Open Letter to Promoters and Such..

[Massage...Bored]

I would still rather play for free than haggle with someone about money.

Oh, and I think we provide a quality "product".

[conley]

sharkmansix wrote

I like to think of it as anti-unprofessional musician. There are so many bands in the city that think they are the best think since sliced bread; but in reality they are just 4 guys who can put together a song. Why should a venue put money down for unproven talent?

If anything they are already putting money into the act by providing them the space to play.

Like you said "If you decide to open a business, YOU had better be the one who promotes it." Being a professional musician is a business; so following your own advice you'd better promote.

Yes, you are correct, Jay. However, let's not confuse promoting YOURSELF & promoting a BAR. Yes, of course you need to promote YOURSELF. The point that I'm trying to make is that it's the bars responsibility to promote THEIR bar. If a venue can't handle that, then they need to hire a damn marketing director to promote THEIR bar. I'm not asking bars to promote ME, they need to promote whatever event might be taking place in their venue, that particular evening. They need to let people know that they have entertainment. Do you know how often I play a venue and tell myself, "Geez, I don't see anything posted or mentioning that this place even HAS entertainment - ever." It's just obsurd to think that it's all on the musician.

If a venue makes the decision to have live entertainment, then they are ultimately responsible for that decision, not the performers that they bring in every week. If the bar decides to bring in a newer band, great.....pay them anyways. If a band is arrogant to the point of being lazy, shame on them; but, it will eventually catch up to them. I just don't like bar owners blaming the band for a slow night......After all, they were the one's who made the decison to hire bands.

[sharkmansix]

I totally agree Mike.

One of the problems IMHO is that anymore a venue can do just as well with bar sales by having a house "DJ" that plays requests from his/her MP3 catalog.

Most local bars / venues post an ad in WhatzUp as to what shows they have coming up. I've seen your picture in it more then once.

***

I see things from the world of graphic design.

All the time people will want professional pieces at rookie prices. They don't acknowledge the time and effort that goes into such work. The thing is though, a lot of the so called "professionals" are just a person who has a few filters figured out in Photoshop or they can muscle a website with some stolen graphics and code.

Problem is they want to be paid professional wages.

If you're in this business then you must realise professionals handle themselves in a different manner. They establish standards for themselves and the work they produce.

IMHO a lot of bands could use some of this advice. Example (BTW this is a general reference and not a dig at Mike or any other local musician):

If you're a professional musician then why are you playing a showcase?

Shouldn't you have done that when you were an amateur? I can understand if your new in an area but if it's your hometown; and more-so why if you've played a ton of shows in the area?

Acting like that does not give the impression of professional. IMHO it's a stage for new acts; not seasoned veterans. If the crowds don't know of you after some years out playing playing a showcase isn't probably going to help.

[Alessandro01]

Öffnen wir ein kleines Geheimnis. Es ist sehr schwierig, sich auf Ratings zu konzentrieren, da es fast unmöglich ist, eine vollständig unabhängige Ressource zu finden, die sie veröffentlicht. Jeder hat sein eigenes kleines Interesse microgaming slots spielen , von dem der Seitenbetreiber ein gesheft bekommen will.