When it comes to live music performances, there is only one sure way to stay busy, and that is by booking the shows yourself. You can work with an agent, but most of the time you have very little control of how many shows they book for you. When you book your own shows, you have complete control over how many shows you play, because you can control the number of people you contact.
Personally, I’ve been booking most of my own shows for over 10 years. I also work as an entertainment agent. I was fortunate that early in my career I had several agents and bandleaders who were willing to share some of their expertise with me. Now I’m going to share some of the things I’ve learned with you.
Booking Tips
1. The first thing to understand is that successful booking is based on numbers. If you’re going to play a lot of gigs, you need to call lots of people. So if you call 2 people and get no results, there’s a good chance that you’re not doing anything wrong. You simply need to call enough people to get the results you want.
I keep track of the number of new contacts I make, as well as the number of follow up calls or emails daily and weekly. I also keep track of the number of shows I book. This is helpful because I can calculate the number of contacts I need to make to book a certain number of shows.
2. Along with contacting lots of people, you need to keep track of them. You need to keep careful records of who you talked to and what the result was. When you get to the point to where you’re talking with hundreds of people, you can’t possibly remember when you last spoke with each of them of emailed them.
I like to use Google Contacts. I like it because it’s simple and it’s free. You can set up various categories for your Google Contacts using labels. Depending on your needs, some of your categories might include bars, restaurants, festivals, etc.
3. Use a calendar to schedule your calls and emails. I use Google Calendar. Each time I make contact with a booking venue I set a time and date on my calendar to follow through with them.
For example, if a venue tells me they’re all booked for the year, I ask them when they will start booking the next year. Then I set a time in my calendar to call or or email them when it’s getting close to their booking time again.
Or if I’m trying to get a hold of a booking decision maker, and the person on the phone tells me they aren’t in today, I ask them when they’ll be in. I then schedule a time to try to call them again.
4. Never assume when people tell you they will call you back that they actually will. This almost never happens. It’s not usually because they are lying to you. They just get busy. In most cases, they are working with lots of bands and musicians. So unless you tactfully remind them that you exist, and that you want them to book you to play at their venue, they will simply forget to call or email you back.
So if someone tells you they will call or email you back within 2 weeks, set a time on your calendar for you to call or email them in 3 weeks. Just assume they will forget to call you. You’ll be right about 99% of the time.
Learn to be persistent without being a pest.
5. Learn to be persistent without being a pest. There is a fine line here. People tend to do business with people they like, not people they don’t like.
Use your common sense and put yourself in their shoes. How would you feel if you got a voicemail from the same salesman 4 times a day for a week? Give them adequate time to call you back. I usually like to leave about one week between calls or emails.
6. Never assume that just because someone doesn’t return your call or email that they don’t like your music or aren’t interested in booking you. Most people are simply very busy. Some of your prospects will not listen to every demo they get or answer every email or phone call they get because they absolutely do not have enough time available. They have too many bands or musicians calling them everyday to answer every single one of them.
Several times when I’ve tried to explain this situation to my fellow musicians, they’ve basically told me that they don’t think that’s a valid reason or excuse for not returning people’s phone calls. But let me ask you this – if you personally were receiving 1000 calls every day, would you answer each and every call? Of course not. This is obviously an exaggeration, but I think you see my point.
So you have to be persistent. If they don’t respond to your calls or emails, there is a very good chance that they didn’t listen to your demo. They probably have plenty of musicians and bands for their venue already. That doesn’t mean you can’t get booked at the venue, but you may have to work very hard to get their attention.
7. Don’t be afraid to leave voicemails and send emails even though people don’t usually return them. This is a good marketing technique. Think of it as advertising. If a prospect hears your name several times they are more likely to remember you. You are more likely to get booked if they’ve heard of you.
In addition, sometimes people will actually reply to your email or voicemail. In this case, it saves you lots of time because you don’t have to continually call back trying to reach them.
Usually you should keep contacting a prospect until they give you a definite yes or no.
8. Know when to quit. This is a very gray area, but the correct time is usually at a much later point than most musicians think. Usually you should keep contacting a prospect until they give you a definite yes or no.
If someone has given you a definite no, try to find out why. Are they simply all booked for a few months? Was your genre of music wrong for their venue? Maybe they are concerned about your draw. Find out what the situation is and see whether or not it’s something that time will solve. If so, schedule a time and date to call them back in the future.
Unfortunately some prospects will leave you completely in the dark. They won’t return your phone calls or emails. Sometimes this situation can even happen with a venue you’ve played at a lot. There’s no way of knowing for sure in these situations what happened, or why they won’t book you. It’s very frustrating, but at some point you need to decide whether the prospect is still worth pursuing. Personally, I don’t like feeling like a beggar. It’s insulting to me. I have have plenty of gigs. So rather than appearing desperate, by continuing to contact the same venue over and over again when I’m getting no results, eventually I just decide to move on to other venues. I feel that’s a much better use of my time.
One of the best sources for gig leads is other musician’s schedules.
9. One of the best sources for gig leads is other musician’s schedules. If you see a band or another musician playing at a venue, do some research. What type of band are they? What other bands or musicians has the venue booked? Are they at about the same level as you are, or are they a well known national touring act? If they are similar to your band you have a good chance of getting booked at the venue.
Another question is “Does it look like the same band is playing at the venue every week?” If so you probably don’t have a great shot at getting in the venue because they are the house band, although you could still suggest performing on another night of the week and see what happens.
10. Don’t assume that just because a venue doesn’t currently feature live music they wouldn’t be interested in featuring live music. If you see a new restaurant or bar opening up near you, call them and ask. If you hit the right venue at the right time, sometimes you can end up with a steady weekly gig at these venues that last months or even years.
This can be a very time consuming way to find gigs. However, if you’re the first band or musician to call the venue, many times you will have absolutely no competition. This has worked for me personally on quite a few occasions.
When someone asks you how much you charge, the best answer is, “That depends on lots of different things. What exactly do you have in mind?”
11. One booking price does not fit all. Just because your band is playing at a bar for $300, that does not mean you need to accept $300 to play someone’s wedding. The bar is likely hiring bands every Friday night, 52 weeks a year. They’re also trying to turn a profit. A bride is not. She’s planning on getting married one time, and there’s a good chance that’s she’s willing and able to spend a lot more on a band for her wedding than the local bar is.
So when someone asks you how much you charge, the best answer is, “That depends on lots of different things. What exactly do you have in mind?” Then get some details. “What type of event is it? What organization is the event for? Is it for Walmart, or is it a birthday or anniversary party?” Will your little P.A. and lights suffice for the event, or are you going to have to hire a sound and lighting crew? How many hours do they want you to perform for? Then charge accordingly.
If you never lose a gig based on the price you’re charging, you are simply not charging enough.
12. To make more money per gig you have to be willing to lose a few gigs. You have to be willing to ask clients for more money, and accept the fact that some people will tell you no. If you never lose a gig based on the price you’re charging, you are simply not charging enough.
This works better for private clients than clubs. Many times bars and restaurants will simply tell you how much they pay musicians. Sometimes this is non-negotiable. The exception to this is that maybe you’re the most popular band in town. If you know you’re making lots of money for a venue by being the featured attraction there, you may be in a good position to negotiate with them for more money.
13. The quality of your promo materials makes a big difference in successful booking. Spend the time and money to get this right or it will just keep costing you money in lost gigs.
This includes having at least one professional quality band photo. It also includes a professional looking and sounding performance video and as well as a professional looking website. If you’re capable of creating these yourself without the aid of a professional, you don’t need to pay someone else to do them. But if you’re not sure, just find people who can give you the things you need at an affordable price.
I hope you found these tips helpful. As I mentioned earlier I’ve been involved in booking for a long time. It isn’t easy, but it gets easier the more you do it. Feel free to contact me with questions or feedback.