Booking Yourself at the RIGHT Venue

Three weeks ago the blog on our site centered around booking yourself and being honest with venues about your following (or lack thereof).  The opening paragraph referred to a blog for another time, focusing on “not trying to get booked at a place that you’re not a fit for.”  Well, “another time” is now.  Today we have another guest blog, this time from Nashville-based Nancy Moran, who was the guest on our weekly show all the way back on Episode 4.  She is a songwriter, performer, mentor, author, and speaker who runs an online course called the “Ultimate Booking and Touring Program.”

Even with all of the technology and social media platforms available to independent musicians and singer/songwriters today, one of the best ways for you to make money and grow your fan base is still live gigging. Whether it’s in an intimate coffeehouse or a 2,000-seat performing arts center, you just can’t beat the energy that is created and exchanged between you (the artist) and the live audience.

And while there are a ton of places and venues for you to choose from to book your next gig, here’s a word of caution: NOT every gig or venue is right for EVERY band or artist. So, your goal isn’t to book ANY venue, your goal is to book yourself at the RIGHT venue(s).

How do you know what the RIGHT venue is?

You do your homework, which means you research and qualify the venue. Here are some of the things you’ll want to know:

What type of music do they generally feature at the venue?  And does your music fit in with what they’re used to? Be honest with yourself here. If you’re a punk rock band, you probably don’t want to play the local acoustic coffeehouse. And if you’re a folk singer/songwriter, you don’t want to play a heavy metal club. In both cases, the audience won’t “get” you and you won’t get the turnout that you want. So, nobody wins. But it’s not always this obvious. So, make sure you’re booking venues that are used to your genre of music.

How big is the venue? i.e. How many seats does it provide or how many audience members can it accommodate? Keep in mind: Bigger is NOT always better! It looks way better to sell out a 100-seat club than to only have 100 people in a house that seats 500. (Trust me. I’ve done both and the first one is WAY better!) So make sure that you’re playing a room that’s the appropriate size for where you are in your career.

What style of club or room is it? How is it set up? Many rock clubs are standing room only. There are no chairs or tables. And that’s because rock audiences like to stand close to the stage and/or dance. How would your rock audience feel about seeing you in a theatre that’s full of seats? Do they want to sit down to watch you? Would they feel removed or stifled? On the other hand, singer/songwriter audiences are often there to listen to the lyrics. So, a theatre is a great way for the audience to be comfortable, quiet and engaged. Be sure that the venue is a good fit for both you and your audience.

There are lots of different ways to qualify a venue to make sure it’s right for you. If the venue is local to you, I suggest you visit it in person. Go see a show! How do you feel as an audience member? And how do you think your fans would react to the place?

If you’re looking at booking venues out of town, then check out their website for any details or pictures. And look at their calendar. Who do they already have booked there? Do you recognize any of the acts? Can you tell by the names what type of music it is? Many venues even have special sections on their site specifically for artists and bands.

When in doubt about a particular venue, ask. You can ask your fans in the area. Or ask your artist friends who have played there. Or simply call the venue directly. But make sure you’ve tried other options first so you’re not bothering them with questions you could have answered by visiting their site.

Doing this upfront qualifying work will save you a boatload of time and effort since you’ll only be contacting venues that you already know are a good fit. Your response rate will typically go up and hopefully so will your bookings!

In addition to running the aforementioned online booking program, Nancy is also the co-founder of Azalea Music Group, so you can also find some of the work she does via that website and there are social media channel links on there as well.  Be sure to check out the interview that we had done with her.  And, go here to see past blogs that we’ve initiated as well as other guest contributions.  Plus, join our Facebook group to talk about booking and other topics with musicians, NHTE listeners, and others!