Friday, February 13, 2015

But You'll Get Great Exposure!

Exposure is something you can die from.

Ok, that applies to weather, but you sure can't pay your rent with "exposure". There are times when it can lead to good paying gigs. Sadly, more often than not, it's a waste of your time. Here's a few things to help you determine if the exposure being offered has any value, and how to get the most from it.

Perceived value is important.

Retail stores use it all the time because it works - "Retail price $199, your price $139". People shell out $139 because they believe they're getting a deal. So when you play for "exposure", what is your perceived value? Nothing, unless the exposure itself has value. Is it exposure to a few bar regulars who couldn't care less about your music? Then your perceived value is zero. If the exposure is a mention of your performance on a local tv or radio station, then it might be hard to quantify but there is value, and you probably want to do this gig.

New bands trying to get some traction will often do free shows for exposure (and experience). Understandable. But give that show a perceived value - give the venue a bill with a reasonable fee for the performance, but mark the bill "fee waived". Now the venue owner knows that you value your performance, and knows you won't always play for free.

The dive bar.

This is where I expect to see start-up bands that haven't found their stage legs yet. It's more like a practice than a performance, and they're happy to do it for free. The bar isn't likely making much (if any) extra money because of the band. This scenario is where playing for exposure (or more accurately, experience) makes sense.

The upscale club.

I've never had an upscale club ask us to play for exposure, but I've heard stories. It's a no-brainer. They wouldn't be asking you to play there if they didn't think you were good. They're trying to take advantage of you. Just say no.

Festivals.

I don't know about other states, but in Texas, from March through October you can't throw a rock without hitting a festival. This is one place where playing for exposure might make good sense, but it largely depends on the festival. How big is it? How many attendees do they expect? How many bands are playing? Are any well-known bands playing? Is the festival promoting your genre of music or is it a hodgepodge of many genres?

A band trying to get traction in a particular area could benefit from playing a festival there, especially if the festival is geared toward the same genre - after all, you will be playing to people who want to hear good music.

What about charity gigs and benefit concerts?

Charity or benefit gigs could give you valuable exposure, depending on a few factors : Will a fair number of the attendees be in your target demographic? Will the charity advertise your band? Will they allow you to sell your merch and keep those proceeds?

Another thing to consider with charity events is fairness. Is the venue being paid? Are the wait staff being paid? Don't be afraid to ask these questions. If others are being paid to work the event, it would be unfair to expect the main draw - the entertainment - to work for free.

Benefits are often held in bars, where you already know the answers to those questions - the bar staff IS getting paid. The bar WILL make money from the benefit. I think it's only fair that the entertainment makes enough money to at least cover travel expenses.

There may be a benefit or charity that you believe in and want to support. If it's something you would open your wallet for, then maybe you would feel good about donating your talent as well.

Association with a well-known name.

I just read an open letter to Oprah from an entertainer who was asked to perform for free at Oprah's "The Life You Want" tour. This is a for-profit tour that will make millions for Oprah and the promoters, yet they're asking local entertainers to perform for free. Sounds like good exposure, right?

Well, maybe not. The local entertainers were put on side stages near the entrance. The attendees were there to see Oprah, not local entertainers. Nearly all of them would walk past these side stages without even glancing over. This "background" entertainment certainly helped Oprah's show by contributing excitement to the atmosphere, but I doubt it helps those entertainers.

In the end...

The next time you're asked to play for free, consider your investment in this performance, then realistically consider the return. Don't listen to their hype, because they will oversell the value of what they're offering.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Musicians - Get More (and Better) Google Plus Followers!

I recently wrote an article for Target Audience Magazine - Google Plus Is Not Dying, But Your Profile Might Be. This article explained how I quickly increased my Google Plus followers, not just with numbers, but with people who are relevant to my interests (music), and who are more likely to engage with my profile and my posts (both points are very important!)

Since then I have continued to learn better ways to use Circloscope to find active and relevant followers, and will continue to share what I learn here. If you haven't read the first article yet, start there, as this will just build on what I've already written.

Today I learned that sometimes Google doesn't like it when you do a deep search for engagers using Circloscope. I had run a search from Circloscope on "Engagers of my last 20 posts (not in my circles)" and Circloscope had returned nearly 1700 results. As I started trying to add some of these to my newly created circle, I kept getting a "check your internet connection" error. I knew it wasn't my internet connection, but had a suspicion, so I clicked over to my profile tab and tried to load something from my profile. Sure enough, I got a thing from Google saying they had detected unusual activity and wanted me to prove I was human. I entered the code, switched back to Circloscope, and everything started working fine.

Another tip for when you use the "find engagers.." feature in Circloscope and get a lot of results : the result are initially sorted by first name - change the sort to "recently updated". This lets you start adding the most active people first - and those are the ones we want!

More tips to come soon - and if you have learned any tips, please share them in the comments.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

New Opportunities for Bands and Musicians in the Tyler Area

Patriot Commons is near the University of Texas campus, and is currently growing by leaps and bounds. With about 3500 new residents each year, Tyler is a fast growing city, and the opening of Patriot Commons earlier this year is now paying off with new bars and restaurants.

Republic Icehouse is one of the newest additions, and they are currently seeking bands. They also plan on having an Open Mic night.

UC Sports Bar, which also features live music, recently opened at Patriot Commons. Restaurants round out the attractions with a Steak n Shake, Scooter’s Coffee and Yogurt, and Boba-Loompia. Fedex and UPS are also setting up locations here, so with all of this going on, I expect a lot of traffic and firmly believe Patriot Commons will be a huge boon to Tyler, and to Tyler musicians and bands.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

International Music Festival - Austin - Sept 6-7

Great idea. Bad promo.

I always get excited to find what appears to be a new festival with promise to add more flavor to Texas' festival scene, and the name of this one really caught my attention.

This is the fourth year for this festival. I've written about badly promoted festivals before, but this one really gets me because I would think the presenter, the Texas Music Museum, would do better. Visiting the Museum's website gives a bit of info, with a large graphic that says click DETAILS, so I do.

This click leads me to a one page PDF with the address, price (free but donations accepted), and a few small blurry pics of the bands (I think that's the bands - too blurry to tell).

I know web developers are expensive, and I'm not fond of events whose only online presence is a Facebook page, but come on. A Facebook page is at least better than a PDF, and anyone can do it.

Some of you may question why I'm so critical of festivals that do crappy online promotions. Well, here's why : the bands. These bands are usually playing for nothing, or nearly nothing, which really means they're paying to play. At the very least, they're paying with their time, and gas to get to and from the gig. Some may be travelling far enough to require hotel rooms. Some may be giving up better paying gigs hoping to get good exposure at the festival, or maybe they just booked the festival in advance then had to turn down paying gigs because they were booked. These bands deserve better advertising. Put up a website, or at least a web page or Facebook page, and tell us about the bands. Link to their websites.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Seeking Entertainers for New Year's Eve Party

This is a family-friendly event, not much posted online about it yet, but they are lining up the entertainment so this is your chance.

I almost hate to say this but there is no pay involved. But I know from experience there will be entertainers who would love this kind of exposure, which is the only reason I'm posting it.

If you'd like to perform, contact information and event details can be found here : Texas Musicians Forum.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Metal at the Monkey - Dallas - July 31

I know a few DFW area 80s and metal fans that are going to LOVE this... 80s Metal at the Gas Monkey in Dallas!

With an 80s costume contest, several raffle drawings, and a few good metal bands, this sounds like a blast! To top it off, the entire night will be broadcast live by KNON.

Details and tickets here: gasmonkeybarngrill.com

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Beaumont Radio Station Seeks Unsigned Talent

Unsigned bands and artists in the southeast Texas area who play country music or Texas music - get heard on this Beaumont radio station! The station is seeking music from unsigned artists and bands. Chosen music will be played on their Saturday night Texas Connection show, from 6-8 pm.

Details here : www.kykr.com