Playing festivals, cafes, bars, and other typical gigs are great for your career. But don’t forget about one of the best places to play and make money: college towns. Yes, you have bars and such in college towns but depending on the locale, the bars may not allow patrons under 21 to enter. Of course, that doesn’t stop the underage college students from finding parties to attend and drink at. Beyond those cases, there are other reasons to remember college towns when you are booking shows.
The Not So Starving College Student
There is a common expectation that college students are on very tight budgets and subsist mostly on pizza and ramen noodles. In some cases the tight budget element is true, but you also have the other end of the spectrum with students spending money readily. This means you can find those college students who are willing to pay to hear you play and buy your merchandise.
Fraternities, Sororities, and Other Organizations Oh My!
One easily recognized element of college life is the fraternities and sororities. While highly recognizable groups, these are still in the simplest sense just groups of like-minded individuals. Some of these groups will occasionally allocate some of their funds towards entertainment purposes such as hiring musical performers. These gigs can pay better due to the fact you won’t be collecting a cover charge. You also have other party opportunities than just fraternities and sororities. College clubs and other organizations will hire musical entertainment for events. Get yourself in with the right people, and you could become the regular act for certain events.
Tis The Season
One final advantage (or disadvantage to some) is that colleges tend to have on and off seasons for entertainers looking to book. Generally this follows football season. When there is a home game in a college town, generally all the bars, clubs, and other venues are packed afterward. During away games and off-season however, you may be playing to the staff and some crickets. Knowing a college team’s schedule let’s you target the home game dates ahead of time knowing you have a better chance of a big crowd on those nights. I know some bands that make a majority of their money for the year during football season. Planning around that can give you a financial buffer against the gigs that don’t make you a lot of money.