Today I’m answering another question on the podcast:

“When you’re booking a show, how can you guarantee that the bands you book will have a draw?  Do  you require that they bring so many people to the gig when you reach out to them?  Here many venues here will ask about your draw before booking you.”

To answer this question about whether you can guarantee that the bands you book will have a draw–you can't! I know some venues will ask for that kind of information, but if they're doing their jobs right, they really shouldn't be putting that on your shoulders. They should be promoting the show and running a solid enough business that THEY attract people to your show. It's really bad form when a venue puts that kind of pressure on musicians.

I would definitely recommend you try and find venues to play in that don't ask for your draw. There are venues out there that support artists and want to help create great shows, and, unfortunately, there are those out there that just want to make a buck. 

I also wouldn't ask other musicians what their draw is. But I WOULD encourage them to promote the show leading up to it and send them a couple of reminders to do that. 

The best way to create *the best possibility* of a good crowd is to focus on choosing the right bands to play with (something I teach in my course How to Book a Great Show in a New City and Book Your First Tour.) Their style of music is more important than their draw. Collectively, if you can build a bill of bands that fit well together musically (and of bands that already know each other, play together regularly, and are familiar with the venue you're booking the show in), it's very likely you'll have a good draw.

If you can find a group of bands that play together regularly and match up with your style of music well, that's your gold mine. (You can usually find active music scenes like this by looking at local show calendars over the past few months and seeing which combinations of bands seem to keep playing together.) Typically, these kinds of active, local music scenes have a built in crowd, usually made up of the various bands' friends and friends of friends. 

All in all, remember that the most important thing is to find other musicians and people who will value your set, and enjoy meeting you and listening to your music. Whether the crowd is big or small, if the night is meaningful and you're making great connections with musicians and new listeners, that's what matters most. When you string together a bunch of nights like this, you'll start to see traction. And this will build your own unique draw as well. 

This is about having a people-and-art-centered approach. Very different from venues pressuring you to just get bodies in the door. Night and day, really!

And of course, this is just one way to get your music out there. There are lots of different approaches you can take. 

XO,

Julia Lucille