Are you dreaming of performing at a venue in your town? Then stop sitting on your hands and take action!
The best way to get a feeling of what the club is about and what kind of acts its promoter(s) are interested in is to physically go there. Once you have got an idea about what the place is looking for, reach out to its promoter(s).
Here’s what to keep in mind when approaching promoters.
1. Introduce yourself and ask permission to send music
Be polite, honest and upfront but don’t be pushy.
Remember that you are trying to get something (a gig) from the venue. It is not the other way around. Introduce yourself, hand out a business card and ask if the promoter would like one of your demos (if you have one with you — otherwise send a digital copy by email). If you have performed live in the past, send a link with video of your live performance.
Make sure to submit your best sounding mix and best quality video!
it is important to contact promoters first and ask permission to submit your music rather than forwarding it right away.
2. Be clear on what you can do for the venue
Be crystal clear on what you can provide to the venue. Have your goals in mind, be aware of the venue’s goals, and think about how to create a win-win situation where everyone benefits from the agreement.
3. Leverage your email list and social media
Use your email list to your advantage. Keep track of your subscribers and sort your contacts out by location.
Leverage this when approaching promoters.
Inform them of how many subscribers you have and about how many people in that area are following you on social media.
Make it clear that you would help promote the venue and the gig to all those people.
4. Provide extra value
Go beyond that!
In order to stand out from the crowd, provide extra value to the venue. In addition to helping out with the promotion to your email list and on social media, why not host a special masterclass? Or if you want to go further than that, you could event suggest you and the venue live stream your performance.
Promoters want to get people through the door; live streaming your concert can actually do more than that. It can reach people around the world.
And it doesn’t have to be free.
5. Don’t be afraid of the phone!
Many promoters are still “old school,” so you may want to consider giving them a ring. But this is not the only reason why you should make a phone call.
Remember that a promoter may get hundreds of emails every day, so it can some time for him/her to reply to yours. However, if you give them a ring, you have good chances of talking with them right away.
The first thing you can do as a DJ who is “gig hunting” online is a simple Google search. Create a list of venues you would like to perform at (Google Maps can help you with that), write down their contact information and export everything into an excel spreadsheet.
You can also export relevant contacts from your social media (you have remembered to organize your Facebook/Twitter contacts into lists, right?).
