Tips For Sending Gig Reminder Emails

Many artists and bands are often uncertain about the correct procedure for sending emails about a gig or show to their fan base. How many is too much? How few is too little to get enough bodies to the show? Here's an excerpt from the Email Newsletter chapter of Social Media Promotion For Musicians that provides some effective guidelines for reminding your fans of your show.

"Gig reminder emails fall into a different category in that they can be a lot shorter and a lot more frequent. While the email sequence below may seem like a lot of emails, remember that for true fans, you’re doing them a favor by keeping them informed, and you’re marketing yourself for other things at the same time. A potential reminder strategy is:

• The day a show is announced or tickets go on sale. As soon as you know that you’re playing at a venue, send out an email. This could be to the entire list if it’s announcing a tour, if it’s the monthly schedule for a cover band, or if you believe that people will travel to see the show.

• A week before the show. Send out a reminder but concentrate more on the band, regarding a new part of the show, new songs, a music video, or something that you want to the fan to see.

• 3 days before the show. Send out a reminder and include more information about the club and who else is playing.

• 1 day before the show. Once again, remind the fan about a a different feature of the show or the music that’s unique and won’t be seen or heard any other way than attending. You can change the headline to “You don’t want to miss this,” or “See our new show tomorrow night.”

• The day of the show. Send out a short reminder in the late morning to just the portion of your list in the general area of the club. Use a headline like, “Can you make it tonite?”, or “Last chance to buy tickets!”

• The day after the show. Send an email with backstage pictures, pictures of meet and greets with fans or just fans in the audience, as well as links to videos. This is a nice shout-out to those that were there, and a prod for those that weren’t not to miss you next time you’re in town.

Of course, if you’re lucking enough to have sold out your show, you won’t need to send as many reminders. That said, you might send one headlined “Sold Out!” that either announces another gig or another way for the fan to hear your music or buy your merch. A contest for two last minute tickets (put them on your guest list) also works well.

TIP: In every reminder be sure to include all the pertinent gig information, including the name of the venue, the full address, the phone number, the time you’re going on, and other acts on the bill. Consider including a map or a link to one as well.

Artists and bands are sometimes timid about sending out so many gig announcements, but fans that ordinarily would attend really do forget. Remember, you’re doing them a favor by reminding them.

TIP: When sending out multiple emails in a short space of time, be sure to continually change the headline and the email contents."

To read additional excerpts from Social Media Promotion For Musicians or my other books, go to the excerpts section of bobbyowsinski.com.

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Guest List Do's And Don'ts

The guest list is something that every gigging musician faces, regardless of how big or small the gig is if there's a door charge. Not many of us think much about it, but there's a definite etiquette involved, and a post I spotted on about.com seemed to cover it pretty well. You can read their entire post, but I've paraphrased my version here.

Guest List Dos:
1. Find out how many guest list spaces are available as far before the gig as you can so there's no last minute confusion.

2. Make sure that VIPs that can help your career, like agents, managers and label execs, make it on the list before friends and family.

3. Be upfront with people about the likelihood of getting on the list. Some people get seriously offended if they come to the show and find they're not included.

4. Consider other options like discounted tickets before placing someone on the guest list, especially when the list is limited.

5. Make sure that one person and one person only in the band is responsible for the list to help keep everything straight.

Guest List Don'ts:
1. Don't push a promoter for extra guest list spaces, especially if you're a support band.

2. Don't feel like you have to give everyone on the list a plus one. You'll eat up spaces that you can use for someone more important rather than someone you don't know.

3. You don't owe someone a backstage pass just because they're on the guest list. They're two different animals.

4. Don't have a guest list for a charity show. It's bad form, and you have the perfect out in that the show is raising money for a good cause.

5. Don't trade guest list spots with other bands. It takes up too much energy trying to remember who's owed what later.

This is a good place to start. Anybody have any additions?

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

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How To Get Your Band Booked

You want to get your band gigs, right? You don’t know how to do it, right? Here’s an excerpt from the “Stage Time” chapter of the band improvement book “How To Make Your Band Sound Great” that gives you the inside scoop on the things that club promoters love and hate the most to help you get your band booked. Although the following (which originally came from Memphis promoter Chris Walker) pertains mostly to bands that play their own music, there are a few items for cover bands to think about as well.

"First of all, most bands will put a press package together to give to a promoter, booker or club owner and most of them make the same mistakes. Here are the things that a promoter or booker does not care about:

• Who you've opened for or played on a bill with. Nobody cares. Opening for someone famous doesn’t automatically mean that you’re any good. It’s only name dropping.

• Who produced your record. Once again, this is not an indicator of the quality of your band. If the producer’s really good, he could’ve easily tweaked or sweetened a mediocre performance or even brought in session musicians. And he could've been paid a bunch of money to do it, so his presence on the project doesn't amount to an endorsement.

• How well you do in your hometown. You might have a lot of friends that like to hang out with you but it doesn’t mean that they’ll follow you when you play farther away from your home base or out of town. It also doesn’t mean that you can draw anywhere else.

• Press clippings. You wouldn't send out negative reviews, would you? Of course not. No talent buyer looks at press clippings because they all know what they're going to say. "This band is wonderful. Coldplay, watch out!"

• How good you are. Of course you think you're good. Your music is probably your life. Guess what? It's just another band setting up and making a racket to the club staff. Hard to believe, isn't it?

• What you sound like. The only reason the venue cares what you sound like is because they don't want to mismatch music genres or book the wrong type of music altogether. Other than that, they don’t care.

Nothing listed above answers the most important question a talent buyer has, which is: HOW MUCH MONEY WILL THE VENUE MAKE IF YOU PLAY HERE?

Always ask yourself that question when approaching a talent buyer regarding a show. Of course, the answer is to draw a crowd. You’ve got to draw some people or your gigging life will be over. Beg your friends to show up. Facebook the heck out of your show. If the venue can count on you bringing 20 to 40 people a show, you'd be amazed how often people will ask you to play.

So what do you have to do to get gigs? Try the following:

• Develop a draw in your hometown. That means you should play about once every month to 6 weeks. Don't play too much more than that since overexposure will kill your crowd, and you need your crowd to keep coming so you keep getting asked back.

• If you haven't left your hometown and you don't have a record, your only hope is to trade shows. Why develop a draw at home? So you can trade shows with bands from out of town. Just be sure the band you're trading shows with has a draw in their hometown. Check that city's music message boards. Use the many avenues of the internet. It's your only hope.

• Be your own promoter. Actually save up your own money and book as big an artist as you can afford in the club you want to play, then stick yourself on the bill. It's a perfect way to find out if you're worth your salt."

If you want to get gigs (and who doesn't), keep the above items in mind before you spin your wheels trying the same old things that everyone tries to get gigs.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

10 Things To Get More Shows

As you've read numerous times if you've spent any time on this blog, gigs are the live-blood of a band, especially in this day and age. Regardless of your skill or place in the music business, you've got to play in front of people to stay musically fresh, improve your show skills and make money. As a result, any time I see something that either makes it easier to book a gig, or contains some good advice or strategy, I feel compelled to post or comment on.

Here's a great post from Chris Bracco that appeared on musicthinktank.com regarding the10 things you can do to help you get more gigs. Many of these items we've covered before, Chris has a few things that really make a lot of sense.

Assuming that you have strong songs and an kickass live show, here are ten (10) simple things you can do to get more gigs:

1. Create a YouTube channel for your band.

Upload a live performance video on YouTube that represents your band at its best. Include a phone number and e-mail address too, so that anyone who wants to book you can contact you easily. Say something like “Contact ________ to book us for a live show.” To show professionalism and interest, try your best to respond to every inquiry within 48 hours.

2. Print up nice business cards

…with your band name, links to your music, live videos, and a phone number and e-mail address that can be reached for booking purposes. Also, include a link to your website so they can learn more about you. You’d be surprised how many bands STILL write down their phone numbers on dirty napkins and torn pieces of paper. Wherever you go, tell people who you are, how good you are, where you are playing next, and how easy it is for them to book you directly.

3. Go watch other bands that sound like you.

If there are any bands in your area with large followings, get out to a couple shows and become friends with other bands. Ask the bigger bands to let you open for them, maybe in exchange for some kind of help like designing a website, flyer, banner, etc. The harder you work for a band bigger than your band, and the more respectful you are to them and their efforts, the more likely they will consider you for an opening slot. Talk up how good your band is and why you are better than similar bands in the area.

4. Tell your fans how easy it is to book you.

Wherever you play - the street, house party, club or major venue, make sure your fans are aware that you’re willing to play anywhere. Use the Live Music Machine’s booking and calendar widget. Put it on your Facebook page, MySpace profile, personal web site, etc. and tell your fans to go there and book you for their private events, house parties, etc. After playing a gig, you should walk around the audience, engage people, ask them what they thought of the show, and let them know you are available to play live anywhere they want you too. Telling them that will definitely help you stand out from the pack.

5. Get guerilla.

Set up wherever there is a crowd of people who might like your music and play for them. Club, high school, venue, and stadium parking lots. How many tailgate parties do you think would love some free entertainment? Play outside clubs where bands are playing that fit in with your style of music. Those people waiting in line are going to be bored, so playing a spontaneous gig right on the spot will definitely make an unforgettable impression.

6. Don’t forget the old school.

Hand out flyers and post cards at events that have a link to free stuff and a way to book you for a gig.

7. Network with key industry people at events and conferences.

Radio PD’s and DJ’s, club owners, band managers, label executives, and others all attend music conferences quite regularly. Say hello to these people, maybe buy them a drink or dinner, but don’t make a nuisance of yourself. Respect their space and don’t try shoving a CD in their face two minutes after meeting them. Introduce yourself casually, let them know who you are and where they can see you play. If’s it’s a club owner, tell them you would love to come in during the day and do a free audition for a free gig. Just make sure you can get a place to sell your merchandise if you nab a gig. Offer to play at places that may not always host live music, like restaurants, coffee shops, stores, and malls.

8. Get creative.

Write up a proposal and present it to the appropriate person at your local school board, offering to do a series of free shows to raise money for the school athletic or band program. Ask to perform during a school assembly when they can provide you with a built-in audience.

9. Find places where bands similar to yours play.

Use ReverbNation’s “Gig Finder” to figure out where bands are getting booked in your area. However, e-mailing clubs with your RPK or EPK usually won’t get any results, because many of these venues have yet to claim their venue pages on ReverbNation. Instead, after finding some good places, print out your press kit and mail it to them, or better yet, personally drop it off it in a nice professional package along with a CD to any decision maker at the club. Follow up with a call within a couple of days so you stay fresh in their minds. If the decision maker has an assistant, get to know that person and you will find that it will be much easier to get in the door. If you email them anything at all, make it your MySpace link along with a concise paragraph stating why they should book you. For some reason, most clubs still feel most comfortable checking you out on MySpace, so play by their rules.

10. Do a gig swap!

If you have a respectable following or are an up and coming band, use sites likeIndieonthemove.com and Splitgigs.com to trade and share gigs with other bands who might want to break into your market. Collaboration is key to success in today’s fragmented music industry.

BONUS TIP! Everywhere you go, wherever you play, whomever you talk to about your band… collect as many e-mail addresses as you can. E-mail is still one of the best ways to communicate directly with your fan base, and develop long-lasting relationships.
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This post was originally published as a guest post by Chris Bracco on the Live Music Machine blog on October 19, 2010.

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Split Gigs

As I've said so often on this blog, getting gigs is one of the hardest things for an artist or band to do. Once upon a time, there seemed to be a club on every corner and most of them had live music, but obviously that's no longer the case, so the competition for every date and time slot is fierce.

If you're playing in showcase clubs where you only play a single show, a way to expand your reach into another territory is to trade gigs with another band. This is where you each book a local show, but you trade them so each band gets to play in a new venue. The problem is, it's not always easy to find another band to trade gigs with.

Now comes a service called Split Gigs, a social network that helps bands, musicians and dj's find gigs to play. The site enables bands to connect with one another to exchange gig possibilities, and according to the site, even book a tour.

While this idea can work, be aware that you run the risk of incurring the wrath of the club owner or promoter if the band you're trading with doesn't bring a crowd (which won't happen since probably no one knows them), so it might not something that can be done often. Then again, if you can arrange for the other band to share the same bill on an opening slot and then vice versa, that could work well as long as the promoter agrees to it.

Check out the trailer for SplitGigs.

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10 Resources For Booking Gigs Online

Here's a post from the great Hypebot blog regarding finding and booking gigs online that deserves a repeat. For just about every artist, playing in front of an audience is the ultimate reason why you get into music in the first place. Getting gigs has always been the toughest part of the job until you have an agent, which you never have when you're first starting out.

This post is attributed to Duncan Freeman (founder of Band Metrics and Indie Music Tech), provides a pretty good overview on the services available.

1. GigMasters (booking platform for artists and talent buyers)
2. GigMaven (free and easy-to-use booking website for musicians; currently available in NY, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, DC, Austin, Phoenix and Ohio)
3. Gigwish (influence venues, promoters and booking agents by enabling an artist's fans and their local music scene to vote for them)
4. G2.fm (an online booking community where bands and musicians connect with venues by sharing their music)
5. Live Music Machine (get booked anywhere for any type of live music event, as well as getting booked directly from MySpace)
6. MusiGigs (a private beta service that helps artists get booked by connecting venues directly to bands)
7. OnlineGigs (booking and promotional tool, and one of the largest detailed venue databases)
8. ReverbNation's Gig Finder (search over 100,000 venues and clubs, and locate those that have booked similar Artists)
9. Sonicbids (the largest and most successful online booking service for musicians, bands, managers, promoters, etc., as well as corporations and organizations looking to book artists)
10. SplitGigs (a new social web-app that helps emerging artists find other artists to exchange and share gigs with)

Artists may also find sites like Eventful, Meetup, Bandsintown and Songkick helpful for locating venues and artists to perform with.

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Not Enough Professionals - Not Enough Gigs

It's always been tough making a living playing music, but statistically it's more difficult than ever. This is no surprise to anyone active in the industry these days but now we have some verifiable facts thanks to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The chart on the left indicates the number of people who now identify themselves as professional musicians, and how that correlates with decreased sales of music.

Is anyone surprised that fewer people than ever think of themselves as pro musicians? You shouldn't be. The club infrastructure in the US (where musicians perfect their chops and traditionally are able to make a living in the "farm team" before becoming a recording artist) has been completely gutted. Once upon a time you could find a place to play almost every night of the week, regardless of where how good you were. Now that doesn't even happen for many hit artists with multiple hits under their belt.

And that's a big reason why the state of music is what it is today. Yes, we've had huge technological changes in music that have made a big impact on the state of music, but one key element of music that can never be replaced for a musician is a gig. You can't develop your craft unless you perform in front of people - a lot. You've got to get in your 10,000 hours, as Malcolm Gladwell states in his best-selling book Outliers: The Story of Success. Why do you think The Beatles were so great? Play 6 sets a night for a couple of months and just see where your chops are.

Unfortunately, there seems to be no immediate answer to the lack of gigs. Just don't expect anything new in music until things turn around.

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