Promoters - What should I expect?

[NoRhino]

I'll post this as two open ended questions...

What should a band expect a promoter to do for them?

What should a promoter expect a band to do for them?

I don't have an axe to grind. We've only recently started working with promoters so it's a new experience.

 

[BigRedX]

What sort of a band is it? Covers or originals?

If it is covers what sort of market are you aiming for? Pub gigs or weddings/functions?

What do you want the promotor to do that you can't already do yourself?

[NoRhino]

49 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

What sort of a band is it? Covers or originals?

If it is covers what sort of market are you aiming for? Pub gigs or weddings/functions?

What do you want the promotor to do that you can't already do yourself?

Tribute band covers. Band established 8 years ago and we're looking to play better venues like town halls and small theatres. 

Festival gigs work well for us with a promoter but moving to indoor venues isn't working as we'd hoped.  Promoter pays for hall and makes money from bar sales. Band hires PA and makes money from ticket sales. 

Is that normal practice?  

[Dan Dare]

There is no "normal" in my experience. It's all down to what you negotiate. If someone can put you into places you wouldn't otherwise be able to get into and is laying out for venue hire,  they are going to want to see a return. That's fair enough.

[Cat Burrito]

If you are constantly hiring PAs, I would probably invest in one.

That doesn't sound like a great deal so maybe keep that promoter for the festivals and work with someone else for the larger venues.

One of my bands is a tribute band and we were told either play the pubs as a less serious option (we're pretty much doing it for a laugh) or get serious on the main circuit. We all have other bands so went with the former.

Promoters range from being brilliant and just expecting you to show up on time and be good, through to doing all the promotion on Facebook right through to just showing up, taking a cut and complaining that you don't pull enough people. In 30yrs of gigging I don't want to appear too cynical so won't comment further 😹

[taunton-hobbit]

When I was promoting (long time back) I used mainly pub halls,

(which I rented) the pub kept the bar take & I usually paid a straight fee to the band -

I expect it's all changed a bit..........

😎

 

[Lozz196]

As has been said there are the good promoters, those who book the bands, arrange gear shares, provide a rider, arrange sound checks, arrange event finish times based on local public transport, advise of arrival times/parking, promote the event locally and online, and run the event.

Then there are the ones that book the bands and do nothing else. To me they are bookers, as that’s all they do, however they’re usually more full of self importance than either the above or the bands.

[NoRhino]

Been mulling this over and think that DIY is indeed the best option. That we only have ourselves to blame.  And at least I'll answer my own phone calls

 

Thanks for your input as always.

[BigRedX]

With a previous (originals) band, we mostly did all the promotional work ourselves. Our singer was very good at engaging with bands/venues/promoters on social media, and telephone and an entertaining live show coupled with a couple of lucky breaks early on, meant that we were rarely short of paying live work.

However that nagging feeling that there must be someone out there who could get us even better gigs - ideally supports with well-known (within the genre) bands at bigger venues lead us to try out a promoter who appeared to be getting other bands decent gigs. He managed to lad us a tour support with a well-known German Rockabilly band (my musically inclined German relatives were impressed that we'd landed the gigs), but the reality was that they were virtually unheard of in the UK and apart from the final night of the tour in London where The Meteors had been added to the bill, we played to audiences that had only really come to see us.

[doomed]

On 17/05/2019 at 15:54, Lozz196 said:

As has been said there are the good promoters, those who book the bands, arrange gear shares, provide a rider, arrange sound checks, arrange event finish times based on local public transport, advise of arrival times/parking, promote the event locally and online, and run the event.

Then there are the ones that book the bands and do nothing else. To me they are bookers, as that’s all they do, however they’re usually more full of self importance than either the above or the bands.

This. Expect nothing and you won't be disappointed 🙂.

[Lozz196]

And as per @BigRedXs post, if you have someone in the band who is capable of doing all of this then they are worth their weight in gold. Our singer does all this for us and without him we wouldn’t have achieved anywhere near as much as we have.