Want to find some interesting places to play? Tired of the same old venues and fighting the competition for a gig? If you’ve run into too many other performers trying to get the same gigs you are trying to get, why not try something new, something off the beaten path. Here’s a list of interesting places to play where people gather for other events and where you might find a fresh new audience to sell your merchandise and sign your mailing list. Wineries: Summer and fall are their big seasons for tourists and tastings. Do you live in or near…

Tend to your various lists separately ought to be your marketing mantra to really get results. As I was watering the vegetable garden, I noticed the tomatoes needed pruning, the cucumbers needed a bit more water, and the lettuce needed some harvesting. Each one needed something a bit different. Funny, how tending to my garden reminded me that it is very similar to tending to your fan list, your list of presenting organizations or bookers and your media list. Each one requires a bit of unique information from you in order satisfy their specific needs. So even though all of…

Negotiating top festival spots is tough when prime festival performance slots are in high demand. You know the ones’ I’m talking about 8-10pm for festivals with night stages and 3-5 pm for daytime festivals. With headliners almost certain to take the bulk of those prime slots, there is very little room left for new performers or non-headliners to edge their way into prime time. So how can you quietly negotiate top festival spots for your act? If you are just beginning your association with the festival and this is your first time negotiating a gig there, I’ve found the following…

Negotiating percentage gigs is this week's topic as so many artists have to make these sort of deals. I thought I'd offer some guidelines to help when you are faced with this type of negotiation. Playing for a percentage isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In the right situation, you may have an opportunity to make more money than what would have been the guarantee. So, what’s a fair percentage? This will vary and again may be dependent upon your value in the market. If you are only getting a percentage, without any guarantee at all, you would most likely want…

Just how do you go from good to great as a performer? It occurred to me that this is something that might be of interest to you as your career evolves. I would put this topic under the heading, Goals For Your Show. I want to focus on one goal in particular that will help your show go from good to great. This topic is Responsibility—Responsibility for your audience's enjoyment of the event. Perhaps you haven't thought about it in this term, maybe you've never used the word Responsibility to define your job up there on the stage. And yet,…

Defining success for your career and life must be based on your success parameters only. Let's get one thing straight from the start, everyone's definition of success is going to be different. And that really goes for musicians and performing artists. When it comes to touring, your definition of what makes a successful gig or tour could also be unlimited. Perhaps it was a success because you lost less money than you thought you would, or broke even. Perhaps you sold more CDs than you anticipated or even got more PR coverage than ever before. To define success you enter…

Here are 4 steps to help you pitch your music from your website. You may have often thought that it would be great to get your songs covered by another artist or that your music would be great in a movie, on TV or even in an educational project. Before that can happen it might be useful to prepare your music offerings so they can be easily searched by those in need. To help you pitch your music from your website begin by doing the following 4 steps: Step 1. Organize all of your recorded music by category. For instance:…

Making hotel reservations for tours while planning your tours is one way to make sure you get the rooms you need, when you need them. It's only June, but I'll bet you have gigs booked for the fall. Do you also have your hotel reservations made for those tours? Here are some tips to help you get your hotel reservations on the nights you need, during your upcoming tours. These ideas will be useful no matter when you tour. And even though they may fall into the common sense category, you may be as surprised as I was to know…

Don't confuse an inquiry with an offer. I see it done all the time. Have you ever had this happen to you? You get a call from a venue who is all excited about the possibility of booking you for an event. You discuss the date, the price and a bunch of other details. It’s looking great and you think, “What a wonderful way to start the day?” A few days pass, then a week, then a few weeks, and you don’t hear anything more from the person, so you give them a call. And now you begin to get…