Are you also the band manager & booking agent?

Richland123 · #1 05-13-2009, 12:58 PM

Are you also the band manager & booking agent?

Every band I have been in has resulted in me not only playing bass and singing but also being the manager and booking agent. This is a business and somebody has to do the work outside of playing but it has always ended up with me. I am known regionally as being a band business person and successful at getting gigs, setting up large concerts, etc. However, I do way more work than anybody else in the band. If I do not do the work, we do not play and nobody else knows how to do the work. It would be nice to not deal with club owners, managers, etc. and just show up and play.

JulienJeff · #2 05-13-2009, 01:03 PM

same here... we're a small band so it doens't represnet much work but I do it. Other members of the band are not well organised so, naturally, I took the lead regarding organisation issues

runmikeyrun · #3 05-13-2009, 01:34 PM

yeah me too... it just sort of happened that way. No one else wanted the job so by default i got it. The more i did the less anyone else felt like doing haha.

MatticusMania · #4 05-13-2009, 03:21 PM

Im ALWAYS that guy. And frankly, Im tired of it. Im in a 5 piece band and Im the only one who a)books shows, b)makes flyers, c)pass flyers out, d)all that other managerial stuff. Why can't any of the other 4 guys do this? Im tired of all this weighing me down and Im calling a band meeting over it. I think if no one else starts picking up some slack Im going to quit, and find an established band that is already getting gigs.

tycobb73 · #5 05-13-2009, 05:30 PM

Everyone in my band books gigs except the drummer. He has the PA and manages that. The lead singer does the myspace, I do the website. So its pretty even.

jtc_hunter · #6 05-13-2009, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

Im ALWAYS that guy. And frankly, Im tired of it. Im in a 5 piece band and Im the only one who a)books shows, b)makes flyers, c)pass flyers out, d)all that other managerial stuff. Why can't any of the other 4 guys do this? Im tired of all this weighing me down and Im calling a band meeting over it. I think if no one else starts picking up some slack Im going to quit, and find an established band that is already getting gigs.

Thats me too. Are bass players always the one who gets it done?

Marko5657 · #7 05-14-2009, 04:37 AM

On a Live-Sound forum I frequent, it was noticed that, of the guys in the band who owned the PA and did the Sound, the vast majority were the Bass players. So they did a little poll, and that was indeed the case. I just thought that was interesting.

As for the OP and others in that situation...

When someone is doing the work, most are just happy to let them.

Maybe just delegate some of the legwork. Give out assignments, like give one guy a list of phone calls to make and notes of what to say, give one guy a flier and send him to get them copied, give another the fliers to distribute, etc.

My guess is they’ll accommodate w/no problem.

Hutch1 · #8 05-14-2009, 05:13 AM

I've had that experience, too, where I was the only one doing the booking legwork. It got old very, very quickly (see the "I don't remember getting gigs being this tough" thread in the Bass Humor & Gig Stories forum).

In my experience, marketing one's band correctly and gig-hunting is at best a full-time job that takes a good deal of enjoyment out of being in a band, and at worst it is a very frustrating venture akin to spending one's life looking for a great job. In many respects I'd rather pay somebody (agent) to do the work for me so I can enjoy being a musician. If I wanted to be a business person I would have an MBA.

phatbass · #9 05-14-2009, 05:31 AM

Been there; done that. now I'm a gig-whore someone else can go through all the fun 'n' joy and I just turn up to play where 'n' when I'm told. Playing is actually fun again.

lawsonman · #10 05-14-2009, 05:49 AM

Always have been.Seems like nobody else has ever wanted to do it so I've been it.

GreggBummer · #11 05-14-2009, 05:56 AM

I wouldn't say that I'm "THE" guy to do it my band... we all share in these types of duties. I run the myspace and I made some demo recordings (both of which I have no real experience with... so it has been fun learning HTML and playing around with a mixer and recording software).

www.myspace.com/kickstandwilly

We just do this for fun... we all have careers (not day jobs) and families. We aren't trying to conquer the world. I guess I would feel different about it if that was what we were trying to do. I enjoy the promotions work.

EDIT: By the way... this is the first time I have ever posted a link to any music I have ever played on TB.

Richland123 · #12 05-14-2009, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hutch1

In my experience, marketing one's band correctly and gig-hunting is at best a full-time job that takes a good deal of enjoyment out of being in a band, and at worst it is a very frustrating venture akin to spending one's life looking for a great job. In many respects I'd rather pay somebody (agent) to do the work for me so I can enjoy being a musician. If I wanted to be a business person I would have an MBA.

I do have an MBA and I have a marketing and event management business. However, I have been doing all of the band business dirty work way before I had that background. It is like a full-time job. I tell the guys in my band how much work it takes and how difficult it is but they just do not get it. I have made it very clear to them that if I leave the band, it is dead because nobody else knows how to run the business aspect. Of course, they are fully aware that I am the only reason that we work so much and get all of the high profile gigs in the region. Having a good band with good musicians and performers is only 1/2 of being in a successful band. The business part of it is the other 1/2.

MatticusMania · #13 05-14-2009, 12:28 PM

If I were to leave my band, which Im starting to think about, the band would implode itself as soon as the last scheduled gig is done with. All momentum would cease.

TheVoiceless · #14 05-14-2009, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richland123

Are you also the band manager & booking agent?

Every band I have been in has resulted in me not only playing bass and singing but also being the manager and booking agent. This is a business and somebody has to do the work outside of playing but it has always ended up with me. I am known regionally as being a band business person and successful at getting gigs, setting up large concerts, etc. However, I do way more work than anybody else in the band. If I do not do the work, we do not play and nobody else knows how to do the work. It would be nice to not deal with club owners, managers, etc. and just show up and play.

DUDE!!! This is my delma. I'm done with being the only one willing to do the leg work.

Oh! Henry · #15 05-14-2009, 02:29 PM

I rarely book gigs because I'm a terrible saleman, so I usually fail in my attempts to book gigs!!! I would have a hard time convincing a starving man to eat a Big Mac. In my trio, we use a booking agent that takes between 12-15%. If one of us books a gig, then the commission of the top goes to that band member. Then we split the remainder of the money 3 ways.

This way the person doing the legwork gets some compensation for his work therefore less frustrated, and those that usually do nothing, might actually have the urge to get up of their a$$es and book gigs of their own. We agreed on this when we started the band, it might be hard to make the others members swallow this kind of deal if they've been used to getting free bookings.

inhospitableone · #16 05-24-2009, 06:33 PM

Yeah, me too. Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. At first, I was like "geez do I have to do everything?" and then, I realized......if I don't do it, it won't get done right!

I've started to delegate tasks, mainly posting fliers. Our last show, I asked the guitard (kudos to whoever made that up, BTW!!) to post fliers for our show with a friend of ours that was also putting up fliers for his show. Guitard never even showed up, and our friend printed and put up our fliers for us.

And wouldn't you know it, the other guys didn't even thank him, apologize for not being there, nothing.

The world would stop if it wasn't for people like us. Seriously.

Jimmy Bones · #17 05-25-2009, 03:31 AM

I do it because I am a bit of a control freak.

dcr · #18 05-25-2009, 04:05 AM

Same here! I've about quit doing all the bookings, but still do more than my share. I also get to:

Do about 1/2 the bookings
Own and maintain the PA
Transport the PA
Set up and run the PA
Run lights from stage
Maintain the website/myspace page

And no -- I don't make any more than the rest of the guys. Half the band pretty much depends on playing income and I don't. But some extra help would certainly be much appreciated on my part.

I sat in with a bunch of guys a few weeks ago and it was GREAT! I showed up with my rig, played, got paid and left. It was a house gig, so there was no PA to tear down, but I certainly would have helped load in/out if required.

dcr

JohnMCA72 · #19 05-25-2009, 09:02 PM

Somebody's got to do it, & if nobody else does, it falls onto whomever wants it done the most.

Been there, done that. Same thing with equipment setup. I still remember a band I was in, many years ago: Every single other member of the band told me, at different times, "You know, John, it always seems like it's just you and me setting everything up every time!" After the 3rd time I heard that, I just shook my head...

JM

BlueShox · #20 05-26-2009, 12:51 AM

It's a thankless job and normally it's done by whoever wants the band to succeed and prosper the most, because they're willing to put forth the effort to make things happen.