This is both a rant and a response to Derek Sivers recent blog, Not happy with existing venues? Make a new one. In short, the blog suggests to do exactly as the title says. Make it a point to read it and don’t forget to leave him a comment as well. The following relates to my own personal experiences regarding this subject.
Straight up, I loathe ‘Pay To Play’! Furthermore, I don’t have a lot of respect for bands who continue to let it exist. No matter what excuse you may have for doing so, Pay To Play Is NOT A Necessary Evil. No, more exposure is not an excuse. I don’t care if you are buying your way to play on the same bill as Metallica or AC/DC, the return on your investment will not pay off! I can almost guarantee that very few of the thousands in attendance will remember who you are the next day, even fewer will have even thought about purchasing any of your merch.
Here’s an idea! Concentrate on smaller, paying crowds who really give a damn about your music. Personally, I would rather play a small bar in front of 10 or 20 people who have payed just to see me play or who have all bought a CD and/or T-Shirt, as opposed to playing in front of 1000′s of people who have no clue who I am. You just may walk out a couple hundred dollars ahead, instead of in the hole with no guarantee on your return.
Moving on to my response to Derek’s blog, I have some success stories I would like to share. Hopefully, this will help you in your quest to end Pay To Play!
Back in the early to mid 90s I was in an old school Heavy Metal band called Wicked Rage. We made our rounds through the Houston area club circuit, but like everyone else, we were lucky to make ends meet. Houston is a huge, spread out city with no central music district. Over 600 square miles, making it nearly twice as big as New York City, and almost as massive as Los Angeles and Chicago combined! Playing Houston was almost a tour within itself. A tour that rarely left much of a profit. And that was bypassing Pay To Play clubs.
Getting to the point, our jam room was located in the center of a warehouse compound, secluded on all sides, except for a driveway. There were always loose pallets lying around, so one day we had a crazy idea. The owner of the compound gave us permission to build a stage with the pallets. We layered it with some plywood and carpet from the jam room. Checking with the local officials, we learned as long as we didn’t publicly advertise, we didn’t need a permit for an outdoor performance. Basically, it was going to be a word of mouth, back yard party, of sorts.
We asked a few friends to kick in for a couple of kegs and to spread the word to friends, family & co-workers about a ‘Donation Only’ Wicked Rage concert. What happened next was truly amazing!
The initial turnout of people we personally knew was staggering in itself, but as the night went on, it was clear we were onto something huge. Word of mouth had worked better than we could have ever imagined. That and the fact the music traveled beyond the compound, attracting more metalheads who found their way in. I would periodically announce from the stage that this was a donation concert and to please consider dropping a few dollars into the bucket that was located next to the sexy babes serving up the brew. We took a break after about 10 songs so we could mingle with the crowd. I even took over keg duty for awhile, thanking everyone that came within 10 feet of me.
During the second set, the police showed up, asking us to tone it down, since it was after 10PM. They were really cool about it, hanging out to hear the last few songs of the night. Afterward, we thanked them. They even stuck around to help direct traffic out of the compound. As far as the success of the self made gig? We cleared over $600! Future compound gigs featured a ‘Merch Sale Cover Charge’. Basically, we set up a merch booth at the driveway entrance. Worked like a charm. Creating our own gig netted the band an extra $800 – $1000 per month. And that was before implementing a series of ‘taking over the bar’ ideas, similar to the one in Derek’s blog.
Be creative, be bold, but most of all, don’t be afraid to say NO to Pay To Play!
Both these articles are right on the money in my book. The problem I am running into is when booking a band at a local venue, just what type of responsibility does the venue carry with regards to advertising, providing proper treatment, support etc. to the performing acts? In my attempts to contractually pin down the venues with regard to their … See Moreresposibilities, I get “look if you guys don’t think you can pull in blankety blank amount of guests, then maybe you shouldn’t play here.” ~ Okay, fair enough. I have a band that consistantly puts on a top notch show, has 60-100 loyal local fans that do buy merch Cds etc, are sober, professional and extremely professional to deal with. They want “X” amount of dollars to perform localy and feel that they should be paid for their performance. If I go in to negotiate a contract with a venue operator, I lay my cards on the table. “This band will play this length of time for this amount of dollars”. The answer is usually the same. We do not pay unsigned or local touring acts a set price. You need to sell tickets and earn your $ that way.” Which at that point, I ask what responsibility does the venue take to help the band sell the tickets? The answer is the same, “we expect you, the performing artist to sell the tickets.” In a perfect world, I could rent halls or put together my own shows but what if you want to hit 3,5,7 counties and maybe run across the state doing shows., the existing venues are the only option when starting out on a mini tour and trying to make a lucrative 3-4 week trip out of playing shows. Just what is reasonable to ask for, especially regarding advertising, of the venues? WHO PAYS FOR THE ADVERTS in the papers or the local radio spots? If we, the band does, shouldn’t we be able to negotiate that into the price of doing the show? How can we PROVE to these venues that they will have more bodies in the door buying booze if they take responsibility to promote THEIR event. Can’t a good venue be EXPECTED to pull in clients from their base as well?
Well, we shall see. A good friend and local promoter is putting on a show at a previously unused for live entertainment local bar within the next few weeks. She approached the bar, pitched the idea and won the approval and go ahead. She has 5 solid acts with decent draw and she has run a few flyers etc. The deal is, she gets the door and the place gets the $ from the bar. The bar is solidly pushing the advertising and is splitting the $290 cost of radio spots for the event. We shall see if they follow through and it works. I hope so for everybodies sake. For now, the next step is to increase the hype in the fans and push some of the “extras” that you get for being at the show.
) ~Becca
We were able to get some local businesses to donate stuff in exchange for plastering their info on the flyers and mentioning them on the radio. Everyone who walks through that door with a ticket is automaticaly entered in a drawing to win some really cool stuff. We also contacted the local university and the college media dept is sending down a photographer and vudeographer. We pay for the materials and can tip the guys if we feel they did a good job. The college’s cheerleader team is making an appearance during the intermission! Should be pretty wild. OH and the bands, well they are phsyched and pushing too. Cross your fingers for me and I will let you know how it goes