redbandit599 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Hi all My local pub band is up and running and it's time to go gig hunting. It's been a while since I last had to send out demos and believe it or not, they were on tape! What do you guys find the most straightforward and succesful way to get a demo to a landlord/venue? There are so many options these days. Obviously I want it to be as easy as possible for the recipient. So far I've got the following on the list :- 1) Soundcloud - seems most likely, anything I should consider? 2) Youtube - bit more of a faff with having to do a 'video' of sorts. 3) Facebook - we've got a band site and already have a clip on here. Just wonder if it's a bit cumbersome. We don't have a website, maybe in the future, but not right now. Cheers Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dincz Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Probably as easy as it gets: https://www.wetransfer.com Just upload your file(s) and the recipient gets an e-mail containing the download link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 [quote name='dincz' timestamp='1437472244' post='2826207'] Just upload your file(s) and the recipient gets an e-mail containing the download link. [/quote] This. I use MediaFire. There are many alternatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Soundcloud works best, it saves whoever having to download stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 You can stream stuff direct from MediaFire, you don't have to download it if you don't want to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_P Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 I tend to just ring them and gigs lead to gigs so talk about having some free dates - but if they want something more then you want it to be super easy to show a landlord you're a good band, so I'd suggest a Facebook page with decent pics and some clickable song clips - soundcloud or youtube. After that then you can't beat popping in with a cd and poster that have contact details. I might start with a high price but offer a cheaper first gig (that is actually around the going rate but it put in mind that they are getting a proper band for a good price). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 (edited) Can also look round for those music venues that run open mic nights. Some of these places use open mic as a way of auditioning potential acts for full gigs. There is a pub not far from me that pretty much chooses all their acts in this way, you are highly unlikely to get a gig without turning up and doing a few songs at the open mic in advance. From their point of view it weeds out those that have very 'creatively' recorded tracks online but which then subsequently can't manage it in front of a proper audience. They will miss out on acts that can't (or won't) travel for the open mic's but then I think they have an active policy of mainly trying to support local bands which I think is fair enough. Edited July 21, 2015 by KevB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeEvans Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 When I was booking bands for a mid-size venue, I was surprised by how under-prepared some bands were. I obviously had to sell the band to my audience, and there are a few things that make that immeasurably easier:[list] [*]A bit of film with good sound quality (i.e. probably not gig footage off someone's phone) on Youtube or Vimeo, so that I could embed it in our website and share it on Facebook. Best of all is to set up a filmed recording session in a nice-looking space and do maybe three of your best tunes. The sound quality and performance are more important than the video quality and editing... [*]Either a good poster design in a format that let me add date etc (e.g. a jpg or similar at least 2000px wide) or some good photos of the band that I could use to do a poster design (again minimum 2000px wide). I personally hated the ready-made posters with a blank bit at the bottom to scrawl gig details on, they look rubbish to my eye. [*]A decent biog with some press quotes that were not too obviously made up. (Top tip: send a press release to a regional paper with some good lines about the band in there, then when they print it, use those lines in your publicity material, attributed to the paper - "rip-roaring rock action" - Western Daily Press) [*]A website that I could post links to with more film or audio, more pics etc. [*]A local fan base that the band could easily reach through social media - even touring bands can often rustle up a bit of local excitement if they are organised. [/list] Any band that had most or all of the above and looked half-decent was in with a good chance of a booking, even if no-one had ever heard of them; any band without any of the above wouldn't really be worth booking even if they were the most extraordinary act on earth, because how could I show my audience how good they were? Obviously for smaller gigs you could scale that list back a bit but it really does all make life easy for the person doing the booking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) Just walk into the pub with a boombox on your shoulder playing your bands demo REALLY LOUD! Warning......it could end in tears. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ4y7GPeFBY[/media] Edited July 22, 2015 by gjones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbandit599 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 Thanks for the tips all. Think I've sorted the demo sharing via Soundcloud - seems to do the trick. Yep, posters next I imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4-string-thing Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 KevB, my band are looking into doing a few open mic nights as a way of finding proper gigs, any chance of letting us know the name of this place? Many open mics are acoustic acts only and I'm having trouble finding many that provide drums and backline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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