Talent Buying for Clubs Part II
Phil Simon
2002-07-23
Last month we examined how to go about seeking a job as a talent buyer for a
venue, and some of the basic aspects of the job. This month we are going to
further examine the particular tasks involved in that job and some of the
experiences one might have filling that role. Last month we determined that the following are the tasks associated with
the job of talent buyer for a nightclub: 1.Contract a regular music schedule of entertainment monthly. 2. Act as their representative to new bands and agents as well as maintain
relationships that the club had garnered over the years. 3. To publicize the calendar and help to create excitement about the club
to local and regional media. 4. And to create actual printed materials in the form of calendars and
descriptions
Communication Gatekeeper and Bean Counter
The club that I have been representing for a number of months now, the Muddy
River Smokehouse in Portsmouth, NH had a serious
problem in terms of their communication representative. The agent who had
been handling their booking for years had become notorious in the Northeast
as someone who would double book shows (that is book two bands for one
night), failing to communicate with both the club and the bands accurately,
and generally failing to supply a consistent and accurate accounting of who
was contracted to play. In my opinion, this is the chief job of the booking
agent, and it is where I started to put my focus. This club had a major problem in that when a band showed up at night, the
club did not necessarily know for sure exactly what their monetary deal was.
They also were not sure if another band would show up expecting that they
were the ones playing, and the club found themselves negotiating with
multiple bands in one night. This was not working for them. I decided that
I needed to come up with a fool proof plan that would help to counter these
inconsistencies, while also communicating to the bands what the expectations
were, as well as giving the bands all of the information that they were
going to need. I created a gig confirmation sheet that contained all of the
pertinent information about the club and with every confirmation I send a
copy to the band specifically sculpted to their show. Then every month I
send all of the confirmation sheets to the club. I supplied the club with a
binder to store all of these confirm sheets, so that they would have a
permanent record of their show history. Pasted below is a copy of the
confirmation sheet: Muddy River GIG SHEET BAND:
Band contact: Band Contact #
Band Emergency Cell Phone website: CONTRACT DATE____________ EVENT DATE:_________ __________ VENUE NAME:__________The Muddy River Smokehouse______ STREET ADDRESS:______21 Congress Street____________ CITY:___Portsmouth_______ STATE:____NH______ ZIP:___03801___ VENUE PHONE: 603-430-9099 Venue Fax: 603-430-9338 EMERGENCY #¹S:( 617 ) 905-3159 _________________ WEBSITE: __http://www.muddyriver.com___ EMAIL:__info@simonsaysbooking.com_ SHOW PROMOTER:_ Simon Says Booking for Muddy River Smokehouse_ ADDRESS: ____________ PO BOX 1082 Greenfield, MA 01301__________ PHONE:( 413)_772-8686___ FAX:(413)_772-6747 DEAL INFO_____$__________ HOSPITALITY:_$10 dinner tab plus $10 drink tab per band member only____ LOAD IN TIME:__7 PM__ SD. CHECK:_________ DOORS:_______________
SET TIME__________________________ COVER CHARGE_$ ___ CAPACITY:_150__ AGES:__21+__
NOTES:______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________ PA/BACKLINE INFO: ___THE MUDDY RIVER HAS A COMPLETE HOUSE SYSTEM. BANDS MUST
BRING THEIR OWN BACKLINE EQUIPMENT.
MEDIA: It is expected that bands will make every effort to contact local
media. A media list can be provided to you upon request. It is expected
that bands will make the effort to bring people to the club, as attendance
is the key to success in any room. Together, we must work hard to build a
good night. Only bands that make promotional efforts will be asked to
return.
AGES: All Shows are 21+ no Matter WHAT NO EXCEPTIONS!! Please send 20 posters to the Muddy River address attn: Chris Soucy
The sheet above gives bands everything that they need to know to have a
successful trip to the club. It also illustrates to the club that bands are
fully informed about the basic information needed for their performance.
In order to avoid double booking, I communicated to the bands and to the
club staff that in the event that multiple bands show up on a night, only
those bands that could produce a gig confirmation sheet were actually
contracted for the night. In this way, I avoided the miscommunication that
preceded me, and I also avoided having to create binding contracts for every
show, because the talent was satisfied that they were receiving the
commitments that they needed. Next I created check out sheets for the club so that they could easily
finish the night. They are simple sheets that illustrate who is playing,
provides space for them to fill in how much money was generated through the
door, subtracts expenses, and helps to determine the band's pay. The club
fills this out nightly, then faxes a copy to me for my records. We each
keep a binder, so that there is a permanent record of how shows went so we
can each look back and track the success or failure of any given act and to
help determine their future pay. Beyond this communication that was necessary for shows to flow freely and
efficiently, I found that this particular venue had a serious communication
problem in a variety of other ways. The club was regularly contracted for
bands between $500 and $800 a night, but was only attracting about 50 75
paid customers, usually at a $5-$8 cover. There was a shortfall of up to
$500 a night, when you figured in the expenses of sound, door, hospitality,
and advertising. Plus bands were getting paid whether or not they were
drawing folks into the club, which is completely self-defeating. It created
a culture of laziness within the regular talent, and between the agent and
talent, no one was really promoting the club. It became a high priority for me to communicate this concern directly to the
talent, and to let them know that there was a high responsibility within the
band members themselves to help their shows succeed. I made it clear that
the club could not possibly survive under the assumption that they were
going to lose money every week. High guarantees were no longer going to be
the norm, and a lack of promotional effort would not be tolerated. Simply
these statements were enough to lower guarantees considerably (25-50%) for
those bands that were not drawing well, and to help increase the efforts on
contracted talent to promote their own shows. Finally, it was necessary to establish consistent and regular communication
in a professional manner to those who were calling wanting to be involved
with the club, whether or not we intended to hire them. Music communities
in any given area are very tight knit, with a few players who might control
whether or not a club is filled on a night. By treating them with respect
and truthfulness, I felt that I could help to re-establish this club. As a
talent representative myself, I felt it necessary to establish a certain
level of respect with the artists in terms of my communication with them so
that we began the relationship in a way that would nurture the business for
the club. Returning phone calls, following through with the confirmation
emails, and supplying a general sense of consistency was appreciated, and
word spread very quickly that things had changed at the club. Promotion and Publicity Now that I had talent booked at the club, I had to help get potential
customers aware of what was happening. I contacted the manager at the club,
Chris Soucy, and he and I brainstormed about local media. I compiled a list
of every decent media contact within about 60 miles, from Portland Maine,
through Portsmouth, and out to Concord, Exeter, and other New Hampshire
towns. I created a list of these contacts that I copy into every
confirmation email that I send out to talent. I try to make it clear that ultimately it is the talent's responsibility to
draw people into the room. While I would publicize the dates myself in bulk
via monthly emails and calendars, it would be the bands themselves who had
the most success by contacting these media outlets and seeking album
reviews, picture inclusion, and previews of their shows. Having the media
list was an essential tool for them to achieve this. Next I created an email grouping of these same media outlets, to make sure
that I got to them a monthly update of what was happening at the club. It
was essential to provide them with an easy way to help us promote ourselves.
I plunked about 15-20 email contacts into an Outlook Express email grouping,
and with one email I can reach them all. I create a monthly email that
includes every event happening at the club, with links to the band websites,
and a two-sentence description of each band. This provides an easy
reference for the clubs, and in one hour I can reach them all with
consistent and accurate information. I send out this email about 15 days
prior to the first show of every month, giving ample time for these media
outlets to help me help the club. I also called all of these folks to check in with them, let them know that
the club valued their help, and to see what I could do to help them help us.
It will also become important and necessary to follow up with them every six
months or so, make sure that they are getting everything they need and
remind them how important they are to us. These media people are the lynch
pins of the local music scene and they seriously help to define whether or
not your calendar is going to turn into a run of a crowded nights in the
room. I cap these efforts off with a printed calendar that I create and send
duplicated to the club. I created a template within Microsoft word,
including the necessary club information: address, phone number, web
address, etc. I injected some color and some logo work, and laid out the
foundation for every month's calendar. Now I can jump into this file,
change the dates and the bands filling them, and Voila! Then I take the descriptions that I send to the media, and create a printer
friendly format that I can duplicate onto the backs of the calendars. This
way customers can pick up a flier at the club that tells them who is playing
every night, and then they can look on the back of it and find out about the
bands that they hadn't seen or heard before. With web links, they can find
out much more information on their own. I send about 100 copies to the club
every month, and give them master sheets so if they want to duplicate more
on their own, it is easy for them to do so. The expense of creating those
100 copies is about $15-$20 a month, if I supply my own colored paper.
This colored paper is fairly cheap, and is worth the price in terms of the
impression that colored paper makes on the viewer. How has this all come together? In the first few months, the club and the
regular talent have been relieved that they are more informed. The media
has expressed their relief that they are getting the information in a timely
manner and have been more easily able to reach their deadlines. Both the
club and I have permanent records of the history of the shows, and customers
know who is playing from night to night. Some shows have succeeded, some
have failed, but most every weekend night there is a paying crowd that is
approaching the size necessary to break even monetarily every night. It may
be a few more months to achieve that, but we are on our way. Most importantly, the club feels more informed about what is happening from
night to night. This security leaves them the time and energy to do what
they really set out to do in the first place- sell alcohol and food to their
customers. Instead of being mired in endless conversation with potential
talent, their communication can be shortened to a one-minute conversation
which is, "Here is the card of the company handling our talent buying." Now
they are free to devote their time to maintaining relationships with
distributors and customers. In the future I hope to make this representation even better for the club by
reaching out to other local businesses, creating exciting sponsorship and
promotional opportunities to further increase the business of the club.
Together with good management, a diligent agent can create an atmosphere of
fun and exciting music, that hopefully is profitable for bands, agents, and
clubs. Phil Simon is the owner and operator of Simon Says Booking. He handles all booking for the Muddy
River Smokehouse as well as having a roster of artists that includes ulu,
GUEST, Uncle Sammy, Phat Phunktion, Psychedelic Breakfast, Soulwork, Hazie
Maze, and many others.
Back to Departments/Jambands Business School
|
Exclusive:
The Clash Log In to Read the Digital Issue.
