How to Become A Concert Promoter ~ Promoting Producing Concerts



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Concert Promoter
Concert Producer
Concert Promoting

Breaking Into and Succeeding as A Concert Promoter
How to Promote and Produce Music Shows
How to Become A Professional Rock and Pop Band Concert Promoter

Isn't a concert promoter some sort of a talent agency? Or someone who contracts artists and invites them to concert?

Not exactly, but close. A concert promoter is someone who contracts with artists to book their concerts.

They may be an independent businessperson helping an artist go on tour, or they may be a "talent buyer" affiliated with a specific venue whom artists contact when they want to perform in that venue.

So what exactly does a concert promoter do?

The simple answer is, "A concert promoter promotes concerts." It's more accurate to say that a concert promoter promotes artists. They promote artists to the venues in order to get them a gig, and then they promote them to the fans in order to get a sizeable audience into that gig.

They also may be responsible for certain tasks on the day of the show such as ticket-taking/cover charge collection at the door, sound check, hospitality for the band, and helping break down the stage after the set. It's also the concert promoter's job, subject to contractual negotiation, to cover all the expenses that a show incurs, with the hope that the show makes enough money to reimburse those expenses. In the end, a concert promoter promotes the very industry of live entertainment.

I like listening to music and bands, but I’m not a glamorous person who mingles with the rich and famous in the music industry. Can I be a concert promoter?

Sure you can. Everyone, even legendary promoter Bill Graham and big promotion company owner Philip Anschutz, starts out as a "nobody," no matter what their industry. It takes hard work to become a "somebody"--hard work and a bit of luck, sure, but it's the hard work that's entirely under your control.

Take your current love of music, add to it some solid research into your local concert scene, mix in a heaping helping of confidence, and you've got a recipe for the start of a career with the potential to take you among the stars.

I don’t have any money or a rich uncle to pay for famous musicians. How can I proceed?

There are two basic ways to get into this business: go to work for someone who's in it already, or get right to it on your own. If you decide to work for an existing promoter, you'll be learning from their expertise on their budget. If you decide to stay independent from the get-go, you'll need to start small and keep your day job at first, but you can start.

You'll aim for new and local musicians looking to play in the neighborhood coffee shops and pubs. You'll restrict your promotion budget to ads in the free weeklies, black-and-white flyers produced in the copy shop, and online word-of-mouth campaigns. You won't make a lot of money at first--for some gigs, you might not make a dime. But with each gig you'll make connections and earn the respect of artists and venue owners, and these are lasting currency in the concert promotion business.

I don’t have any prior experiences in event or party planning. Can I still be a concert promoter?

That's all right. You'll learn the ropes just like everyone else. Start off by going to concerts and paying attention to every detail you can take in. If you know someone who performs live, no matter how humble, ask them about the planning that goes into their shows.

Job Description: What does a concert promoter actually do?

Put simply, a promoter "is a person or company in the business of marketing and promoting concerts, festivals, raves, nightclubs or other live events."

The flyers that get plastered all over your local college campus or downtown city center, the email newsletters that land in the inboxes of interested fans, the free ticket giveaways and the band interviews on area radio stations--those all come about as part of the job of promotion. While the musicians, the musicians' manager, or the concert venue owner can perform these tasks if they have the time and the budget for it, it is often more cost-effective to contract them out to a concert promoter.

As a concert promoter yourself, you have several business models available to you. Roughly speaking, you can market your services to venues, to artists, or both. The above reference describes on the venue-focused model: "Promoters are typically hired on contract by entertainment venues, earning an agreed-to fee or a royalty (colloquially known as a "cut")."

Other promoters operate independently, renting venues for a fixed fee or under a revenue sharing arrangement with the building owner or tenant, and keeping all of the additional profits from a successful event. As a venue-contracted promoter, your job responsibilities may include any of the following, depending on your specific contract:

Finding and booking artists in the first place
Managing the event's publicity and advertising so as to get as large an audience at the event as possible
Handling event security
Checking ID
Selling tickets or handling the cover charge; and
Venue decorations, stage set-up, and sound management.

If you market your services primarily to musicians first, you may have the same basic set of responsibilities, but you'll be booking events from the other direction. Your promotion efforts will include pitching the artists you represent to venues that are a good match for their music. If the artists are still getting established, you may have the job of putting together their portfolio, a description of what kind of music they play, what kind of audience they play for, and where they have played before.

Then you'll be putting together a list of likely venues--night clubs, theaters, festivals, house parties--to whom to pitch this portfolio.

It's important to realize that the concert promoter job description has no set boundaries. You'll build your own job description around your own strengths and talents. Your main job will remain that of "putting on the show," but whether that includes specific tasks such as helping a band define itself in its portfolio, conducting sound checks, or staffing the merchandise table, will be up to you.

However, it will always include publicizing the concert, if only to the extent of delegating out the tasks associated with publicity.

It's easy to overlook that concerts are actually part of the same industry as weddings, conferences, conventions, and seminars. The event planning industry comprises all of these and more. Though live music performances would seem to have little in common with retirement parties or high school proms, they share similar concerns for the planner: How does one gather an audience, entertain it, and accommodate its needs?

Speaking specifically of meeting and convention planners, the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reports expectations of growth in this industry. The number of people in the U.S. employed in these endeavors was 51,000 in 2006, and that's expected to grow to 61,000 by 2016. Why is this? According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook,

As businesses and organizations become increasingly international, meetings and conventions become even more important. In organizations that span the country or the globe, the periodic meeting is increasingly the only time the organization can bring all of its members together. Despite the proliferation of alternative forms of communication, such as e-mail, videoconferencing, and the Web, face-to-face interaction is still a necessity.

In fact, new forms of communication foster interaction and connect individuals and groups that previously would not have collaborated. By increasing the number of human connections, electronic forms of communication actually increase the demand for meetings, which may offer the only opportunity for these people to interact in person.

FutureWatch 2008, a survey and industry report publication produced by Meeting Professionals International, found that "respondents expect [the global meeting and event planning industry] to globalize rapidly in the coming year. All respondents expressed concern about an economic downturn in 2008. Despite this perception, corporate planners remain bullish on budget expectations, predicting a 27 percent rise in 2008.

Now, how much money can you make?

Depending on the audience and type of concerts you will be promoting, it is not impossible to earn anywhere from six-figure to million-dollar earnings per concert. The sky is literally the limit.

Need we say more?
This eGuide provides insightful information, advices and tips breaking into this highly lucrative and competitive business with confidence. Numerous hard-to-find resources are included to help you locate pertinent information.

About the Authors

Jennie S. Bev is THE fashion, image and fun careers expert, whose reputation has been acknowledged by prestigious media internationally. She has been profiled and mentioned in Entrepreneur, Teen People, Canadian Business, Home Business, Dong (France), San Francisco Chronicle, The Independent, Daily Southtown, The Arizona Republic, Femina (Asia), and Dewi (Asia).

Editor-in-Chief Jennie S. Bev was named EPPIE Award finalist in Non-Fiction How To category for excellence in electronic publishing. She has published over 80 books and 1,000 articles in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, China, France, Germany and Singapore, and Indonesia. She is also a college professor based in San Francisco Bay Area.

Co-author Nicole J. LeBoeuf-Little is an accomplished author, freelance writer, and web designer from the New Orleans area. She graduated from Metairie Park Country Day School and went from there to the University of Washington to pursue B.A. in English.

Her fiction and essays have been published in a diverse handful of literary and New Age magazines, including PanGaia. An aspiring novelist, she has been an annual participant in National Novel-Writing Month since 2002. She now resides in Colorado.

This 95-page instantly downloadable StyleCareer.com eGuide Breaking Into and Succeeding as A Concert Promoter brings you valuable insider tips, advice and suggestions not available elsewhere to help you embark on this highly lucrative career path.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Myths, the Realities, and the Basics
Isn't a concert promoter some sort of a talent agency? Or someone who contracts artists and invites them to concert?
So what exactly does a concert promoter do?
I like listening to music and bands, but I’m not a glamorous person who mingles with the rich and famous in the music industry. Can I be a concert promoter?
I don’t have any money or a rich uncle to pay for famous musicians. How can I proceed?
I don’t have any prior experiences in event or party planning. Can I still be a concert promoter?

Concert Promoting in A Nutshell
Job Description: What does a concert promoter actually do?
Statistics
Event Planning
Music Events
Entertainment Industry
Concert Promoting Industry
Concert Promoting 101
Ways to Get Paid
Five Categories of Concert Environment
The Concert Promotion Cycle
Genre, Style, "A-Lists," and Other Specimens
A-list: The Brass Ring
Rock & Pop: The Popular Kid
Hip Hop, DJs, Urban Music: Underground
What's Your Music?
To Specialize or Not to Specialize

Starting A Concert Promoting Business
Personality Traits
Detail-oriented?
A savvy businessperson?
Possessed of excellent communication skills?
Able to present yourself tactfully and confidently?
Tolerant of risk?
In love with live music?
The Pros and Cons of Having An Office
Convenience
Location
Positioning
Prestige

Starting from Scratch
How Do I Become a Promoter?
Specific Requirements
Renting A Venue?
Show Contracts 101
Radius Clause
Deposits
Riders
Sound and Lighting
Catering and Hospitality
Backline
Contracting Contractors
Street Teams
Sound and Lighting
Security
Catering
How to Price Tickets

On the Day of the Concert
Advancing the Gig
Security Issues
Other Day-of-Show Issues
Restrooms
Parking
Guest List
Handicapped Audience Members

Being Successful
A Day in the Life
Associations and Organizations
Trade Shows to Attend and Participate
Networking
...online
...at show
...via booking artists

Success Profiles

This eGuide literally saves you hundreds or even thousands of dollars spent on professional workshops and training and hundreds of hours of research. It will help you break into the career of your dream faster without having to repeat the same mistakes that most newcomers do.

We have also included resources on the following:

How to sign-up artists without any financial capital
Trade shows and expos to attend and participate
Strategies to approach A-list artists
How to protect your promoting agency from harm

You can have this exclusive eGuide right away by instant download for only $72.95, which you will earn many times over with your first paid job. This special low discount price is reserved for today, Saturday, 07-Nov-2009 09:34:58 PST only. (Regular price: $82.95)

Breaking Into and Succeeding
as A Concert Promoter
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