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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 > > > > >