Booking a music gig easily and effectively – 4 pointers

http://traffic.libsyn.com/bminusshow/4_pointers_to_book_a_music_gig.mp3

Be polite

Us musicians usually have a somewhat negative perception from many venues, so being polite is extremely important to reverse the bad rock-star stereotypes that we sometimes have to fight.

Being an asshole may have been cool in high school, but many times it doesn’t fly in the “real world.”

The real world, in my definition, is all of your communications with any venue you are associated with.

So being polite pertains to booking the show, the day of the show and any communications after the show.

Albeit, maybe you had a bad experience with the venue, like they didn’t pay you or were straight rude to you.

In that case, you might be tempted to trash the venue on social media and such. I would refrain from that and keep the discrepancies within your band.

My band not only sells ourselves on professionalism, but we are also quick to make the venue look good with tags, pictures, gratitude and such.

This has led us to multiple re-bookings and a good reputation around town.

And it all revolves around being polite to everyone we come in contact with.

Be persistent

Being persistent isn’t about pestering people to let your band play at their venue. My view on persistence is figuring out a way to get their attention and having them welcome you to their venue.

One guy in town was in charge of booking multiple venues. I knew if we got our foot in the door with him, opportunities would open up big time for us.

Although I did borderline harass him with an onslaught of tags, messages and calls; he never did give us the time of day.

This led me to start booking directly with the venues he was booking. Guess what? I was able to book my band at some of those venues and we didn’t even need this guys help.

Now, this guy isn’t even on the music scene in my area. I guess it makes sense, perhaps he was booking the WRONG BANDS (evil laugh*).

You persistence (and determination) will eventually land you gigs. Yes, you may have to change your approach and tactics, but like many other things in life, you will eventually get what you want.

Use email / social media

I almost think this is a given, but I have had pretty good success with just emailing venues directly by finding their info on their website.

Using their social media page  to reach out is also a good idea; especially if you have a good social media profile with music, tags, pictures and a following (likes, etc.).

Create a template that works with your pitch. Highlight your strengths.

For example, I will use something like this:

“Hello, my band would love to play at your venue. We play rock/alternative originals with an onslaught of cover songs. We can play up to 4 hours of music!

We can play all acoustic or an all electric set. We are professional with pro gear and have a great following. 

Let me know if we can work something out.

Cordially, Shawn 916-xxx-xxxx

www.facebook.com/themeanmuggers ”

I can send something like this to anywhere I’m booking. If I don’t get response after a week or two, I may follow up with a friendly reminder. If that doesn’t work and I really want to book the venue, I will do this next step.

Show up to the venue

For my fourth and final tip, you may have to show up to a venue if fuckers ain’t responding back to you.

It’s a good idea to resort to this if email doesn’t work.

I suggest calling the venue early (like noon-ish) and asking them who books shows. Next, I would find out when that person will be at the ve...