Organizing your own gig

Music Biz Guide #3: Organizing your own gig

You wanna promote your band name but opportunities are hard to come by? You have tried tirelessly to book a gig, but to no avail? You read my guide on "How To Book A Gig?" but you still find yourself restricted to jamming studios, and bedroom sessions? If you have enough belief in your music, then maybe, just maybe, you might wanna take matters into your own hands by organizing your own gig.

First thing you have to do is identify potential venues. Try not to restrict yourself to the same old gig venues. You might wanna venture out and try some place new. Once you find that place, cut out the best deal with the management. Some venues will charge you a rental for their space, so you have to fork out your own money first and recoup it later through cover charge. If the venue doesn't provide backline, and a PA system, you'll end up forking out even more money. But if money is not an issue for you, then go ahead.

Another option is to go on a profit sharing basis. It means you get a cut of the profit the venue made that night. But of course, for this kind of deal, you'll not only have to bring in a crowd, you'll also have to make sure they spend on drinks and food. In such case, it is not advised to charge an entrance fee. Use the money you made to pay the bands.

The best deal, and also the hardest deal to get is by getting the venue to provide a budget for you to organize a gig. In return, you'll have to bring in a large amount of crowd, a crowd that spends money so the venue can recoup the budget they provided you through sales. Again, no cover charge should be applied. Use the budget provided to pay the bands, bring in backline, print flyers etc. It's really up to you what to do with the budget, so use it wisely.

Once you got the venue locked down, its time to get the bands. Choose your bands wisely, choose bands that are not only good, but are able to bring in a crowd. Some bands don't mind playing for free, some are ok with just petrol and makan money, and some charge hundreds to thousands of ringgit. It really depends on your budget. Contacting these bands are easy, just try their myspace. Do not totally overule the bigger bands. Some of the big bands do like to come back and play smaller gigs once in a while. If you're lucky, you can get them for a cut price deal. Just try your luck, what have you got to lose?

So, you've got your venue, and your bands. Its time to get the flyers out. Start with putting the word out to the online community. Post info about your gig on forums, blogs, websites etc. Then, get your flyer up on every jamming studio you can think of. Pass it around to your friends from different colleges, and get them to pass the flyers to their friends. If you can, put it up on notice boards in various colleges. Email it to magazines, 8tv quickie also has a gig guide, send your flyer to them. Feel free to email your flyer to me too. I'll put it up here.

Now, all you have to do is wait for the big day. Things might not run as you planned. Something is always bound to go wrong during events, so deal with it quickly and efficiently.