In recent times the subject of people losing confidence in attending live events has come up in many conversations. A well established local artist commented that since covid, many people are wary about events being cancelled and so wait until the last minute to book, which creates a nightmare for promoters. I also notice a number of festivals struggling and pleas going out for people to book tickets early as they had failed Arts funding bids. I’m a longterm lover of music and in recent years started to explore “the music business” and how best to promote my own work and other superb artists. No one person has the answers, but here are my latest thoughts and observations.
Factors creating a loss of confidence
Covid is just one of the factors that have created a hesitation in booking on live events. With many gigs and festivals being cancelled, many people are wary about buying tickets in these tougher economic times. One friend and colleague was not best pleased in hearing that a niche music festival had indicated that one of the main international headliners announced last October, now would not not be playing. She can’t get a refund and the festival still has not announced the artist line up for an event that is just a month away. Such actions don’t inspire confidence in future bookings and in my view its not smart business. Yes, there can be situations where a change of artist has to take place, but the same event approached another international artist and wouldn’t confirm the booking, so they kept their options open, which is in my view pretty disrespectful for the artists as the festival approached them in the first instance…
Funding challenges
In recent years I’ve noticed that a number of niche festivals have had a heavy reliance on obtaining arts funding. The key word here is “reliance” The challenge for any promoter is surely to market the event in a manner where they can cover all costs. Idealisma classic risk/reward situation in business. Lets remember that “the music business” is like any other business in that its a case of supply and demand. Promoters take the risk on funding and event, but also have the chance to financially benefit from the event being a success. I’ve run numerous music events and always taken the view that the buck stops with me personally in terms of the funding. All artists will be paid as promised regardless of how many tickets are sold. At times this can be a reasonable financial outlay, but that’s what’s needed to maintain confidence from both artists and attendees. I have massive respect for any promoter, it takes real nerves of steel to engage in such activity.
Idealism v reality checks
I come from a business background and this is invaluable in figuring out how to run events. As previously mentioned its a case of risk v reward. In the theatre business its generally accepted that you need to sell 80% of tickets to make a profit. When running music evenings and signing contracts for known artists, I’m aware of exactly how many tickets we need to sell to break even and always ensure that the marketing is on target to make any event successful. I don’t claim to know everything about promotions, but all events to date on the Music for Head and Heart and Green Eyed Records have sold out.
Not everyone appreciates the benefits of sustained momentum in marketing. I agreed a few years ago to run support for a local artist and to fund half the cost of the venue and let him have 100% of the door, even though I was paying my band out of my personal finances. I also ran a good online marketing campaign again at my cost. I started to notice that with 6 weeks out from the event, the headliner wasn’t really pushing the event and although all his superfans had booked, we could still generate another 50% in attendance and reach a wider audience which he’d always complained about not having. When I voiced my opinion on this and pointed out it would also be a big financial bump for him as well as bringing in new interest, I met with massive resistance. Some people just don’t understand the basics of promotion and are so stuck in their own idealism that they will never reach a wider public. The tragedy is that they will endlessly complain about the lack of public interest in their work, even though their own limited thinking is the cause of the problem!
Collaboration is the key
When I set up Green Eyed Records, I realised that the best results come from collaboration. I’m massively grateful to established artists like Martin Simpson and Jon Gomm to be hosted at the Music for Head & Heart showcases. I’m also grateful to music heavyweights like Tim Booth and Jim Glennie as well as world class journalist Sylvie Simmons for discussions and advice. To quote a classic Japanese proverb – “No one of us is smarter than all of us”
