Pay to Play your gig? WTF!?

[flyfisher]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1339084847' post='1683430']
Bump for this post. The linked blog also contains a splendid debate from which we could all learn.

Thanks for putting this up, Uncle Psychosis
[/quote]
+1

[i][b]"[/b][b]Basically, it just doesn’t add up."[/b][/i]

. . . . on either side, it would seem, most of the time. Good job most people have day jobs to subsidise their musical interests.

[pietruszka]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1339092769' post='1683591']
The originals band I play in were offered a deal, by a promoter, where we would support Alabama 3 at a decent venue in London but had to buy £300 worth of tickets (which we could sell at a 25% mark up to get our money back). Unfortunately the band all live in Edinburgh and we know very few people in London and therefore would have no chance of selling 50 tickets and getting our money back. But if you were a London band with a following it could be a good deal to get a bit of recognition for your band.
[/quote]

This is the bit I don't get, do promoters honestly think this will happen for a low level touring band? It's just an insane ask and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it just isn't that feasible.





Dan

[BigRedX]

[quote name='pietruszka' timestamp='1339148773' post='1684289']
This is the bit I don't get, do promoters honestly think this will happen for a low level touring band? It's just an insane ask and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it just isn't that feasible.

Dan
[/quote]

It's a gamble just like any other promotion. You could easily spend (more than) the same amount on T-Shirts or CDs for example and be left with 100s of unsold items. For originals bands who aren't being fronted money from an outside source (record company etc.) playing live is probably more about promotion is as it is about doing a job and getting paid for it.

For the right band in the right location £300 (plus transport costs, minus ticket and merchandise sales) could be a good deal to support a known band at a decent venue. It's all about getting the right deal. Most pay to play is worthless, however some of it might not be. It's up to the individual bands to decide based on the circumstances.

[Musky]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1339151726' post='1684359']
It's a gamble just like any other promotion. You could easily spend (more than) the same amount on T-Shirts or CDs for example and be left with 100s of unsold items. For originals bands who aren't being fronted money from an outside source (record company etc.) playing live is probably more about promotion is as it is about doing a job and getting paid for it.

For the right band in the right location £300 (plus transport costs, minus ticket and merchandise sales) could be a good deal to support a known band at a decent venue. It's all about getting the right deal. Most pay to play is worthless, however some of it might not be. It's up to the individual bands to decide based on the circumstances.
[/quote]
+1

Buying on to the tours of bands with a decent sized following is commonplace, and should be regarded as a marketing expense. It should also be appraised as such and evaluated against what you want to achieve, value for money and the alternatives for your spend.

Unfortunately, if the Alabama 3 gig is the one I'm thinking of it does fit neatly into the P2P pigeonhole and they do the same thing with various DJ sets by musicians of variable popularity.

[paul_5]

I did a case-study on this sort of thing as one of my music business lectures last month - turns out a student had already been taken in by a 'battle of the bands' sort of affair where bands did all of the leg work beforehand. It's really a sh*tty way to operate but young bands fall for it time and time again. Part of the 'X factor / Britain's got talent' mentality unfortunately.

It'll all change come the revolution.