Setting Yourself Up For A Successful Show And After-Party

One of the first things you’ll need to think about when planning your show is budget planning. When setting your ticket prices, be sure to factor venue costs into the price to ensure your overhead is covered. Encourage people to purchase tickets in advance by advertising higher prices at the door. As you search for the perfect location, have a mental image and projected head count in mind. The style and layout will depend heavily on your audience and the type of event you are hosting.

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Stage Right: Themes And Life Lessons Learned From The Stage

The stage has been home to countless works of art, passion, philosophy, beauty, religion and creativity. Although the plot and characters change with each production, one thing is consistent and has been since the early days of Greek tragedies: The stage offers poignant life lessons to musicians, actors, performers and audience members. Here are three thematic stage productions that offer modern life lessons to us all.

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Lessons From the Grateful Dead: Creating the Magic for Live Shows

There’s nothing like seeing your favorite performer live. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the nosebleed section, you can still say you saw your favorite entertainer live. People who’ve seen acts that are no longer together — The Beatles, the Grateful Dead, The Beach Boys — will never forget the experience. For many, it’s because the act stimulated more than seeing and hearing: it stirred feelings that remain decades later.

If you’re part of an act that’s getting off the ground, think of ways to give your budding fan base a few extras to help them become the next wave of DeadHead-like devotees.

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"It's Not Just About The Music…"

“It’s not just about the music- the music is the foundation and the platform but to make that music heard it is so much more. A great song is kind of the beginning. Even most the songs on the radio- I would say it’s half great songs and half good songs put out by great artists- people would rather hear the okay or good songs by the artists that they love and stand behind and the movement they follow rather than great songs by people that they don’t care about.”

“It’s all about the moment and the experience, you have to give people something they can remember- maybe it’s doing something in your set that’s a little bit different that they can’t get with anyone else. You have to give them exclusive content; it’s the same business model for almost anything. Why do people wanna buy this when they can buy that? What does your product have that the other products in the same exact market don’t? What’s different? Music is the same thing.”

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From Graduate to Professional Musician: How To Kick Start Your Career

Studying music at University level is the ultimate double edged sword. Whilst the prospect of spending three years practising, rehearsing, writing and networking is both exciting and fun, finding employment after graduating is an altogether different prospect.

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UK Musicians get double dose of good news

UK Music, a body representing musicians and others in the UK music industry, which suggests that as many as 13,000 venues in England and Wales could now potentially play host to live music for the first time ever.

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Take Your Show To The Next Level!

All genres, all types of bands, solo artists, etc. - Do you know what it takes to win over your audience, sell more merchandise, book more shows, get more money for your show, and get the industry pro’s checking you out?

Talent alone is not enough. Your image is not enough. And certainly relying on your Facebook friends is no where near enough. However, learning the the tricks to win more fans is the key.  An awesome fan base is crucial. So, work out a show for your fans with a “wow factor” and watch your audience grow quickly in numbers.  

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Wow! There are Giants in the Land!

I just had an incredible month! Sometimes my job is a combination of rewarding, fun, great music, great people, relationship building… and work! While a lot of my work is helping independent artists (which I love a lot) and teaching (like at New Music Seminar, or Berklee College of Music, or Canadian Music Week), I also work with some of the most well known artists in the world. While exhilarating, it can also be awfully stressful at times!

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The Tale of Two Clubs : BETA

Hi,

My name is David Cavan Fraser,  I’m an emerging artist from Ontario, Canada.  I’ve played over 1000 paid shows and made a decent living playing music full-time.  I think the debate about “give you music away online” vs. “we gotta monetize it” is beyond me right now.   I sell my CDs at my shows for $20 each, and make about $100 on average a week from CD sales and about 12 times that on average from live performances.  I’ve made about $100 TOTAL from Itunes.  So I consider the live show the reason I can sustain a full-time career. 

I’d like to PAUSE on the debate about online file-sharing and promoting yourself through social media and focus on the good old live gig.  Live music venues are becoming more rare and paying less and less (some even make you pay for the “privilege” of playing for them.  I feel like THIS regression has killed the opportunity music business more than any other factor (internet, the bad economy etc. etc.)

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Lethal Peanut Hosts Charity Album Release 01/27/2012

Lethal Peanut Hosts Charity Album Release 01/27/2012
Advance Promotional Tracks Available Now; Additional Tour Dates Announced

WASHINGTON, DC – On January 27, 2012, Lethal Peanut will celebrate their long anticipated, self-titled, debut album with a release party at Rock & Roll Hotel. Joining the party will be regional favorites Fight the Lion and Once Okay Twice; a portion of the show’s proceeds will benefit the Duke Ellington School of the Arts to support music education in the DC area. Doors open at 8pm and tickets are $10 in advance, available at www.rockandrollhoteldc.com. Lethal Peanut recorded their debut album at Cue Recording Studios in Falls Church, VA under the direction of multiple platinum-award winning record producer Jim Ebert (Butch Walker, Meredith Brooks, Cowboy Mouth). Pre-release promotional copies of select tracks are available now for press review in advance. If you would like to request a copy, please contact Kip Talley.

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Cover Band Performance Contracts

If you are planning a live music event you will need to make sure you have a contract in place with the performers. This is especially important if you have a financial stake in the event and are inviting paying customers. You need to make sure you have a written guarantee that the cover band will attend the engagement and what is expected from both parties. There may be occasions with local function bands where a contract is not needed. Sometimes an email confirmation may be enough if you know of the act.

If you do go down the contract route the live band may issue you a standard contract with their terms. These are available from the Musicians Union and are very simple straightforward contracts. It will usually include as a minimum the date and time of the engagement, the location, fee and duration of the performance. More in depth contracts may include who is responsible to providing equipment such as staging and PA systems. Some cover bands will be paid a set fee for the gig and other larger acts may ask for a percentage of ticket sales as well. This is something that should be negotiated early on.

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Planning corporate music entertainment

Planning corporate entertainment can be daunting. There is a lot to consider and getting it wrong might not improve your career prospects. Perhaps a cheesy cabaret entertainer or comedian won’t quite cut it. Most corporate companies are looking to impress potential business partners so you need to go all out with the entertainment.

For most corporate businesses though the entertainment industry is not too familiar. The best place to start is a reputable entertainment or music agent. A live band always goes down well at such event however you need to be sure of the quality of the act. Bands that perform at corporate events understand the attitude and planning needed to make sure everything runs smoothly. There are lots of great bands out there but not all have experience of working with corporate clients. If you can find an entertainment agent that specialises in corporate bands then even better.

If you are looking for everyone to have a great time and provide a true party atmosphere then live music is second to none. A great front man can work the crowd and get the whole audience involved. By booking through an entertainment agent you are usually assured a quality band. You should always talk to the agent though and be very precise about your requirements. Listen to demos usually available on the agent’s site and browse pictures and video footage.

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Crowdsourcing Live Music

Switchcam, a new music startup, is algorithmically “reconstructing” concerts from fan footage.  Switchcam has created software that takes concert videos from YouTube and syncs them together recreating the event.  The syncing is so exact, that viewers are able to switch views and camera angles enabling the viewer to see the concert from different perspectives.  

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New Tool to Help Unsigned Musicians Book UK Gigs Unveiled

GigSwell, a new tool to help unsigned musicians book UK gigs has been released. The free resource lists details of live music venues, events and promoters, and includes a variety of booking information for each in order to help artists identify suitable places to perform.

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