Bandhive

A ton of artists are already working on their spring and summer 2023 tours. If you want to hit the road, now is the time to start planning!

There are two very important steps to take before you start reaching out to venues and promoters…

Don’t skip them, or you will regret it later. You could end up broke, on the opposite side of the country, or worse in debt for who knows how much.

Listen now to learn about planning a tour and the two most important steps to take before booking any shows!

What you’ll learn:

• When to start planning your next tour
• Why getting a head start on touring plans is vital to your budget
• The financial pitfalls of booking your tour too late
• How to absolutely destroy your tour budget
• A profitable DIY tour… Exists?
• Don’t make one venue pay for that crazy long drive, average it out!
• How to plan a successful tour

For full show notes, visit https://bandhive.rocks/155

So you’ve started implementing the Setlist Sandwich in your live shows… That’s great!

But what about keeping your audience engaged leading up to a release?

There’s a similar strategy you can use for your singles before dropping an EP or album.

I won’t go so far as to call it the Single Release Sandwich, but it’s absolutely worth considering.

Listen now to learn what order will get the best bang for your buck when releasing singles before an album or EP!

What you’ll learn:

• Why your lead single shouldn’t be the best song on the release
• Setting expectations so your release isn’t a disappointment
• The ebb and flow of the Single Release Sandwich
• Keeping momentum leading up to your release
• Why not every song is a good single
• The logic behind the order of tracks on your album or EP
• Creating mystery for your fans

For full show notes, visit https://bandhive.rocks/154

When you get an opportunity to open a show for a national act, you might start jumping up and down. After all, playing a show with one of your favorite bands is a thrilling experience!

If you want to play more big shows, it’s important to not screw this up!

The process starts long before the show, with professional communication and proper rehearsal of every aspect of your show.

It doesn’t end when the show is over, either. Leaving a lasting impression after the show is extremely easy, but most artists don’t bother.

Listen now to learn how you can make the most of any opening slot so your band can grow to new heights!

What you’ll learn:

• The three key phases to opening a show
• Why rehearsing your set up/tear down is as important as rehearsing your set
• How to ask questions without being annoying
• Earning money (and fans) as an opening band
• How you can hook the audience - and why you need to
• The vital trait to building relationships: being flexible and easy to work with
• Walking the walk instead of just talking the talk
• Showing basic respect for the other artists on the bill
• How you can get invited to play the venue again every time

For full show notes, visit https://bandhive.rocks/153

Running any business, including a band, means tons of communication with other people and companies. That’s just part of the deal.

You probably like working with people who are pleasant and easy to communicate with, right?

That’s how other people feel, too - which means you need to communicate as effectively as you possibly can. Otherwise, you might be labeled as difficult to work with, or if you’re rude enough, even get blocked from certain opportunities.

Listen now to learn how you can make yourself easier to work with, and how to avoid burning bridges with stakeholders in your scene!

What you’ll learn:

• The basics of communication outside your band
• Three examples of how not to behave
• Why proper communication is important to your overall success as an artist
• How certain artists end their career before they even know it by being rude
• When it’s time to give up on music
• Eight tips for great communication skills
• Why “rockstars” can get away with being rude but you can’t

For full show notes, visit https://bandhive.rocks/152

You’ve probably seen a band play a set and thought, “what on earth are they doing?”

Not because the band was bad, but because their set was just a mess. Maybe they started with a bland, boring song. Or perhaps they ended on a low note, with a more melancholy deep cut.

No matter what, it’s important to recognize that as an entertainer you are in charge of keeping your audience entertained and engaged. That means you need to build the perfect setlist sandwich for every show you play!

Listen now to learn what ingredients go into your setlist sandwich and how you can manage the energy of your performance to hook the audience!

What you’ll learn:

• Building the perfect setlist sandwich
• Energy management to rule your audience
• The ingredients of a perfect setlist
• Four ways to increase a crowd’s energy
• When to play covers in your set
• The perfect way to close your band’s set

For full show notes, visit https://bandhive.rocks/151

It’s a common question: “how much will it cost to go on tour?”

There’s no real answer to this. There are practically infinite factors that go into planning a tour - but the good news is I can share a rough baseline of the costs with you.

Join me in breaking down a basic budget for a one-week DIY tour so you can have a better understanding of the investment you’ll need to make to hit the road. Listen now to learn more!

What you’ll learn:

• The answer to “how much does touring cost?”
• The basic categories of a tour budget
• Calculating gas expenses for your tour
• What a “per diem” is
• How much you should invest in marketing shows
• What affects a DIY band’s touring budget
• The biggest costs you’ll face on the road
• What you need to make a tour profitable
• How to break even on tour

For full show notes, visit https://bandhive.rocks/150

When an artist’s tour manager settles a show, they do accounting and collect payment.

As a part of the process, they crunch the numbers for that night. If it doesn’t match what the promoter rep has in their own accounting, the promoter and TM work together to find the problem.

It’s not typically adversarial - instead it’s two parties who want to verify that everything is accounted for properly. Trust but verify.

Listen now to learn what other situations are worthy of trust but verify - there are a lot of them - so you don’t miss out on money your band rightfully earned!

What you’ll learn:

• Why double checking any agreements, accounting, etc. is important for your band
• What could happen if you miss something
• Even big artists (and their teams) make mistakes
• I’m not perfect, and neither are you! Double check your own work :)
• Cascading mistakes in spreadsheets
• When you need an entertainment lawyer
• Being open with your bandmates and team

For full show notes, visit https://bandhive.rocks/149

Last month a friend of mine came to me with a dilemma: they had been removed from their band for “not doing enough” even though the band leader had constantly reassured my friend that they were doing everything they should be doing.

Unfortunately, I see this too often: band leaders have no idea how to properly “lead”, won’t communicate with their bandmates, and eventually end up poisoning the band with a toxic attitude - then they blame everyone but themselves.

Listen now to learn how you can avoid tearing apart your band by following these five key tips!

What you’ll learn:

• How to maintain a healthy band dynamic
• The key to a long-lived band
• Making sacrifices for your bandmates
• Constructive communication in a band
• The pitfalls of a passive-aggressive band “leader”
• Working together to continue a project after major life events
• The importance of “fun time” in your band

For full show notes, visit https://bandhive.rocks/148

A big part of flight training is learning how to respond to situations you hope will never happen to you. The idea is that when (not if) they do happen, you’re prepared to handle them.

Bands can do the same thing, so when disaster strikes you 1. Aren’t scrambling for a solution and 2. Can handle the situation in a calm, collected manner.

Why is this important? Well, the less downtime your band has after any problems, the more time you can spend focusing on your touring, writing, etc. not to mention if it’s something safety related, you could be saving lives!

Listen now to hear the story of my first ever inflight emergency and why it’s an important lesson for each of us to learn from.

What you’ll learn:

• Staying calm in stressful situations
• Being prepared for the worst
• How training yourself could save the day
• Observing other bands to know what you can prepare for
• Avoiding panic through preparation
• The benefits of planning ahead
• Coordinating with your bandmates for a unified solution

For full show notes, visit https://bandhive.rocks/147

Everyone hates hall fees. Well, almost everyone. Venues seem to love taking money from artists selling their merch at shows.

Recently we’ve seen artists openly bashing venues for taking a cut of merch sales, and in some cases those complaints are justified.

It’s not as cut and dry as artists make it seem, so this week I’m diving in on what a hall fee is, why venues started charging them, and how you can pay the venue less with smart accounting and negotiation. Listen now to learn more!

What you’ll learn:

• Why venues want to take part of your merch earnings
• What the venues should be providing if they charge a hall fee
• How to get out of paying a hall fee (or greatly reduce it)
• The most important terms to any agreement including a hall fee
• Using smart math to pay the venue less ;)
• The difference between taking a fair cut and outright stealing from artists
• Sneaky methods to avoid hall fees entirely
• The ultimate answer to hall fees: negotiation

For full show notes, visit https://bandhive.rocks/146