What I’ve Learned About Show Promoting

What Have I Learned About Show Promoting?

!About organizing a show

Risk over profit

Controlling the risks is more important than making a profit, especially when you are promoting grassroots/indie gigs

Know your numbers

Learn how to do PnL (Profit and Loss), even in the simplest form. Knowing how much you can potentially make, how much is realistic, and what the worst scenario can be helps with budgeting your show, negotiating terms with venues, vendors, and artists

Understand the stakeholders

What are the stakeholders? Or who is taking the risk of being a part of this event?
- A band can be put in front of an empty room and in poor conditions
- A venue can lose a lot of money if no one uses the bar
- An equipment vendor can have their stuff broken when working with rude and unprofessional artists
- An audience can waste their time, money, and energy attending a poorly organized gig, shitty sound, or disrespectful artists
- A promoter can lose money, reputation, and still have to make up for all of the above

Trust is the currency

Why are they taking the risks? Because they trust the promoter. It's hard to earn and super easy to lose that trust

!Lineup matters, but how?

Start with the lineup

A good show starts with having a good lineup
Ideally, that means having a good headliner

If no headliner, then cohesion matters

But in the case of No Headliner, each of the artists needs to complement each other and hint at a good run, or at least a never-before-seen, interesting one

Short-term sales vs long-term impact

Even if you can sell tickets with any lineup, a shitty one will hurt your following gigs

Chemistry is a bonus

Chemistry between bands within the lineup can be a good bonus

Relationships > transactions

Booking the artists is not enough. A good promoter builds relationships with all the artists way before any show. Buying tickets to others' shows, saying hi to the artists and scene people, sharing their new releases—all add up to when you actually need to book them for your gig

Understand artist value

The financial valuation of an artist equals how many tickets they can sell. The actual profit for everyone else is gained through the audience who comes not for one artist but for the combination of the lineup

Flexible deal structures

You can give the artist a percentage and not a hard fee to reduce the risk
Or you can give them a "soft" fee—meaning if the show hits a certain benchmark, they get more; if not, they get less

!Venue

Reputation matters

A venue has its reputation
A venue can act as an "additional" artist; some venues are more loved than others

Leverage relationships

A venue can give you a really favorable deal if they like how you promote and if you can guarantee bar revenue

Shifting audience behavior

It's difficult these days because Gen Z onward doesn't drink as much anymore

Revenue reality

So don't be too surprised if a "supportive" venue asks for 30–40% of the gross ticket revenue

Think ecosystem

Stay aware that we are an ecosystem and will only survive that way, unless you work for Live Nation or get acquired by them or someone similar

!Type of audience

Audience breakdown

Artist's followers/fans: 70%–80%
Promoter's followers/fans: 20%–30%
Venue's regulars: 5%–10%
Walk-in (really depends on the location and the front of the venue): 1%–5%
New, curious, bored people: 1%–5%

!Ok now how to properly promote?

Core principle

In short: (1) Clear information (2) Dope artwork (3) Guaranteed good time

Stay top of mind

Most of the ones who are most likely to go will go eventually; you just need to stay in their mind for a sufficient duration of time

Find the “scene's fave”

Identifying "scene's fave" early helps. It's expensive to book a headliner, and sometimes they get oversaturated so that no one actually wants to go. Under-the-radar "scene's fave" is the ace card for you to get a good gig

Shape perception

Help the fan understand the "favorite" artist better, whether it's an emerging one or an established headliner. A fresh angle or opinion can work wonders because the fan will share it to show off their "music taste" and their position in a more "niche" and "exclusive" community

Build mood and context

Set up the mood by sharing past performance videos of the artists, the venue, or previous gigs by the same promoters. Use design, art, photos, and other media to best capture the spirit and aesthetic of this gig

Remove friction

Make sure there is no obstacle for new audiences to sign up/buy tickets. The acquisition process needs to be as fast as possible and as easy to understand as possible

Be clear on logistics

Make sure they know the timeline and where to park; even menu prices can be appreciated

Keep it concise

Don't write long-ass captions when you need to sell tickets

Use narrative, not noise

Set up the narrative instead:(1) Provide the basic information as cohesively as possible. No one will actually read your copy before they see the lineup, and the lineup in most cases is already sufficient to sell tickets(2) Use creativity to correctly indicate the aesthetic, energy, and message/spirit of the gig(3) State your promises clearly for the show(4) Clear call to action(5) Simplify the process of buying tickets

!Long-term game

Shows compound

A good show can guarantee more success in following shows

Think in probabilities

Being a promoter is the same as playing poker (as with everything else). You need to have a good hand and bet on the best potential outcome, while staying aware that the community cards (the headliners) are mutual between all players

Consistency wins

A bad round can ruin a good run, and a good round can save a bad run. Ultimately, it all comes down to consistency, resilience, and discipline.