MUSIC PROMOTION 101
In the music scene there is no shortage of music promoters- but what do promoters actually do? This blog post is a 101 introduction to what the crazy world of music promotion is.
Simply put, a music promoter is a professional who organizes and promotes live music events, such as concerts and festivals.
TYPICAL DUTIES
In this section we take a look at some typical duties’ promoters are responsible for when putting on a show such as deciding on music genre, a date, timing of the show, how many bands you want to include in the lineup and much more!
1. BUDGET- The most important factor when planning a show is determining your budget. The budget includes any venue fees, band pay, advertising, production costs, ticketing and any other potential expenses that could come up. Determining your budget will help you when setting ticket prices; too high and you will deter people from purchasing, too low and you may not be able to cover your expenses. Being a promoter is a numbers game, every show is a financial risk dependent on the amount of ticket sales and getting bodies in the room is never guaranteed.
I wish I could say that we have always had financially successful shows, but the truth is we have lost on many of our events. While the shows themselves were a success and we were able to make great connections and killer memories, our wallet took a beating at times. Promoting is a gamble and one not for the faint of heart…
2. VENUE- Once you have an idea of the budget you are prepared to work with, locating a venue that will fit into your criteria is the next most important step. Different venues approach outside promoters usually in two ways- door splits shared between promoter, venue and bands or charging promoters to rent the venue and cover production costs. There is less risk when you are working with a venue who operates by door split because you are working only with the funds that come from the show, but it also usually means less profitability. Aside from venue costs you will also need to factor in the venue’s location. Does the area the venue operates in make sense for the type of show you are wanting to do? Are there similar events in the area? Is the area somewhere that people will want to go to? What kind of reputation does the venue have? Is the venue known to work with outside promoters or do they do all shows in-house? Do people know of the venue, and do they go to it? Also important to research is the type of shows the venue typically hosts. If the venue is usually a honky-tonk bar and their patrons are accustomed to country shows hosting a punk rock night may not be the best fit… That’s not to say you can’t use the country bar for a punk show but if you do you will likely not get any of their usual attendees and will have to bring a totally different crowd in which could negatively impact your budget if not enough people show up. Another venue consideration to look into is whether the venue provides sound/lighting in-house or if it has to be brought in, if provided in-house does that include a sound engineer and if so, will they need to be paid separately or is that factored into the current pricing negotiations you are already working on? Once you have taken a holistic look into the venues and have decided on a location ensure you get a clear agreement in place. Knowing the venues expectations of you upfront will save you from a potential negative experience with the venue down the road.
3. BOOKING BANDS- A big part of a promoter’s life involves researching artists and thorough research should be done when planning your show. Has the band played the venue before? If so, how often? Do they already have a show there close to the one you are planning? If so, that may not be the best band for you to book. Oversaturation is a big deal and can drastically impact the outcome of your event. Other considerations include how active the bands are- do they engage with their fans, do they promote the shows they currently have, are they active on social media and working on building their brand? Are they working hard to promote themselves? Next, listen to the band’s music- recordings watch live videos and if possible, see them perform live and in person to get a feel for the kind of show they put on. Some bands have amazing recordings and are sadly nothing alike when they perform live, don’t fall victim to the recorded music trap! You also want to decide whether you want to do a locals only, have regional bands or even national or touring acts on the bill. When you have an idea of the bands you want to book listen to the potential lineup you have set, does it flow? Do the bands work well together? Do you need to swap bands around on the lineup to better fit the flow of the event? Your next task is to determine what you can offer the bands as far as compensation- will you be doing door split percentages and if so, what allocation are you setting for each band or are you offering a guaranteed fee for the bands per set? Having this information locked down will help when you reach out to the bands and ask them to play so that you will be able to provide them all of the information up front for them to consider.
I have not always done the above amount of research and just booked lineups to fill a show and as you can imagine the result was subpar at best. My partner is the one who is very detailed when choosing bands and building lineups and I have learned a lot from him on building killer shows! It’s worth the time it takes to thoroughly research your bands, the quality of your event and your reputation depend on it.
4. PROMOTING- So you’ve got your show plan, the venue and the bands and everything is starting to come together! Next on the task list is advertising, marketing and promotion. As a promoter its your job to get the people to show up to your show. Creating a diversified advertising plan will help you to reach a wide audience offering your show a chance at success. When creating your promotion plan ask yourself if you are willing to put up paper flyers about your event or if you are only going to rely on digital reach. Identify the avenues where you would like to advertise your event- social media, local radio stations, newspapers, etc. and then determine what potential costs may be and if it fits into your overall budget for the show. If you determine the cost is too high and out of budget look for free alternatives instead! There are lots of free event posting forums online, free social media groups and more. Despite the cost being out of budget for your event you may still want to do all the advertising you came up with in which case either you must come up with a bigger budget or you look for alternative ways to get the needed funds. Sponsorship is one of the best ways to help come up with the extra needed to implement your promotional plan. Sponsorship is when a company/individual pays you a set amount and in exchange you advertise them alongside the show. Putting their logo on flyers, announcing them as sponsors on social, adding them as co-host on event invites- there are many ways you can advertise your sponsor to make their contribution worthwhile. Promoting an event takes a lot of time and a lot of perseverance to follow through; it takes creativity and enthusiasm, hope and determination. A promoter should walk into their advertising plan as if none of the bands will share in the process and have the mindset that its by their efforts alone that the show will succeed or fail. Relying on the bands too heavily or the venue to promote prevents you from doing what is needed to get people in the door. Ultimately, the crowd should be the result of the promoters’ efforts.
5. WORKING THE SHOW- You’ve done everything and now, its show time! Part of the duties of a concert promoter is ensuring that the show runs smoothly. Arrive at the venue before the bands to set up if need be and stay until the bands leave to clean up. You should be acting as the liaison between the bands and the venues and making sure production goes off without a hitch. Communicate in advance set times, load in, soundcheck times, provide the sound engineer with any technical requirements the bands may have, ensure the bands are loading their gear on stage in the correct order to reduce slower set changes… If the venue has someone to work the door for the event make sure you connect with them prior to doors to ensure they have everything they need, know the ticket pricing and remember to provide wristbands/stamps and to check IDs if the venue is closed to minors. During the event check in with the bands, do they need water or towels, are they ready to perform? Work the floor during the show greeting people and getting a feel for how the event is going according to the crowd and enjoy yourself. All your hard work has led to this moment so be there and be proud!
SKILLS
While anyone can be a promoter there are skills that every promoter should possess to be successful. This is not an exhaustive list but gives a good idea on what it takes to do the job right…
1. Excellent written and verbal communication skills
2. Ability to negotiate
3. Wide range of industry knowledge
4. Budgeting fluency
5. Conflict resolution
6. Attention to detail
7. Salesmanship
8. Creativity and passion
9. High stress tolerance
10. Strong in event planning
11. Being able to pivot and multitask
12. Marketing/advertising experience
13. Recordkeeping, spreadsheets and tracking acumen
MUSIC PROMOTER PAY
The 2 most common ways that a promoter gets paid is either based upon a percentage of the door totals or profit above paid expenses from ticket sales. In the case of a door split scenario let’s say the bands get a total of 70% of the door totals and the venue takes 20% that leaves you with a 10% profit. Depending on the number of people will depend on the amount you earn. If you are recouping funds already spent with ticket sales however your pay will be whatever profit remains after the expenses have been paid. Being a promoter is risky there is no doubt about it. If the people don’t come you either go home at zero or take a loss, but with that risk comes a lot of reward as well because if your show has a great turnout, you will walk away with a pretty solid payday! If you are concerned about the amount of expenses the show will have, sponsors are a great way to help mitigate the risk. You can also engage in fundraising activities to build up a safety net for the show. Some promoters, however, require bands to sell tickets to the event in order to perform and some flat out offer buy-on spots as ways to ensure expenses are covered and they get paid.
We at LS Music Promotions avoid these types or arrangements…we do not think highly of “pay to play” shows, we believe the bands should be paid for their time and talent and we will always do our best to get each band the most we can for their sets!
MUSIC PROMOTER COSTS
We’ve discussed how promoters typically get paid and briefly mentioned upfront costs but outlined here is a more comprehensive look at some of the potential costs that a music promoter faces…
1. BAND PAY- Whether by door split or guarantee fee the bands will need to be paid and it is your responsibility to ensure they are. Along with band pay there may be a need for you to provide water/drinks, food or other items at the request of the bands and depending on your contractual requirements.
2. VENUE FEES- Rent, production, sound engineer, venue staff, etc. Even if a venue is partnering with you on a door split there are still other costs that need to be considered.
3. PROMOTION- We just went over marketing and advertising, costs in this space can vary greatly depending on what you want to do and how hard you want to push.
4. PHOTOGRAPHY- Some promoters like to have professionals shoot their shows for their own portfolio and also to provide to the bands however photography can be pricey.
5. MERCH- Who doesn’t love a killer design on a t-shirt right? Merch is not necessary as a promoter, but it offers another avenue for revenue after you offset the costs.
6. GAS- If you have a vehicle- you probably need gas and depending on how far the venue you show is from your home, gas can become a sneaky high dollar cost.
7. COMPANY EXPENSES- If the music promoter has legitimized their business into a legal company there will be taxes, website costs, attorney fees, business license fees and more…
Even though becoming a legal business entity has costs associated with it, there are also numerous benefits which we will discuss next.
LEGAL ENTITY
Often times promoters of legitimate businesses will get more work than someone doing this role under the table or as a hobby because there are protections built in for venues, festivals and for the promoter as well that comes with being a legal business entity. Having a legal business also helps to build reputation and shows the public that you take this role seriously. Having your promotional company legitimized also opens more doors and ways for people to learn about your company.
There are many ways to legitimize your promotional company, speak with a lawyer to determine which avenue is right for your needs.
BUILDING YOUR BRAND
As a promoter or as a company you also need to think about building your brand. How do you want to be seen in the music industry, what do you want to be known for? Here is a small list of ways you can begin to answer those questions:
1. Develop a mission statement and define a purpose. What are your goals? Why are you doing this? What do you hope to both get and give by being a promoter?
2. Participate in your local market- attend shows regularly, connect with local bands and concert goers, put yourself out there and get yourself known. Active engagement in the market you are in will only help you to grow!
3. Network, network, network. Contact other companies in the music industry that may produce a beneficial relationship, link up with other promoters and do collaborations, grow your band base and reach out to as many venues as possible. The more you get acclimated within the industry as and spend time networking, the faster your brand will be recognized.
4. Start small with local shows. Don’t expect to be booking national acts and selling out auditoriums right away, start small and grow from there. My favorite acronym is for the word TIME and it is Things I Must Earn. Give yourself time to figure out what works for you as a promoter and then keep building on it.
5. Reputation is EVERYTHING! In this industry your reputation means more than you can imagine. How do you treat bands? How do you run your shows? How are you at communicating with all the necessary parties involved? Are you greedy and only out for money or are you trying to help the music scene grow as well? Reviews online stick around venues, bands, companies and everyday people put stock into what your reviews say. You may be one bad review away from booking the next major music festival!
WRAPPING IT UP
This blog post has by no means been exhaustive, but we touched on some key areas such as duties, skills, pay, costs and identity. It was my hope to provide an overview into the world of promoting from our experience over the years in the music industry. There are many resources online where you can learn more about music promotion, but you can also reach out and ask us any questions you may have as well! Just shoot us an email at: lsmusicpromo@gmail.com and we will respond to you shortly! In closing, I will share some about our promotions company and thank you for reading!
ABOUT LSMP
We started this company in Owensboro, KY- the land of bluegrass and country. We would have to travel at least 2 hours in any direction to attend rock concerts with music we enjoyed so we decided it was time to bring the music to us! We also wanted to offer more variety to our local community than what there was currently and since we both have music industry experience in our background starting LS Music Promotions just came naturally.
In our time as a company, we have not only built a solid reputation, but we have put on dozens of successful concerts, have booked for a music event drawing 25k people in attendance, have booked a one-day national rock festival, have provided various venues with booking services and have assisted bands with shows and tour routing! We are also in the process of launching our non-profit, Music Pharm, whose purpose is to educate and advocate for music as a form of therapy for various challenges such as PTSD, Depression, Anxiety and Alzheimer’s. We have been featured in Owensboro Times Magazine, the Owensboro newspaper, The Nashville Voyager, Canvas Rebel Magazine, Ghost of Thor Podcast and have been interviewed by 97x radio station. We will soon be featured in a rock blog, and I will be participating in a video podcast regarding women in the music industry in December.
We have relocated to the Atlanta area this past summer and have since immersed ourselves into the local market here- attending concerts, building connections and friendships and linking up with other industry professionals. We currently have 3 concerts coming up, collaborations planned, and large scale shows on the horizon!
We do this because we are passionate about music. Our purpose has been and always will be to promote the growth and welfare of the live music scene, and we will do whatever we can to help it flourish! My favorite quote sums up exactly how I feel: “Without music, life would be a mistake.” -Friedrich Nietzsche
