I hear a lot of complaining from bands about people not showing up to see there shows. They complain that the promoter didn't do their job or the club didn't make an effort to let people know about the show, etc...
While these things may be true, lets start trying to figure out what YOU can do to bring more people to your shows. Ill give examples of what my band is doing and why, just because of sheer volume, it works.
We used to sit back and wonder why no one was coming to our shows until we sat down and thought about it. The only people that were coming were the regulars to the clubs. The people that would go out and see just about anyone. Most people aren't like that. Most people are like cattle. You have to force them into the club. They're not just gonna show up to see your band that no one has ever heard of. So...what can we do?
Well...first off...lets hit the malls. Flyer every car in the parking lot for at least 2-3 days. generally the same week as your show because people have short attention spans. If its a fairly decent mall, in 3 days you can hit about 3000-4000 cars. If you get 10% of those people to show up, you just increased your audience by 300-400 people. And at $5 a head thats an extra $1500-$2000 for your band. If only 1% of those show up, its still an extra 30-40 people...and thats assuming one person per car.
Talk to the club you are playing at and see if they would allow you to purchase 2-3 kegs for the show. See if they will serve it free. Offer them say, 15-25% of the door. The shear volume of people paying a $5 cover at the door should more than make up for the cost of the free beer and generate enough money to have a decent paying night.
Anywho, I don't claim to be an expert at getting people to shows, these are just things my band does to draw steady crowds in our home city. Of course, all of this doesn't matter if your band hasn't practiced enough and gotten their music together.
Anyway, thats my little contribution...hopefully Ill be able to add more in the coming weeks. I want to see every band strive to at least make ends meet. Because the more money each band makes at a show, the more money my band can ask as a guarantee on tour.
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Indie Bands Need to Promote Their Shows |
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