The Live Scene

With less people buying music nowadays, one of the most important revenues for artists is the live scene. I’m sure many of you have been to festivals, concerts or even heard performers play at local venues. So what goes in to playing live and how do you go about it? Hopefully, by the end of this blog, you’ll have an idea and can start to get yourself out there as a performer.

The most important part of any live performance is the preparation and planning. Performing live is the perfect opportunity to connect with fans and get your music out there for people to take notice of. It’s vital to play songs that connect with the audience, engages them and makes them want to come back for more. You can spend hours writing songs that sound great on a recording but if you can’t have a connection with a live audience your career will be held back. The bigger and more passionate the show the more engaging it will be to the audience. For example, I went to see Bring Me The Horizon at Alexandra Palace and it was incredible! From smoke machines to light shows, mosh pits and crowd surfing it was mental. I barely knew the band at the time but due to the power of the show I, like many other people, went and bought their records. Putting on a good show can lead your fan base to sore.

I’m an unknown artist, how do I get started? Thankfully, the live music scene is still buzzing on a local level. For artists starting out, you’ll generally have to find places to perform. Find somewhere that has an audience that suits the music you play. To gain a better understanding you could go to the selected venue and watch a performance. The music industry is a people’s industry and building strong local contacts can help massively. There is a wide array of pubs, clubs and bars that are looking for local talent. If you can get regular gigs on a local circuit you can make a steady income and build a large fan base. As an example, my friend Jim Sole plays locally around 3 nights per week. The exposure and popularity he has built up has given him the opportunity to play at festivals and other large events and many locals flock to the venues he’s playing at.

As a new artist, it’s important to remember that when starting out at smaller venues you will need to do a lot of work behind the scenes. It massively helps having a trusted team of family and friends. For larger venues, there may be an in-house engineer responsible for sound. It’s important to build a good relationship with them; they are in charge of your sound after all. Remember that not all venues have an engineer, so give yourself time to have a thorough sound check. Always bring your own equipment (don’t rely on the venue) and make sure to start slow and work your way up. A 20 minute set is a good length to begin with. As a newcomer, when performing as part of an evening of music, playing first can be a help not a hindrance. It may mean a smaller audience who have drunk a bit less and aren’t as enthusiastic but industry people are more likely to attend. You will also be fresher and probably more polished as you won’t have had to wait all evening to play. It gives you the opportunity to move up the bill in the future, so stay positive. No matter what stage you start at always act professional. No label, publisher, agent, promoter or manager is going to be enthusiastic about signing a diva. Work hard, perform harder and hopefully it will pay off.  

In all aspects of the industry that we’ve looked at so far, the artist can be exploited and unfortunately it is the same in the live scene. A lot of the time artists are expected to promote their own shows and sometimes the venues and promoters think more of the money than the music. In this case, an alternative could be to organize your own shows. This would mean a lot more work but the benefits could be a lot more rewarding. Setting up your own shows means you can offer real value for money. You can host the event wherever it suits you and can control the artistic and visual experience. If you can get a loyal team to help with promotion and setting up you could host a brilliant show. Remember though, that setting up your own show can be expensive and there are licensing issues to consider from both PRS and the local council.

What are promoters and how important are they to the live scene? A promoter is a person or company hired on contract by entertainment venues to promote an event such as a sports match or concert. Promoters are usually paid an agreed fee or a royalty (cut). The royalty is usually a percentage of the admission fees and/or food and drink sales. In the case of smaller venues, it’s typical for the promoter to earn the admission fees while the venue takes the food and drinks revenue. Promoters are vitally important and they can be the difference between a successful event or a failure. They need to have an understanding of what people want to here and match venue to artist. Good promotion companies can build a strong reputation such as The Barfly Group who are based in London. Nowadays, the economy has left the general public with less money to spend on going out. Good promoters will know to place events towards the end of the month (payday) and in late Spring as the weather gets better. Promotion has also expanded into social networking and can take advantage of being able to access a wider audience. Promoters need to keep a close relationship with everyone; Artists, Managers, Booking Agents, Record Labels and the Venue. If a show is well attended and enjoyed, everyone’s status is increased.

Now we know about promoters, it’s important to also know about booking agents. Booking agent’s work for the artist and it is their role to organize and plan the ‘live side’ of the artists career. Their role is crucial to building a growth and progression of live events that co-ordinate with the release of the artists recorded work. For example, it’s incredible to see how the band Biffy Clyro have played at Reading and Leeds festival an amazing 5 times, working their way up the bill until they eventually headlined in 2012. Booking agents book tours, negotiate fees and get the best billing for their acts. They should always book a contract that can include rider requests, confirmed fees and percentage splits over sales figures. Booking agents will secure deposits from promoters when securing tour dates. These deposits will be 50% of the fees and if the show is cancelled it will be paid to the artist for compensation. Many of the most talented booking agents have come from being promoters so they know what’s needed to make a show work. Booking agents are paid on commission, similarly to managers, however they are only paid based on the income generated from live performance fees. They tend to only work with signed acts because, as we said earlier, unsigned acts usually book their own gigs. However, they are always on the look out for new talent. A booking agent should be the first target for any new artist as finding a good one will encourage industry interest and lead to bigger exposure. Building a strong live following can speed the path to success. Just look at System of a Down, Arctic Monkeys, Frank Turner, Disclosure and Slipknot.

Without a doubt, the most enjoyable and exhausting aspect of the live scene is touring. As a new artist there are two ways to go; either organizing a tour of different venues or supporting a more established artist on their tour. If you choose to set up your own tour, you can start building a following in many different locations. You have more control as an artist and if you can establish a touring circuit without money from a label and it could become a good source of income. However, there are costs to consider such as; where to stay, transport to venues, equipment required and staff needed. As we mentioned earlier, this can’t be done alone and having a good sound engineer is very important. In order to make your own tour work you should contact promoters and send demos to them. Club nights are also a good way to pull in a large crowd and teaming up with other artists in different areas can help promotion.

If you feel this is too much work you could try supporting a bigger artist on their tour. How would you begin going about that? This is a ‘people industry’ so as a new artist build up your contacts. Attend shows regularly and try to speak to the performing artists or their management. Find an artist who you think will like your music and send the booking agent a demo. Some tour support acts are decided by agents, managers and record companies but more and more artists choose who will tour with them. Supporting a larger act on tour can mean brilliant exposure for an upcoming act. Some of my favourite bands such as Neck Deep, All Time Low, Pvris and Twin Atlantic, I discovered by hearing them supporting other acts.

So, in conclusion, get yourself out there; you never know who is watching. Take time to plan your live shows, engage the audience and make it fun. A&R representatives, promoters and booking agents all attend local music venues and if you can attract one to support you it can catapult your career. Good luck!