I like this video. couple things... As far as doing local shows to get experience doing shows - spot on. Don't do it for money. BUT I would pay yourself 15% of the net, or of the gross or of the risk of the show. Pay yourself something. The locals will get used to making basically all the money and will not respect the work you're putting in. I did local shows for three+ years not making a dime. Even bringing in some regional bands, taking the risk, but then paying out everything. It was just cool for me to put together the show. (I was 15-18 years old) (Nothing like your mom dropping you off at the venue to run a show!) About cleaning up the green room - BOOM. this goes wayyyyyy further than you understand. The venues you're working with, make them better than what they are. If you're doing the majority of your shows at a shit hole, make it better. If its snowing, bring a shovel to clear a path for load in. Then shovel again before doors open for ticket buyers. A real promoter has parking cones with them. I have a stack of parking cones at every venue I do shows at + my house and all my promoter rep houses. (Are you even a real promoter until you've gotten in a fist with a taxi driver because they are in your parking spot, and the headlining bus is a few mins away...haha) We show up at 4am/5am to put out cones so the bus can park and have no problems. We try to meet the driver there on arrival. The promoter is responsible for everything that can go wrong. If the show is slam dunk, and perfect. The artist brought all the people. If the show sucks and no one is there.. the promoter sucks and didn't do his job. Basically, this is a absolutely terrible business where no one respects your time, energy, money, ect... If you have thick skin and understand that NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU LITERALLY AT ALL, you'll probably do pretty well. The promoter is here to put the artist first, in every situation. You'll get taken advantage of hundreds of times a year. You'll learn how to minimize it over the years that only wisdom can teach you. Just remember, you're a promoter. Most important is the cash, second is communication. A good promoter will never get noticed, which you'll learn is great. It's better to operate in the shadows. But a bad promoter can ruin the entire event very easily. Wrong door time, wrong Meet & Greet times, wrong load in times, you didnt arrange parking, ect.... If you want to be a great promoter, dot your i's and cross your t's. building your scene - spot on. For a no body promoter, you do need to create your own demand. Build your genre that you're in. It will takes years and years, but 10-20 years later, you should own the majority stake, and God willing, it should pay off. In conclusion. Don't be a promoter. You will be much more successful doing pretty much anything else. Why do I keep doing this, because I'm 20 years deep, and too successful to stop now. I need to see through what I've started. Getting anywhere in this business is impossibly hard if you live a major market like myself, but if you're in a town that doesnt have a bigger independent promoter, you may get lucky get some good shows because they have no other options. What do you really bring to the table - probably nothing if you're starting out. Look where you can add value, and there you will find success. Just remember when you're starting, you're just starting, others have been doing this for a looooong time (maybe their whole life, in my case) Word harder than anyone else for years for no pay to get noticed to then take larger risks than your competition would take and maybe you'll make money??? orrrr become a CPA, or any other profession that adds value to peoples lives. One last thing, if you're trying to do shows at a venue, but you've never been to the venue....wtf are you doing. go to a show there, see where the bands park, see where they load in, scope it out first. ...and buy the damn ticket when you scope it out for fricks sake.
@@ParlayParri24 Let me add to this. When you pay yourself, pay yourself in something that can't get fucked with. I was a multimillionaire last year, now I have like $200K in cash, and like $500K of assets. I had four tours in a row lose, and my stocks crashed in value. A double wammy. I lost over 1 million last year on shows. It happens... Sucks when it happens to you. It's a shit business. But here I am putting another 300 shows on the books for 2024 and risking everything.
good insight man! As a musician, I try to be objective. It's not cool to see promoters rip off bands, but at the same time I understand that everyone needs to cover their costs and venues need to profit if we expect them to invite shows back.
Dude. Thank you. I want to become a concert promoter and I want to work my way up to be one of the most respected and favorite in the country. I appreciate this video so much because I really wanted to learn where to start. Thanks man 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻
I just stumbled upon this video and I have a feeling it will help me out Immensely. I've been stumbling through concert promotions For the past 10 years, and really feel like I've been just plotting in the dark. Been doing work for the 501 C3 that I own where we put on showsTo raise money for cancer research. I am pretty bad at it I thought I could do it because I've done a lot of running boards for shows and live mastering And taken a fair amount of marketing classes, But I realized long ago that I have no idea what I'm doing. I need to find a class that tells me how to do this or find a mentor
This isn't exactly what I had in mind. I'm interested in booking a big(ish) act in a local venue as a one-off show but I'm not a 'promoter'. Am lost really.
Check out this workshop I did. Feel free to post any questions in the comments. Happy to make a custom video too - ruclips.net/video/bOOs0wj2QWE/видео.html
Hello Shannon - this would be a good video topic to tackle. But some quick tips based on 200-1,000 cap rooms, and local shows or small national acts (this all changes when you have bigger national acts) - 1. Never do bar guarantees unless you're getting a cut from the bar (10-15% is pretty common). 2. If you do bar guarantees, really know your genre, and what to expect per head. Just an example from my history - Country/the jam scene do the best, then metal/rock/reggae shows, then mainstream hip-hop (those are better if the venue offers bottle service), then blues/funk/jazz, then EDM, then pop shows, then backpacker or hipster hip-hop shows, and lastly kids shows. I could do some numbers and ranges for different genres in that video. 3. Your expenses - Production $150-$250 for 100-400 cap, $200-500 for 400-750 cap, $750-1k for 1,000 cap, security budget at $15/hr for each guard (this can be as low as $10/hr, but with COVID and higher minimum wage, budget at $15), and box office is about $15/hr for each person (most club shows only require 1). Other expenses you might have in the bigger rooms is cleanup and a rental fee. A good ballpark is to take your capacity x $2 as the max you pay (so, 400 cap = $800 max). 4. Get everything in writing 5. Try to be able to sell the tickets through your ticketing provider 6. Come across as super professional The more you do this, or my favorite saying, the more reps you get and have a successful track record, and doing high volume of shows, these deals will get better. Expenses may not change, but you might have an opportunity for rebates, merch cuts, and a cut from the bar. Hope this helps!
@@chrisgoyzueta Volume is so important, but more important is the quality. If you have a small show, let the venue know it will do 35 people. Little thing I do, is I tell the venues to expect about 75% of what I actually think will come. So if I expect 100 people, I tell them around 60-75, and they are stoked when there are 100 people are in the room. You don't want to tell the venue 150 people are coming and you have 75 in the room. Quick way to be like every other shot promoter they deal with. Be honest, they might not want your 35 person show. Getting a good track record of knowing what you're talking about is super important. If you don't know what the expect, just say that.
can't share contract samples because they're confidential. But I may have an idea for contracts. What type of checklists are you looking for? Always looking for content ideas. Going to try to start posting a weekly educational video.
@@chrisgoyzueta like a to do list. There are probably a lot of things a newbie wouldn't even think of. I think of it like a workflow process that includes all the steps to execute successfully.
Yes...pretty much anything that's touring has similar deals - comedy, podcasters, RUclipsrs, etc. The only one I've seen so far that's different is Broadway. But those deals are not too drastically different either.
I'm an aspiring Promoter and having trouble getting national artist. I've been donating my money to learn on the local level. I work for the best production company in my town. Can you teach me how to get in touch with the agents for the bands I need?
Yes, I can here: www.patreon.com/makingitacademy Join for a month, and if you don't think it helps, you can cancel. I'll send you your money back if you feel the content/promoter course there isn't helpful.
I like this video. couple things...
As far as doing local shows to get experience doing shows - spot on. Don't do it for money. BUT I would pay yourself 15% of the net, or of the gross or of the risk of the show. Pay yourself something. The locals will get used to making basically all the money and will not respect the work you're putting in.
I did local shows for three+ years not making a dime. Even bringing in some regional bands, taking the risk, but then paying out everything. It was just cool for me to put together the show. (I was 15-18 years old) (Nothing like your mom dropping you off at the venue to run a show!)
About cleaning up the green room - BOOM. this goes wayyyyyy further than you understand. The venues you're working with, make them better than what they are. If you're doing the majority of your shows at a shit hole, make it better. If its snowing, bring a shovel to clear a path for load in. Then shovel again before doors open for ticket buyers.
A real promoter has parking cones with them. I have a stack of parking cones at every venue I do shows at + my house and all my promoter rep houses. (Are you even a real promoter until you've gotten in a fist with a taxi driver because they are in your parking spot, and the headlining bus is a few mins away...haha) We show up at 4am/5am to put out cones so the bus can park and have no problems. We try to meet the driver there on arrival.
The promoter is responsible for everything that can go wrong. If the show is slam dunk, and perfect. The artist brought all the people. If the show sucks and no one is there.. the promoter sucks and didn't do his job. Basically, this is a absolutely terrible business where no one respects your time, energy, money, ect... If you have thick skin and understand that NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU LITERALLY AT ALL, you'll probably do pretty well. The promoter is here to put the artist first, in every situation. You'll get taken advantage of hundreds of times a year. You'll learn how to minimize it over the years that only wisdom can teach you.
Just remember, you're a promoter. Most important is the cash, second is communication. A good promoter will never get noticed, which you'll learn is great. It's better to operate in the shadows. But a bad promoter can ruin the entire event very easily. Wrong door time, wrong Meet & Greet times, wrong load in times, you didnt arrange parking, ect.... If you want to be a great promoter, dot your i's and cross your t's.
building your scene - spot on. For a no body promoter, you do need to create your own demand. Build your genre that you're in. It will takes years and years, but 10-20 years later, you should own the majority stake, and God willing, it should pay off.
In conclusion. Don't be a promoter. You will be much more successful doing pretty much anything else. Why do I keep doing this, because I'm 20 years deep, and too successful to stop now. I need to see through what I've started. Getting anywhere in this business is impossibly hard if you live a major market like myself, but if you're in a town that doesnt have a bigger independent promoter, you may get lucky get some good shows because they have no other options.
What do you really bring to the table - probably nothing if you're starting out. Look where you can add value, and there you will find success. Just remember when you're starting, you're just starting, others have been doing this for a looooong time (maybe their whole life, in my case) Word harder than anyone else for years for no pay to get noticed to then take larger risks than your competition would take and maybe you'll make money??? orrrr become a CPA, or any other profession that adds value to peoples lives.
One last thing, if you're trying to do shows at a venue, but you've never been to the venue....wtf are you doing. go to a show there, see where the bands park, see where they load in, scope it out first. ...and buy the damn ticket when you scope it out for fricks sake.
Yo! This advice was so true especially the pay yourself something part.. very important
@@ParlayParri24 Let me add to this. When you pay yourself, pay yourself in something that can't get fucked with. I was a multimillionaire last year, now I have like $200K in cash, and like $500K of assets. I had four tours in a row lose, and my stocks crashed in value. A double wammy.
I lost over 1 million last year on shows. It happens... Sucks when it happens to you.
It's a shit business. But here I am putting another 300 shows on the books for 2024 and risking everything.
Don't stop you are awesome.. Greatly opened up a different perspective of the game from your nuggets.
Thank you!! Let me know if you have any questions or topics you'd like me to cover. Happy to make a video.
Much appreciated! I'm looking to learn more about this
I’m subscribing to your Patreon. Thanks for doing this!
good insight man! As a musician, I try to be objective. It's not cool to see promoters rip off bands, but at the same time I understand that everyone needs to cover their costs and venues need to profit if we expect them to invite shows back.
Hello what type of music you make?
Gold. You’re my guy on this new hobby of mine.
Dude. Thank you. I want to become a concert promoter and I want to work my way up to be one of the most respected and favorite in the country. I appreciate this video so much because I really wanted to learn where to start. Thanks man 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻
Good video, thank you for this my brother
Good content on this video. Glad I found it. Look forward to more of your videos. Thanks for taking the time.
Thank you!! Any topics you’d like to learn more about? Always looking for content ideas to do a deep dive on
Great stuff man! Thanks for covering something that's not easy to find on RUclips
Watching this in 2022 and I needed it! Thanks for sharing! I’ve subscribed 🙏🏾✨
Great info... Very insightful
I'm Really Learning alot watching your videos💯
...Thank you
Thank you!! Let me know if you have any questions or topics you'd like me to cover.
Thank you
GOOD JOB BRO
thank you!
This video was very helpful
I just stumbled upon this video and I have a feeling it will help me out Immensely. I've been stumbling through concert promotions For the past 10 years, and really feel like I've been just plotting in the dark. Been doing work for the 501 C3 that I own where we put on showsTo raise money for cancer research. I am pretty bad at it I thought I could do it because I've done a lot of running boards for shows and live mastering And taken a fair amount of marketing classes, But I realized long ago that I have no idea what I'm doing. I need to find a class that tells me how to do this or find a mentor
Good video! Thanks!!!!
This isn't exactly what I had in mind. I'm interested in booking a big(ish) act in a local venue as a one-off show but I'm not a 'promoter'. Am lost really.
Check out this workshop I did. Feel free to post any questions in the comments. Happy to make a custom video too - ruclips.net/video/bOOs0wj2QWE/видео.html
Any tips on negotiating with venues? What are your predictions on show attendance in response to covid-19?
Hello Shannon - this would be a good video topic to tackle. But some quick tips based on 200-1,000 cap rooms, and local shows or small national acts (this all changes when you have bigger national acts) -
1. Never do bar guarantees unless you're getting a cut from the bar (10-15% is pretty common).
2. If you do bar guarantees, really know your genre, and what to expect per head. Just an example from my history - Country/the jam scene do the best, then metal/rock/reggae shows, then mainstream hip-hop (those are better if the venue offers bottle service), then blues/funk/jazz, then EDM, then pop shows, then backpacker or hipster hip-hop shows, and lastly kids shows. I could do some numbers and ranges for different genres in that video.
3. Your expenses - Production $150-$250 for 100-400 cap, $200-500 for 400-750 cap, $750-1k for 1,000 cap, security budget at $15/hr for each guard (this can be as low as $10/hr, but with COVID and higher minimum wage, budget at $15), and box office is about $15/hr for each person (most club shows only require 1). Other expenses you might have in the bigger rooms is cleanup and a rental fee. A good ballpark is to take your capacity x $2 as the max you pay (so, 400 cap = $800 max).
4. Get everything in writing
5. Try to be able to sell the tickets through your ticketing provider
6. Come across as super professional
The more you do this, or my favorite saying, the more reps you get and have a successful track record, and doing high volume of shows, these deals will get better. Expenses may not change, but you might have an opportunity for rebates, merch cuts, and a cut from the bar. Hope this helps!
Your videos are great, Chris, really appreciate you sharing your experience and knowledge!
@@chrisgoyzueta Volume is so important, but more important is the quality. If you have a small show, let the venue know it will do 35 people.
Little thing I do, is I tell the venues to expect about 75% of what I actually think will come. So if I expect 100 people, I tell them around 60-75, and they are stoked when there are 100 people are in the room.
You don't want to tell the venue 150 people are coming and you have 75 in the room. Quick way to be like every other shot promoter they deal with. Be honest, they might not want your 35 person show. Getting a good track record of knowing what you're talking about is super important. If you don't know what the expect, just say that.
Good info, Chris. Thanks. Do you have any checklists and contract samples you can share?
can't share contract samples because they're confidential. But I may have an idea for contracts. What type of checklists are you looking for? Always looking for content ideas. Going to try to start posting a weekly educational video.
@@chrisgoyzueta like a to do list. There are probably a lot of things a newbie wouldn't even think of. I think of it like a workflow process that includes all the steps to execute successfully.
Best way to get started promoting shows, is to stop while you're already ahead and do something different.
Whats up Ducks!
Do you have a copy of a contract that a promoter should make a artist sign?
do concert promotion include things like stand up comedies too?
Yes...pretty much anything that's touring has similar deals - comedy, podcasters, RUclipsrs, etc. The only one I've seen so far that's different is Broadway. But those deals are not too drastically different either.
I'm an aspiring Promoter and having trouble getting national artist. I've been donating my money to learn on the local level. I work for the best production company in my town. Can you teach me how to get in touch with the agents for the bands I need?
Yes, I can here: www.patreon.com/makingitacademy
Join for a month, and if you don't think it helps, you can cancel. I'll send you your money back if you feel the content/promoter course there isn't helpful.
What is the website name on min 8:49?
www.patreon.com/makingitacademy
@@vandalize3 thank you! 🙏
“Buy the bands food and beer” “do not pay yourself any money”