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Dealing with Promoters

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  • October 8, 2011 at 4:05 pm #1001839
    D-Jam
    Participant

    If you can actually meet the promoters, meet them and gauge how serious they are. If they’re the types who start off strong, but then by the night comes they’ve lost interest, then you’re wasting your time with them. Plus you might end up doing loads of work for a 1-hour opening set and they’re walking away with the money made.

    Secondly, really think about your scene and the venue. If metal heads come in, then find out where the indie folk are. Will they come to that venue? So you could get a big lineup, but if they think the venue isn’t “for them” then you’ll lose. Not to mention will the metal heads give you flack and want rock music played.

    I personally think promoters not there or not caring is a big red flag. Find out about these guys personally, then go from there. They might be overwhelmed and need help, or they’re just lazy amateurs and thus a waste of time.

    October 9, 2011 at 7:01 am #8269
    jezalenko
    Member

    By going out the event the other night, I was attempting to meet the promoters, however their lack of attendance was dispointing.

    In regards to the crowd, I’ve been asking my indie friends what they would expect from an indie night. I lot of them mentioned quieter, indie music – they want converstion, not lots of dancing. Unfortunatly the club is normally a Top40 kind of affair, which may not be so helpful in attracting a crowd.

    D-Jam, post: 8259 wrote: I personally think promoters not there or not caring is a big red flag.

    This was what I was thinking the entire time I was there. I can understand a promoter not coming occasionally to their weekly event, but if they wont even come to their monthly event? That sounds like laziness to me.

    However, that said, I think that the night may have recently changed hands as the current DJs hinted to that when I was talking to them. Also, I think the new owner may be trying to re-invigorate the night, as they recenty put out a call for promo crew, as well as hiring more DJs.

    At this stage I’m still prepared to give it a shot, but if the promoter is lazy or has no clue what they’re doing, I might give the gig the flick. End of the day it’s a paying gig, and I’m willing to give it a shot unless the promoter screws me over.

    October 9, 2011 at 9:44 am #8270
    3wishes
    Participant

    My man, experience tells me that organizing great parties are up to you and you only. A promoter who cares is a sweet, special bonus that I accept with my whole heart when it occurs. So don’t be let down, do your thing, take pictures, DJ (verb) and most of all, have a great time! You’ll get more experience and another flyer to present to an eventually caring promoter.

    October 9, 2011 at 12:12 pm #8276
    D-Jam
    Participant

    Jezalenko, one thing I’ve learned is owners won’t have an issue with turning the volume lower if there is a crowd and they’re buying alcohol. A few times I found that in lounge settings, people wanted to come in and drink, not dance. You would even see patrons backing off from the booth so they could be somewhere away from the blasting music.

    Atmosphere is key. When I tried turning the volume at events I threw, the DJs thought I was nuts at first, but then “got it” when they saw the venue fill up with happy people. To this day I roll my eyes when I walk into bars and lounges where there isn’t really a dancefloor and yet they have a DJ blasting music like there was one. Especially the bottle service spots where they took the dancefloor away to put in more booths.

    It sounds like those indie folks (hipsters?) want a bar or lounge they can hang at. Do they want elegant? Clubby? Or watering hole with cheap drinks? Find out and go from there.

    Remember what I said in the article, find the RIGHT VENUE, not just the available venue.

    Sent from my ThinkPad Tablet using Tapatalk

    October 21, 2011 at 2:20 pm #8833
    jezalenko
    Member

    Update: I’ve gone ahead and accpeted the gig – and now the promoter (naturally) wants me to help them promote the event.

    So, my main focus is around college – which has a typical party atmosphere, and my gig coincides with the last day of semester, so hopefully people should be in the mood.

    As far as promotion goes, this is what I’ve been doing so far:
    -Mentioning the gig when asked about my DJing – this way people are listening to me and wanting an answer, not having me shove it in their face.
    -Announcing it on my facebook page as well as my personal one too.
    -Also announcing it on the college facebook group, so hopefully everyone know
    -And I played a demo set at dinner time which was in the style of the event – chilled and indie
    (also people thought I was the best performer of the night, the rest were acoustic singer/songwriter acts – stoked about that 😀 )

    Also, I’ve got plans to get the following things set up:
    -Posters in promenent locations
    -A “mystery” kinda campaign where I slip a QR code under people’s door – they scan and find my page announcing the event
    -also might do a demo at lunchtime at uni as well

    D-Jam, your professional opinion?

    October 21, 2011 at 5:28 pm #8840
    D-Jam
    Participant

    Try the posters, but also slip those QR codes on posts and things around campus as decals. See who gets their curiousity going.

    I like the lunchtime demo idea. It’s guerilla and it can work.

    November 5, 2011 at 11:42 am #9429
    jezalenko
    Member

    So, an update on the gig:

    I ended up playing the closing set for the night – which was great fun to start with, as the crowd was very responsive! Lots of fun.

    However, the people who I assumed where metalheads ended up asking for populuar DnB and Dubstep – which threw me, but I tried to fulfill a few requests, which went down well… when I exausted my small collection of DnB and Dubstep I moved on to banging Electro House, which was reasonably well recieved – but at this time in the morning the crowd was slowly disapearing, so I wound down the energy and finished on some older stuff (Bon Jovi, House of Pain :D)
    However – in talking to the resident DJ duo, they’ve said that the event has not been well promoted recently – the crowd has been dropping off slowly. Also, the residents said that the crowd doesnt want to hear indie, but hip-hop and DnB.

    We’ll see how this goes, but the company running the event is a reasonably established company, so I think I’ll play it by ear…..

    November 5, 2011 at 12:37 pm #9431
    Arbite
    Member

    jezalenko, post: 9425 wrote:

    However, the people who I assumed where metalheads ended up asking for populuar DnB and Dubstep

    Yeah, that was a surprise at my first few gigs as well.

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