booking major acts part 3 (GODDAMN AGENTS)

  • Thread starter Thread starter jndietz
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jndietz

The Way It Moves
You guys may have read my few posts about booking bigger acts. Now, recently i've been getting the whole thing figured out, but i keep running into a problem:

1) i contact an agent and they don't respond
2) they ask me "if i have ever promoted before"

Recently, TAPROOT was in the Midwest and I tried to bring them to Omaha, but their agent literally never responded to the five e-mails I sent him (one email per week). I gave up. I even messaged the band over MySpace and they said it was weird that he wasn't responding. WTF. Okay... I can maybe understand why they do this -- they don't want their time wasted by a newbie promoter. But FOR GOD'S SAKE just contact me back and tell me you're not interested!!! I have money for them! I will pay them! But WHY won't they contact me back?!?!?!?

and WTF difference does it make if i have ever promoted? I know how to market, advertise all that crap. I know about target markets and channels, and how to reach the best audience I need to. even if i had no IDEA wTF i was doing, who cares?!??! they are getting their money. it'd be ME who loses out on the deal (ok, and maybe the band if no one showed up...)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ANYWAYS..............

So currently, I'm working on getting UnderOATH here... yeah we'll see how well that works out. I have to fill out a form on their agent's site to book them. #@%@#$.......

sorry, i've been very discouraged lately with the whole music thing. i just want things to work out for once.
 
Most "Major" bands have been screwed too many times by shitty promoters. You just need to develop a reputation as a good promoter. Just takes some time, that's all.

Right now, you're kinda like a first year med student saying, crap, I've called a ton of hospitals asking If I could do brain surgery, and none of them even responded.

To make matters worse, the music industry is pretty tight knit - it's a LOT about who you know. :)
 
NL5 said:
Most "Major" bands have been screwed too many times by shitty promoters. You just need to develop a reputation as a good promoter. Just takes some time, that's all.

Right now, you're kinda like a first year med student saying, crap, I've called a ton of hospitals asking If I could do brain surgery, and none of them even responded.

To make matters worse, the music industry is pretty tight knit - it's a LOT about who you know. :)
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Yep... I'm trying to find a good way to talk to these agents without making myself sound like a complete newbie, but not coming off as being an arrogant asshole either. Any tips? lol.

And, yes, you are right...it is very tight-knit. One of the guys I work with is best buds with Rob Nansel (owner of Saddle Creek Records), but this guy I work with hasn't been too interested in helping me get those connections going.

So I guess I'm going to keep trying until I get a break, then I can finally start building a rep....
 
jndietz said:
Yep... I'm trying to find a good way to talk to these agents without making myself sound like a complete newbie, but not coming off as being an arrogant asshole either. Any tips? lol.
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Yeah, try being an arrogant asshole. The best two promoters in my town are, and they book smaller national acts all the time. :D

jndietz said:
So I guess I'm going to keep trying until I get a break, then I can finally start building a rep....
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Thing is, what you're trying to do is a catch-22. You need to start promoting successful local shows first. You can't just skip to big acts, unless you get VERY lucky.
 
NL5 said:
Yeah, try being an arrogant asshole. The best two promoters in my town are, and they book smaller national acts all the time. :D




Thing is, what you're trying to do is a catch-22. You need to start promoting successful local shows first. You can't just skip to big acts, unless you get VERY lucky.
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Well, I can say I've done a few local shows. Only a handful have been really, really successful. Money talks though... so I don't understand why these agents don't speak the language of "money". I have it. I pay them. They give me act. I put on show. People show up. YAY! Money and fun is had by all.

SIGH....

I suppose no biggie though, I say that if I was an agent for a biggerish act, I wouldn't deal with some Joe Blow promoter, either. But, I suppose all I can do is keep plugging away......
 
NL5 said:
Yeah, try being an arrogant asshole. The best two promoters in my town are, and they book smaller national acts all the time. :D
QUOTE]

I'd second that. Nice guys finish last in the music biz. Call the manager's secretary and bitch her out like there's no tomorrow about how those no-talent bums will never play in Omaha as long as you are running things.

You'll get a call.
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Well, if you guys are being entirely serious, I might actually give that a shot...
 
Although the bands I've been in are absolutely nowhere near "major", I can say that, from an artist's perspective, most promoters are absolute dog-shit terrible at their jobs. If you don't have a rock-solid list of sold-out shows under your belt, no major act will talk to you, or has any reason to. Another thing to consider is, unless said acts are in your home town, their costs for even getting to your city are likely quite large. They're not going to plan an entire tour around playing for some no-name (no offense!) promoter for some random-assed show, there's just no way. Even if they're already in the area, they likely have the tour routing planned months in advance, and can't just change it for some random show. If you offered them several tens of thousands of dollars, maybe.

I'm really not trying to tear your ideas apart or make you quit or anything, I promise! I'm just trying to give you a perspective that you might not have gotten, from someone who has toured quite a few times and dealt with hundreds and hundreds of independent "promoters", yet can count the good ones on one hand...

*edit:
jndietz said:
and WTF difference does it make if i have ever promoted? I know how to market, advertise all that crap. I know about target markets and channels, and how to reach the best audience I need to. even if i had no IDEA wTF i was doing, who cares?!??! they are getting their money. it'd be ME who loses out on the deal (ok, and maybe the band if no one showed up...
Click to expand...

This "paragraph" right here is what's killing you. You NEED to start out small, and get a list of well-attended shows that you've promoted. Something you need to learn that will help you in incredible ways in the music, or any other industry is this: Nobody on earth gives a shit what you know, they care about what you've DONE. I'd rather book with a guy that doesn't know shit, but has an incredible history of booking solid bands and getting a shit-ton of kids in the door, than someone with 4,000 degrees in marketing and promotion, but hasn't ever booked a show.

Also, despite what you may think, it's incredibly depressing to play to an empty room, regardless of the money involved (to a point: $1,000,000 goes a long way). The bands you mentioned are used to playing to very large audiences (especially Underoath), and are constantly on tour. The only way you're going to be able to get them to your home-town is to be able to book a huge venue, and have a history of filling it up, and a history of paying the bands what they ask for, as well as being able to fulfill their riders. If you can't do any of this stuff, they have literally no reason to even respond to your emails. Sorry dude, but that's the truth. :/
 
sure, i understand. but they could at least tell me they aren't interested. it isn't that hard to type that, or to even call and say it. but then again, bands could typically sell themselves. i mean honestly, around here, if underoath came through, it would sell out pretty fast. and sure, they've played really big shows, but they tour with smaller gigs. this is potentially another stop on their tour, and its pretty much a guaranteed sellout. but i guess they don't know that. i'm working on doing local shit first. so we'll see.
 
There are 3 ways to get your foot in. First is to win the lottery and open your own venue. Second is to get a job or internship with an already established local promoter, learn the ropes, and make some contacts. Third is to work production on the bigger shows, stagehanding, working with a sound or lighting company, building stage, and all that glorious stuff. That will also show you what really goes on a big show, and give you more of an idea of how much things really cost.

The business is all about money. Very rarely does someone buy a show because they like the music. The promoters don't care about the name of the band or the style of music, they just want to see tickets and alcohol sold.

It also gets very very very nasty behind the scenes. The best promoters and promoter reps are experts on screwing the bands out of every penny possible. Things like charging for showers in the greenrooms, inflating the cost of venue rent or labor or services, charging to park a bus in the venue lot....

You have to have a pair made of forged iron, a poker face like Riker's, and the ability to lie and cheat with no remorse.

If you're in it because you like the music and want to "help", then you've already lost the battle and respect of the agents, venues, and promoters.

Boy, I'm waaaaaaay to grizzled for my age.
 
Good insight... I'm looking to get an internship at a few places around here that might get my foot in the door, actually....

Thanks!
 
Hey J, found this online. Know for a fact they promote all the bookings for Omaha right now. You might want to talk to them about getting started or something. I will try and find some more info for you.

Company Name: One Percent Productions
Address: 1620 S 49th St, Omaha, NE 68106-2436 (Map)
Location Type: Single Location
Est. Annual Sales: $100,000
Est. # of Employees: 2
Est. Empl. at Loc.: 2
Year Started: 2005
SIC #Code: 7922
Contact's Name: Marc Leibowitz
NAICS: Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities

EDIT- The second and final employee of 1% is Jim Johnson.

EDIT #2 - http://www.onepercentproductions.com/

EDIT #3 - http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=53546075
 
Yeah, I've known about 1% for a while -- what sucks is that they don't offer internships OR do they even respond to general inquiry e-mails. I can't even go in there to talk to a guy about how to promote.

Is this some sort of secret business?

BTW: got your voicemail..will call back ASAP tonight
 
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