It doesn’t matter how well or how poorly the music industry has done, booking gigs has always been hard work. Booking quality gigs at good venues is even tougher. Fortunately, nowadays we have technologies that can make booking gigs easier for independent artists, and with the economic downturn bars are looking harder for quality acts that can bring in the good crowds. So what are some ways you can find and book the better venues?
Directly Ask Other Musicians In The Area
One of the easiest ways to find good venues to play at is to ask musicians already gigging in the target area. This can be done as simply as finding a local area band and messaging them on Facebook or Twitter. Just a simple “hey we’re looking to play in your area and wanted to know what venues are good” will be sufficient. You’re not asking them to book you or play a gig with them. You’re just asking their opinion about where to play.
Check Online At IndieOnTheMove.com
If you’ve never been to IndieOnTheMove, then you should go check it out right now. This is the music venue database musicians have needed for years. Essentially, it takes the idea of asking other musicians about venues and puts the information online. For example, the band Artichoke plays a gig at Art’s Playhouse. Afterwards, they add Art’s Playhouse to the venue database listing things such as capacity size, booking contact, and more. Then you come and look for venues in that area and up comes the listing for Art’s Playhouse. Now you get to see the information about the venue and know whether or not you want to try booking there. If you decide to book, then you also have the booking contact’s info.
Seek Out The Venue’s Online Presence
Just because we have a great site like IndieOnTheMove, it doesn’t mean that EVERY venue is listed on there. Maybe the venue is new. Perhaps none of the bands that play there have taken the time to add it to IOTM. Whatever the case, you have heard about a venue and want to know more about it. So use what everyone uses to find stuff online. GOOGLE IT! Well, Google is great and my preferred choice, but you can also use Yahoo, MSN, or any other search engine. Doing a web search on a venue will usually pull up information like YellowPages or map listings, however you may also find the venue has a website, Facebook, Twitter, etc, which should show up in the search results when you submit a good search query. Of course, you can always go direct to Facebook or Twitter and search for the venue. Heck, you can even find a local band’s Facebook/Twitter and see what venues they are playing in the area.
Check On Youtube
Even though Google owns Youtube now, that doesn’t mean doing a Google search for a venue will yield video results. Instead, try focusing on searching for live band videos listing the venue as the location. Maybe you’ll be able to see what kind of bands do well there and what size crowds they pull.
Ask Fans Living In The Area
Despite any despairing news about music piracy or how bad the music industry is doing, these are good times for indie musicians. It used to be that the main way to get fans for an unsigned band was to get out and perform in new places. Now you can post songs or videos online and get fans around the world. So why not use that to your advantage. Try using tools like Facebook’s geo-targeting to find what fans you have living in an area you want to book. Then just message them directly asking where they would like to see you perform and why.
Book WAY Ahead Of Time
The best venues are going to be the most sought after, which means they’ll be booked solid for possibly months in advance. Don’t wait till you need a date two weeks or even two months away. Think in terms of booking 3-4 months in advance. Contact the venue that far ahead of time, and you’ll be more likely to get a date in the time range you want.
Sign On With A Reputable Booking Agency
While some musicians may dread the idea of signing with a booking agency, it can be the boost you need to get better gigs. You just have to be careful about the contract they ask you to sign. The good ones won’t deviate too much from the standard contract, but I’ve heard of bad agents who have locked artists into 10+ year contracts. Ideally you want as much freedom as you can get should things not work out with the agency.
Pre-Sale Tickets via Kickstarter Or Your Website
There’s no better way to approach a new venue than to say “we have XX number of tickets already sold for whatever show we get in this area.” It can be hard for a venue to turn you away when you have a guaranteed crowd already. Whether you use a service like Kickstarter (or try the newer service GiggidIn), or you just decide to use your website to pre-sell tickets it doesn’t matter as long as you can provide a venue that guarantee. The better the guaranteed sales, the larger the venue and the better the arrangement with the venue you’ll be able to barter.
Need some info about using Kickstarter to sell your tickets? Check out my previous article Kickstarter for Musicians.
Be Honest In The End
Pre-selling tickets online and having a good fan base in the area are great, but don’t tell the venue you’ll pack the place unless you are ready to guarantee it. One of the worst things you can do is promise a big crowd and under-deliver. It’s much better to promise less than you know you will bring in. When you promise 100 people and bring in 170 you look far better in the eyes of the booking manager.