You have a concert date set and you can’t wait to kill it on stage. You love performing in front of large audiences and it’s so cool to see your fans singing along to lyrics you wrote.
Performing a concert is a thrill, a high that makes you feel good about your creative abilities. It let’s you know you are doing what you were meant to do in life and you love it. However, finding time to write, rehearse, and promote your shows is nearly impossible without the help of a concert promoter.
Here are 10 reasons why you need a concert promoter as a musician.
You Are Too Busy
As you know, your stage performance is just the final act of putting together a concert. There are hundreds of smaller, yet equally important tasks that must be done to make your concert a success.
You don’t have the time or energy to complete all tasks. A concert promoter can help you get everything done so you can focus on rehearsals with your band, tuning your voice and your instruments, and deciding on the order of your set.
A concert promoter can focus on the smaller necessary tasks needed for your concert so you can focus on the most important thing, your music. They help you to continue growing your music career while handling everything you need.
Get People to Your Gigs
You have fans that will come to your event. You have friends and family that will attend. But to make money, you need every seat filled and then more people rocking out while standing in the back.
The venue for your concert needs to be packed. Concert promoters can do all the necessary tasks needed to successfully do so.
It is their job to fill seats and they know many ways to do this. They know the right time to run contests, giveaways and other promotions to fill seats.
Concert promoters are influencers in this space; they have the connections, and the skill set to influence fans to attend your show. They are more successful in bringing in crowds. Once they have arrived, it’s your turn to create fans.
Spread the Word
Concert promoters know how to get people to show up for your concert. They collaborate with all media types to get the word out about your event. From radio and television promotions to spreading the word on all social media outlets, they make sure everyone knows where you will be and when.
They ensure that you are successful in entertainment booking and will also build your brand during the process as well.
Negotiates Fees
Concert promoters want you to make the most money possible. They also want to make money. They know that overpaying in some areas will cut into both of your profits.
Concert Promoters don’t just accept the initial costs of everything you need. They negotiate on your behalf for the most cost-effective solutions to your needs. They get you the best venues, best contracts and best perks for a lot less.
Finds the Venue
Let’s say you are an up and coming music artist. Would you rather perform on a local theater stage or a famous place like The Echo in Los Angeles or The Electric Factory in Philly where artists like Lil’ Wayne and Public Enemy have been known to perform?
Exactly. You want the venue that fits your band’s personality and style, not a cookie cutter stage with just seating and lights. You want to feel comfortable when you play. Your swagger and cool vibe should be enhanced by the environment. It’s important to play in venues where there is a large portion of the audience you are targeting as well.
A concert promoter can help you find the right venue. They are location scouts. Promoters also work with the venue directly to get you in.
They get you seen and heard in the best location.
Budgeting
You want your fans to have the best experience at your concert. You want them to walk away begging for more of your music. This is one reason it becomes easy to over spend when planning for a concert.
A concert promoter can stay within a budget and they are able to say “no” to things that would be awesome for the event, but are not necessary.
Once the concert is over, you want to receive the most money possible for you and your band. If you blow all your money on a 3-hour event, you will regret it. And a concert promoter knows this and will be able to steer you in the right direction.
Promotions
You do not have time to create marketing materials that will be handed out to thousands of people. You don’t have the time to make sure the merchandising plan is implemented. Concert promoters do this for you.
Your promoter ensures the t-shirts, caps, koozies, bottled water, keychains, stickers, magnets, earbuds, photos and even the stadium cups are available for purchase by concert goers. They make sure every piece of merchandise is there and ready for sale.
They know that even if someone doesn’t pay full cost for a ticket, they will be spending money on merchandise and concessions.
Red Carpet Pre-Show
Preparing the red carpet for your V.I.P. fans can be a media relations nightmare if not done correctly. Here, celebrities and other important guests will answer media questions while arriving at your event. They may even get a surprise from you on the red carpet, if you are not too busy doing your own interviews with the media.
Your concert promoter again has the knowledge and connections to make this successful. They will ensure you and your brand are accurately represented, and ensure the whole pre-show runs as smoothly as possible. They are here for you!
Media Relations
Planning your media tour before and after the concert can be a daunting task. Making sure you are at the right radio station or the right news station on the right day and time needs organization skills that are just as powerful as your vocals.
Putting all this together is challenging. A concert promoter helps with these intricate details. They are super organized and detail oriented. Their job is to make you look good on and off stage.
Not only is the actual task of managing media a time-consuming task, but it also requires the level of connections and networking that come with a concert promoter. They work with you during the whole media and promotion process.
Even More Benefits of a Concert Promoter
Just a few more of the necessary duties of putting together a show can be done by a promoter, rather than have it all fall on your shoulders. These include booking your opening acts. Stage set-up and stage tear-down is organized and planned by a concert promoter.
Concessions can bring in a great deal of money, especially when alcoholic beverages are served. Concert promoters can help choose what to serve and who to serve it. They work with the on-site services available to make money for you, the venue and themselves.
It’s important you see concert promoters as a benefit due to the many tasks they complete to make your show a success. The goal of a concert promoter is three-fold: to give ticket holders an exceptional experience, to boost your career, and to make money for everyone involved.
Jason Swartz
Jason Swartz is the President and Founder of Alliance Talent, a world-leader in the entertainment business. Growing up in Los Angeles with a passion for music, he took his local childhood concert business and made in an international concert booking company. Specializing in entertainment booking, social media branding and monetization, and music publishing, Jason was the first to scale social media monetization for the music industry across Facebook. Today, he runs Alliance Talent, a leading entertainment company and concert promoter; focusing on concert bookings, talent representation, brand management, and social media monetization.