Become A Rock Band Promoter

Chances are if you are reading this article you are flying by the seat of your pants and looking for clues along the way because your friends said, “Hey, we need a road manager you wanna job?”

Managing any band, even with some experience, is not for the fainthearted. I learned about managing a band the hard way, trial by fire. Am I qualified to guide you? Put it this way, it only takes one six month stint as a manager/road manager to learn the do’s and don’ts of taking a band on the road. Your best laid plans will go awry, you will not sleep and you will be broke – but what a great experience.

If you have connections in a few music venues and you have skills in negotiation, then by all means book everything yourself because a booking agent will get 5-10 percent of whatever your gross is, and that adds up.

Finding a Competent Booking Agent

If you don’t know the first thing about booking a show, find a competent booking agent. Club owners/managers and promoters can be very temperamental, and if you don’t know how to handle them it is probably best you hire a pro to do it for you. No matter where you live, musicians know musicians and everyone talks. Talk to the members of the band and get them to work for you to help find a booking agent that knows the venues where you need to play. After you’ve done a couple of tours you will have learned enough and met enough people to do all the booking yourself. The booking agent only books shows; however, booking agents may be able to negotiate accommodations as part of your compensation package. If not, you will have to take care of accommodations.

How Booking Agents Get Paid?

How do we get paid? In the contract from the booking agent or the club owner you will find everything you need to know about compensation. Some contracts offer a percentage of the door (cover charge) only, some offer a percentage of the door and a guarantee (you will be promised at least X amount even no one comes through the door), some will offer a percentage of the bar sales and a guarantee. Some will only offer food and drinks as pay if you don’t have a following.

Start Off Slow

Everyone wants to hit the road and play 20 gigs in a month. If you can pull it off, do it. But, I would recommend getting a good reputation by playing clubs close to where you live and then branch out. Start at home and then book town 1, 2, and 3 for the first tour and then just keep expanding as your following increases.

Getting Asked Back to a Club

How do we get asked back to a club? Be friendly! Follow the rules as stipulated in the contract, be nice to the staff, be on time, don’t break stuff and I guarantee you that you will be asked to play again. I’ve seen bands that draw very few patrons, but because they were respectful and showed integrity they were given another chance to improve their numbers.

Dealing with artists. Set the tone of your relationship early on in the tour. Many musicians, even rookies, want to be pampered and they want you to tie their shoes for them. I stated from the beginning that I was by no means the boss and that we have to work together to make this thing work. From that moment on we were a team.

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