Managers work off a percentage. Booking agents work off a percentage. Club promoters work off a percentage. Labels even work off a percentage (granted, a very high one, for the majors). What makes bands think that they are too .... to do the same?
Believe me, I'm the first one to frown at 'pay to play' events. It's ridiculous for a band to presell $1000 worth of tickets and not get paid anything for their work... I've seen so many promoters scam bands out of money, without even realizing.... However, in this notes - I'm not complaining about the unfairness of the music industry in general - I already know it is so. I'm complaining about egos and unwarranted expectations.
The only time a band really wants a guarantee from a club or booking agent, is when they don't deserve the money they're making. Otherwise, they'd be able to actually come out ahead with a percentage deal.
What's so unfair about a door deal (ie - club takes a percentage / bands take a percentage of the money made at the door)? Everyone gets paid more, the more people they can get out to the venue. As a club promoter, I imagine it must be pretty difficult to determine whether a band deserves a given guarantee. What if it rains? What if the traffic or horrible or there is road construction on a major freeway on the road to the venue? That will definitely affect the draw (esp in LA). And then they are simply out the money. And, contrary to what some bands may think, promoters aren't rich either. If they were, they'd be booking Grammy acts like Green Day and Lady Gaga, not your band.
As far as touring is concerned. I love it when I can get a band a guarantee. However, that comes with time and effort. If you've never been to a given state, or city, there is no reason that they club should be confident in your ability to pack the house. Why would they offer you $500? Clubs try not to be in the business of gambling - at least not lately. Venues are closing left and right. Every time I book another tour for a band, another venue I knew of is no longer open...
Really, if everyone were held accountable for the success of a given evening, and everyone did their job to get events together - it wouldn't be such a point of contention. Bands aren't the enemy of clubs. And managers aren't the enemy of booking agents - etc. We should all be working toward the same goals here. And once people forget that, it really is hard to make a success of anything.
Bands, please remember this - a good number of us are out there promoting your music in one form or another because we are genuine fans of your band. I don't work on projects that guarantee me zero for fun - it's because I genuinely believe in the music I'm promoting. And I would hope that bands would do me the respect of reciprocating the "fandome" by putting some effort into themselves. Afterall, that's what we're all hoping will succeed.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment