Live Music Blog

Don’t know how to  promote  a performance? Well that’s probably not unusual because there really is not one method you can use for each performance or event. Concert  promoters make a fortune doing this for a living so certainly you can’t expect my humble little price of the Internet to be able to tell all, but I can provide some pointers and ideas.
I used to  promote  seminars, not really gigs but when I help ed a friends band get some publicity and promotion it seemed to work. I got some new pointers from a book and they seemed to help to.
First – contemplate who your target audiences is. What other gigs / gigs / events would they go to?  we  gave out flyers at other gigs in the area where other performers in the same musical style played. Hence our target audiences has been there and an simple target. One of the performers even announced our performance for us at the end of the  set.
Second – flyers. Okay, I ought to have made this the first point – I has been just testing you!. Try to put them up / hand them out where your target audiences will see them (take a hint from the first tip) and make sure you don’t just litter the place and aren’t posting them anywhere illegal. Make sure they will stand out, so colour is nice, but expensive. You will 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 college and see if you can get a graphic design student to design a leaflet for you in ex change for free tickets.
Thirdly – get on the web. MySpace.com has a amazing music section, and it can’t hurt to  promote  your performance here. can be link to a Youtube video of your band playing, or put clips from your last show if you have a video of the event.
Fourthly – the majority local papers have a what’s on  lead or events page. Make sure you have a listing here which is usually free. Is your performance newsworthy in any way? Try contacting the paper to see If the y 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 can 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 has been played in London. To  promote  the show he had a big 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 UK saw a big picture of Alice Cooper right on there TV screen, and soon everybody knew Alice has been playing a performance in the UK. Now, I don’t 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’s enough for know to wet your appetite. As a  last thought, contemplate your budget. It’s decidedly simple to spend many money promoting a performance if you don’t know how. I’ve 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 performance and get the full range of techniques I suggest taking a look at the book as well.