Know the deal? I’d be surprised if you didn’t: another rejection letter in your inbox in response to your latest gig-fishing email. It seems that the majority of the bands that are sending out their bio and demo to venues receive a ‘no’ – if they receive a reply at all. Because bookers receive far more incoming gig requests than the venue actually has gig slots, how can you make sure that your band lies within that small percentage that gets booked? Experienced booker Erik Delobel lets us in on a few trade secrets.

Gig Fishing Do’s and Don'ts

Show There’s An Audience For Your Act

As a musician, you want the right people to be hearing your demo. One of those ‘right people’ is Erik Delobel. As the head of booking at a live venue, he’s the one who ultimately decides who makes it onto the stage and who doesn’t.

“I probably receive between thirty and forty emails a day and each of them have a demo attached. To make your band stand out, there are definitely a few do’s and don’ts that will help attract a booker and increase your chances.” Before a band can be booked, the venue needs to be certain that, at the very least, the booking is going to be cost-effective. “There’s a mass of costs that any venue needs to consider: general running costs, promotion, catering and so on. All so that a band can play. All of these costs need to be outweighed by what’s brought in by the ticket sales and the bar. So, to convince a booker that all of these costs will be balanced, you need to show them that there’s an audience for your act. It’s simply not possible for me to research every band that messages me, and I imagine it’s the same for most other bookers as well, so you need to do it for me and convince me that you’re going to bring people in.” How do you do that? Show that your gigs receive some media attention. You can arrange these things yourself. Maybe place your performance in a broader context, so something like a crowdfunding project, a new and exciting release or even a social movement or project. If you recently sold out a venue, then that’s definitely a detail worth mentioning. The same goes for any festivals or events that you’ve played at or if your latest album is selling like hot cakes.

Short & Catchy

Keep your biography as short and catchy as possible! If you’re sending out a poorly written, unclear or long-winded bio, you’re just going to switch off any readers before they’ve even heard your demo. Erik only confirms this: “If I’m forced to read a story about how you met at primary school in 2010 I’m just going to bin it. All you need is a couple of snappy lines to introduce yourself. Get to the point. Also, refer to the right bands when you’re describing your sound and avoid setting your sights too high. If you compare yourselves to someone like Radiohead, then you’re not actually being very specific and your demo is likely to just disappoint.” Another thing worth raising is the fact that no booker is going to download and listen to a heap of five mp3 files, so do Erik and his colleagues a favour and provide them with a link they can just click on that takes them somewhere where they can hear your material. If you have one, include a music video in the mail. This will only increase the chance that your music will actually get the attention it deserves.

Make a Clear Request

It’s also more likely for bookers to be more convinced to book you if you come with a clear request. Bookers are barraged with messages just asking ‘can we come and play a gig?’ The booker then has the job of not just figuring out if you’re a good fit, but coming up with a line-up that makes sense. Maybe suggest yourselves as the support act for band X that’s playing in a couple of months and specify exactly why the fans of the band they’re coming to see will also vibe with your sound – and whether the booker can expect your fans to buy tickets. Things like this will make your message stick out simply because it makes it easier to book you.

Erik has some follow-up advice on this: show that you’ve done your homework. “Do some research on the venue and look at the way the programme is put together. Also, find out about the person you’re approaching.” To Erik, receiving a message that’s actually addressed to him personally will always make a better impression than a standard copy-paste mail starting ‘Dear booker’. While sending out bulk emails might save you some time, the margin of success makes it close to pointless. Make sure that you’re actually taken seriously by taking the person you’re approaching seriously. Find out if your act will actually match with the venue and see if you’ll, very literally, fit the bill. The bottom line is: approach the right person with the right question, so look up all of the info you can, ask around or even call the venue in advance and ask some good questions.

The Absolute ‘No Go’s’

Just as there are a few things you can do to make sure you get your band at least considered by bookers, according to Erik, there are also some absolute ‘no go’s’. If you want your music to get any further than the rehearsal room, then we strongly suggest paying attention to them.

If you just send a standardised email to a venue where you want to play, then it’s highly unlikely that the reader is going to warm up to your story. Experienced bookers like Erik can tell at a glance when an artist is spamming live venues with copied and pasted messages. “Sometimes they’re even sent with the wrong name at the top and the wrong references in the text. It just looks lazy and disrespectful for both the booker and the band.”

The contrast between a message that makes a clear request and actually ties in with the venue you’re messaging with these kinds of ‘spam’ messages is enormous. Do yourself a favour and make sure you’re writing messages that fall into the first category. If you receive a rejection message in reply, it probably means that your music doesn’t have a big enough audience yet or your approach wasn’t focussed enough. It’s a shame, but don’t let rejection stop you, because these are both things that you can improve on. Improve your act, improve your approach then come back and try again later when you think you’re ready. What you also want to avoid is pushing what’s not there yet. Erik: “Don’t repeatedly mail and call people. It really won’t spark any interest and will just end up annoying people. Even if, at a later stage, your fan base has grown and your music has evolved to match a venue’s vibe, the fact that you couldn’t take no for an answer before will still stain your credibility.”

Professionalism

In closing: if you’re lucky enough to get booked to play a great venue, then brilliant! And, because playing a show at a good venue will only leave you wanting more, you’ll want to make sure that you impress the booker, right? And you can only do that by performing really, really well, but putting on a good show and having great sound isn’t actually enough. No matter how well you play, if your behaviour is unprofessional or you seem unprepared during sound check or at any point before or after the show, it heavily reduces your chances of getting asked to come back. “Make sure that you don’t take more time than you need to build up and break down,” advises Erik, “and make sure that you have all of the technical details in order. This is really essential if you’re the support act. You need to be courteous enough to the headlining band to work quickly and neatly. You never know, they might ask you to support them again.” But note: professionalism is not about a skill set but an attitude. Be respectful, leave any arrogance at the door and, if you’re lucky enough to have a dressing room, leave it in the condition you found it. The hijinks of the rock ‘n roll era have been dead for a while, so any misconduct won’t get you any appreciation. What it will get you is a spot on the blacklist that a lot of venues share.

So? Are you ready to take on bigger stages? Then you know what you need to do: write a good (but short) bio and keep making better and better music. Put all of this in a personalised message, apply some focus and respectful kindness and get your band booked.

Do’s & Don’ts

Do’s

  • Do: show that your act will draw an audience
  • Do: write a good bio
  • Do: send a link or video instead of an mp3 file
  • Do: make a concrete request
  • Do: do your homework

Don’ts

  • Don’t: send a standardised email
  • Don’t: stalk and moan
  • Don’t: be unprofessional

See also

» Live-Stream Your Gig with Great Sound!
» Concert Photography – A Mini Course On How To Shoot Concert Photos
» Cover Band Not Copy Band: How to Gain a Following
» 10 steps for finding the right artist name

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