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So you’re a new band or self touring band who just received an offer to play at one of the hottest music venues in Baltimore. While this is exciting, excitement quickly turns into pressure as you are handed 50 pre-sale tickets. That’s right! You must sell at least 50 tickets if you expect to ever play there again, otherwise you are known as the band that cost the venue money. Running a venue requires labor and guaranteed tickets sales are set in place to make sure the venues are paid. Some venues will include the band cut in your presales, but don’t count on it. So in a sense, you are paying to play. This is completely acceptable however, if the venue fails to supply a portion of the crowd, what’s really in it for you?
With any new band, your main goal is to build a fan base. Pre-sale tickets often make it difficult to achieve this goal due to the fact that bands will most likely sell to the same people, whom after awhile will begin to politely ignore their invitation, especially if the band is playing too many shows back to back. So, how do you build a fan base if you are constantly playing in front of the same people? Well, the obvious solution is to promote. It is your job to personally develop strategies to get potential fans to purchase tickets to your show. Some bands will hire a street team or pay a promoter to do this for them. Due to the fact that some venues put very little effort into maintaining a built in crowd, if you fail, your awesome gig will turn into a private show for the bartenders.
But wait, there is hope! If you insist on playing these notable venues but having trouble selling tickets to potential fans, a good tip to building a fan base in despite of pre-sales would be to take as much control over your show as possible.
• Do not accept just ANY show, make sure you are playing on a roster with bands that are not only similar, but have a decent following.
• If you are a new or self touring band with minimal fans, try to schedule your performance BEFORE the band with the most fans. (DO YOUR HOMEWORK) Unfortunately, most people will leave after the band they came to see.
• Put on an AWESOME show! People will remember you if you are good. If you have the budget, hire a guy to run lights. A light show will enhance your performance and make people feel like they are witnessing something spectacular.
• Finally, DO NOT saturate the area. We know you love to play, but playing too many shows in the same area will minimize your turn outs. For example, if you have 25 fans and 5 shows this month, you may get 5 fans at each show. Playing one big show for the month will get all 25 fans out at the same time, creating a better experience.
Good luck with those pre-sales! For those of you who are looking to avoid the pre-sales and focus on capturing the attention of random potential fans, look for the venues with built in crowds that will pay you to entertain their guest.
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Comments
I would have to agree completely with this article. You have to be good enough that people will constantly want to come out and support you, and unfortunately less than 1% of all bands that play the "big" venues can do this successfully. It would be great if all the bands and their fans stuck around for the whole show, but that's not a reality, nor is it practical.
This is great advice to a band thats willing to put up with the thievery that goes on with promoters, clubs, etc in this city. You cant call yourself a "promoter" if your job ends at booking the venue and the lineup. I've played these large venues in Baltimore, DC and beyond. My bands have brought hundreds of people to single shows only to have the band paid a whopping $250-300 at the end of the night. At $9-$15 a head at the door, plus the hundreds spent at a bar (a fans and friends are drinkers), to see less than 10% of the gross is a joke.
After all has been said and done, hundreds of gigs over 15 years, I've never ran into someone at a show who said they were there because of a means the "promoter" put into place.
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