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Re: Re: (OT) For getting gigs, each musician should have...



VERY THOUGHTFUL AND WELL ORGANIZED ADVICE.
KUDOS.


--- On Sun, 6/24/12, Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com> wrote:

> From: Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>
> Subject: Re: Re: (OT) For getting gigs, each musician should have...
> To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
> Cc: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
> Date: Sunday, June 24, 2012, 6:32 PM
> I did a lot of work as a music
> business consultant in the late 80's and 
> early 90's because of the
> incredibly DIY success of my new wave band,  Tao
> Chemical.
> 
> I have to commend you, Matt on this advice here: 
>    it is completely 
> spot on, well organized and succinct.
> 
> With your permission,  I'd love to keep a copy of this
> (credited, of 
> course) the next time a
> young artist asks me for booking advice.
> 
> much respect,    Rick Walker
> > On Jun 23, 2012 11:11 AM, "Matt Davignon" <mattdavignon@gmail.com
> 
> > <mailto:mattdavignon@gmail.com>>
> wrote:
> >
> >     Since Kay'lon is feeling
> non-loopy today, I figured it would be a good
> >     time to finally write this:
> >
> >     As someone who runs a small
> venue, I should share that there are
> >     certain things a musician can
> do to make them easier to book. This is
> >     written mostly for getting
> shows at small venues that book new, local
> >     acts. For these, it's good to
> have:
> >
> >     --A WEBSITE: This can be a
> bandcamp page, a soundcloud page, one of
> >     those template sites such as
> weebly.com <http://weebly.com>, or
> >     your own standalone site.
> >     The point is to have something
> a booker can find on google and know
> >     it's official and reasonably
> up-to-date. Simple is good. Someone
> >     should be able to easily find
> your bio, sound samples, and photos.
> >
> >     --BIOGRAPHY: A bio serves two
> purposes: 1) Encouraging venues to book
> >     you, and 2) once you are
> booked, providing the venue with text they
> >     can post on the show
> announcements to get people to come to the show.
> >     Each bio absolutely must list
> what instrument you play should have
> >     some sort of description of the
> experience a person might get from
> >     your show. Use descriptive
> terms instead of value terms. For example,
> >     my bio uses the words "organic"
> and "gloopy", but doesn't say
> >     "excellent" or "important". I'm
> personally fond of bios written in the
> >     third person ("Matt Davignon
> is..." instead of "I am..."). If you are
> >     in or have been in bands that
> readers may know about, it's good to
> >     list them. Do not list every
> single band or collaboration you've been
> >     in. If you've won a lot of
> awards or have played with famous people,
> >     you can include that, but if
> it's more than a certain percentage of
> >     your bio, it can be a turnoff.
> (Unless you're really famous, then it's
> >     kind of expected.)
> >
> >     An ideal bio has both a long
> and short form - some venues prefer 1
> >     paragraph, others prefer a half
> page. A good strategy is to write 3 or
> >     4 paragraphs, where the first
> paragraph includes the description of
> >     what you do in a performance.
> That way a venue can copy as many
> >     paragraphs as they want. That's
> what I've done here:
> >     http://www.ribosomemusic.com/biography.html and my
> friend Agnes Szelag
> >     has done here: http://www.agnesszelag.com/bio/
> >
> >     --MUSIC SAMPLES: This is where
> the bandcamp or soundcloud page comes
> >     in. I never book a band without
> hearing them first. They tell me
> >     whether a band plays the kind
> of music that fits my venue, and that
> >     they don't totally suck. I'd
> say at least 4 different music samples is
> >     ideal, and they shouldn't all
> sound the same. I'd recommend that at
> >     least one be a live sample.
> >
> >     --PHOTO: When I was new, I
> objected to the photo idea, because I
> >     didn't think music booking
> should be based on appearances. That's not
> >     what this is about. Venues
> usually don't use the photo as a reason to
> >     book you or not. Instead,
> venues often need something to put on their
> >     show announcements once you ARE
> booked. Also, if a local paper wants
> >     to do a story about you,
> they'll often ask for a picture. There's a
> >     minimum resolution often
> requested - usually at leat 300 dpi. I
> >     personally think a nice photo
> of you playing your instrument is better
> >     than a Hollywood-style face
> shot. (However, more formal music venues
> >     may prefer the face shot.) It's
> great that Mark Hamburg and George &
> >     Alana Wiltshire have been
> taking artist pictures at the Y2K looping
> >     festivals. This should be easy
> to find on your website. Many artists
> >     put it on their home page or
> their biography page.
> >
> >     --VIDEO: This one's kind gravy,
> since you probably won't have it when
> >     you get started. I think it's
> good to have a video of you playing
> >     well, because you can include a
> link when you ask for shows, and it
> >     gives the venues a pretty
> concrete idea of what you're about. When you
> >     get your first gig or two, try
> to get a friend to record your set with
> >     a camera that has decent sound.
> (I currently use a Zoom Q3, but the
> >     Flip camera I had before works
> fine too. My droid phone is too shitty
> >     for this, because the sound
> comes out all glitchy.) The video doesn't
> >     have to be on your website. I
> search for artist videos on Youtube or
> >     Google (which returns youtube
> results).
> >
> >
> >     Now, none of these things by
> themselves will get you a gig. Venues
> >     also need to know that you
> exist, and that you're able to play shows.
> >     The best way to do this is to
> go to the video a few times when local
> >     bands you like are playing.
> Then, after a few visits, talk to the
> >     booker about whether you could
> play at their series.
> >
> >     Payment at small local venues
> tends to work in one of five ways:
> >     --Free Show: Admission to the
> show is free. Artists do not get paid.
> >     --Door Split: The venue takes a
> percentage of the door income, and the
> >     rest is split between the
> artists. In my experience, the venue share
> >     is usually between 30% and 50%.
> For beginning musicians, this is
> >     usually the ideal situation.
> >     --Rental: Artists pay for the
> nightly rental of the venue (often
> >     $100-$150), and keep all of the
> income.
> >     --Artists get the top: The
> venue usually needs to make a certain
> >     amount to cover their nightly
> expenses (usually $100-$150). After that
> >     amount is made, the rest of the
> door income goes to the artists. If
> >     the venue doesn't make their
> minimum, they don't often charge you the
> >     difference, but they might not
> invite you to play again either. (This
> >     doesn't mean they don't like
> you, but it costs money to run a venue.)
> >     --Cover Charge: At bars/clubs,
> income is taken from the door fee (the
> >     "cover") and from drinks sold.
> Different bars/clubs will have
> >     different policies about how
> much of the cover goes to the bands, and
> >     if the bands get a percentage
> of profits from drink sales.
> >
> >     By small venues, I'm thinking
> of cafes and art galleries that
> >     regularly have live music by
> local artists and touring artists who are
> >     not famous.
> >
> >     For larger venues (where
> moderately-known touring indie-rock bands
> >     often play, such as San
> Francisco's Bottom of the Hill), they will
> >     usually need all the above,
> PLUS the venue will need to have some sort
> >     of faith that they will make
> enough money that night to cover their
> >     operating expenses. If you feel
> absolutely certain that 40 or more
> >     people will definitely come to
> your show to see you, then you're
> >     probably ready to move on to
> larger venues. Saying hello in person
> >     probably won't work for these
> venues unless they already know of you
> >     by reputation. Often these
> venues have booking request pages on their
> >     websites.
> >
> >
> >     Matt Davignon
> >     mattdavignon@gmail.com
> <mailto:mattdavignon@gmail.com>
> >     www.ribosomemusic.com <http://www.ribosomemusic.com>
> >     Podcast! http://ribosomematt.podomatic.com
> >
> 
> 
>