You would be much better off to pay a band to open for them in a decent venue.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Touring for "exposure"
- Thread starter Acoustic356
- Start date
-
- Tags
- question
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
David Bowie tried to take advantage of SRV and have his band open for him for $500 a gig. Stevie said hell no ... don't ever play for "exposure"
Pffft "Christian" - pretty sure Jesus would turn down this gig and probably turnover some tables while doing so
Unclear to me how this supports expanding your audience and building a fan base. If this is Christian-based then you are already at a niche level and would potentially get lost in the shuffle. Also, unclear what sort of additional costs you would incur given the vague information provided. I won't pass judgment beyond that. I wouldn't pursue this.
So how does this exposure thing work when you are playing far away from your local area? "I want to buy a record from this band I heard at a free Christian music event I went to last week"...said no one.
This is from a post I submitted about working for charity events just a few days ago.
"I don't gig but this is the policy I learned from my little photography business. If the organizer is making money from the event or other vendors are getting paid then I don't work for free. It's as simple as that."
"I don't gig but this is the policy I learned from my little photography business. If the organizer is making money from the event or other vendors are getting paid then I don't work for free. It's as simple as that."
That's a great advice but I wonder If that kind of information leak out? Could be an embarassing downfall for the band.You would be much better off to pay a band to open for them in a decent venue.
Bring your own "Bass Players for Jesus" hat, and pass it around...
Cheese and Rice!!!
Cheese and Rice!!!
Ever read the story of a guy who faked a following for his band to live out the dream of a tour?
Threatin: band creates fake fanbase for tour attended by no one
Anyway, fakery has been part of the music industry since the earliest days. It's just changed forms. It used to be about shock value, or being outrageous to the the point of absurdity (sex pistols anyone?), these days it's using bots and fake followers to promote your stuff. Targeted ads, etc etc. Next week it'll be using AI to compose your music. Or maybe that's already happening, hehehe.
Did I read something about an audition fee? Targeted towards hundreds, if not thousands, of young musicians nationwide?
From what I've read of a certain book, these people would be cast out of a certain building/property by a certain famous someone in a fire-ants-in-the-underwear kind of hurry.
Nearly EVERYTHING about this is suspicious.
From what I've read of a certain book, these people would be cast out of a certain building/property by a certain famous someone in a fire-ants-in-the-underwear kind of hurry.
Nearly EVERYTHING about this is suspicious.
I hear the crack of a whip reading that. There's "exposure" (ie - working for free to get some cred) and there's slave labor.
Read about how the band that became ZZ Top was founded. Crazy story.
Based on the Reddit guy’s experience partway down the thread, this is simply a way for the organisers to get unpaid workers for their travelling preaching/outreach program.
Fine if you’re into that but not something I’d want to do!
Fine if you’re into that but not something I’d want to do!
My feelings on this or any other pay to play gig are this: No pay, No play! Simple.
whoa, so much to unpack with this. 75 bucks just to apply
Kind of like the "contests" that high school music department bands "win" to play in places like Hawaii or Disney. Participants pay entry fees as well as all expenses to participate. I know a high school kid that had played her instrument for exactly a month before her freshman band "won" one of them. It cost the parents thousands for her to make the trip.
The same stuff exists in youth sports. I have a friend who is an assistant D3 college basketball coach. The events pay his way to "scouting camps" in Florida. He spends much of the time at the dog and horse tracks.
FullumMusic
Commercial User
- Oct 13, 2022
- 2,008
- 5,683
- Disclosures
- Audio/Music software developer, contracted with a company you've heard of and deving my own stuff.
It’s kinda common practice in the electronic music and hip hop worlds. Hire a name act to play a show. Pay them their contract rate. Sell tickets at the market rate for the headliner so you can recoup their fees, and then book yourself and another local act/band/DJ as the support. It wouldn’t necessarily be scandalous or have much fallout in those worlds. Can’t say what the attitude towards it would be in other genre scenes.
Of course, some people do this same thing not only so they can recoup some money from the door/tickets and open for the big name headliner, but also to make sure they’re the only one at the event selling, let’s say, “certain inhalable/ingestibile merch” that party goers enjoy. That’s where the real profit is, and why they have have the money to pay the headliner in the first place. Making money through music usually means using music to make money from something else.
Sounds interesting! Any links? I'm not finding anything that stands out on the goog
