First gig with our band any advice promoting? (rant included)

Pay To Play. This is baaaaad sh!t. Avoid.

Cancel the "gig". Pass the word to other potential suckers.

 

We had one of these in MN....
My band was going to play in it, but we cancelled because it smelled of scam.

 

Seriously. Screw those people. Don't do pay to play. Bad for you, bad for the entire musical community.

 

Let's assume there are 6 bands seeing as each slot is 30 minutes.

6 bands sell 50 tix = $3600

6 bands get paid total of $390

Promoters take = $3210

Club also has 300 patrons who each buy an average of $10 in beverages = $3000

I'm sure things are more complex than what the raw numbers show but ... it seems like everyone but the musicians are in line for some cash. Plus YOU are the attraction, and have done the promotion and your pay, if any, is a pittance.

Seems like the answer is simple, yet there are plenty of bands who will play the game. This is a slow f***ing of us who make our living playing live music. Please boycott the show, tell your friends and other bands to boycott the show, and tell the promoter to shove it.

 

Two things that caught my attention.
1. 30min is pretty standard for an opening slot.
2. I'd stall the owners on the tickets you are supposed to sell until right before you go on, then hand them all back. you won't get to play there again but fun to do. (Yes, I have done that before), I'd do the gig just so I could pull #2.

 

This is a rip-off.

Why would you even WANT to play this gig, especially as a thrash band? You would be a sucker to play this show. No one except the people you sold tickets to are gonna care about what you play, and you could book a VFW hall or something and sell those same people tickets for half that price, make more money yourselves, get to play a longer set, and your fans (ie:friends) won't have to sit through all the other bands full of suckers.

DIY DIY DIY DIY DIY DIY DIY DIY

 

My band plays shows just like this and we have another one coming next Saturday. We have to sell 30 tickets at $10 a piece and they provide a kick ass PA and they provide the sound guy. They give us 60 tickets which we usually sell the whole stack, putting $300 dollars in our pockets and we get to play badass venues with kick ass lighting etc. etc. At the end of the day, we play a show in front of our 60 people + what the other 5-6 bands bring in on a professional stage with professional sound and cool lighting.

So in our case, I don't think its all that bad. However, we have lots of dedicated friends and family and we also are starting to gather a small fan base of people we don't know that are starting to ask for tickets. It's kind of cool.

Or. We could book a hall, sell 60 tickets at $5-10 each but we would have no PA, No Lights, No sweet venue. Eh.

 

Go to other metal/hard rock shows and network. Check myspace for metal/hard rock bands in your area and network. Call up local VFW type places and small "banquet halls" and bingo parlors until you find places that will rent out for $100 - $200 bucks a night (or find out from other bands where the shows get thrown). Rent out a place, get some of the bands you networked with to play with you, put up flyers, send out bulletins on myspace, play show, make friends, break even, get exposure with people who like your kind of music, rinse, repeat.

The pay to play schemes generally take advantage of lazy people in mediocre bands who have no connections or knowledge of the local area's music scene. I absolutely guarantee in a city the size of Montreal there a PLENTY of metal bands and if you search you will find a scene to participate in.

The exposure you get with the pay to play will be a bunch of people waiting around to see their friend's folk rock (or country, or nu-metal, or indie, etc) band who just wishes those metal dudes would hurry up so their buddies can play and they can all go home.
Basically, imagine how YOUR friends would react to a nu-country band playing before you guys and that's how the other people in the audience will be responding to you.

 

Just another thread about what is wrong with live music today. New bands come along and fall for this crap everyday. To the OP you are right to be pissed.

 

the "promoters" should be arrested. its out and out theft. they are preying on the ambitions of the bands (usually young folk) for "exposure" and to "get your name out there".

its a CON. in the end they get the money, you get to play...for nuthin.

your friends spend $ on admission, transportation and beverages.....to see you play for 20 lousy minutes. so they get taken, too.

CANCEL, stay home and practice or have a band rehearsal...your time will be better spent.

this crap ought to be outlawed (but you are AGREEING to do it!) tell every musician you know not to fall for this. if you can, tell the other bands, too,before the gig. get as many to cancel out as possible.

 

my band was paid $100 for a half hour set, and $200 for an hour set, I would demand at least $100 especially if You are selling the tix. fare enough if thet make you hand out flyers, but not sell the tix, That is the Promoters job. I wouldnt be too hesitant to alert the authorities.

 

and you are a willing victim, er, participant.

 

some bands in salt lake city have organized against pay to play & have had great
success. beautiful thing. do a search.

 

Smells of EMERGENZA

 

there is another thread against pay to play


I cant find it, but it is a good read, and has links to blogs....


can someone link it/reference it? it is a TB thread...

al

 

I'm guessing this is either Emergenza or Supernova running this thing? It's been a few years since I played Montreal, but in my experience they have one of the better metal scenes around. You shouldn't have too much of a problem finding a place to play or other bands to play with.

You're not just selling yourselves short if you play this show, you are also scamming your friends/fans who are forced to shell out $12 to see a 20 minute show. If you won't say 'no' because you actually think it will be good for your band, at least say 'no' because you'd rather charge your friends $5 to see you play for 45 minutes.

As a new band you have a short window to impress your friends enough to *want* to come to your shows - they'll come to the first few out of obligation. More value will be more likely to make them want to come back and see you again.