On Saturday my band performed their first show of the year, a sell out at our ‘hometown’ 307 capacity music venue. It’s a nice way to start the year as its a short drive home (!) plus we promote the show ourselves. All the monies after hire and catering expenses come straight to us and there is no promoter to pay which is nice.

So, for our inaugural gig of 2018 I thought I’d reflect and jot down some thoughts which might be of interest to the DIY musician community.

Our sold out hometown show

We only play our home town once per year, in fact we only play any city or town once per year.   Playing a single show per annum makes a visit to any location an unmissable event.

The more often you play, the increased likelihood of diluting demand; if people know you’ll be here again in three to six months time there is no obligation to attend this show with another one just around the corner. People will quite often regurgitate the same excuse as your next show approaches, “there will be another one soon so I’ll got to that” ! Remember, scarcity increases demand.

We also book the show in the same month, that way it becomes a feature in a fan’s year, people ‘expect’ the show as part of their yearly routine.  We no longer even need to print a poster!

By playing shows in the same locations at the same time each year, our shows become part of a routine for our audience.

The gig is also on sale a good six months before show date, the longer the run up the more time people have to ‘prepare’ for a show mentally and monetarily. People need time to ‘plan’ things in their calendars, taking a booking for a gig in three weeks time probably isn’t going to achieve a lot.

The venue helps out with promotions as it has a customer email list and a traditional postal mailing list sending seasonal brochures of events through the post. This increases word of mouth in the local area.  Whenever a show is being promoted, promotion is shared between the artist, the promoter (if any) and the venue.  Always ask what levels promotion a venue is able to undertake. The more parties promoting the show, the less the burden for each party.

Here’s to the next ten months of shows.

Got any questions about this post or how you can better market yourself?

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