GIG PROMOTION >>
An Introduction To Organising/ Promoting Events This is a rough introduction to the key aspects involved in putting on a successful live event. Gig promotion involves a lot of hard work and organisation, and can be a very risky business but if you work hard and are passionate about the music you promote, the rewards and satisfaction when it goes well can be fantastic. This is far from the be all and end all, and you will learn/ hone most of your skills simply through putting on events and talking to others involved in live music. There are examples throughout; particular to the South West, but these can be replaced by your local equivalent.
First of all, you need to think about what kind of event you want to put on, how many bands, whether to have a headline act, the type of music etc. as well as the scale of the show; for a first-time event this will be fairly small.
Next you need to find a suitable venue. Maybe somewhere that you regularly see live bands in, you probably know of a small-ish venue in your area that is dedicated primarily to live music (e.g. The Cavern in Exeter). This kind of venue often has in-house PA/ lighting/ mics etc. as well as a resident sound engineer which will save you a lot of hassle and cost in your organisation.
Contact the venue, let them know that you want to put a show on and they’ll probably be happy to arrange a date. Find out what kind of a deal you can expect to get as a promoter. All venues operate differently and will charge different prices, but in general you may expect to pay the venue for the cost of security and the sound engineer, and then you keep all the money taken on the door (the venue will make its money from the bar takings). Some venues may offer other deals such as lower costs but a split of the door money. Payment is almost always sorted out at the end of the night, with the venue taking their costs from the door money and handing over the rest to you.
Then you need to arrange the line-up. Will you have a headline act? If you have particular upcoming acts in mind, try to find management/ contact details and get in touch to see if they’re interested, the worst they can say is no! Also find out what kind of cost they go out for – this is probably less than you’d imagine for lower profile acts. As with venues, all kinds of deals can be made with bands, including;
For a first-time show, it might be easier and less risky not to include a ‘name’ headliner, but promote just local acts. Most upcoming unsigned acts will be willing to play for free, in the hope that if you put on a good show, not only will they enjoy it but have a chance to gain some new fans. Some acts might require some payment or petrol money, but in general it is a less financially risky way to promote a show, yet can be just as rewarding.
Think of which, and how many local acts you’d like on the bill and get in touch, the worst they can say is no, but the chances are they’ll be interested in getting involved. You’ll also want to think about DJs for before/ between/ after the live acts. You may want to just play your own records/ CDs, ask friends to do the same or pay somebody else to DJ for the night. Again, most live music venues will have CD decks that you can use. You don’t need to worry about DJ skills, the equipment is usually easy to use and nobody’s expecting mixing/ scratching etc. –the songs you play are what counts! Its good fun getting to choose what music you hear through the PA, and little errors like forgetting to press play, or sticking on the wrong track are all part and parcel of the shenanigans. It wouldn’t be advisable to take on the whole nights DJ-ing on your own if you are the promoter, as you wont really be able to go anywhere for more than a few minutes, when you really want to be out and about talking to everyone.
Once you've got the line-up sorted, you might want to think about a title for the night - as well as whether or not it's all ages, and how much you want to charge on the door. If it's just unsigned bands, you might charge around £3/4 (as a guide for Exeter area) - so then you can work out how many people you need to get in to cover the costs and (hopefully) make a profit.
Assuming you can get most bands to play for free (maybe some petrol costs), the only other main cost is flyers. Flyers and posters are an important way of letting people know your show is happening, if people aren’t aware of an event, they won’t go. Therefore, you want a design that not only grabs people’s attention, but also clearly states all the relevant information (title, line-up, date, venue, price, age restrictions etc.).
They key to a successful gig (aside from the quality of the bands, obviously) is lots of promotion. You want everybody to know that the event's happening, whether or not they actually go. Online, you can post on message boards (band sites/ venue website/ online zines etc.), start up a database of peoples e-mail addresses for a mailing list (so you can let them know details directly), and get it on any local event listings or local music sites (e.g. www.alternativedevon.co.uk, www.southwestgigguide.co.uk in the South West). If you have a website, not only is it a good place to post regular news etc. but can also provide an excellent reference point for people wishing to know more as it is permanently there.
Offline you have to work pretty hard; you want to get as many flyers round as possible wherever you think the right people will see them. This will be in the venue/ music shops/ clothes shops/ skate shops/ cafes/ schools/ colleges/ uni etc. and anywhere else you think your potential punters will see them. Get posters up in the right places in town (such as the poster columns/ bridge in Exeter) as well as in shops that take them - they are likely to get pasted over pretty quick, so it’s worth doing that a few times before the show.
Fanzines are well worth getting in touch with, as most of the people that make/ read them are involved the local music scene - so it might be worth seeing if your gig can get a mention, and perhaps invite them along to review the show in return for sticking them on the guestlist.
Other things you might overlook about putting on a gig include equipment - you'll need to sort out who's bringing drum-kit/ bass rig etc. - or at least put the bands in touch with each other! Also, think about the running order of the bands and how long their sets will be.
Other than that, good luck with it! It’s hard work but great fun, and even if you don’t make a profit straight away, don’t be disheartened - as long as you enjoy doing it, it’s really satisfying, even if a bit stressful sometimes!
ALL ESSAYS
©JOE MORRISH 2003
-An agreed flat fee. With this kind of deal you are taking a larger risk, as if the money is not made back from ticket sales you will be out of pocket – but if attendance is high you also stand to make a larger profit.
-A split deal. You may agree to split either the gross takings (i.e. all money received from ticket sales/ on door) or the net profit (i.e. the money remaining after all costs have been paid). The proportion of the split depends on a number of factors, and can vary wildly.
The likelihood is, you’ll have an arrangement somewhere between these types of deal, such as a fixed fee plus a percentage of the net profits - usually in the bands favour as there is less of a risk for you as a promoter. However, the larger the amount you pay (and risk) as a fixed fee, the higher the proportion of any profits you can expect to claim. With ‘name’ touring acts you will usually be expected to provide a ‘rider’ (i.e. food/ beer etc.) out of your costs, and they often have further requirements. Usually this can be arranged through the venue, who have the facilities and experience to probably save you time and money.
Also, the venue will usually have somebody on the door to take money, but you can do this yourself (or get somebody you know) if you’d prefer. You can write up a 'guestlist', with names of people you want to let in for free, whether friends, press or potential contacts - just remember the bigger your guestlist, the lower the door takings. The bands may ask to put some people to be put on the guestlist, which is fine - but again, bear in mind how many people you are happy to/ can afford to let in for free and keep some kind of limit on it.
Some people prefer to design the flyers themselves and just photocopy them, others will get a designer to do it then either get a load printed professionally or just use the design and photocopy that. It’s probably worth keeping an eye out for local designers, and ask round for quotes on design/ printing costs for the amount of flyers/ posters you want.
For those of you in the South West, we recommend you contact Pete Firth (peterafirth@hotmail.com) who designed all the Lone Shark flyers and our logo.
Again, you’ll want to get in listings guides - of both local (e.g. twenty4-seven/ OOH in the South West) and national magazines (e.g. NME/ The Fly/ Kerrang!), so check out the magazines you think are relevant for how to submit gigs, and what the submission deadline for an issue is.
Another important way to promote a gig is by simple word of mouth. Tell everyone you know about it, and get them to spread the word too - and people you chat to at gigs etc. If people sense a genuine enthusiasm for the show, and become familiar with the organisers, they are more likely to show interest.
Obviously the exact methods of promotion are endless, but if you work hard on the promotion and are a bit inventive, people will notice it.
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