Live Music Blog

Don’t know how to promote a performance? Well that’s might not unusual because there really is not one method you might use for each performance or event. Concert promoters make a fortune doing this for a living so certainly you cannot expect my humble little price of the Web to be able to tell all, but I might offer some tips and ideas.

I used to encourage seminars, not really gigs but when I advocate ed a companions performer get some publicity and promotion it seemed to work. I got some new tips from a book and they seemed to advocate to.

First – think about who your target fans is. What other shows / shows / get togethers would they go to? we gave out flyers at other shows in the area where other artists in the same musical style played. Hence our target fans was there and an simple target. One of the artists even announced our concert for us at the end of the performance.

Second – flyers. Okay, I should have made this the first point – I was just testing you!. Try to put them up / hand them out where your target fans will see them (take a hint from the first tip) and make sure you do not just litter the place and aren’t posting them anywhere illegal. Make sure they will stand out, so colour is wonderful, but expensive. You’ll be able to get many more leaflets / flyers out there if you buy black and white. It may be an idea to go to the Local/Regional college and see if you could get a graphic design student to design a leaflet for you in ex differ for free tickets.

Thirdly – get on the web. MySpace.com has a great music section, and it cannot hurt to promote your concert here. can be link to a Youtube video of your band playing, or put clips from your final gig if you have a video of the event.

Fourthly – the majority Regional papers have a what’s on lead or parties page. Ensure you have a listing here which is often free. Is your concert newsworthy in any way? Try contacting the paper to see If they will do a write up. Are you playing for a charity or worthy event? Are there any unusual circumstances around the gig? On a slow news day the paper may just get your photo in the paper and give a small write up. Try getting a free mention on the radio as well.

Fifth – Alice Copper was played in London. To encourage the concert he had a large truck drive around with an advertising board on the back. The truck “happened” to break down right in the middle of London, and caused traffic jams that made the news. people in the United Kingdom (UK) saw a large picture of Alice Cooper right on there television screen, and soon everybody knew Alice was playing a concert in the United Kingdom (UK). At this point, I do not suggest you do this, but be creative. What about putting stickers promoting your event on coins, pasting flyers to your vehicle and leaving it parked in a busy car park where lots of people will see it. Try putting stickers on any mail you send out – you’d probably be surprised how many pairs of hands that mail goes through!

I think that is enough for know to wet your appetite. As a last thought, think about your budget. It is substantially simple to spend many resources promoting a performance if you do not know how. I have learned from some of my mistakes which is why I bought the book – I try to learn from other people’s mistakes these days.

If you really want to know how to promote a concert and get the full range of techniques I suggest taking a look at the book as well.