Performing Live
Engage your fans: “Anyone in the music business today will tell you that fan engagement is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle. Your fans are essential advocates, and mingling at shows, interacting online and developing relationships with them is one of the most important things you can do to grow your career. It’s also something that your label, distributor, or promoter can’t do for you. Fans want to hear from the artist, not someone marketing the release.”
—Heather Badower, marketing director, BFM Digital
Stop trying to make it big: “Start trying to enjoy it more and realize that it’s not about tomorrow. It’s about today pretty much all of the time. The most important thing is I’ve got a gig tonight and there’s nothing more important than that. People say, hold back on your voice because you’ve got another gig tomorrow. I don’t worry about the one tomorrow. I worry about the one tonight.”
—Ricky Wilson, Kaiser Chiefs
Photo by Jody Domingue
Give your fans something a little extra: “Perform free or low-cost ‘after parties.’ This extends the show experience and rewards the true fan. These can be promoted along with the show, and even offered as a part of the ticket package. Of course, you have to have fans to begin with for this to work.”
—Bobby Owsinski, author, engineer
Focus your tour: “A lot of bands will form and think they need to travel as much as possible. Our approach was to travel our home state, Ohio, and maybe a little outside of that. We didn’t really promote the smaller shows. We would show up at a venue and the goal was to make friends out of those people rather than bring existing fans. Then when we had one big show, we put as much effort as possible into promoting it and had people coming from all locations.”
— Josh Dun, Twenty One Pilots
Avoid booking splits: “I advise my clients to avoid venues that demand a split.”
—Chris Fletcher, booking coordinator
Route the tour properly: “First, book an ‘anchor gig,’ one that pays most of your expenses, like a festival, college gig or a fair which can pay over $1,000 a performance. Then, set up gigs to and from it. Consider doing private parties, fraternities, sororities and house concerts. Book every gig you can to make the most of your time and mileage.”
—Chris Fletcher, Booking Coordinator
Global Touring: “Don’t disrespect [another country’s] culture. Be aware of it and learn about it before you head out there. It will make your experience more enjoyable and you will gain more respect. The most enthusiastic fans I’ve ever had were in Japan.”
—Bec Hollcraft, Stars In Stereo
