I am a booking agent that finds and books bands on behalf of venues. These are all great tips, however one big missing piece is that venue owners want to know if the band/musician will bring their followers out to the venue. Some venues have large built-in crowds and just want good entertainment for the customers that are already there, but the majority of bars, restaurants, and nightclubs are booking live music to hopefully bring in more customers that wouldn't otherwise be there. Having a strong following on social media is one obvious way to show your fanbase (don't buy fake followers, it's easy to tell), but more importantly you should display that you can market your gigs well (ie. posting events, good promo flyers, email lists for fans, etc). Even if you are just starting out and still building your following, if you tell the owner that you can bring out 10-15 friends/family to the gig to eat & drink at the venue (and actually deliver on that), it will go a long way.

@kurtpatterson1296

5 ай бұрын

That's great,except for one thing. As a local/regional musician in several bands,are fans are most likely to come out to see their favorite band at the venues they like best.Local bands may play in 2 or more venues within a 30 minute radius within the same month.When fans have a choice of where to see the band they like,they tend to pick the venue they like best.Venue owners still have a major responsibility to make their venue the more appealing venue and bring in live entertainment to hold their patrons there vs expecting the bands to always bring their people. The service,food and beverage quality and prices have everything to do with that.

@slideaway24

5 ай бұрын

@@kurtpatterson1296 Yes definitely, it goes both ways. It's on the owner to make their venue appealing, and also to do their share of marketing/promotion (many are bad at this). But if the venue is already known around town as a bad spot that nobody goes to, how badly do you (the band) really want to play there? Sure maybe you do when you are starting out and just trying to get your name out there, but I am referring moreso to the venues that are known desirable places to perform, which means they are getting applications from many bands. In those cases, showing that you will create some additional draw is a great way to separate yourself from the pack.

@Morrighanangel84

4 ай бұрын

In the old days it used to be the other way around! There weren't such high expectations on musicians. *sigh*

@22rapper

4 ай бұрын

Yeah a bands or artist is to just perform well if we have to do all they where actually becoming the venue are selfs in a way so why not just do virtual concerts if we have to bring the fans too performing usually to gain a broader fan base not same one we already have you need not to deal with those type of venues

@nonotesnelson

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for your insight! What city do you work in and is there an easy way to find booking agents? It honestly feels like the event creators and agents are a better bet then racing out to venues, and definitely the case if you want to”decent” pay lol

First time viewer, Mr. Fisher. I just wanted to thank you for putting out this information. A lot of us get stuck at a certain point and this is exactly what we need to get going and pursue our objectives. So thank you kindly.

@goatmilkproductions

Жыл бұрын

Totally agree. 👍

More great advice. Another tip, look for and attend local open mic nights! Great place to get stage experience and meet other musicians. It's been working really well for me. For one spot, I've pretty much become the house drummer, lol.

I have been in areas where personal relationships with venue owners is key. Also a good track record with other places you have played. As a band member I always make sure I seek out the key personnel in a venue and talk to them as well as solicit feedback about how their customers are responding to us. Questions like- is the sound good- shows you have a professional attitude IMO.

Awesome advice, as always. It's great to hear you mention booking agents. I've been hesitant to reach out to them, as I don't know how NOT to get taken advantage of. For example, not sure what the standard commission is. I'm also not sure what the expectation is on their side from the band, and the general "dos and don'ts" of a successful agency relationship. Is this something that you can speak more to in a future video, or perhaps book a private consultation to discuss? Thanks, Terence!

I just had my band meet at a park it was quite successful

Good suggestions man. And I know what you mean when you differentiate between a small band and a professional high quality experienced band. The experienced band has spent a long time paying their dues, building a quality experience in their performances that above the ordinary and have "creds" on line and in the community as opposed to bands who are just starting out or who are halfway through the dues paying process. Its a combo of product differentiation and branding being used to the experienced band's advantage.

Get info as usual! I gig regularly and it is something that is still available.

Great video, glad I found it! Loads of actionable things in here

Wonderfully informative and useful video! Thank you very much!

Finally found the best videoo thank you the G🔥🔥

Thank you for the tips!

100% ! Very good advices 👍

Great tips for many professions.

On point! 👌

Hi, great video. Any chance you can post a video on booking a gig as a solo artist? Im currently doing an acoustic performer and just perform on guitar and vocals. Would really appreciate your thoughts.

Really interesting!

Question..... What if you are an instrumental performer?.... Like a Joe Satriani for example.....99 percent of venues refuse me because of having no vocals, even if some let me perform, they almost always let me play once, then say....'Your guitar playing is very good, but if you want to play here again, we want you to have a vocalist'.... I am not the first man in history to perform an electric guitar instrumental, so there is nothing ridiculous about it. Instrumental rock is a genre out there, some names, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Buckethead, play all over the world... Yet even when I tell the venues about this I get looked at like I am from outer space.

Hi. I see that one of the advices was to call the venue. However, I really, really get big panic attacks when I try to reach a complete stranger that I have never seen. It is like the moment I think about that kind of stuffs, I just freeze up, can't do anything for an hour straight. Once I get to the venue, the interaction is completely fine, but it is just... I just fear interactions with strangers too much. What... should I do? Like I know I want to do gigs, but starting out just makes me panic and die inside out.

I know all this but I'm introverted haha, so the lack of social skills make it hard.

I Would not nor have i ever tried to book my band without an agent. It is not the smartest thing as long as You can meet the requirements timeleyness is very big you must have your show down to the last note. you must dress the part also a good agent will always tell you what they expect,so that you know what you have to do,and that is good for them and it is good for you. most agent fees are right around 15% thats a pretty standard rate.If you want the cream gigs get an agent,unless you are very well connected !'Oh yeah" all your gigs are under contract and guaranteed as long as you do your part to the letter "Oh AND I HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM GETTING PAID"

@tonineric

9 ай бұрын

Hi Ronnie. Do you have a booking agent that books Blues bands? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

Thanks for all the great advice Terence! Your classes are top notch! Blessings...

Regarding 1. What if you are just starting to gig out and you don't have videos of gigs? Do I just put up performance videos? What if I don't even have a band?

@SchlockstarJoe

5 ай бұрын

There’s nothing wrong with starting small. There are plenty of hole-in-the wall bars that’ll book you and give you experience. Collect social media followers at every show. Make videos at those small shows.

Play at a farmers market near a rich white gated community to get clients. Boom. Profit. Got 300$ from a house party and barely played a set 😭😂

@isaiah95786

10 ай бұрын

This is actually a solid idea. Had a buddy who worked construction in a rich mountain area. He simply told his boss that he gigs and the boss told some of the new homeowners. Within a few weeks a few of them booked him for their housewarming parties for like 350 for 2 hours of mostly DJ and some live singing!

@bbqmiitchell7136

5 ай бұрын

Thank you!! 🙏🏼 this is actually the only useful thing that isn’t the most basic and obvious common sense stuff I got from coming to this video and really confirms a theory I’ve already had to basically go to fancier higher living areas locally and drop off a card and pitch every place that could be a venue.. I already did that where I live which is limited as far as venues and got gigs

I'm sorry, but 4 out of those 5 will not bring you necessarily high paying gigs, but ordinary, rather low paying gigs. Much less 10, 15 grand paying gigs 😏 come on now, man. Only possible one is a well connected booking agent 🤷🏽‍♂️

Great video ! For me personally the reaching out to venues and people is not working yet. I called a ton of places, I emailed , I reached on Instagram and even personally went to some places and left business cards. No call back whatsoever.. I am really confused and starting to get frustrated at this point