Helpful tips for playing more shows
With the benefit of social media helping rising entertainers worldwide, don’t forget to take your promotion efforts offline too. Along with maintaining a strong social media presence, playing live shows will boost your name locally. Initially, it may be hard to gather an audience to one venue because of location and that you may be new, but as you begin to connect more with local artists and venues, more live shows are in the future.
Shows start now
With it being relatively early in your career, don’t be afraid to get out there and scope around for opportunities. Check out local events for a talent night at a bar, a college, maybe even get some friends together at a venue and perform for them! Also, keep in mind, you may have to do some free shows before you can actually land a paid gig. It’s vital to maintain connections with local businesses and owners as they can always want to expand their talent section. In order to figure out whether or not an event may be worth it, there are some important questions to keep in mind when you are asked to play for free by a promoter. To get an idea of how the atmosphere will be, you can always ask them what other artists are going to be playing with you. You can ask about the times that you’re needed to get a better idea of your schedule. Asking about the size of your audience can also help you better prepare and analyze if it’s somewhere you are ready to perform. To help promote yourself a bit better, you can even ask the promoters if you can sell some merchandise or give out information. Building a local audience will help you in the long run as you get more exposure to a variety of crowds globally. From these shows, you can figure out your target crowd as well and work to build more of a relationship with them.
Preparation for shows
As you grow more comfortable with performing, you’ll adapt to vibing with your audience. Putting on a successful show requires preparation for the show and also requires making sure that the audience will remember you. Creating a demo and press kit can help you as you start growing with live shows. A demo consisting of just a few tracks from you to show your talents is important when it comes to feeding the interests of agents, promoters, labels, and more. You can either hand out a flash drive or create a physical version with a cover that best fits you and your content. A press kit is another important kit to keep right next to your demo. A press kit usually consists of a brief biography of you, a set list, high-quality pictures, flattering reviews that may have come from previous shows or about your music, and your social media sites. In preparation for your show, it’s important to also make sure you’ve done enough promotion on the streets, as well as online. Creating vibrant fliers and posting them around popular streets and on social media sites can help you promote for any upcoming shows you may have, whether small or large. You can easily send a collective email out to your database from your website to notify them too.
Work smart
Sometimes it’s okay to say no to opportunities that may be at your doorstep. Keeping in mind that you have a growing reputation is important because what and who you associate yourself with will affect you. Doing your research on a venue or an agent can help prevent you from performing at an inappropriate event which would have otherwise caused controversy and bad press. After your shows, reflecting on your thoughts is important in order to be a successful performer. It is essential to analyze your audience to see where you need to improve and how you need to grow to put on the best show yet. Asking yourself if you’re playing the right amount of shows is needed too. You don’t want to overdo the number of live shows and have it reach the point where people are so used to you performing, they dismiss it. However, keeping a fair schedule with a show in the same area maybe once every six weeks will keep your audience intrigued. It’s best to try and spread outward with your shows so you can engage with more people.
Get out there
Putting on live shows for your audience is just as beneficial as you make them. In a full room you should aim to make as many individuals as a part of your audience, but what else can you do other than performing? You now already know that it’s important to keep your demo and press kit on you to give it out to interested fans and agents, what else though? Building relationships with your audience will only benefit you as that will keep them interested and is another efficient way to expand your crowd. Taking the time out after a show to hang out with those who came by can do a lot with your relationship. Networking is crucial to your career and the more connections you can make, the better! You never know who knows who.
Landing shows will only get easier as you branch out. Being aware of local opportunities can be the start of days full of performing worldwide. Don’t forget to also take your promoting efforts out into the streets and not just online. An offline presence is just as important as an online presence. Following these tips, you can become a smart entertainer and ensure that all your moves are beneficial.
