Is there any hope for metal bands starting out!

Promoters don't care about your band. They care about the money you can bring in.
This I would say to all new musicians starting out in the band world. Club owners and promoters are not benevolent entities seeking to promote good music. They are interested in making money. One way to attract customers for them is to provide live entertainment. So all you are is another commoditiy necessary to do business.
What they want is a band that shows up and starts on time. Doesn't take 30 minute breaks. Doesn't start or get into fights. Attracts customers, and the final analysis is what is in the til at the end of the night.
If you want to be in the music business, you have to treat it like a business. If you don't have merch and ad collateral, you are at a hugh disadvantage.
If you don't have those things, you need to acquire them. That means you raise the money to get what you need to do business. You bought equipment, but that is just a part of it. If that is all you have, it would be like a carpenter who has a box of tools, but no truck.
So maybe selling the tickets would help raise a little cash and get you some exposure. What is so bad about that? Looks like your band and the promoter would both win.
Now, think about it from the promoter's perspective: Here is a band I've never heard of that wants to play my venue. How do I know if they will draw enough to make a profit for me? Well, if you have enough following you can sell 30 tickets, that is an indicator you will.

As to the Metal part (and I will get flamed again for this), Metal for live entertainment is kind of dying out and there are more metal bands that metal venues. You need to find a way to make your band stand out from the others so people will want to come see you live. That is marketing. Getting gigs is sales. There is a difference.

Hope that helps.

 

Start out with some private house parties. Then try renting your own halls. Scratch some money together and make some shirts and sell em. Then you might be able to swing the ticket sales.

 

Get known in your scene. Make connections. Go to other bands shows. Try to to get into a show with other bands, but don't rely on only them to bring in an audience. Social media. Make some vids and put them on Facebook. Find an art student who may be willing to design a logo for you on the cheap, and maybe find a screen printer to throw some shirts together for you. Free demo CDs.

 

in my country, there's always a scene for metal. a good way is to search them out in metal forums. i hope you dont care about money, cause nobody gets paid playing metal. when i say "metal," i do not mean "TB's definition of metal"

 

isnt there already a genre for this ? death metal or doom metal or SOL metal ????

 

Checked out your video, and you guys got something really cool going on! Left a like and a comment for ya, and when that demo comes out be sure to hit me up man. \m/

 

Every band has to pay their dues and there is no getting around this. For every gig available there are 5 bands just starting out and 4 of them suck. Venue owners can't waste time and money booking the sucky bands and are always looking for ways to identify the 1 good band that will attract fans and put butts on barstools.

If your band is one of those that can be successful in this way then you need to put in the time playing a few shows for "exposure" until you can prove that you are worth booking for pay.

These days it is absolutely essential to get a Facebook page and make sure that you post everything that you can to it (ESPECIALLY PICTURES OF YOUR FANS CHEERING WITH DRINKS IN THIER HANDS) and make sure that you convince as many of your fans as you can to post there as well. After awhile, you Facebook page will contain a small history of your band that will demonstrate to the clubs that you are worth booking.

 

They're all giving some great advice here, I'm just here to say that right now in my area, metal is the only thing that still seems to be going

 

I was looking into moving out of LA, think Snake Pliskin, and was looking at a few likely places, checking out the night life scene in central to eastern WA. All Metal, all the time...some folk rock (gag) and corny jazz.

Seems like Metal is alive...yeah, the senior citizen's here remember better times when venues were plentiful and the crowds easy to find and lure out. The reality is in Dav's post.

 

Even cover bands get asked to sell tickets to play in some venues... They have to cover their asses when hiring a band they don't know, y'know? That's how business works!

Good luck!

 

Ahh promoters who want the band to sell tickets: That's like going in for surgery and having the surgeon give you the scalpel or going into the garage to have your car fixed and the mechanic giving you the wrench. I don't have anything personal against promoters - just the bush league ones who expect the talent to do their job for them. I always love the ones who book a 5th rate national act and then expect the local talent to be the draw.

I agree that the best thing to do is to cut out the middle man and put on your own shows. The reality is, you'll probably lose money. But metal is an underground scene and the DIY philosophy is what keeps it going.

 

That's hysterical. Those club owners need to take an intro to business class at the local community college. I'm sure somewhere in the first chapter of the textbook is a statement along the lines of "Going into business is a risk." If a new beer representative comes in, do they have to go out on the street and sell wooden coins too?

Ahh, there are some club owners I love and are awesome. But man, the night entertainment industry is the only legit industry where garbage like selling tickets for a venue to be able to grace its stage is somehow seen as legitimate.

 

Tell the bar that you'll pay for them free, but you will have your own representation at the door to collect cover charges.