Selling tickets? Pay to play?!

[Sloan]

III – Get Involved in Booking and Concert Promotions

We desperately need you. We need people who can recognize and book actual, sustainable talent from across genres and help cultivate their performing careers. For a good example of how to do this on a smaller scale, see Bowery Presents. Here are some simple, easy-to-follow do’s and don’ts:

-Do not book entire evenings comprised of artists who rarely rehearse or perform together.

-Do book only jaw-droppingly amazing artists between the hours of 8pm and 10pm.

-Do not forget to give artists who do not regularly perform a chance to become good. They should be sprinkled into the show at time slots such at 6pm and 12am. If you really believe in them, 7pm and 11pm.

-Do make sure that the jaw-droppingly amazing artists you book between 8pm and 10pm are well-compensated so that they keep putting effort and innovation into their performances.

-Do not forget to make sure you help promote the show.

-Do go ahead and give your best talent a guarantee each and every time they play. If the show doesn’t make money, it’s your fault for not doing your homework.

Bonus Tip: If you engage in pay-to-play schemes, not only are you a troll, you’re also terrible at business. For a case study, see The Playground Festival

Since great booking and concert promotion is such a rare skill, it’s very valuable. It’s not easy to break in from out of nowhere, but if you’re keyed into a musical community and you’re smart, passionate, shrewd, and fair, you can go far.

http://trustmeimascientist.com/2011/11/07/6-areas-in-the-music-business-with-potential-for-growth/

 

[greyskull]

Fuck pay to play and selling tickets. NEVER have I played a gig where we've done that in the past that has been remotely worth it.

 

[Charlie E.]

Unless your life long goal is to open up for The Faceless no matter the cost then don't do it.

 

[Fifth_Horseman]

Did this one time. Never again.
Seriously, fuck pay to play and the promoters who offer it!

 

[nowherecatastrophe]

so everyone's strongly against pay to play, on a smaller/local level at least. but what do you guys think about buying on to tours? same concept. worked for Chthonic on Ozzfest..

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

worked for Chthonic on Ozzfest..

Who?

 

[colonel kurtz]

Who?

exactly

 

[schwinginbatman]

I know a band who paid to get on a tour with Sevendust. IIRC, it was in the ballpark of $100,000 to do it. And it was a short tour too. And they suck.

 

[Sloan]

I know a band who paid to get on a tour with Sevendust. IIRC, it was in the ballpark of $100,000 to do it. And it was a short tour too. And they suck.

Wow, $100,000 can get a whole helluva lot more shit done than just a short tour with a popular band.

For example. A while back, I kept spreadsheets that calculated my average cost of living - it was about $20/day. Bump that to $40/day x5 (all band members) for 300 days and you get $60,000, that gives you $40,000 of financial headroom to tour for 300 fucking days not having to worry about even making profit. GODDAMN.

 

[Charlie E.]

I know a band who paid to get on a tour with Sevendust. IIRC, it was in the ballpark of $100,000 to do it. And it was a short tour too. And they suck.

I can only hope one of the members family are billionaires and weren't gonna miss that 100k.

 

[ChrisTanakaCanwell]

http://trustmeimascientist.com/2011/11/07/6-areas-in-the-music-business-with-potential-for-growth/

Great article and great writing on that site, thanks

 

[vespiz]

Buy-ins for tours seem normal to me. The average I've seen quoted has been 250 - 350€ per gig, depending.
Business as usual. Do note that these have (mostly!) been with backline, merch-handling and crew at ones disposal.

If you get a good slot, you could potentially cover expenses with the merch alone. Potentially.

Then of course there's the travelling expenses, living, getting off from you work, etc. So is it worth it?

I don't know, but I do know we had a fun 3½ weeks around Europe in '08!