|
11 Ways to Make Your
Next Showcase a Smash Success
by Lance Helgeson - Sweet Pickle Music, September 2002
Back to The
Academy
Creating and Promoting a Showcase
Whether you represent a label or individual artist, creating
and promoting a showcase of musical acts can help you book larger venues, build media exposure, expand your fan
base and jump-start merchandise sales.
But how do you do a showcase right—and cost-effectively? ANTJE, founder of Chicago label, Sweet Pickle Music, has
used showcases to support local artists and Sweet Pickle compilations. The showcase strategy has garnered performances
at festivals, events and clubs in Chicago, Seattle and Amsterdam. The events have also helped drive sales of Sweet
Pickle releases and merchandise for participating bands.
“Showcases take a lot of work and persistence, but I haven’t done one that hasn’t led to bigger and better things,”
Antje says. Below, she shares 11 tips from her proven-in-practice playbook to help you craft your own showcase
success story:
1) Pick a theme.
The right theme can make the difference between getting a call back from a booking agent, says Antje. Her estimate:
she’s twice as successful booking themed showcases than standalone gigs for individual bands. For two recent cd
compilations and subsequent showcases, Sweet Pickle used “Big Fish Little Fish: Emerging Women in Chicago Music”
as the theme. It gives booking agents and venues a ready-made promotional hook—and works well for in-store performances.
Tip: Be specific and narrow in your theme’s focus. The tighter it is, the better your chance of getting attention,
Antje says.
2) Consider a beneficiary. If you partner with a non-profit, you can use the showcases to raise money and use the
altruistic feature to negotiate favorable terms with potential artists and venues. For the Big Fish showcases,
door proceeds helped pay production costs for the showcase, and profits from cds and merchandise sales benefited
women-focused charities in Chicago. Tip: Ask the charity about playing their fund-raisers. It’s a ready-made source
for you to put on your showcase—and it gives your artists exposure to a completely new set of people, Antje says.
3) Recruit artists who fit your theme. Your basic showcase pitch: Performers benefit from exposure to new people, the
ability to play a larger venue than they could secure on their own and, if your showcase benefits a charity, the
ability to help out a good cause. You should get a mix of performers—from larger name to mid-tier acts to make
for a varied and compelling evening of music. Make it clear: Each artists’ participation means they’ll need to
be prompt for sound checks, take part in promotions and do their part to make the showcase a success. (That expectation-setting
will help you manage issues like the protocol for on-site merchandise and cd sales for each act, Antje says.)
4) Consider showcase flow. In addition to ensuring your showcase artists fit your theme, you must remember how their
performances will stack up one after another. Antje used a three-act rotation (solo/duo, band, band) to cycle through
11 artists in a recent, four-hour showcase. “It would have been a snoozer to run soloists back-to-back,” Antje
says.
5) Shop for a venue that fits your showcase. Beyond the usual sources, look to the calendar/upcoming events sections of independent
music sites (like indie-music.com), newsletters and discussion groups to find potential events and clubs to pitch
your showcase. Do they offer showcase opportunities? Would your theme and music resonate with the venue’s customary
audience (or bring in a new crowd)? Will they require a guarantee to reserve the venue for a night? What’s your
take of the door? What ancillary benefits like exposure to producers and distributors or industry media will a
venue generate? How can you parlay your success into more showcases and exposure? Tip: Don’t spend your time with
clubs or events with bush league Web sites and promotional materials, Antje says. “If they can’t even promote themselves
well, what will they do for you?”
6) Pitch it wide.
Once you’ve got a solid theme and inkling of willing artists, start your pitch efforts. It’s a numbers game, Antje
says. The greater the number of booking agents and promoters you reach, the greater your chances of finding one
that says yes. And remember, “just because you pitch them doesn’t mean they’ll do it.” Tip: Tell ‘em you’ve got
a backline to show you know how to make the venue’s evening easier.
7) Get promo help from showcase artists. Remember the expectation-setting
with artists? This is where you get their help to make the showcase a success. But make it easy when you ask them
to do some work, Antje says. She gives all showcase performers press kits with releases, customized to highlight
each band’s participation, to use in their promotional efforts with fans and media. Two important don’ts: 1. Don’t
promote the specific format of your showcase—i.e., each band plays a 15-minute/three-song set. “You don’t want
to give anyone a reason not to show up,” Antje says. 2. Don’t abuse the privilege of working with your showcase
acts. Let them manage e-mail distribution, and see if you might do a mailing to their offline lists. Tip for labels:
Pay attention to the artists who actively promote your showcase—they’re the ones you want to consider working with
again and potentially signing.
8) Provide stage plots for each showcase artist. The venue’s sound crew will love you for it, Antje says. Plus, for showcases
of five or more bands, it’s essential to have the plot and a backline to ensure set changes of five to seven minutes
(a point you must also stress with each act!). Work with artists at least three weeks in advance to know their
stage set-up/requirements, discuss the virtues of punctuality and convey their needs to the venue.
9) Consider a finale. It’s a nice way for all showcase artists—or the lead individual from each act—to share
the stage, Antje says. The downside: A finale requires more rehearsal time to coordinate band and vocal parts.
10) Promote your success. Go back to the same e-mail, fax and mail lists you do for promotions (and those you glean
from the event), and share how well the showcase went. Highlight the bright spots—attendance, money raised for
charity, exceptional moments, etc.—within three days to make sure your follow-up is effective. “Take advantage
of the good will while it’s fresh,” Antje says. Tip: Tie the follow-up to an online photo album of the event to
make your outreach more compelling, she adds.
11) Keep in touch. Refine
your theme, develop a new showcase and pitch it to everyone you contacted your first time around (plus new targets
you find, of course). The key: Highlighting the attendance and sales success of your first showcase, and how it
will benefit the club even more than the first time they rejected your idea. “You need to be persistent, but I
get calls to play from people who have said “no” 15 times,” Antje says.
-----
For info on how Sweet Pickle Music
can help you build and promote a showcase, visit their web site or e-mail
Sweet Pickle directly. |
|
|
Submit An Article for Consideration!
Would you like to submit an article for publication at MusicBizAcademy.com? If you have music-related expertise
you'd like to share with other musicians including career tips, how to's, or general music business-related articles,
please feel free to send them our way. We'll be glad to consider them. Submit your article! |
|
|
|
untitled
|
Follow The
Music Biz Academy
on Twitter. Get instant notifcation of new music promotion tips tips, music business articles, resources and news. It's all business, all the time.
Subscribe FREE...
to the Music Biz Academy newsletter! Music promotion tips, articles, site recommendations, and industry news will be delivered
to your inbox. Details Here.
How to Promote Your Music Successfully on the Internet
This easy-to-read guide to music promotion teaches you how to effectively sell your music online! Learn what works
and what doesn't from a musician who's now promoting music on the Internet full time! More....
Get Educated...
Master the Music Biz!
Online Courses. Many Programs. Learn Day or Night.
Details Here.
Our Top 20 Articles
21
Songwriting Tips
How
to Write an Artist Bio
Mastering
Your Music
Improve
Your Press Kit
Sell
Your CDs Online
Performance
Contracts
What's
a Record Deal About?
Inside
Record Labels
A
Legal Checklist
How
to Write a Press Release
Record
Distribution: 25 Tips
Guerrilla
Marketing Tips
How to Make a Living w/ Music
Internship
Do's & Don'ts
Starting a Music Business
Reasons
Demos Are Rejected
Artist/Band
Interview Form
Facts
About Music Licensing
Planning
A Radio Campaign
Tax
Tips for Musicians
Lots
More Articles...
The Complete Guide to Starting
a Record Company
This
wonderful book guides you step
by
step through the process of starting up your own independent record label.
It
includes vital advice on how to retain lawyers and accountants, construct budgets, sign artists, navigate
artist contracts, find a distributor and how to develop and
execute an effective marketing plan.
More...
MySpace
Music Marketing
With tens of millions of registered
users, MySpace.com has become a
godsend for countless independent artists. If you're not promoting your music on MySpace yet, you
need to start - right away. Everything
you need to know, including tips
and tricks, interviews with successful
MySpace bands, and how to fine-tune
your MySpace profile for maximum
punch. The perfect "how to"
guide for MySpace beginners, especially!
More...
Music Is Your Business
Christopher Knab and Bartley F. Day's expanded edition of "Music Is Your Business" is filled
with more insights into the business side of being a successful
musician or band. Included are chapters on both Internet and traditional
music marketing methods. The essential legal issues you need to
know are explained as are music contract tips, how to license your
music, attract
distributors, get radio airplay and create a
demand for your music. More...
How to Be Your Own Booking Agent
Jeri
Goldstein’s award-winning
resource for artists and musicians is artfully organized into 510 pages
of savvy advice, realistic methods and action plans for the performing
artist. The book is a step-by-step guide through virtually all aspects
of the music business. It's a fantastic resource, a MUST-READ and a
favorite here at the Music Biz Academy. One of the best, most in-depth
books written about how to run your own music business. More...
Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook
This is your guide to independent music success secrets, featuring over 175 ways to thrive and prosper with your
own band or record label. Goal setting, networking, lists of distribution channels, offbeat promotional ideas.
It's all here! More....
The Indie Bible
With 350 pages containing over 10,000 contacts, including music reviewers and radio stations, The Indie Bible
is a resource for songwriters and musicians who wish to have their music heard, reviewed, or considered for radio
play. More....
All Content © 1996-2009
Midnight Rain Productions.
All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy |
|
