…is a matter of thinking from a talent buyer’s perspective and making promises you can keep.
Reach out to a venue that makes sense (aka if you’re an indie band, don’t reach out to a club that does world music) that’s also within your reach. Don’t reach out to clubs that are huge. Find a venue you can fill because packed small club is overall better than empty larger club especially if you’re able to turn people away.
In an email from one of my readers, he asked how he can get an artist he manages their first gig. I sent him the following short response:
Less is more. Think from the buyer’s perspective. He/she doesn’t want to know everything about your guy nor do they give a shit.
Send the talent buyer the following in an email:
- link to the artist’s music
- 2 sentence description of the music
- date(s) you’re looking for
- how many people you can draw
- what you’re going to do to help promote
This is where thinking from the talent buyer’s perspective comes in. They’re inundated with scores of emails from every band trying to get there first gig who thinks they’re music is amazing (and some will irrationally dub themselves as the next Beatles, but that another pet-peeve of mine). There are a lot of bands, so being brief will get their attention. They’ve heard the song and dance of how bands can guarantee 23456432 people, so if they’re not an idiot, they’ll know whether you’re full of shit or not. So don’t lie or make empty promises. Execute on anything you promise and it’ll benefit you in the long run because talent buyers and venue staff will like you.
The other key factor is that they want someone who has moderately good music that can bring a crowd who will buy booze. Booze keeps the light on, so please don’t forget that. That’s it and if you think anything differently then you’re kidding yourself. You may say that this takes the art out of live music, but it’s a harsh reality. However, that’s not to say that playing good music isn’t important, but as far as getting the first gig, it’s less of a factor.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me.
I work at a box office and my favorite is when people walk in and say they are in a band, or better yet, represent a band, and ask to talk to the booking agent right away without an appointment