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Will an exposure gig further your music career?
“Ya man, no way in hell am I going to leave the house for free. Those days are over….this is not my first gig.”
Do only aspiring musicians play for free? What about big-name bands? Mumford and Sons, Arcade Fire, Dave Mathews …would they head out to a charity show and play for free? If so, how do they approach the gig? Do they have some type of business strategy set-up?
Is it Free?
The world is full of charities events, the majority of which pay their performers zilch. So why do bands keep playing these gigs? Its all about the draw……
As an agent who submits to countless events each week
It is crucial that you use exposure gigs to the max. The reason being, some of the events get a ton of traffic! You can’t keep living online, you have to make an appearance. The bigger the event, the more chance you have at capturing new fans. Utilizing bargaining techniques
Instead of getting upset. Let’s start using our bargaining powers to make an exposure gig worth the while.
The very first thing you need to do is research the event. Do you believe in charity? Does the event have a built-in crowd? Is the date of the show coinciding with any other significant events in town? Will you be up against the big game? What is the expected attendance? The more research you perform, the better knowledge you will have going into the gig.
The next step we should take is looking into the marketing department. The majority of all events will have some type of marketing or advertising. If the event or festival tells you they have allocated all their budget than let us try working out a deal with them. Here are some things we need to ask the festival committee or talent buyer:
- Will you be marketing the Seafood festival? If so what outlets will you be marketing on?
- Will you be advertising the festival?
- Will you be hiring a photographer or videographer?
The Trade-off
These 3 questions can land you a nice trade-off. If they can’t afford to pay you then let us negotiate a trade. Here is what we are going to say.
I would be more than happy to provide your Seafood Fest with a two hour performance. This will includes backline, and music in-between sets. For a show like this, I charge $1,200.00. Yet, we can negotiate a trade-off. I have a new album that is on Spotify. Would you be willing to add the link in all your online marketing? This will include your website and social media. Anytime that you make a social media post for the festival can you highlight our Spotify link. In the ad that you plan on taking out in the Sunday newspaper, I would like my bands promo picture added. You said you hired photographer, I am in dire need of some new promo shots of the band playing live. I would like copies of the band shots from the photographer after the event is over. Would you be able to send me a variety of shots in a .jpeg format?
Let’s look at other areas of revenue streams. Here are a couple of ideas you could use with your better-paying clients.
- Handing out free-drink cards or brochures from your sponsor
- Adding your sponsors logo to all your social media marketing
- Adding your sponsors logo to the show flyer
- Wearing your sponsor’s T-Shirt or logo hat.
You can do the same thing with your local guitar shop. Try and work out a nice trade-off for guitar strings or gear. You never know unless you ask.
Now, Let us take a look at the biggest and best seller of them all, the merchandise table. What are you selling? If I am in love with a band, I am buying something. That is my way of saying I appreciate your tunes. Your band should have a unique item that stands out from every other band. All of the above items can help you earn income on exposure gigs, it could also help get your name out if you take the right steps.
Let us run a quick overview
If the event is unable to pay you
- Work out a trade-off for free marketing
- Free advertising
- Free photos and videos
- Connect with your current clients and have them pay you to be a brand ambassador at the event
- Sell merch by fine-tuning the band
- Create memorable merchandise by continually brainstorming ideas and creating new sales items.
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