Your views on promotion

Al Quandt · Post by **Al Quandt** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 12:09 am

I am just being general, I have my own opinions of course, just curious of everyone elses.

Is it the..

Venues job to promote?
Bands job promote?
Both?

This goes a bit along with the pay issue because, though we bring a crowd almost everytime we play, sometimes there are duds. I think that a lot of that falls on the venue for doing very minimal to no promotion. Because we promote the same for every show.

The_Dude · Post by **The_Dude** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 12:34 am

I say both.

If either party intends to make money off a particular show/event, it's only fair.

big ben parliament · Post by **big ben parliament** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 12:41 am

Both, definitely.
It's not solely the band's responsibility to promote. If the venue stands to gain or lose money based on turnout, then it's partly their responsibility to promote.

One place who is really good about this is Mickey Finn's, in Toledo. They promote just as much, if not more, than the bands they book, and their turnout for shows reflects it.*

*I had a lengthy conversation with one of the bartenders when we played there in October.

Brandon · Post by **Brandon** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 1:57 am

I agree. I feel that both the venue and the band should promote the gig. From my experience, I find that most venues in town expect the band to bring a huge crowd with no effort on their part. This is not always possible, but it could improve the turnout if the venue took part in the promotion.

MrSpall · Post by **MrSpall** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:16 am

Both.

Al told it true. I promote the same for every show we play, but crowds can differ greatly based on whether or not the venue promoted. This is kinda crap. The venue will make more from a solid turnout than we will, they should at least PARTICIPATE in the promotion.

Of course, the band needs to do all it can to pimp itself too. At the end of the day, the venue is giving you an OPPORTUNITY to showcase yourself. Make the best of it. Pimp it here, on MySpace, and at open mics around the city. Pass out flyers, and put notices in Whatzup and The Weekender.

One great place for this was 469 in New Haven. We've developed tons of new fans because they heard about a 469 show as the bartenders were promoting it. Too bad they stopped booking. I miss that place.

jsatt311 · Post by **jsatt311** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:17 am

No doubt both. A band can only do so much with what they have. A venue is seen as a whole establishment and more people will pay attention to a venue than they will that of just a particular band. But at the same time if a band wants to get their name out there they need to work hard on promoting it just as well.

HillgrassBluebillyFTW · Tue Dec 11, 2007 9:15 am

I think it's pretty easy to say I agree with everyone when I say both.

Unfortunately the bars i the area think that they're doing their part strictly by running an ad in WhatzUp, while that's important as well it's not just enough.

MidCity does a good job with their table top thingy's but their walls are getting over run by advertisements that it's hard to find a place to hang a poster.

bassjones · Post by **bassjones** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 9:30 am

both, but more lies on the band, since the more people you bring out, the more likely you are to be booked again. That really puts the onus on you to be more proactive in self-promotion.

LC Pwince · Post by **LC Pwince** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 9:35 am

What about thinking outside the box for promotions? I've had lengthy discussions with some people about running TV spots on Comcast. DIRT CHEAP.
Another factor is the bar you are playing. We have a hard time drawing at certain bars no matter how hard we promote because our crowd just won't go to them. But yeah, you gotta go full tilt regardless of what the bar is doing to promote the show.

Sankofa · Post by **Sankofa** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 9:44 am

For my CD release party at the Rail, I put out myspace bulletins, it was posted on the Rail's site, I posted credit card looking window flyers, left flyers at the Wooden Nickel, took out an ad in the Whatzup, had a Little Brother Radio interview, there was a mention of it in Ease on Down the Road, it was mentioned in Sean's picks, and it was very well attended. Having said all that, I believe attendance was more a reflection of the acts booked and the venue than my promotion, but it doesn't hurt to try.

As a side note, it's a good thing I made tee shirts just for that night-sold plenty more of them than I did CDs.

I also sent out info/promo discs to the JG, NS, and Fort Wayne magazine.

deek · Post by **deek** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 9:47 am

I'd say promotion is the responsibility of both, but the band needs to be concerned about promoting themselves, not the venue. And the venue, should only be concerned about promoting live music, not a specific band, unless the band itself is big enough that name alone will bring a crowd.

Someone here said something about playing every show like it is your last. I would say the same thing goes for a band promoting themselves. There are too many bands, IMO, that feel that getting the gig and just showing up is all they need to do, the bar is going to make a ton of money so they should promote the hell out of the band...don't most bars have shows multiple nights every week? I seriously doubt they are going to super promote all bands that land a gig...

I think a venue should make sure they make it known that there is live music and promote that throughout the week...but I think most places are going to do it for the least amount...so like jones said, that onus then falls back on the band to be proactive...

Oliver's Army · Post by **Oliver's Army** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 9:58 am

LC Pwince wrote:What about thinking outside the box for promotions? I've had lengthy discussions with some people about running TV spots on Comcast. DIRT CHEAP.

All is not what it seems until you see an air schedule and a potential bill in front of you.

The_Dude · Post by **The_Dude** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 10:21 am

^ What he said. I'm not too sure you'll be getting your money's worth when your spot is airing at 3:45am.

Post by **cwallace** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 10:25 am

The_Dude wrote:^ What he said. I'm not too sure you'll be getting your money's worth when your spot is airing at 3:45am.

However, that might be the target audience...

Yeah...TV and radio can BOTH be very cheap, but as with anything you get what you pay for. You want radio time for $1 a spot I know people that will sell it to you...but it can be in some ODD places...

Chris

Al Quandt · Post by **Al Quandt** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 11:09 am

My most recent run in with this was at Legends for thanksgiving. That place is usually packed beyond belief on Thanksgiving. Tons of excitement and people dancing and what not.

This year, it was still busy but nothing like the past. There were many factors that played into this from what I saw.

1. Bar decided not to tell us until we got there that they were delaying the show until the colts game was over.
2. Bar decided last minute to tell us that instead of the night going like this
- Pleasing Melani Set
  Wailhounds Set
  Pleasing Melani Set
  Wailhounds Close
---it went...
- Short Pleasing Melani Set
  Long ass Wailhounds Set
  Pleasing Melani Close
3.Instead of buying a big ass ad in Whatzup (half page) the stuck to the normal one they run every week.

As a result, we got paid close to nothing, our fans waited an hour and a half later to hear us play and went home before we played our full set, the bar was half as full by the time we closed, and to make things worse Wailhounds had to use half of our equipment (drums, bass amp, exc)

I think that it started with the venue not advertising like they did in the past. The other stuff just added to the frustration.