here's a few fairly obvious suggestions off the top of my head. suggestions that i'm sorry to say that most london promoters don't seem to take much or any notice of:
first of all:
- if you have no taste in, knowledge of or interest in live music - don't become a live music promoter (you'd be amazed)
- don't rip off the bands and their fans by leaving them to do all the promotion, leaving them with the responsibility of selling tickets, bringing people along and then taking all the money for essentially doing fuck all (again - this is par for the course on the toilet circuit)
- keep the door charge as low as you can
- only book bands that you genuinely dig, not ones that you think will bring all their mates
- answer your phone!
- don't book venue that you'll struggle to fill
- put together a coherent night with bands, djs, and an atmosphere that work well together.
- list the gig as many (appropriate) places as you can
- create some nice eye catching posters/flyers and stick then on appropriate, potentially interested and websites that being lover of new music and dilligent researcher/promoter, you already frequent and are reasonably well known on
- stick a few posters in the venue and surrounding area
- don't try and put on too many bands on the same night
- build up a great big mailing list and keep people informed. don't over do the mails though. only send the minimum and try and keep them short and sweet.
- put the bands in touch with each other well before the gig to arrange kit share. where possible try and get everyone to share at least the drum kit. it also helps enormously in terms of atmosphere that the bands are all on talking terms before they get to the venue.
- cut your overheads by getting mates to do the door and coats and get someone (who genuinely knows what they are doing) you know to engineer. these are usually the main costs (assuming you're not paying for the venue)
- eat more fibre
things that (in my opinion) definitely do not work:
- spamming random websites
- pretending to a be an unafilliated interested party on message boards
- indiscriminate postering
- flyering
- bullshitting in general to the bands and about "industry" specifically (any band with half a brain will imediately peg you as a either delusional windbag or a compulsive liar.
i assume you're not talking about making serious money from promoting live music?
i can put you in touch with any number of fat, dickless, backstabbing, no-taste, bedwetting mouthbreathers that call themselves professional live music promoters if you like?
personally we put on our own nights because we want to play with awazing bands and artists, have a load of fun, get spannered with friends and generally get a good thing going. we're usually happy if we make a taxi fare home.
it's not exactly the big time i'll grant you but we have made it to OUR FIRST BIRTHDAY this very weekend so i guess we must be doing something right?
hope this helps,
al
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