[00:00:00] James: Welcome to episode 162 of the Bandhive Podcast.

[00:00:04] James: It is time for another episode of the Bandhive podcast. My name is James Cross and I help independent artists tour Smart.

[00:00:11] James: first of all,

[00:00:12] James: this episode is dropping on January 3rd, 2023, so I wanna wish you a happy new year.

[00:00:18] James: I hope 2023 is amazing for you and you get to do lots of really cool things with your band, because that's what this podcast is all about, doing cool things with your band or your music if you're a solo artist.

[00:00:30] James: that all aside, this

[00:00:31] James: is going to be the first episode in the new year, but it's not going to be about the new year really.

[00:00:38] James: because one of the most important things, aside from actually playing shows

[00:00:41] James: is

[00:00:42] James: getting people to come to your shows.

[00:00:44] James: Because after all,

[00:00:45] James: if a band plays a killer set in the forest, but no one is there to hear it, did they actually play a killer set in the forest?

[00:00:52] James: Now

[00:00:52] James: philosophical

[00:00:53] James: questions aside,

[00:00:54] James: the more people you bring to a show, the higher your chances of getting invited back by

[00:00:58] James: the promoter,

[00:00:59] James: [00:01:00] and you're gonna have a much stronger history as well.

[00:01:03] James: Which on that note, if you don't

[00:01:04] James: already

[00:01:04] James: track stats

[00:01:05] James: for every

[00:01:06] James: single one of your shows, visit Bandhive.rocks/history to get a free template you can use to track all

[00:01:12] James: your shows.

[00:01:13] James: Speaking of history, My

[00:01:15] James: recent history is I'm recording this mid-December and I just got covid for the first time. I'm on the tail end of it and all that, but if I sound a little nasal or if I'm coughing all over the place, you know why? Thankfully it wasn't that bad. First time for me. . So I made it almost three years.

[00:01:29] James: If any of you get it around the holidays, I'm so sorry. This is not a fun thing to deal with. And if you've already had it or if you have it worse, I'm sorry that, that is really unfortunate and I hope you get well soon because it's not fun. And, you know, missing the holidays is not fun either.

[00:01:45] James: At least not for me.

[00:01:46] James: all that aside, that's what's going on in my life

[00:01:48] James: is,

[00:01:48] James: uh, yeah,

[00:01:49] James: the RONA finally caught

[00:01:50] James: me. Bike Thrasher,

[00:01:52] James: this cool DIY band out of Boston. Ask me a question in the Instagram dms, how can independent artists [00:02:00] promote their shows?

[00:02:01] James: So that's what I'm gonna

[00:02:01] James: answer this week, because like I said,

[00:02:03] James: if a band plays a killer set in the woods and no one's there to hear it, did they actually play a killer set in the woods? So first and foremost, the best thing you can do is individually message every single person you know in the city you're playing and ask them to come to that show.

[00:02:17] James: And

[00:02:17] James: I mean this literally individually, every single.

[00:02:21] James: person if this is your hometown and you know, 500 people, you are going to message 500 people about this show, unless they literally don't go to shows or they don't like music or whatever.

[00:02:30] James: But for the most part, you are going to

[00:02:32] James: reach out to every single person in your network no matter how well you know them.

[00:02:37] James: If they live in that city, you're gonna ask them. now I know this is a lot of

[00:02:40] James: legwork, especially if it is your hometown or another city where you know a lot of people. But it is the most effective way

[00:02:46] James: to spread

[00:02:46] James: the word about your shows because it's direct one-to-one, and people

[00:02:51] James: kind of feel bad

[00:02:52] James: if they don't reply.

[00:02:53] James: So you want to not necessarily take advantage of that, but be sure to use that as one of your promotion tools. [00:03:00] Say, Hey, we'd love to see you there. Let me know if you can make it or not. and that way you're already

[00:03:04] James: encouraging a discussion that can start and that really helps.

[00:03:08] James: Whereas if they just see it in passing, they see, you know, a post on social media or a flyer or something, they might not put that connection together, that that's even you. If you're playing with a stage name, you know, they might not remember your band's name,

[00:03:21] James: But

[00:03:21] James: if you're saying

[00:03:22] James: one-on-one, Hey,

[00:03:24] James: I would love it if you came to our show that we're playing at this venue on this day, at this time.

[00:03:29] James: It would be really cool. Like,

[00:03:30] James: let me know if you can make it. That goes to the next.

[00:03:34] James: Now, something else that I always

[00:03:35] James: recommend, which a lot of people don't do anymore because it's a little more old school, is to print some flyers and hang them

[00:03:41] James: up yourself. Or if you aren't from the

[00:03:43] James: area that you're playing, ask the venue if they would hang them for you, and if so, how many?

[00:03:49] James: And then you can print those and physically mail them to the venue. So all they have to do is put them up. They don't have to print them, they don't have to do anything except just hang them up.

[00:03:57] James: Now it's not free, but

[00:03:59] James: it's a great way [00:04:00] to spread the word to people who didn't already know your band. And let's say they know another one of the bands on the bill and that band is slacking with their promotion.

[00:04:07] James: Well, guess what?

[00:04:08] James: The people

[00:04:09] James: might see that flyer and say, oh yeah, I like that band. I didn't know they were playing. Let me go see that show. And now you've gotten one more person to your show and it

[00:04:18] James: adds up. It's a snowball. Now all of

[00:04:21] James: a sudden that

[00:04:21] James: person is saying to their friends,

[00:04:23] James: Hey, this band I like

[00:04:24] James: is playing

[00:04:25] James: a show You want to

[00:04:26] James: go?

[00:04:26] James: Cuz you know people don't often like going to shows by themselves.

[00:04:30] James: I used to do it all

[00:04:30] James: the time when I lived in Boston cuz I was like reporting on the shows when I was doing my media days.

[00:04:35] James: Whenever possible, I would ask for a plus one and find a friend to come along.

[00:04:39] James: Didn't matter who it was, I just wanted somebody to come along

[00:04:42] James: because I didn't wanna stand there the whole

[00:04:43] James: time making notes

[00:04:44] James: being

[00:04:45] James: purely analytical.

[00:04:46] James: I wanted to see

[00:04:47] James: what it was

[00:04:47] James: like to go to that show

[00:04:48] James: with a friend, what the full experience of that concert was. Now, it's

[00:04:52] James: not to say

[00:04:52] James: people don't go to shows by themselves, I still do. Friends still do that, at least as far as I know. I have friends who still do that.

[00:04:59] James: But my [00:05:00] point is you never know who's gonna talk

[00:05:01] James: to their friends about these shows.

[00:05:03] James: If you get one person to go,

[00:05:04] James: chances are you're gonna get more. So hanging up posters can be a really effective method, especially if the other bands on the bill aren't doing their due diligence, they're being lazy, whatever it is, it's just one more way to get the name out there.

[00:05:17] James: Another avenue

[00:05:18] James: I recommend is just make an active email list, And if you wanna learn more about email

[00:05:23] James: lists, check out

[00:05:23] James: episode 116. Email is not dead. You can find [email protected] slash one 16. That's the number 116, and you can learn all about why emails are really the most effective way to communicate to your core fan base because it's

[00:05:39] James: super reliable.

[00:05:41] James: You should not underestimate it. Now

[00:05:42] James: you

[00:05:42] James: can blast

[00:05:43] James: your whole email list for tours, but you can also create specific geographic segments if you collect either zip codes or city and state information when fans sign up. But personally, I would just collect name and email and then send show announcements to everyone because most bands err on the side of [00:06:00] not emailing often enough,

[00:06:01] James: but showing that you're active

[00:06:04] James: on your email list is really, important So as long as you aren't

[00:06:07] James: emailing more than once a week

[00:06:08] James: or so, you'll be just

[00:06:09] James: fine. And the reason for this is if you email people once a year, once every six months, whatever, they're gonna forget that you exist. That's just human nature, especially with a lot of music fans tend to have ADHD or something like that.

[00:06:22] James: They might literally have object permanence, and if they're not constantly reminded of it, they forget.

[00:06:29] James: So be sure that you're emailing at least a couple times a month with updates about your band. It doesn't have to be huge news, but just something that's going on. Or do a monthly, you know, like a raw stripped back cover of another artist that you like.

[00:06:42] James: Whatever it is, email your fans at least once a month. Add value to their lives in some way. So they look forward to getting that email every single. That is how you show that your band is still active and keep your email list engaged so they're constantly opening your emails because the higher your open rate is, the [00:07:00] better your emails will perform.

[00:07:01] James: Because Gmail, hotmail, if people still use that, whatever apps will learn that. Emails from you are not spam and people like opening them. The next thing you can do is run a giveaway or two. And this is a really easy way to increase engagement and awareness on social media about your show.

[00:07:18] James: You just let people enter by commenting and then have them tag a friend or maybe three, and then at a set date you pick a winner. So you do need to say, Hey, this is when it's closing. But yeah, you pick a winner. Now, once you've picked that winner message, every other person who entered and apologize and say, Hey, I'm so sorry you didn't win, and we don't have any more tickets to give.

[00:07:37] James: away but if you come to the show and want any merch, just walk up to the table and let us know. Like show us the comment on the post. You can take a screenshot and we'll give you a little discount and you know, I would recommend probably like a 15, 20% discount, but that is an incentive for them to come to the show anyway if they think, Hey, I wanted some merch anyway.

[00:07:57] James: I can get a discount. Great. Or that's just

[00:07:59] James: also [00:08:00] reminding them, hey,

[00:08:01] James: you've personally invited them to come to

[00:08:02] James: the show. Now I see a lot of artists doing

[00:08:04] James: contests, but I haven't seen very many, if any, do something like this. So give

[00:08:09] James: it a shot,

[00:08:10] James: because I think it'll be really effective to go out there and say, Hey, sorry you didn't win, but we'd love to see what the show anyway.

[00:08:16] James: Cause that's basically what you're

[00:08:17] James: doing. One last thing

[00:08:19] James: is that you should,

[00:08:20] James: if at all possible,

[00:08:21] James: offer a pre-sale discount for your tickets. So talk with a promoter or venue about this before the show goes

[00:08:27] James: on sale. Once the show's on

[00:08:29] James: sale, you can't do much, but something along

[00:08:31] James: the lines of $8 advance $10 a day

[00:08:33] James: of show, or 12 advance, 15

[00:08:35] James: or 18,

[00:08:36] James: advance 20, whatever

[00:08:37] James: amount you choose is a great way to get people to buy tickets early.

[00:08:42] James: Advanced sales are honestly one of the best things you can do because that's already showing the venue that, hey, you can actually move some tickets.

[00:08:50] James: And one other thing

[00:08:51] James: to keep in mind that's kind of related but not exactly tied into promotion is as you start playing bigger shows, you're not just gonna track the attendance.

[00:08:58] James: you're also gonna track [00:09:00] ticket sales, and this breaks down. Two different figures. You have your tickets sold and the drop, which is the number of tickets actually used the night of the show. And keep

[00:09:10] James: in mind, it's quite

[00:09:11] James: common for the attendance to be slightly lower or

[00:09:13] James: the drop to be slightly lower

[00:09:15] James: than ticket sales because people

[00:09:17] James: get sick, they get covid,

[00:09:18] James: they have scheduling conflicts, things pop up in life, whatever it is.

[00:09:22] James: So don't be

[00:09:22] James: disappointed if you have a show that sold out, but it's not actually full because that's normal. It happens to every artist, even the biggest names. Their drop is gonna be lower than the amount of tickets sold. But

[00:09:34] James: the good news is that you're getting paid

[00:09:36] James: depending on the deal, based on the amount of

[00:09:37] James: tickets sold while your drop

[00:09:39] James: is what you would use to calculate the per head for your merch sales.

[00:09:43] James: But one other thing is that ticket sales is what you'll advertise

[00:09:46] James: as your draw in that market, as long

[00:09:48] James: as those ticket sales can honestly be attributed to your. If that's ticket sales from another band, then you can't count those. That's not fair. but if you sold those tickets or people bought them [00:10:00] to see you, yes.

[00:10:01] James: That is part of your draw

[00:10:02] James: Now as a

[00:10:02] James: whole

[00:10:03] James: bike,

[00:10:03] James: Thrasher has shown that by asking the question of how to promote their shows.

[00:10:06] James: They already have their

[00:10:08] James: heads in the right place because promoting shows is necessary even when there's a promoter, because after all, a promoter does not have fans.

[00:10:17] James: The band does, or at least they should.

[00:10:19] James: and I'm

[00:10:20] James: talking to you

[00:10:20] James: here as well, because if you wanna play shows, you should have some

[00:10:23] James: fans that you can bring.

[00:10:25] James: Promoters do not exist

[00:10:26] James: to bring

[00:10:27] James: bodies through the door.

[00:10:28] James: They put

[00:10:29] James: on the event and you bring the people. That's the deal. So

[00:10:32] James: even though it is

[00:10:33] James: a collaboration between two parties, you cannot expect a promoter to get your fans through the door because they're your fans, not fans of the promoter.

[00:10:42] James: so I'm really stoked that

[00:10:43] James: Bike Thrasher asked this question. Their social media and other links will be in the show [email protected] slash 162.

[00:10:51] James: If you wanna check them out, I highly recommend it. They do some cool stuff. And aside from that, I'd love to hear what other promotion methods you use and you enjoy

[00:10:58] James: for your shows. [00:11:00] So if you have

[00:11:01] James: something you wanna share or some feedback or thoughts, please head on over to our Facebook community, which you can find by searching for band.

[00:11:07] James: Hi, that's B A N D H I V E on Facebook. And just look for the group, not the page. You can like the page while you're there,

[00:11:14] James: but the group

[00:11:15] James: is where you want to go. And we'll have a discussion thread for this very episode So you can share your thoughts. that said,

[00:11:21] James: you can also find the Facebook group by going to better band slash group, and that will automatically redirect you there.

[00:11:27] James: that does

[00:11:28] James: it for this episode of the Bandhive Podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in and listening. I really appreciate it, and I hope that this episode has given you some new ideas on how you

[00:11:34] James: can promote

[00:11:35] James: your shows and what you should be doing to get people to actually come to your shows.

[00:11:40] James: So again, if you're not already in our Facebook community, you can join us by going to. Facebook and searching

[00:11:45] James: for Bandhive or visiting better band slash group to be automatically redirected. We'd love to see you there and hear your thoughts on this episode and what promotion methods you use for your band.

[00:11:57] James: Once again, happy New Year and we'll be back next [00:12:00] Tuesday at 6:00 AM Eastern, right here in your favorite podcast app. Until then, I hope you have a great week. Stay safe,

[00:12:05] James: and of course, as always, keep rockin'.