Band promotion

[BassAdder60]

Following on from the 2023 thread I have a few questions 

 

How best for you to promote your band ?

What platforms are the best ie Facebook etc ?

 

What more can a local band do to promote up and coming performances ?

Are venues poor at advertising themselves ?

 

 

Edited November 10, 2022 by BassAdder60

[Happy Jack]

3 minutes ago, BassAdder60 said:

Are venues poor at advertising themselves ?

 

Pubs are run by publicans, clubs are run by amateurs/volunteers, you do the math.

 

Any band that relies on the venue to do the marketing (with a very few honorable exceptions) is on a hiding to nothing.

 

[Franticsmurf]

4 hours ago, BassAdder60 said:

Are venues poor at advertising themselves ?

We have a gig tomorrow night in a club and were told the venue would promote. When we checked last week, there seemed to be some confusion and it turned out that there were two different people responsible for booking entertainment. One did weekdays bar Friday, the other Friday and the weekend. The weekday person was the social media person, but as she didn't know about our Friday gig, no promotion (other than a poster in the club) had been done.

 

Fortunately we have been able to get the message out. Always check and assume nothing.

[skidder652003]

if you're lucky you might get a hastily scrawled chalk board outside and a poster (you delivered) put up somewhere no one will see.

We have spent 10 plus years building a (modest) following. We advertise on our facebook page and link to the venues page.

For weekend warriors thats enough for us.

[BigRedX]

Depends on the band and depends on the gig.

 

I play in two goth/post-punk originals bands and these days I rarely have to do any promotion. Most of the gigs my bands play are well organised, and run by established promoters on the scene. We're often supporting much better known bands who will be the ones pulling in the majority of the audience. We'll put a couple of posts up on the bands' social media pages but that's really all that we need to do.

 

It will probably be a different story if you're playing covers in a pub.

[NHM]

we're playing a new venue (for us)  tomorrow evening, a very stylish restaurant. We sent the organiser some visuals a couple of weeks ago, but they didn't post the gig on facebook until two days ago and put up a poster outside the venue yesterday. And they have a chalk board inside that gives the time that is wrong by one hour.

If not many show up, it will be so disheartening. OK, we'll get paid but all the effort that goes into it is only worth it if we have a good crowd and a fulfiling experience. It really isn't that difficult nowadays for a venue to get the word out to its regular clients.

[BassAdder60]

1 hour ago, NHM said:

we're playing a new venue (for us)  tomorrow evening, a very stylish restaurant. We sent the organiser some visuals a couple of weeks ago, but they didn't post the gig on facebook until two days ago and put up a poster outside the venue yesterday. And they have a chalk board inside that gives the time that is wrong by one hour.

If not many show up, it will be so disheartening. OK, we'll get paid but all the effort that goes into it is only worth it if we have a good crowd and a fulfiling experience. It really isn't that difficult nowadays for a venue to get the word out to its regular clients.

Totally agree with this … venues really could do a bit more and at least get the band details correct !

[Franticsmurf]

We used to have an agent whose idea of promotion was a pre-printed poster template with the band/gig details added in marker pen. Occasionally it was red marker rather than black. 🤣

Edited November 11, 2022 by Franticsmurf

[BigRedX]

I just thinking some more about who does promotion, where and why. And IMO it really does depend upon the band and the gig.

 

The next gig I'll be playing is at the Lending Room in Leeds. The venue is a decent sized room above a pub called "The Library", whose core clientele couldn't be less interested in live music. The last time I was there the main pub was rammed full of students in Superhero costumes, seemingly all intent on getting drunk and then hopefully getting laid. The venue part even has it's own separate entrance (although you can also get to it through the pub). Advertising at the pub consists of one poster for each gig happening in the next two months, and TBH thats all they need as the various "nights" are so disparate in genre, that punters attending one evening are unlikely to be interested in any of the others, certainly apart form the two other Carpe Noctum events coming up there was nothing I had any inclination to want to attend. Also at all the gigs there that I have attended either as a band member or as a punter, I could guarantee that the vast majority of the audience are members of the "It's Goth Up North" Facebook page and that's how they know about the gig.

[la bam]

Pubs - 99.9% are an absolute waste of time when it comes to advertising. You're just wasting time, energy and hope.

They dont even do simple, simple things - advertise in advance in visible places in the venue for one.

I only ever came across one great pub that new what to do. He even did things like hanging mobiles of each of the next 3 months gigs from the top of the bar, so you could see whose on when getting a pint and make a note to come and see that band. Simple and probably cost £1 each to do.

 

Tributes/own gigs etc - Now more than ever you need to really promote yourselves. Not easy at the moment. But pick the venues carefully.

 

Agent gigs - let them do the promoting - and get paid upfront.

 

[NoRhino]

6 hours ago, Franticsmurf said:

We used to have an agent whose idea of promotion was a pre-printed poster template with the band/gig details added in marker pen. Occasionally it was red marker rather than black. 🤣

And occasionally even legible.  It always annoys me when the scribble isn't centred in the space  

[ricksterphil]

Always found Facebook best, particularly the local music groups.

Posters to venue's about 4 weeks before also helps.

There might be an online gig guide in your area too 

 

Post lots of stuff about what the band is up to, profiles of members etc. Get a website up and link your FB page and your YouTube channel

 

Record gigs and put them in FB a d YouTube

 

 

[Crusoe]

I'm not in a band, but I would suggest making use of as much social media as you can. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are the biggest ones, obviously. Tag in the venues. Use as many suitable hashtags as possible without making the post look messy.

[NoRhino]

I saw this classic promo poster at Helensburgh Clyde Bar last night.  Perhaps we don't need to be too clever eh?

[NHM]

On 10/11/2022 at 18:57, NHM said:

we're playing a new venue (for us)  tomorrow evening, a very stylish restaurant. We sent the organiser some visuals a couple of weeks ago, but they didn't post the gig on facebook until two days ago and put up a poster outside the venue yesterday. And they have a chalk board inside that gives the time that is wrong by one hour.

If not many show up, it will be so disheartening. OK, we'll get paid but all the effort that goes into it is only worth it if we have a good crowd and a fulfilling experience. It really isn't that difficult nowadays for a venue to get the word out to its regular clients.

as suspected, if you discount our friends and families it was a really poor turn out... let's hope they don't blame us for not drawing a bigger crowd by not booking us again.

[uk_lefty]

Most venues offering to do promo, even the music clubs, will put something out on their social media accounts a week or so beforehand and a poster inside the loos. That's it. They're advertising to the people who'd be there anyway.

 

We use Facebook to create the "event" but I feel Facebook is dying out over privacy concerns or it being an "old person" (over 35) thing. Instagram is better because good images/ videos and the right hashtags spreads well, far better than facebook. For example a hashtag with your town/ county name followed by "livemusic" is a must, plus any special groups tagged, etc.

 

We had a good chat at one of the clubs recently about changing some things about our act and getting further afield. We were told all you need is really good social media presence. Doesn't matter if you send a venue an incredible recording if your social media stuff is pants, but if you've got great images and videos, etc. Then you can be a lesser band but you'll grab the attention quicker and be more likely to get booked. It makes it easier for the venue of you're in charge of how you promote yourselves, and you're good at it.

[anasibrahim]

I'm new here and I just wanted to add that as for venues, while some may fall short on advertising, it's essential to take the initiative and promote your shows yourself. Work closely with the venues and provide promotional materials that they can utilize. Leverage social media, email newsletters, and local event calendars to spread the word.
If you're looking for more band promotion tips and insights, I recommend checking out https://nlosmm.com/. They offer valuable resources that can help you navigate the world of music marketing and find effective strategies for your band.

Edited May 28, 2023 by anasibrahim