Booking a Last Minute Gig

It is two weeks out from a show you booked locally with an awesome out of town band and the venue cancels. This is a situation that would leave most bands without a show for that date. If your band is not content with that, there are options.

Things to consider:
Unless the show is in the same city (neighborhood in big cities) the turn out is going to be smaller. For this reason change the forecast of turnout when pitching to a venue.


Change all your marketing, if fliers are distributed go change them or update all Internet advertisements.  Send out a message to all invitees to make sure they know about the change.


One band is easier to book than two, consider splitting the slot or in exchange for getting the out of town band a show, your band can step in on a song or two.

Now, some tips and tricks to getting the show and what not to do. First step in this process is to ask friends bands if they have a show and if there is room for your band. More than likely there isn't but ask them if there are any shows they were offered that they had to turn down for that night.

If that doesn't work, check to see if there are openings at the normal venues you play at. I say check first because it is better to go in saying "I see no one is booked for..." than you just asking if you can perform.  Impress the venues booking agent with the fact that you researched the date first. Same goes with new venues, it may be last minute but there is no excuse for you to go in clueless.

Don't be afraid to ask establishments that normally don't have bands play.  Some bars get requests to play from cover bands and greedy bands only so the owners don't think they can afford to have a band in.   On the topic of money, don't expect to get a paycheck for a last minute gig if your draw is under a 100 people.  In fact I would suggest you add that as incentive to be booked.  Instead negotiate to get a percentage of beer sales, or work on tips.

Check Craigslist, there are plenty of people looking for bands that don't normally book them so they scramble for ways to find quality bands.  Post on Craigslist, offer to play any type of show, be it a graduation party or arena.

Recently I was asked to help a local band book a show less than two weeks out due to a cancellation.  They wanted help trying to get in at a trendy art bar a half hour away.  First thing I did was check to see if they had an opening and if they normally have bands playing on a Saturday (the day the band was looking to book).  What I found was that the bars website and Facebook were not maintained. Nothing was listed in the events. Normally I would call for a last minute booking, but when given opportunities like this, an in person discussion is helpful. In the business world it is all about filling a need and making money.  This company is failing at marketing by not updating their Internet presence.  Being in a band, at least one member knows how to update Social Media sites, so take that in with you to talk with a manager.  Offer in exchange for booking us last minute, you'll get them up to date on their event listings, or create a graphic for them, tweak their website, etc. The barter system is alive and well, sometimes just the gesture will impress the manager and he'll do what he can to book you. That was the outcome in this case, the band was booked, I offered my talents for a month, and in the end I've helped myself to another paying client for marketing services.  If a member of your band can perform a service for a venue than you have a potential monthly gig and a great connection.

My final suggestion would be to create your own venue.  That's right I said make your own venue, I don't mean start a business.  Rent a banquet hall and go from there.  Depending on your audience it is possible to get a hall under a hundred bucks. Some even come with a bar and bartender. Charge a small cover, basically find your breakeven point. If the hall costs you $100 and you expect to draw 5o people, your break even point is going to be a $2 cover charge. I've striked deals before with halls to get a percentage of bar sales, and charged a $5 cover for roughly 4 bands.  Get enough people in the hall and you could find yourself making more money than most venues will pay you.

Just remember to book in a location that your fans exist in or an establishment with a built in crowd.  Just getting a gig does nothing if you are playing to an empty room. Don't count on the out of town band to bring anyone, even if they are huge compared to you doesn't mean anyone locally knows about them. Finally promote ten times harder for last minute gigs. If it is out of town, get there early and hand out fliers and personally invite people you see on the streets to come watch the show. Last minute shows are never easy, if it is worth it to you to book last minute then don't slack on promoting.

When Not to Play

Recently I attended a festival that is completely free for the public.  They bring in bands from all over the state and usually one who is nationally known. This year a big radio sponsor was not involved, they were the ones who brought the big talent so to speak. As I ventured around the festival I noticed a few other things lacking from previous years, and thats when the rumors started popping up about the corrupt festival director who was double dipping and knew she was resigning so she sabotaged the whole festival. Guess what, rumors can be complete lies, in this case they were true so listen to what your fellow bands have to say about a venue, promoter or festival.  They are going to give you some of the best advice, but make sure to ask questions, don't just let your friends vent, they could be venting about an issue they actually caused.

Tip #1:
Never pay to play.  This goes for buying tickets up front and getting reimbursed. Pay for gas, and equipment just never pay a promotor to play a show.  Many nation wide promotions companies make deals with big venues to book their small concert halls during slow days. They charge bands to play or charge them for tickets up front then give them a dollar per ten dollar ticket they sell. You do the math on that, after gas, drinks, food, etc., are you making money or did you just pay to play to a room full of only your fans because the other band couldn't sell any tickets.

Tip #2:
Going back to my intro, some venues and festivals get a reputation for being shady or corrupt or just doing a horrible marketing job.  If last years festival had a bad turn out for a national act, we are talking number one song on the radio and only a hundred people half of who don't know the band standing there and watching. Do you want to play if the same people are doing the marketing for it? What if they offer you a slot at 11am when your band caters to a drinking audience that is still at work at 11am on a Friday.  If you can justify playing to a small audience who statistically will have no interest in your music, go for it, otherwise negotiate with the event coordinator to find a more fitting spot for you.

Tip #3:
Last minute gigs can be great opportunities but if your band is at the level of requiring a paycheck for every gig ask questions first. I always say, take every gig you are offered as long as it is legit but make sure you aren't going to hurt your reputation with a new venue by taking the gig.  Some venues have built in crowds some don't, if the venue expects you to bring a crowd it could be hard for you to rally your fans at the last minute to attend.  Some venue owners only look at the sales numbers and not the situation you were put in.  Be up front a voice any potential concerns you have with attendance, be proactive and book a follow up gig with them for doing them a favor.  That way you can make sure to have an opportunity to show them what you can really do with time on your side.

Be wise with every gig you book, ask questions. There are tons of middle men out there trying to make a dollar off bands. The more you know the less likely you are to work hard for nothing or be put in awkward situations.

Analyzing Your Bands Potential For Profit

Last blog we discussed how to get funding for your band in the form of a business plan.  We discussed little pet peeves investors have with business plans, and what you can do to get yours read.

In season 3 of Shark Tank, a band called Cab 20 and their manager did just what the last blog discussed, they asked the investors for money.

The manager starts out his business plan pitch with a short introduction of the band and then presented the product--the band playing. Unfortunately the manager was not a cut throat aggressive business man and the sharks picked up on that, some dropping out because of him. Kevin O'leary, the shark mentioned in last blog, did step up to the plate and made an offer for 50% of the band for the $200,000 they were asking for despite him describing the music industry as"The crap shoot who the hell knows business".  The band smartly declined.

What we've learned from researching investors and watching countless episodes of Shark Tank is that it is all about the money, especially when pitching to Kevin O'Leary. The manger discussed what the investors would get out of the deal which would be 20% of all revenue streams except publishing for $200,000.   The manager never discussed the sales and financials the band was making. There were no talks about recent tours, number of albums sold, what makes them unique in the industry that would allow them to sell thousands of records. 

The most important piece of your business plan is going to be the financial statements showing how you intend to make money. Had the manager showed that in the six months he had been working with the band, show sizes had doubled, sales were up 80% and their YouTube videos were monetized and getting thousands of hits, Kevin O'Leary may have jumped on this band for a negotiable percentage of the band that they all could of agreed to.  O'Leary thought it would be cool to have a band in his portfolio, had he seen the potential for profit spelled out to him in his language of dollars and cents, he may have offered more money to the band and taken the deal at a lower percentage of control.

One thing you can learn from researching investors is what to change in your own business plans. Prior to doing research on O'Leary, my plan was filled with ideas of money isn't everything and it is all about the music and the community.  Hugs and kisses do not get financial backing, numbers and percentages do. Scatter your mission statement throughout as a binding agent that makes it uniform but discuss profit potential or loss prevention.

A band is a unique business, but you still need to analyze your bands potential for profit.  Keep track of how many people come to your shows, Reverbnation has a tool to keep track of your concert history, how many attended who you played with and an assortment of other details. Always track merch sales, and how much venues are paying you. These numbers help determine bands worth to an investor.  Having this value could just seal the deal with a huge investor like Kevin O'Leary or land you a record deal with one of the big boys.

Side Note to Bands: Do NOT try and replicate Cab20's website, this is a horrible example of how to present your band to the Internet world.  Auto playing music is one of the must annoying widgets a viewer has to endure. An About tab should discuss the band as a whole, not as individuals. There should be more color and pictures than texts that is plain and seemingly goes on and on. Show where your band is from geographically or where you will be right away so viewers know right away if they can make it to a live show, because live music is the money money maker these days. A website sells your band to fans, venues, and investors. With tools discussed in previous blogs you can produce a quality website with little to no web design experience.

Funding Your Music

We all know the saying, it takes money to make money, and sometimes it is true. Every business has start up costs, be it for overhead costs such as rent, insurance, or inventory. A band has the same hurdles to overcome, merchandise, instruments and parts, and travel expenses. For most of it the band pools together money or saves up money from gigs, but what about bigger purchases. What if your band was offered an opening slot on a world tour but pay was not given till after the first show...overseas. Or your band wants to record a ten track album at Ocean Way Studios in Nashville, but you only saved up enough for a bathroom recording by your wanna be engineer friend. These are times when you may want to look for an investor.

Investors come in many types with much small print to understand but when it comes down to it, besides a family or friend, they will require a business plan to even consider loaning you money.  The Music Industry is a very risky business for an investor and a business plan lays out all the elements of your band.  From your mission statement to your sales figures and projections. Before putting in even a few thousand dollars into a project an investor basically wants to know his odds of recouping his money and the potentially return on his investment. Is it a simple loan with interest or is he getting a portion of you business in return for his money. How long is it going to take for the money to be returned and does he have a say in how your business is run after the investment.

Some bands who are established are able to go to a bank and get a loan, these are generally ones who have established a bank account in the bands name, have a good paper trail of income and can prove it can be repaid in a given period of time.  More than likely this will not be the case so you are going to want to turn to professional investor capitalists who will demand a well thought out business plan.

Mark Zwilling is a contributing writer for Forbes. He specializes in content to help entrepreneurs be more successful in a competitive world  In a recent article Top Ten Investor Turnoffs Around Business Plans, Zwilling walks us through the worst things to do or send to an investment firm. As stated, the Music Industry is a hard sell to any investor which is why I believe Zwilling's second tip is the most important for a band.

"Send the plan without a summary. An Executive Summary is a one page elevator pitch of the whole plan (may be separate from the plan), which gives an investor a net perspective on the key business parameters. Too many plans don’t have a summary section, or the summary is all you get. You lose in either case.?" (Forbes, 2011)

Zwilling also talks about how not showing the financials can lead to an immediate no, and how bugging the investor will lead to him probably not reading it. Some investment capitalist are obligated to review your business plan, well maybe on four of them. The show Shark Tank on ABC has a line up of investors who hear your business plan in a verbal and visual pitch. The business owners start out with an executive summary that hooks in the investors with the plans benefits and a summary of the companies sales and value. Then they ask for an investment for a percentage of their company. Kevin O'Leary is one of those investors and is known for being a little bit of a hardball player.

O'Leary sold his software company for billions of dollars and since has invested in hundreds of companies and products. He has no problem putting owners in their place when they have a stupid idea or are over estimating the value of their company. One of his questions always will revolve around the price point and the size of the market. In his blog on his website he listed Five Business Lessons Learned from Steve Jobs, one of the lessons was to know what your audience wants.

"Business is fundamentally about creating things that people want. But to do that, you have to know your customers inside and out. Do they want simplicity? Lower pricing? A better experience? More convenience? The answer is different for every business, but every business has to know the right answer for itself." (O'Leary, 2011)

As a band your product is generally music or merchandise, but you still need to know what they want. In a previous blog I talked about creating the correct merchandise for your audience and knowing how to price it as well. Take those tips when developing a business plan and the words of wisdom O'Leary has to offer.  For someone like O'Leary, funding your music isn't about if it is good or not, its about the money. Can you get your audience to pay ten dollars for a CD rather than just seven, can you make those CDs more cost effective. Do you have the ability to expand to other geographical markets and there for raise your potential for profit. The market analysis portion of your business plan will need to include information like this. Luckily this is not hard to do, Facebook Insights and Google Analytics help track geographic information of who is checking out your band.  Keeping a tour history that includes turn outs at each venue is also helpful.  Back Zwilling's list of things not to do is to say "see attachment" throughout your business plan.  Include the basic info but go ahead say see attachments for the break down of markets.  Again, funding your music is going to be more difficult than any other business, do what is necessary and include the selling points to help make an investor feel confident in what they may be giving a large chunk of money to.

A final comment is to play off an investors likes, research each investor to know these things.  For instance O'Leary calls him self an eco-investor, meaning he loves going green products.  So for him maybe push your ideas to tour eco-friendly, and produce recycled CDs, or how you rigged your equipment to run off a bicycle generator your road hands power. A business plan that has a hook is going to make you unique from other businesses looking for an investor.

References

O'Leary, K. 2011. Huffington Post. Five Business Lessons Learned from Steve Jobs. Retrieved 

      from: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/kevin-oleary/steve-jobs-business-lessons_b_1001669.html

O'Leary, K. 2011. Kevin-Oleary.com. Five Business Lessons Learned from Steve Jobs. Retrieved 

      from: http://kevin-oleary.com/posts/mentor/five-business-lessons-from-steve-jobs/

Zwilling, M. 2012. Forbes. Top Ten Investor Turnoffs Around Business Plans. Retrieved from:     

      http://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2011/02/04/ten-top-investor-turnoffs-around-business-   

      plans/ 

How to Get More Likes

Every band, company, and organization out there asks themselves how to get more likes on their Facebook pages, blogs and other social media outlets.  The answer varies from spamming current followers to spread the word, to adding tags and keywords that will attract everyone, despite not having the content they are looking for. Be ethical in your attempts, provide relevant content and push it to an audience you think will truly enjoy it.

For a band you will want all your fans to follow all your outlets and that can be done by giving previews of special content from all your sources. Leave a link and a few lines from a new blog, on your Facebook. Or direct blog followers to a video only hosted on Facebook fans only page. Be creative in pushing people to other sites and then pulling them into a committed relationship such as pressig the like or follow button. Make sure you offer ways for them to share or easy buttons to other sites.  For instance you can use a Twitter button on your blog that will automatically Tweet a link to your blog to that persons followers. It is easy to install just by going to here. You can do the same things with Facebook buttons and other social media sites.  Having these follow buttons available makes it as simple as a click to become a follower on other sites.  It takes five minutes to add to your blog and can result in hundreds of effortless new followers.

As a new band you will have a lot of people searching for you the first time on a site like Google. You want to make sure to use keywords effectively so that all of your sites show up on that first page.  What are Keywords? Good question, without giving a detailed speech that goes into SEO marketing, keywords are simply a phrase people plug into Google to find webpages with relevant information.  So for your band you'll want to use your band name but maybe something extra to draw in people looking for live music in the area which I will go into a little further in a minute.

Everyone has their preferred type of resource site, some use Facebook, others websites, and some like Blogs or profile pages on Reverbnation or videos on YouTube.  Make sure all your sites use keywords that will push them all to the top page of Google.  So if your band is named Magnus Pym, it might be beneficial to add the word band to your keyword phrase.  People searching for the band will initially search for Magnus Pym until they realize they are getting results for a detective show.  Instinctively they will add the word band or music after Magnus Pym. Putting this in the title section of websites, and use it for tags will result in getting the search results you are seeking.

I've discussed this in past blogs but you can also use keyword phrases to attract new fans. Use Googles Adwords tools to discover good keyword phrases to use in things like your bio, blogs, and descriptions. A few years ago I was designing a website and writing a biography for a local band who had great appeal to the general music lover who goes out just to see new live music.  I wanted to capitalize on that, so using the Adwords tools I was able to discover that several thousand people locally searched the keywords 'Milwaukee Music" each month.  At the time few sites were using these keywords together, so it was implemented into the bands biography and website title.  The trick is to make these keywords feel natural in your content, you can't just throw it between sentences, you must work it in.  For example: Band X is a great addition to the Milwaukee Music scene. The band dove right into the competitive and diverse Milwaukee Music scene.

It is important to maintain your keywords, if one big company starts using the same keyword it could easily push you pages away on a search engine.  Prime example, Summerfest finally started to use SEO and yanked the example keyword phrase and now dominates the top search results with it.

The best answer I can give to someone on how to get more likes, is to create a good foundation online. Utilize the one click buttons to share and follow, think outside the box when construction keyword phrases to incorporate into your content and make sure to include discriptions and tags to everything you post.  Don't just supply content that tells fans what you did that day, talk about the lighthouse in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin you visited after playing at Ziggy's Corner Pub. Or take a photo of Loveless Cafe' outside of Nashville Tennessee, and a video of you failing at wake boarding at La Jolla Beach in California.  Tagging these videos and pictures and using the long tail keywords in your blog will attract people who might get side tracked from their original search to check your music out.  Capitalize on things that interest you and your band, you never know who else is searching these things because they sparked interest in them.  It is just like a normal friendship, it usually starts with a common interest.

Increasing Traffic to Your Bands Content

Facebook has been the leading place for fans to interact with bands for a few years now, but some fear with the Timeline template being put into place will make it more difficult for fans to navigate through a bands page. Facebook also limits what bands can put up, they can't sell items on the actual page, and there many rules revolving around content and contests.  Avoid the hassles and start giving fans a nice alternative with a good old website. This is also a great way to attract new fans using the science of SEO, Search Engine Optimization. It sounds scary, but you do it with a little reading up.

If you have a band name that is borderline trademark infringing on another product or company, you are going to be competing to be at the top of a Google search.  For example the band Sunday Sunglasses.  Working with them, one big challenge was utilizing SEO while still using a flash based point and click designer. The reason for SEO for this band was to get above the Sunglass Company with the same name. Luckily that company is not very active online, so using the keywords of Sunday Sunglasses in the landing page header was all it took to get up in the top five search results. Same with tagging YouTube videos, now they show up in searches so its important to put tags on all your videos.

Most of the time you want to try and attract people who may be searching for you or something, but they don't know your band name.  For example with Sunday Sunglasses, they are near the city of Milwaukee and of course they play music so we did  some research and at the time thousands of people were searching on Google "Milwaukee Live Music" so we decided to use that as our main keyword phrase.  That way when people search that phrase, our site would be on top.  We put it in the bands biography, put it in the header, and other places as naturally as possible.  At the time, we made it to the front page.  Sadly it has been a year since working with this band, and Summerfest found the keyword useful to them as well and now they dominate the search results.  Which is why SEO is not just a one time thing you do to a website, you have to stay active with it, get other websites to link to your website as much as possible. Keep up on the frequency of the searches for your keywords and update them as necessary.  Click here for a great site to teach you more about SEO techniques to get you started.

If a website really isn't a priority for you, you need to maximize your YouTube channel. Remember only your fans will be searching for your name, so broaden the words that define you. If you are an acoustic artist, putting that definition in your title, description and tags could increase your views.  Cover songs are also great ways to get new fans, but do the audience a favor and clearly put that it is a cover song and not the original artists.  I've worked with artists who have done this, and the actual band discovered it and put it on their favorites list. How great of an honor is that, and the traffic impact is amazing.  Here is a video about a publi speaker who goes around discussing SEO for bands, he gives some great tips in his video.

Why it is Still Important to Publish Physical CDs.

Many bands and artists now days are cutting their expenses by leaving the physical CDs in the past. They rely on iTunes sales, YouTube plays, and AmazonMP3. Which is not a crazy idea to go with, digital music outsells physical music sales now. Sales is the key word, people buying music, what about the people you show your music to who aren't buying it, but may be buying you so to speak. Many people in the industry still live in the ancient ways of listening to a physical album, I'm one of them.  While working for a management firm, we would only send out physical albums to radio stations. that was 2010, and it is still their practice.

It isn't all about the men in suits that you should make some physical copies of music, its for your fans.  Not everyone has a computer to download music on, and if they do they may not be ones to do it the legal way that financially helps you.  At shows giving them a physical option to purchase, listen to right away, and love, will save you from them stealing the music later digitally where you can't detect it.

As discussed there are ways now days to make low quantity copies of an album through self publishing websites like CreateSpace.  Take advantage of this and try it out, if your music is good people, despite being internet savvy will want to buy the music right away at your show.  Its the music version of POP sales, you know, where despite not wanting it initially, you walk out of the store with a candy bar because it was there where you were checking out.  Same idea applies to having a physical CD, you have the customer there, they love'd your music, paid to see it, not pop in there and get one last little purchase out of them.  Unlike a candy bar this is an item that not only satisfies their needs but helps you. It is promotional material, it says your name on it, it can be shared, and it is physically right there for them to touch and play.

You can charge more for a physical CD because it holds art work that many music lovers appreciate, by offering bonus tracks and digital download options free with the physical CD you can easily overcome those price hurdles.

Always remember not all fans are tech savvy, they wont all download the legal way, so offer a solution that is mutually beneficial.

Self Publishing Your Content

It is so crucial to have content available for your fans to purchase, but don't forget about content for potential fans to to uncover. We will cover some inexpensive ways to cover both types of content by publishing the content yourself.
 
Digital Distribution Options

There are many ways to get your music on all the major online outlets like iTunes, Spotify, AmazonMp3, and hundreds of others.  My first choice is Catapult Distribution.  Low cost, low share of profits, and best of all super quick.  I've seen a turn around of less than 24 hours to all the major online storefronts. You will need a UPC for this process, just pay the extra amount they offer to do it for you.  There are ways to go around this and save a few dollars, but it really isn't worth the time and effort. If you already have a physical album done, you can use the UPC from that but it is better to have two different codes because it is technically two different products.

CD Baby also offers similar services and a nice storefront to send fans to but it is becoming a little outdated and not as quick as the up and comers. For physical CDs, you can do both, and getting out and making a presence in every distribution outlet is important.

Self publishing isn't just all about getting your music out, you still need to take the steps to copyright your material and decide which PRO you want to be a  part of and register your songs with. There are also things like Gracenote to make sure your final songs are inputed into, this allows devices to recognize the song and provide information like artist and song title. This can be done as easily as clicking a few buttons in iTunes.  Check with your digital and physical distributor to see if these little details are taken care of or learn how to do them yourself.

The most important part about self publishing is to read the small print, double and triple read the royalty calculations and compare the features distributors offer.  It truly does come down to the details on what is right for you and your band.

Interview With Rush Hicks, Entertainment Lawyer

Rush Hicks is a well-known Entertainment Lawyer in Nashville, TN.  His most notable clients he lists are "Randy Travis, Take 6, Larry the Cable Guy, Luke Bryan, Bryan White, Leann Rimes and Paramore". To get some insight into the music industry I asked him a few questions.

Where did you attend law school and how to do obtaining training for the specific role of an Entertainment Lawyer?

Hicks: Mercer University.  The training really came after I finished law school.  I took an unusual route in that I attended a semester of Belmont after law school taking music business classes.

What drove you into the specialized field of Entertainment Law?

Hicks:  I have a music degree from college and have always played music.  It seemed a natural for me.

How many years have you been practicing law?

Hicks:  30 years and I've represented record companies, artists, songwriters, music publishers and managers. regulations to follow.

Being interested in venue management I asked Rush Hicks if he had ever represented a music venue, unfortunately he had not. He did however offer some words of wisdom for someone looking to open a music venue. "Be extremely careful. Lots of local regulations to follow."  He is correct; many communities have sound ordinances, building codes, and require special permits to have live music.

In a past blog I talked about Performance Rights Organizations and how a venue must obtain a license from one or all three of them to play music.  I asked Hicks if he had an experience representing a client dealing with a PRO issue. 

Hicks:  I did represent a club in Johnson City, TN that was sued by BMI.  I convinced the club owner to settle because he was violating Copyright Law.

It can be a long and expensive journey fighting a PRO lawsuit.  Hicks was very ethical in convincing the client to settle, the club was in the wrong by not getting a PRO license.  Maybe they did not know or maybe they were trying to save money. Either way, it is very important to know what is necessary to obtain when running a club or venue.

If you want to open a music venue, you may not need to pay the extra money to hire a specialist in the entertainment law field, but you should get a lawyer. Most lawyers have a basic understanding of the legalities of starting a business and can help you get an organized and informed start to your business.  The courthouse will also be your best friend.  That is where you will go to get all your permits, licenses (not PRO licenses) and you can learn about all the local regulations you will have to follow.

Rush Hicks did have some advice for bands as well. I asked him when he thinks a band should bring in a lawyer to guide them through the legal processes a band faces.

Hicks:  From the very beginning.  It's expensive for a new band to hire an entertainment attorney, but it's well worth it.

When artists like Paramore come to you, do you find that they have everything legally in line? Songs copyrighted, band agreements, contracts, etc.  Or is it just a mess of backlogged work.  Do you take care of these things for the band or do you leave that up to their managers and labels to sort out?

Hicks:  I represented Hayley and the band from the beginning of her career so I handled their recording and publishing contracts, incorporating the band, trademarks, and touring agreements.

Hayley from Paramore was brought up in a music business oriented family who knew the importance of making everything legal. Most bands don't have that advantage so they do much of these tasks themselves and then once they start getting success is when they turn to a lawyer.  Rush Hicks handles documents that confuse most band members, even if you are small band, it could be wise to seek legal help rather than investing in equipment or studio time.  The perk about Entertainment Lawyers is they work in the Industry, meaning they know people who could potentially help your band succeed.  This can be applied to a venue owner as well; the Industry is all about networking.  Even if you are paying to network with your lawyer, the connections he can bring to you could be priceless. Networking options or not an Entertainment Lawyer as Hicks describes is there to "offer business advice and assistance to help them keep more of their money." 

Finally, I asked Hicks if he had any words of advice for a young band.

Hicks:  Make great music and then hire an experienced business team to protect your interests.

Can I be sued for that?

As a band or a venue owner there are many things you may do on a daily basis that could get you sued if the right person came into the establishment.  Bands, you have it a little easier but do your venue a favor and ask a few questions before you write your set list.

Does the establishment have a PRO license and for which PROs?


Establishments that make money off of music need to have a license from a Performance Rights Organization (PRO).  There are 3 organizations out there in the USA that represent artists, ASCAP, BMI, and Sesac.  Each have a different line up of artists and songs that they collect royalties for.  Every time a song is played on the radio, or in public, it is making the copyright owner money.  If you play a cover of a Bruce Springsteen song you could get the venue in a $30,000 lawsuit, just as a band did in 2010 at the Connelly Pub in Chicago. (Read full story by clicking the link) Although the lawsuit was dismissed by The Boss himself after finding out that his PRO, ASCAP had filed it, many venues aren't so lucky.

Some venues will tell you up front, no cover songs, if you thought it was because they hate renditions of "Hit Me Baby One More Time", you are probably right but its mainly because they don't pay the several thousand dollar fee for a PRO license.  Many ASCAP artists know they can make money even as a small indie band by reporting their tour dates to ASCAP, do the venues a favor who are cutting their budget and exclude them from your tour schedule if they don't hold a license.  You are red flagging them to the PRO, and if it comes back to the venue, it might stop live music at that location.

Ask first, you may be informing the venue of something they didn't know they needed, in the end helping them, and they will appreciate it. Sign up for ASCAP as well so that you can add another revenue stream to your bands income.

Being taught all I know from one of the vice presidents of ASCAP, I am a little bias on my love and respect for PRO's but ponder this,  music is work, and some venues can not afford to pay every band that plays, if you register with a PRO, track your performances, and help venues get licensed then they are going to want more bands to play, to make up for the costs of the license, inevitably getting you another gig and more performance royalties.

Does someone else have the same name as us?


Businesses and Bands need to do some research to see if they are using a unique name or logo. It is not required to register your name with the government and essentially trademark it but it will help prevent being asked in the form of a cease and decist letter to stop calling your band something or make you change your companies name. Trademark Infringement is basically using a name or logo already established and in use by another entity. No matter the size of the business or band, if someone feels like you are gaining business or awareness because the name is recognized by people who think they are listening or visiting another entity, they have the legal right to sue or ask you to stop using the name. A small punk band in  Colorado was politely asked to rename their band 'Elway' to something less related to John Elway, the football player. Read the full story at Punknews.org. It may seem silly, but John Elway has his name trademarked, so that companies can't use it to make money off him.  If the band were making tshirts that looked like Denver Bronco jerseys with their name on the back, you can see how this would create a legitimate issue, right now it's just comical.

A business has to watch their names as well.  A local hub cap retail store, in business for nearly two decades made the news when a car ran into their building.  The bad day was ended with a cease and desist letter from Auto Zone stating that its customers could be confused that the small local business called the Hub Cap Zone, was associated with Auto Zone. The small business managed to continue under its chosen name, other companies though have to spend thousands of dollars to change their names to avoid a lawsuit.  Examples of bands with this issue or who were challenged, Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is (previously The Academy), Sublime with Rome (previously Sublime, with different lead singer of course), the list is pretty lengthy, these are just some notable ones.

Trademark Infringement laws are a necessary evil.  In the examples above, they are pretty comical that anyone would bother paying a legal team to get these bands or companies to stop using the name, but if not tackled right away, it could become a large issue.  What if the band not only made jersey like tshirts but got a new lead singer who happened to be named John...and the name changed to "John and the Elways".  A club books them and bolds the words John and Elway and you are really confusing people who now think John Elway is going to be there.  I went to a concert recently to see the band Saves the Day.  Been a slight fan for years, and was really excited to see them playing a show in my little town.  After paying the cover, buying a drink, and getting ready for the event, I was extremely irritated to discover the band was Save the Day, not the iconic punk rock band SaveS the Day.  I was in a music nightmare watching a horrible 90's alternative rock cover band. The cover band made money off of the money intended for another band.  That is why trademark protection is so important.

That song isn't ours but can we say it is?

Copyrights are stolen probably on an hourly basis.  Just writing a quote from a book on a wall without siting the source can get a business in trouble if they didn't negotiate the rights to use it.  This goes for bands as well, just because someone may not know the song isn't written by you doesn't mean you can pretend it is.  I will leave band names out of this, but a few years back a band from Wisconsin started making a name locally for themselves.  They decided to into the studio and start recording the tunes that were making fans come out to the local shows.  The EP was taken off the shelves and merch tables when a band from New Jersey asked them why they were singing all their songs and saying they were their own.  The Wisconsin band had discovered this band on Myspace and just started to steal all their songs.  Though hundreds of miles apart, nothing really in common, the bands had discovered each others music, essentially ending the Wisconsin bands career in music.  Many local venues once they heard about their deceit, stopped booking them, fans were hurt, friends were shocked, band members irate with the thieves, no one was happy.

Even with legal approval to use another bands music, you can still get in trouble.  Take the song "Bittersweet Symphony" by the Verve, I'm sorry thats incorrect, its by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.  Do you recognize another song in there?

It has a sample of The Rolling Stones "Last Time", that which The Verve got a license to use. According to Andy Klein, the Rolling Stones business manager at one time, they used more than the license said, and sued the Verve for in the end, complete rights to the song.  Mick Jagger accepted the Grammy for "Bitter Sweet Symphony" that year, and then exploited the song to movies, commercials, and anyone that would give him money for a song he had no part in the making of.  The song that was sampled was actually another artists orchestra version of the song, not the original that Jagger and Richards had written.  Check out the similarities, they are there.

If you read further into this you will learn that Andy Klein didn't own the copyright to this particular version of the song, just the Stones' songs from the 1960's.  He was later sued if I recall by another ex manager of the Stones who did own the song, who initially went after The Verve first to obtain money for use of his song.  The Verve was so young and not interested in legal battles, they barely put up a fight which is why they lost the rights to the song. (read more here)

In short, don't use other peoples music, if licensing a sample, use less than what you requested to use, double check to make sure you are negotiating with the correct owners, and NEVER give your rights away, even if it means fighting for them. The song truly is a bitter sweet symphony.

Those are the three big intellectual property issues that can cause a band or music venue big issues. Learn from the stories here to protect your band, music, logos, trademarks, and rights.

Managing Your Merch

Expanding or supporting your bands brand is a fun and exciting step in a bands career.  It opens doors to new revenue streams, marketing, and a way to get great feedback from customers.  Having a merch table at a show allows you to collect contact information from fans, hear what they liked and didn't like about your show, and learn about other shows and venues in the area.

What Should a Band Have on the Merch Table?

Music! The worst thing a band can do is show up to a show without music. People are still buying physical copies of music, its just made a turn from big department stores to small tables in dark venues. Even if its a homemade three song demo, as long as it has decent recordings of your full songs, the band name on it and a link to some online presence, it will do. I can't count the number of shows I've gone to where I liked the bands music, but instead of putting money and time into CDs, they had home made junky tshirts instead or nothing at all. You are not a clothing line you are musicians, not everyone wants a tshirt, but if they are at your show, they probably have an interest in music.  Give your customers what they want.

Fall Out Boy T-Shirt

Tshirts are a great item to have in your product line but you really have to analyze your fans wants, think about how some one would perceive a tshirt with your bands name on it, and if you have a large enough following to sell them.  In a previous blog I suggested using a site like Zazzle.com to make some initial tshirts. You can purchase one or two at a higher price per item, but avoid buying in bulk which will be a very big investment. For solo artists it can be hard to sell a shirt, if you are going by your own name it can be hard to make that appealing to even the biggest fan without being conceited. Some tricks around this are to create a fan club name, one example Blake Whitworth, a solo acoustic artist went on tour as a college project organized by groups his professor called 'love pods'.  Although the end tshirt was poorly implemented they ended up saying "B.W. Love Pod".  With an appealing graphic this shirt could attract questions that leads to word of mouth marketing for the artist. It also has a sense of an inside joke that the fans get to take part in.  Fall Out Boy did a similar thing for die hard fans that paid attention to their online communications. They sold 50 tshirts at each show by request only that said something on the order of "Secret order of FOB" on the front and some long paragraph about the secret order on the back, never once saying the bands name in full.

What Other Products Work?


Look at your fan base, analyze what they are wearing, using, and do. If you are a punk or pop punk band, you may look into patches and buttons.  Possibly even moving up to high end products like skateboard decks, hoodies, and bags.  If you play a lot of bars and reach out to an older rugged audience, lighters, coasters, and matchbooks, are great items that move easily. Alternative rock and mainstream bands can generally do just about any item, keychains, bracelets, necklaces, buttons, hats and just about anything you can put your name on. Just make sure you are analyzing your fans first, don't make school folders if you normally play to a 21+ crowd, same goes for the opposite of that, no matches for a preteen audience.

Make sure to keep your product line cohesive, for instance if your band name can be written a few ways for example: Seventh Grade Underdog.  The band started as 7th Grade Underdog, then transitioned to the spelled out version but always kept up the abbreviated version of 7GU.  Just like in a paper, use the abbreviated version as long as you spell it out once.   You personally may of never heard of 7GU so we will translate this to Blink182.  What if they wrote it out, Blink One eighty two. If you are a fan you might not even recognize that as one of their products. Stick with a name, and stick with a theme, if you hate it after a while, it's just motivation to get another album out so you can change it.

There are a lot of studies on pricing, people instinctively like reach even numbers when checking out. If your CD is $7 have something on the table for $3.  80% of your customers are more than likely going to pay with a ten dollar bill, if you throw in a keychain it will leave them feeling like they got a deal.  And leaves you with less counting of change, and pushing more products.  In short stay away from even numbers if possible so you can bundle products.

Another essential thing at your merch table, is a great merch guy. Someone out going, a fan of the music, and great sales skills.  If no one in the band is up for it, find someone, even if you have to 'hire' someone it will pay off.

Other things to consider that will help at your merch table:

• Take Credit Cards (Square Up, attaches to just about any Smartphone)
• Unique items (buy your own button machine so you can make unique buttons for each show)
• Band has to plug the table during the show
• Make it an attraction (I've seen neon lights, pretzel machines, and tv's at merch tables)
• Lock box (add a sense of professionalism, get a box and play it safe)
• Mailing list

(Note to The Secret Order Kids or those wanting to be in it, if you found this, it's not a clue or any classified information)

Does my band need a manager?

Many bands question if they need a manager and the answer is, it varies.  Many factors go into deciding if you need one, if you are ready to have one actually want to represent you, and if you can afford to pay one. Even if you you have six members in your band, spent fifty bucks to get to a show and you are only being paid $300 for playing, a good 20% of that $300 (gross income) is going directly to your manager. Can you afford to share the profit? What if that gig only paid you $75 bucks? Your manager gets $15 of that, minus the cost of gas and you are left with $10 for an hour of work by six people...thats $1.67 a member per hour.  You better hope you sell a lot of CDs and tshirts and even that depending on the deal with your manager, would be shared.

Can you afford not to have a manager though?  If there is no one in your band who is good at booking gigs, marketing, contacting the press or figuring out all the details then maybe its crucial to get a business savvy person on your team. Many music industry hopefuls are eager to manage a band with talent, for pennies on the dollar that a professional manager would charge. In fact even a professional manager sometimes likes to do a trial period where he manages you but nothing is official and generally he covers any expenses just to get an understanding of how the band can do.  See how the members relate, who is the key man of the band, who is the weak link, essential he is putting you on a probation period till he decides if your band is a profitable endeavor for him.

More than likely though you are going to have a friend as your first manager, or a friend of a friend, who will do it for free just to feel like part of the band.

This is not the best idea, more than likely the new manager is better friends with one member of the band, automatically making him bias in any decision making.  He will probably have no actual knowledge of the music industry and no real contacts to propel you further.  Some people have a knack for band management though, and just need to be given that opportunity.  Analyze who you want to put in that position, this person could be the voice of the band and make decisions for you without consulting you.  If they are not on the same page as you then its going to strain the relationship.  You want someone you can be friends with because more than likely you will be spending a lot of time together. Trust is crucial, many times the band manager is the first one to touch the money coming in, and managing online accounts, if you don't trust this person, you are at risk of losing thousands of dollars without even knowing it.

Now that we have covered if you need a manager and what to avoid, lets talk about what you can expect out of a manager. Individual managers and management firms are you two basic options. For instance Thirty Tigers in Nashville is a management firm with an in house PR department, marketing, distribution, and a few others with artist managers.  Essentially most departments have their own projects but occasionally work together to further an individual artist through each departments specialties. Individual managers come in many shapes and sizes, some work out of their homes, others have offices and some even work at big record labels.  Generally the smaller the office, the more they do for a band.  A fresh new manager may specialize and do several things for a band, such as booking, marketing, advising, social media, merch sales, and public relations.  Where as some one with a little more experience might opt to pay someone else to do those services for them or obtain some interns to do the grunt work.  It is important to understand what exactly the manager will being doing for you, if he is going to bill you for a booking agent, marketing specialist, and an accountant, then maybe you should think about if you could get someone cheaper who does all this themselves and will truly work for the payout just as hard as  you do.  Connections are worth paying for but they have their limits when thats all you are getting.

It is important to have a well rounded team supporting your band once it reaches a point of making money. Adding someone to fill in the gaps the members  can't will make things less of a burden for the band and offer more time to do what the band does best, create music and perform.  Be smart about your choices, stay within your means, don't get suckered into gimmicky production companies or studio deals that will distribute your album and 'market' it for a few grand and large portion recoupable through sales. Most of these will pay you very little for a lot of work, or will be sending you a bill when the album doesn't sell.  Instead, invest in a manager or business partner who can guide you through the intricacies of the industry and get you legitimate deals that benefit you. Just remember to keep your goals obtainable, select a manager when necessary that is compatible with the members and understands your goals. Just as a manager will analyze your criteria, you need to do the same on his. Ask questions about their experience, what genres they have experience in, who their other clients are, what they plan to do for you, and most importantly ask if they love your bands music.  Passion is a huge element that leads to success, if they don't have passion for your music, they will only get you so far before the drive to make the world know who you are starts to diminish.

A final thought, do you know a successful band without a manager? Look up your favorite band online and find out who their manager is, and when in their career they obtained him. Did they have a team before that? A publisher or booking agent? You'll find that many had some specialist on their team well before their first record deal or big break. Even if it was just a friend, most bands reach out for help, just avoid the bad deals and read the small print.  I leave you with a video from a past professor and member of the band the Turtles, Mark Volman, who explains the downfalls of choosing the wrong manager several times.