Pay to play is when a band gives a promoter or booking agent or venue or headliner or anyone – money, to play an event. Or they are paid in tickets which they must sell.  Pay to play in my opinion is an unhealthy experience for all involved.

A booking based on draw is different – fee’s typically fluctuate with the bands draw (the number of people who are likely to attend based on history, similar bands, fit for venue, demographic or whatever information is relevant) at most, but not all venues.

In the old days radio play, promotional tools and label support also factored in.   Some smaller venues (like college pubs or wineries, or some eateries) have an audience no matter what and can book more speculatively. They typically (but not always) pay on the low side as they don’t need the band to draw.

Its an industry of relationships. Bookers and owners and operational methodologies often change while the name of the venue does not. I think the best  idea f or figuring out how a venue functions is to look where similar bands play and ask those bands about their experience.

My response to someone complaining about not being able to make a living off of recorded music because of the “internet”.

I had a club for five years and not one artist has asked for a residency. Meanwhile another local venue sells out every Tuesday night with the same band for four years. What has been neglected is the fan base, not audio recordings. The process of including fans, building and educating them about the art is at an all time low. The only people that drop in, or try new original material are the blues guys during the jams. They are the only real live musicians left in what was once the Mecca (Bay Area). I used to hear more great new songs in a week then I’ve heard in a year and we did not have the Internet, we had our shoes and our ears and artist who wanted to be with us.

Now, I guess, musicians sit in front of recording devices wondering what the hell happened. Blasting material out into cyberspace like a message in a bottle cast from an island, looking for a cruise liner to pick it up and bring them a nice juicy steak. And to be fair, the labels where destroying live music long before Napster. It was just a more concrete illusion. What we have now is a serious audience issue, they dummied em down, taught them how to eat crap and stuck little head phones in their ears like little umbilical cords feeding them just enough garbage to kill any craving for better. And most musicians just sit, watch it, cast their line and hope they can get a little piece.

GET TO THE POINT!!!!!!!!!!

I have a saying,

“People who insist on doing everything on the phone.
People who want you to be their secretary.
Same People.”

Seriously, as our ways of communicating continue to simultaneously multiply and fragment into tiny little pieces of etiquette less transmission, people seem to have forgot (or never learned) the very basics of professional communication.

Gone are the days when someone picked up the phone and said “Hi this is so and so, can I help you”.   You are lucky to get a “what” or an answer at all.  What is most likely is that you will be talking to a voice mail.   Conceptually, a voice mail leaves a strong impression if done right and can cost you a gig if down wrong.  This is based on the simple theory that if you cannot properly execute a voice mail you probably suck in general (as far as being professional).   This industry is too hard to deal with slackers or laziness.

Here are the do’s and don’ts if you want a call back.

Do’s
Make sure you have a good connection.  You won’t know if your vm is inaudible.

1: Leave your name FIRST (say it slowly and clearly)
2: Leave your Phone Number second.
3: Leave a clear to the point message about what you want and the best way to reach you.
4: Give the recipient enough information so that he can effectively respond.

DONT’S
1.) Don’t babble.  Plan what you are going to say and say it.
2.) Don’t leave your phone number and name at the end of the message.  The recipient will have to listen to the whole message to retrieve it, if he does not write it down properly.
3) When it comes to your name and number, slow the hell down.  Yes, you have said it 1000 times but the recipient has not heard it before, so say it slow enough to write down.  It is in fact the single most important info you are offering.
4.)  If you are not getting a response, then follow up with an email, or review the persons listed contact info.  Many, many, many people will not do business on the phone.  Especially people who work in loud environments.
5.) Don’t not leave a message.   Just because you call everyone on your received phone call list does not mean anyone else will.   And many people will not pick up the phone if they don’t know what the conversation will be about.
5.)Don’t guilt trip the recipient as to how many times you called or who else you called or whatever.   You, may very well be the reason there is no response.  Nobody wants to work with a whiner.  Respect the fact that some people are either too busy to get to you in the time frame you want them too or that they may not be interested in what you are offering.   Nobody every said the whiny wheel gets the oil.
6.) Always follow up a deal in writing or you have nothing.  Just words and air.

The industry is much more fluid now and partnerships are the only way to replace the former gate keepers.   The innovators of the “hey day” are aging out with limited infrastructure beyond monopolized sheds and casinos to replace them.

The soil that once was lush and green for live music is now leached of life.   New players struggle away in coffee shops, restaurant corners and third stages of festivals.

But there is one thing that has not changed, the power of the fan base.   A fan base provides not only financial stability and longevity of success  but more importantly, it allows the artist to pursue real creativity without being beholden to anyone but the people who truly love their work.

An artist without a fan base is like a general without an army.  No matter how brilliant he/she is, he/she will conquer nothing.