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Well, we did it!! (pay to play content)

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#81
Great job dude. I'm sure the people commenting in a condescending tone will still be on this forum in ten years talking about how they are too good for this or that or get paid x amount because their time is too valuable. You however will most likely be in a better place! Hope you have a great show milk it for all you can.
 
#82
Glad you guys were able to sell all the tickets, but I have to agree with the comments stating that this is Pay to Play. You essentially did $1,500 worth of work for the venue just so you could play there, and the venue pocketed it all while doing nothing to make that revenue.
 
#84
Blue_Whistle88 said:
You should be happy that you've managed to sell 100 tickets to an upcoming show you have (though don't necessarily expect 100 people to turn up). You should also be happy that there's a lot of promotion around the gig, and that there are a number of people making an active attempt at getting people along to the gig. You sound like you appreciate both of these things, and that's great.

What you shouldn't be happy about, which has already been mentioned, is that you effectively just did $1500 worth of work for the promoters, just to play this gig AT ALL. Granted, you aren't paying anything to play, but that's only because you were able to sell 100 tickets. If you couldn't do that you'd need to pay, so your gratitude is effectively determined by your indepenent ability to pull a crowd. If you can do that, why the heck are you hooking up with a bunch of guys who force you to do unncessary marketing work?

The pay-to-play schemes are a scam regardless of whether or not you can comply with their demands. If you can't pull the "required" crowd, you have to pay money to play to that small crowd. In your case, that would've been $750 you'd pay to play to 50 people (for example), that you apparently could have pulled without their "promotion". I'll repeat that: You play to 50 people, you pay $750, and the "promoters" do nothing to help you get that crowd. I wouldn't be happy about that if it were me.

The "prestige" of the venues, bands, and promoters associated with these schemes is all bullcrap, used to trick people unto risking their own finances just to play a gig. The "prestige" isn't pulling your crowd, not really. That's why you're selling tickets, and not them. The "prestige" also isn't writing your material, rehearsing your band, or organising anything else that's getting you guys together on the night. You can either build your musical career on your own respect or someone elses, but the respect of others will never really earn you anything, no matter how close you are to it.
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All good man.. it's me, not you... :hiding:

I sometimes post things without reading the whole thread myself. Welcome... you are one of us....

:ninja:
 
#88
A couple years ago, some snake approached our band to play at the House of Blues in San Diego. As the gig got closer, the details got shakier (start time, length of set, etc.) and we finally told him to stuff it. He talked about a missed opportunity. Pffffft. It was the same kind of thing - put money in his pocket, but none in ours. No thanks. Not now, not ever.
 
#89
I just don't understand why the band doesn't even get a percentage of the ticket sales THEY sell!

Does the promoter/venue expect...or even allow the bands to charge more for the tickets if they want to keep any of the proceeds?
 
#91
ArtechnikA said:
There's a word for selling tickets at above face value...
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If you are talking about "scalping" there is more to that really. That's all about buying up blocks of tickets to a popular event so you can gouge desperate fans.

I am talking about an arrangement with the promoter/venue where it may be acceptable to mark up the tickets...do they even print the price on the tickets for these events?
 
#92
Double E said:
If you are talking about "scalping" there is more to that really. That's all about buying up blocks of tickets to a popular event so you can gouge desperate fans.
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That's the extreme that the laws were intended to curb, but I expect the statutes don't distinguish on number. Except if you're selling 100 tickets, you might expect 100 counts in the indictment ;-)

I am talking about an arrangement with the promoter/venue where it may be acceptable to mark up the tickets...do they even print the price on the tickets for these events?
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I've never seen such a ticket, so I can't say. -I- wouldn't buy a ticket without a face value however. Again, this is my speculation, but I'd expect that if what you're proposing were OK, the bands would pre-buy tickets at a discounted value below face value. Which would suck a bit because you'd have to sell more to make your minimum dollar amount - but you'd get your share of the gate right off the top.

Anyway - that doesn't seem to be what the OP's describing although this level of detail wasn't actually disclosed.
 
#94
I'm happy for the OP and wish him well. I think they'll be glad they did it.

However, I do take issue with those saying it's a scam. I don't see where HOB is being dishonest or fraudulent. You may not like it but I don't think it's fair to call it a scam.
 
#99
Ok, everyone go to your day job and put in a weeks work. At the end of that week, pay your employer $1500. Now work another 90 minutes. How much money will you be in the hole? My guess is that most will be severely. Hope the gig went well for you though.
 
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