the same as interacting with people at a party or a networking event; while it may serve you well to act more gregarious than normal in a networking situation, you might actually have more luck capturing the attention of fans on stage simply by being real. Sometimes you can actually exude more energy simply by standing stoically rather than jumping around like a spastic monkey.
6. Take time to recuperate
Both extroverts and introverts need time to recharge. Research has found that extroverts feel less stressed at work when they take time throughout the day to be social. If this is the case, then it would follow that the opposite is true for introverts. If performing takes a lot of your energy, then naturally, you’ll want to take time after each gig to regain that energy.
Even if you don’t feel comfortable at all onstage, it may help to think of performing as part of your art, just like writing songs or recording an album. It may be the part you dread the most, but for your fans, it could be the best way to experience your music. You may find performing exhausting, but if you learn to do it right, your fans will find it exhilarating. And after all, isn’t playing music all about creating amazing experiences?
Casey van Wensem is a freelance composer, musician, and writer living in Kelowna, B.C., Canada. You can hear his musical work at birdscompanionmusic.com and read his written work atcaseyvanwensemwriting.com.
If it’s your first tour, your mind is racing at a thousand miles an hour. You have visions of what you’re going to do while on the road, what you’re going to sell, and what the lifestyle will be like. That said, before you pack another box of CDs or pair of shoes, here are the top three things the experts advise you not to overpack to make your van a little less cramped and your tour a lot more enjoyable.
1. Merch
Yes, you want to have enough albums and T-shirts to last the entire tour, but too much merch takes up a ton of space, and can be a pain on your back and your wallet. Brooklyn hip-hop artistRabbi Darkside remembers, “First time out, I brought, like, 300 CDs. My bags totaled something like 55 kg! Paid a price, too, literally. Flew Ryanair from London to Germany and didn’t realize the luggage weight limits were so low. Ending up spending an arm and a leg to get all my bags to our first destination.”
After that experience, and touring with J-Live, he says, “I’ve studied how people pack, kept track of my own sales, and learned to bring a reasonable amount that turns a solid profit margin. I set realistic sales goals for shows, and cap the amount of physical product.” He also notes that certain items sell better in certain areas: “Having vinyl, especially overseas, has been clutch for me since 2013. I try to pack as many double LPs and seven-inches as I can, and I still can’t bring enough.”
Rabbi Darkside adds that Dropcards come in incredibly handy. “A hundred and fifty of them take up as much space as 10 CDs,” he explains, and although Dropcards retail for less, “it more than evens out because their overhead is so low.”
When it comes to merch, if you’re planning on hitting the road in the near future, start paying attention to how much you sell at shows now, and be realistic about how much you’ll need to take on the road with you.
2. Clothes
Just because you’re going to be gone for a month doesn’t mean you need to pack a month’s worth of clothing. Kristen Marie of the metal band Conquer Divide remembers this being an issue for her band, saying, “We brought way too many clothes on the first tour, and I think we’ve definitely learned how to condense down to the essentials. We also had a giant wardrobe closet in the trailer, which was nice, but took up way too much space.”
Phoenix based hip-hop artist Mega Ran starts his tours with as little clothing packed as possible. “I’ve now realized that packing more than two pairs of socks or T-shirts is pointless. A simple stop at Walmart will do fine for socks, and you’ll pick up tees from the bands you play with at the shows.”
Rabbi Darkside seconds this, saying, “Wherever you’re going, and for however long, you only need clothes for a week. Have some dedicated performance pieces and running/exercise gear.”
SpaceLAB Recordings founder Jake Palumbo adds that the one time he packed too much in the way of clothing, “it made my bags heavier and landed me additional baggage fees when it was time to fly back home, not to mention [it was] annoying carrying [it] on the crowded subway when I got back to NYC. If I’d used my noodle, I could have washed my clothes at almost any hotel we stayed at, and saved money and space.”
3. Exercise equipment
While we like to emphasize the importance of staying healthy on the road, there are smart ways of doing it, and there are cumbersome ways of doing it. Thomas Becker of Kansas City rockersBeautiful Bodies remembers one tour experience that exemplified the latter: “I am throwing my singer [Alicia Solombrino] under the bus here, [but] she decided she wanted to stay in shape on tour, so she brought a personal trampoline on tour with us. The thing took up half the trailer and knocked equipment over day after day. In the end, she only used the thing once on the tour. We now have a ‘no trampolines on tour’ rule.”
Anika Pyle, frontwoman of the Brooklyn punk rock band Chumped, adds that if you don’t already have a workout routine, on tour is probably not the time when you’re going to start one. “I bring my running shoes every time in hopes that I might motivate myself to conquer my laziness and go for a run,” she says. “Never gonna happen.”
Adam Bernard is a music industry veteran who has been working in media since 2000. If you live in the NYC area, you’ve probably seen him at a show. He prefers his venues intimate, his whiskey on the rocks, and his baseball played without the DH. Follow him at @adamsworldblog.
This post is the latest in our ongoing content collaboration with the fine folks from Sonicbids. Make sure you visit their blog when your schedule allows.
It’s a truism of being in a band that opening for an established act is a sound method to promote your music and get your name out there. When you’re starting out, the chance to open for your musical heroes is a reward in itself; playing on the same bill as a band whose albums you’ve pored over just years before can feel like a dream come true.
But along with the exhilaration that comes with getting the gig, we shouldn’t forget that playing a support slot requires a different approach than headlining the back room of a pub in front of your friends. Here are six ideas about how you can make the most of that short time onstage and maximize the experience of your support slot. Who knows – with a little hard work, the headlining band might ask you to play a few more dates the next time they’re on tour.
1. Get on and off the stage on time
First and foremost, understand this: It isn’t always writing a killer tune that gets you asked to go on tour with an established band. Just as often, it’s getting on and off the stage quickly and efficiently, being courteous and professional to the crew, being friendly and respectful to the headlining band, and sticking around to watch them. No matter how great your set is, if you’re making life stressful for the crew, devouring precious minutes of line-check time, or, heaven forbid, impeding the headliner’s chance to sell merchandise, you’re blowing your chance.
The scenario of the stage manager running around backstage to find the opening band two minutes after they’re due on is common enough, but it’s unacceptable. You won’t get a written warning for this impasse; you simply won’t be asked back. Unless otherwise clearly stated by the headline band’s TM or the promoter, the stage times are not a rough guideline of how they want the night to go. They are strict, absolute orders that denote where your slot is in the running of the night. Follow them.
2. Manage your expectations
No matter what stellar reaction you normally receive when headlining to a familiar crowd, opening for another band’s fans can bring you back down to earth fast. As far as your expectations towards a cold room full of fans of another band, it’s best to have none. Check your ego at the door, and approach the show as an opportunity to understand how your music gets over on its own terms.
Without expecting anything from the audience, you’ll quickly learn to pick up on the fact that just because they aren’t leaping around the mosh pit and cheering your name, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t enjoying your show. And if you do get the room dancing to your tunes and reacting to your every gesture, then you know that you’ve earned it. And if you know you’ve earned it, consider howyou earned it. Understand that, and you’re on your way to being able to make it happen every time.
3. It’s not a competition
If you aren’t a fan of the band you’re opening for, for the duration of that evening, keep it to yourself. Don’t make subtle allusions to it onstage, don’t begrudge a bandd that’s on the road for months at a time a backstage of their own, and don’t discuss them on the internet after the show. Going in with the mentality of “blowing them offstage” is counterproductive; if you manage to impress, it’s with your music, not your contrast to who is headlining.
If you dislike a band to the extent that you can’t bite your lip, then don’t do the gig. But there’s nothing more foolish than the musician who refuses a perfectly good gig because he or she isn’t a fan of the headlining band’s music. A much more efficient use of time would be to take the gig and watch the band from the side of the stage, contemplating what it is that has them over with this capacity crowd to the extent that they’re asking you to open for them and not the other way around.
4. Use your time wisely
For the vast majority of support slots, you’ll have just 30 minutes to seal the deal, so it’s worth planning the set accordingly. Song lengths vary between bands, but I err on the side of caution; it’s better to play seven songs comfortably, perhaps stretching out the last tune, than rush eight. A good rule of thumb is to build to your biggest and best track as song three (meaning people have time to get back from their cigarette or the bar) and end on your next boldest banger.
Time spent talking to the crowd between songs could be time spent playing the music you’re there to perform. Choose a couple of points in the set to speak – after songs three and six, plus during a breakdown in the final song, is ideal. Introduce your band, your latest release, and your merchandise, but keep it short and sweet. And I’ve said it once before, but it bears repeating: don’t keep thanking the headlining band!
5. Be smart about your merch
Before setting up your merchandise at a support slot, it’s worth considering if you require a change of prices and stock. Often, you’ll find that the main band’s team will ask you to price match your T-shirts and CDs to theirs, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be savvy about it. Consider manufacturing some cheaper items: wristbands, sticker sets, and posters. These make great pocket-money purchases for cash-strapped youngsters, advertise your band wonderfully, and make perfect giveaways.
The audience members are potential new converts to your music, so win them over tonight, and they may be fans for life. From the stage, announce that you’ll be at the merch table after your set, and potential fans will be only too happy to head over and chat. Giving away signed CDs and items might mean a little extra financial outlay, but include a flyer and website links with every giveaway, and you’ve got yourself a neat little investment.
6. Network – gently!
One of the most maligned, misunderstood, and frankly groan-inducing concepts surrounding the music industry is “networking.” Forget networking. It’s a pretentious word and a counterproductive term for something essential that should come naturally. Introducing yourself and expressing gratitude to the people you’re working with is not a radical marketing strategy; it’s basic manners.
Networking needn’t involve pushing your way into conversations and handing out embossed business cards or foisting your demo into the hands of the headlining band’s singer with a note quoting their lyrics from a rare B-side. Make the acquaintance of the tour manager, crew, and band, thank them for this opportunity, and explain that you’d like to open for the band again any time they’ll have you. If it feels like your presence is unwanted at that particular moment in time, leave it at that. Simply establishing a face to a name is a solid strategy to ensure that next time they’re considering local openers, you’ll be in the running.
P “Barney” Barnes is a campaign manager and blogger at direct-to-fan platform PledgeMusic.com, drawing on extensive gigging and DIY music business experience with rock/ska/electronic mashup merchants Sonic Boom Six. SB6 has released four studio albums, performed headline tours of Europe, America, and Japan, and have written and performed songs that have appeared on BBC Radio 1, Channel 4, BBC 2 (TV), Rock Band, and Sims 3 video games. Barney takes his coffee strong, black, and often, and would one day like to visit Australia.
Here at Haulix, we pride ourselves on knowing a lot about life in the music industry. We could discuss piracy, promotion, distribution, and publicity from sunrise until sunset, but the one thing we never claim to fully understand is life in this business as seen from the artist’s perspective. Everyone on staff plays music in their free time, but none of us have reached the kind of professional standing as an artist needed to advise others on the realities of the business. For that, we turn to those musicians currently on the road today, and we hope by doing so we can present a more complete view of the current music business.
Trophy Lungs are a fast-rising punk band from Boston. They have found a lot of success in and around New England, but they have yet to rise to the point of national recognition. We think their debut album, Day Jobs, may change that fact when it arrives later this month, and recently frontman Kevin Bogart was nice enough to shed the light on how they survive the countless hours and miles spent traveling from show to show this time of year. You can find the advice he has to share below.
I always get super pumped when we book any kind of tour in the fall. It’s honestly my favorite time of the year and having the chance to head out with my best friends and see how different parts of the country change with the seasons is always exciting. There’s definitely a few things that I always force myself to remember to pack, hitting the road toward the end of the year can get a little dicey if you’re not ready for it.
It may sound lame but I’ve found some of the most important things to bring out are anything that’s going to help prevent you from getting sick. Drastically changing weather mixed with a lot of whiskey and no sleep is a perfect cocktail that’ll make you feel like your dying. This past tour I developed a routine of Emergen-C, Excedrin, Vitamin D, and a boat load of water every morning. After that and a cup of coffee I’d feel like a million dollars and ready for the next show.
The thing about fall is it’s usually beautiful during the day but then crazy cold at night. When you’re a smaller touring punk band, chances are you’re not staying at warm comfy hotels. You’re staying in punk houses who don’t want to pay for heat and aren’t always loaded with blankets. Bringing a warm sleeping bag on tour is essential. There’s nothing worse than waking up freezing on a hardwood floor and reaching for your hoodie to lay across your legs like a blanket. Lastly and most importantly, bring as many pairs of socks as you possibly can. It’s getting colder and with that comes rain and maybe even snow. Wet socks could possibly be the worst feeling of all time and you don’t always get the chance to do laundry when you’re on tour. Nobody in the van wants to smell that, especially for two weeks straight.
Hello, everyone! I know we said yesterday was going to be the last advice column the week, but this could probably qualify as one as well. When you know you have to write about something, however, you just have to sit down and write. That is what happened with this post over the last twenty-four hours, and I think it’s safe to say there will be more discussion on this topic in the days and weeks to come. If you have any questions about the content of the blog, or if you would like more information regarding the distributional services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Sometimes you know exactly what you want to say and when you want to say it. Other times, life comes along out of nowhere and slaps you in the face with an idea or thought you then immediately feel compared to share with others. It’s a momentary eruption of thought that can be influenced by anything, and that is especially true in the digital age. For me, such a moment struck last night as I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, and I will admit up front I was initially looking at my phone in hopes someone would be sharing something I had written earlier in the day. The answer to my inquiry was a definite no, but before I put my phone down to throw a personal pity party for myself a tweet from Michigan punk favorites The Swellers caught my eye and I knew right away there was a topic we needed to discuss on the blog today.
“We’ve been a band for almost twelve years, played on five continents and never had to sell tickets to play a show,” The Swellers wrote. "You don’t either.”
For as long as I have been a part of the this industry, which at this point is well over a decade, pay-to-play performances have been a topic of debate in the music community. Some will have you believe they are a necessary evil that exists to protect promoters from booking bands who do nothing to promote their own shows, while others – including myself – will tell you they are little more than a bullying tactic used by essentially needless middle men and women to make money off live music without needing to promote or perform themselves.
So, what is ‘pay-to-play’?
There are a number of ways to describe pay-to-play situations, but essentially it is any situation where promotion companies require musicians to pay a “fee” to get on a bill for a show (aside from application fees to appear at musical festivals and conventions). You may be paying with your own money out of pocket, or with funds gathered through advanced ticket sales, but as long as you are paying the venue/promoter/etc. before you step foot on their stage then you have found yourself in a pay-to-play situation. Independent promoters developed this method of booking to take advantage of naive talent, and over the years a countless number of excuses have been developed to cover up this fact, including the need for artists to help cover venue costs. That is not your job, and you should never feel obliged to pay a promoter, including in circumstances where they incur expenses at the end of the night. That is a risk that accepted when they took on the role of promoter, and anyone who is an actual professional will never ask that you help chip in to cover their loss. There is of course an exception to this rule if you are somehow directly involved in the planning of the show, say as a ‘co-promoter,’ but 99% of the time that should not be the case.
Are there good pay-to-play situations?
In short, no. Artists are asked to enter into pay-to-play situations because the promoter either has very little faith in the success of the event or because they know it will be a success and want to cash in as soon as possible with the free promotion presented by local talent. If the show you are paying to play on involves a national headliner, there is a good chance the tickets you are selling will go towards paying that touring act’s booking fee. You know who didn’t have to sell tickets in advance? The touring act who gets the money from your sales.
As I mentioned a few paragraphs above, the risk of loss/expenses in on assumed by the promoter when they decided to book the show. You are not responsible for making sure they break even at the end of the night, and you are definitely not responsible for guaranteeing a profit. You are responsible for showing up on time, performing your set to the best of your abilities, and doing your best to not be a dick to anyone in charge. You’re the talent, not the lead salesman for a promoter who offers you little-to-nothing in exchange.
These companies are asking artists to promote. What’s wrong with that?
When you require someone to do something you are not asking them anything. You are demanding it. Artists should promote shows because that is part of their job as musicians, yes, but nothing in the job description of a musician states that they will market until a specific amount of people agree to purchase a certain product. In pay-to-play situations artists are being forced to hard sell fans, which has been proven to be a terrible marketing approach in music, and furthermore they are made to assume the promoter’s risk, as well as the stress associated with handling the cost of putting on a live performance.
From personal experiences, I have known many small bands to make last minute calls to family and friends hoping people will buy tickets to a show – even if there is no way that person can attend – just so the artist can perform for fifteen minutes an hour and a half before some mid-level national headliner comes out and half heartedly thanks the ‘local talent’ that opened the show. In situations such as this, which happen daily in cities and towns across the country, who benefits except the absent, uninvolved promoter? No one.
It can also be argued that pay-to-play actually hinders marketing efforts, as it forces artists to focus on those they believe they can immediately sell on attending a performance and makes no mention of the need for general, routine marketing. They may send out a few digital posts asking those in need of tickets to contact them, but at the end of the day they are going to focus on hitting whatever threshold they need to meet, be it a number or tickets or an amount of money, and then the initial pressure is off. Once an artist meets the goal set by the promoter they can play the show, and even if the only people who show up are the twenty people who were able to come out of the twenty-five that artist convinced to buy tickets there would be nothing the promoter could say to put the blame on the artist because the artist had, at least on paper, met their obligations as talent.
This is all great information, but if we’re being entirely honest Haulix is a company dedicated to fighting piracy. What do you know about booking?
GREAT QUESTION. We may have built our company online, but as individuals our team has years of experience working with live music, both as promoters and musicians. That said, we understand that when dealing with matters related to tour life it can be more reassuring to hear things from people who are currently involved in your area of the music business. With that in mind we reached out to a number of influential people, including Nate Dorough of Fusion Shows and DC Area show promoter Tyler Osborne, to learn their thoughts on pay-to-play:
"I think it’s bullshit. If you’re required to pay to play an event, that’s not at all cool. Bands should never have to fork over money or do any sort of crazy thing just to get on a gig. However, I am a big believer that for local acts, their draw is best when they help sell tickets to their fanbase.
One of the biggest pushes we make in the concert industry is to get people to buy tickets in advance. That way, it’s sealed that they’ll attend. You can budget based on advance sales, whether you need to spend more marketing dollars or not, how much money you can spend on hospitality for the bands, staffing, etc. If someone does not hold an advance ticket, they may decide the day of the show that the couch looks nice, that they’d rather stay home and watch TV, etc. All of our marketing efforts are pushing to get people to come to the show, however they choose to do so, but it’s easier on everyone if they buy tickets in advance.
So when a local act is added to a show, they have the unique ability to physically deliver tickets to friends and family who would attend. So at Fusion, we give artists the OPTION of selling tickets, and usually pay better the bands who sell more tickets. We also pay bands who don’t sell tickets, if the show itself does well. But no one with our group is ever forced to sell. If they’re just not into it, that’s OK by us.
Unfortunately, some of the folks who want to make a huge fuss about pay-to-play will lump the way we do it into some sort of "scheme”, and we couldn’t be more against pay-to-play situations.“ – Nate Dorough, Fusion Shows (Founder)
"Does it make sense for a promoter to have opening bands sell tickets to play their shows? Sure. That doesn’t mean as a band you have to. We played houses or rented out VFW halls and chose the places where we could build our own fan base. It worked. I still feel guilty when we play a show and the local band had to sell tickets. Sure it helped us get our guarantee, but they did the legwork. The goal is to become an entity to where you get asked to play by a promoter because everyone knows you draw people. Or be good/cool enough to where the headlining band asks you directly. Selling tickets is the insurance policy, but in the grand scheme of things it isn’t guaranteeing those people staying to watch the other bands. Make a good reputation for yourself by promoting the hell out of your shows, building your own scene and following through with a killer show. That’s how you can sell tickets.” – Jonathan Diener, The Swellers
“It would be easy for me to just give a one liner and say "pay to play” is completely bullshit, and yes that is the case, but there’s more to this. In my time involved in music I’ve seen this play out in many different ways. Most of the time I see promoters give a band X amount of tickets and have them sell as many as possible and then have them pound the pavement hocking tickets to whomever will fork over the money; most often parents and close friends come in to save the day and the show for the promoter to cover the cost of the headliner. Now, this is BS on so many levels. First off the promoter has put all the pressure on the bands to make the show a success and absolved themselves from any risk. Also in doing this, the promoter diminishes the value and morale of the bands that they want to sell their (the promoter’s) tickets. Shows need to be a two-way street with promoters and bands working together and being paid fairly to have a truly successful show. A lot of times bands feel trapped, having to play this game in fear of not being booked again at that venue and that fear is abused by SOME – not all – promoters to keep bands in their pocket. This also bleeds the scene dry and makes concert-goers not give a shit anymore because they’re tired of being hassled by bands to buy tickets. Another somewhat common practice is for a promoter to say you need to sell X amount of tickets or you can’t play. This is the worst of them all. Bands bust their asses to sell tickets, over-post on social media, and still need to come out of pocket to play the show. This makes for a shit show on so many levels…..the bands are pissed out of the gate that they did not meet the promoters goal, that their fan base is not what they thought it was and so on and so on. Then the promoter is pissed because now they fear having to come out of pocket to make ends meet. All that being said it often turns into a crap show with fans/friends/family showing up and watching their kids/friends band and then leaving, leaving it a half empty or less show for the headliner. So I’ve said what is wrong but the real question is how to fix the problem. That’s a way harder question that I think about a lot. So I would love to hear from the fans and bands on what they think would be fair.“ – Danny Fonorow, Jonas Sees in Color
"I know some bands get some good use out of it, but as a concept pay to play shows generally suck. Some scenes are so deeply entrenched in this model that it’s almost necessary, but within the punk scene, if you make good music, people will notice and your band will play shows. I never have and never will run or have my band do play to play shows, there’s just no need at the DIY level.” – Tyler Osborne, DC Area Concert Promoter
Hello and welcome to the seventh installment of Eric Morgan’s How To Kill Your Band. This column offers advice to up and coming artists from the perspective of a professional musician who has thrived with and without label support over the last decade. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more information about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
An Introduction:
I’ve been in the music industry as an artist for nearly 10 years now. In that decade I’ve achieved nearly all of my childhood music dreams, but I’ve also made just as many mistakes that run over my mind before I fall asleep each night. A wonderment of how a few different decisions, rerunning in hindsight, would work out in some alternate universe. This ever creeping determinism is a fallacy I’m quite aware of but one that I will never completely shake, though it’s these experiences I’ve learned the most valuable lessons. These are the things I’d like to share in a series of mini-blogs I call How To Kill Your Band.
Part 7 – Down With The Sickness
On the road you’re going to roll the dice quite frequently. Sleeping in sketchy parking lots, never washing your hands, loading gear while simultaneously resisting knife wielding St. Louisans trying to rob the 50” plasma TV you just won the night before in a raffle while watching the Super Bowl in a Tulsa, OK Hooters because the show snowed out. It’s tour and it’s a kind of a weird thing to want to do and taking risks is sort of a necessity. Our modus operandi was always to find ways to limit the downsides i.e. putting new locks on our trailer, depositing cash every couple days, leaving way too early for the next venue etc. But sometimes probability catches up with you and things get shitty. Sometimes you decide to eat at a DQ Grill.
On a beautiful spring day in 2010 we were heading eastbound on I-90 from Buffalo on our way to Holyoke, MA and I suddenly felt a slight urge to use the bathroom. Per usual, I made a request to our rod hog Patrick Jeffers to stop at the next exit. Driving along in our dependable Chevy things started to feel unevenly heavy. Then just completely wrong. I’m now in a deep sweat yelling at Jeffers that we need to find an exit or pull off into the woods. Fortunately we opted for the 6.0L V8 that helps him channel his inner Dale and we top 90 mph before spotting the dirty gas station oasis in the distance – I’ve never been more relieved in my life.
That ordeal concluded, it was smooth sailing to Massachusetts. Except 15 minutes later I get a very familiar feeling in my stomach. How could this be?! Immediately we rush to a rest area and this time I’m not just feeling heavy down low, I’m now upchucking at the same time. For the next 100 miles I repeat a pattern of vomit and diarrhea at the same time every 15 minutes like clockwork.
By the time we get to the venue in Holyoake, I’m very worried about my health. I’ve spent hours expelling liquids from every orifice to the point that I’m just a dripping bag of bile. Jeffers made the decision to drop the trailer and have our vocalist, Justin Brown, rush me to the closest hospital while they loaded in the equipment. We roll into the emergency room and explain the situation to the receptionist before sitting down in the seats closest to the restroom. It doesn’t seem too busy, only a few other people waiting, so I’m fairly confident I’ll get in and out with some type of medicine before we are scheduled to go on that night. A couple hours go by and my condition is getting worse. I’m still puking and pooping every couple minutes and I’m getting very weak and dehydrated while slightly starting to worry for my life. It’s getting closer to the show start and I’m realizing there’s no way I could possibly play a show in this condition. I’ve never missed or canceled a show due to sickness but it’s just not possible. I’d literally be pooping my pants on stage.
A half hour before our set time I still haven’t been able to see a doctor so Justin decides they’re going to try and play as a four piece so we’ll at least earn our guarantee. I was super bummed that I had to miss a show due to illness but I’ve never been more proud of the other guys for stepping up and going through with the show as a four piece. Just for perspective, we had always been and recorded as a three guitarist band. Literally two weeks before we had to let one of our guitarist go in the middle of the previous tour. Jeffers and I had just crammed three intense guitar tracks down to two and now it was just going to be one. But he got up on stage, without a chance to even think the parts over, and straight killed it.
After twelve hours of wilting away in the waiting room I finally get called back to see a doctor. After 20 minutes I was told I had viral gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and both upper and lower intestines. That’s pretty much all he did because he didn’t prescribe medication or put me on an IV to deal with the severe dehydration. I stumble out of the ER with a new word for the describing the worst I’ve ever felt and a $700 bill. The band decides to meet up with Attila at a nearby motel and get a room with the night’s guarantee so I can have a bed to sleep in.
What I didn’t know was that during the set Justin announced deadpan to the crowd that I had died. So after another night of horrific amounts of expulsion we meet up with the other bands in the morning who are all shocked to see that I am infact alive. We also learn from a local that there’s another ER nearby that has a policy of no wait times over two hours. Great. With the help of a little dopamine I was able to hold down enough fluids to play the next nights show and started recovering after a couple days. It was without a doubt the worst I’ve ever felt in my life.
The month of August is winding down fast, but not before we unveil the latest edition of the Haulix Advice series. If you have a suggestion for a future column, or if you have a question you would like us to address, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts.
Today we are going to discuss five basic things every artist can do better their tour promotion efforts. Some of these are fairly obvious, while others may be knew to you, but the hard true about both is that neither works magic over night. Social media is about more than momentary brilliance, and one of the biggest keys to any successful campaign is consistency. The following steps might not make you a rock star overnight, but in time they will assist you in cultivating a fan base that feels truly connected with (not to mention are willing to support) everything you do.
We have discussed social media quite a bit in the past, but until now we have stayed away from almost all discussion of tour promotion. We haven’t been avoiding it per se, but the variety of avenues one can take to establish their brand in territories they’ve never before explored is so vast that we didn’t want to rush any of the content we thought could be delivered. This post is a rather simple one that focuses on applying tactics that could be taken from any social media 101 book to the world of touring, but it’s great knowledge to have nonetheless. We plan to roll out plenty more on the world of touring and all the ways bands can maximize the return from such efforts in the months ahead, so consider this a primer for all that is to follow.
1. Research the local market – There are plenty of songs about how life on the road can lead every town to seem the same, but for a band just finding their footing in the industry each town you visit should be viewed as unique opportunities to build your audience. No two towns are the same, and that goes as much for the people as it does their willingness to support art, so when setting up shows it’s best to research how similar events have run in the area. Is the cover charge to your show in line with recent regional performances from other acts your size? Speak with bands who have played in the area (even better if they actually live there), scan tour forums, and do your best to work with fans whenever possible. Ticket prices are one of the biggest factors people consider when deciding on whether or not to attend live events, and as a band trying to build an audience you want to make that decision as easy as possible. This may mean you incur extra costs early on, but if you hook them with your performance the future returns from their support of your efforts will far surpass the whatever percentage you had hoped to gain off the door.
2. Always introduce yourself – When working to promote shows or tours you will likely be emailing, calling, and otherwise communicating with a number of new people in hopes of gaining additional exposure (blogs, radio, newspapers, etc.). Always assume the people you are reaching out to are not familiar with you or your music, and take time to introduce yourself properly. Offer current information about your group, releases, and upcoming gigs, as well as links to additional content such as videos, photos, press clippings, or an EPK. If they’re already familiar with you, great! If not, they can not become familiar without having to do any additional work on their end.
3. Find your audience (Do not expect them to find you) – The internet has an odd way of making people feeling like they’re more known in the real world than may actually be the case. There are exceptions to this, of course, but for the most part early on your band is only known to you, your friends, the people you and your friends have told, and anyone who just so happens to be so interested in discovering new music that they spend hours seeking it out online. While that may help you get a start with your career, not to mention almost guarantee a sold out show at whatever basement or garage in your hometown will let you put on concerts, but it does not put bodies in venues towns, counties, states, or countries away. To do that you need to seek out new listeners, and one of the best ways to do that is through social media. Speak directly to the fans of music that is similar to yours and be responsible for starting their relationship with your band. This can be done on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, or even in the comment threads of music sites. Build an organic connection with the curious music fan and they will seek out your efforts. Even if they cannot go to a show themselves, that feeling of connection to your music may very well lead them to help promote with messaging of their own.
4. Retain and engage your audience through email – Though there seems to be a million ways to communicate instantaneously these days, there is still a lot to be said for a strong email campaign. Collecting contact information from people at your shows is a great way to connect with curious listeners and work towards further developing the relationship discussed in the previous tip. You can use your email list to not only promote upcoming tours, but also push new releases, news updates, and merchandise. (Bonus tip: Hosting regular sweepstakes via newsletter is a great way to retain and build your contact list. People love free stuff.)
5. Don’t forget to promote offline – You can send all the messaging and promotionally-tinged greetings you want online, but nothing compares to the connection you are able to form with people in a face-to-face setting. If time allows, arrive in the town you’re playing as early as possible and seek out locations people who enjoy may your music might frequent (venues may be able to offer some advice). After you check in with the promoter for the evening, visit those spots you researched earlier and talk to people about your music. Share songs via headphones whenever possible and use their interest in what you’re playing to get them in the door that night. Remember: First impressions are everything. Meeting people outside of a setting typically reserved for music (venues, record stores) can be a great way to promote, but if you push too hard people will not think twice about turning away. Be polite, introduce yourself, and always do your best to let them know you’re truly interested in their opinions. They might not be able to make the show, but they may ask about purchasing music or ask how they can stay up-to-date with your future activities.
