The A, B, C's of Fan Demographics

As an exercise, take out a list of your fans (maybe an email list, or a facebook list, etc) and see if you can break your current fan base down into three basic categories: “A”, “B”, and “C” fans. This will also help you define your target demographics.

Your “A” fans are your musical evangelists. These are the people who tell everyone they know about your music, show up to your concerts early with groups of their friends, and buy everything you sell. 

Your “B” fans are people who love your music, but aren’t necessarily as loyal or committed as your “A” fans. They might come to most of your concerts in any given town, buy some of the things sell, and be fans on your social networking sites, but they don’t necessarily go around telling everyone about you. 

Your “C” fans are there only when convenient for them. They might listen to your music from time to time and come to your concerts with their friends who are “A” and “B” fans - and they might follow you online, and even occasionally buy something - but that’s about it. 

Do you have an idea of who might fit into each of these categories? Knowing who your “A”, “B”, and “C” fans are will help you figure out how best to approach your career and who to market to. For example, if you know that most of your “A” fans are college students (say, particularly female college students), this might be a good group (demographic) to target in your marketing efforts. Of course, you might have many different fans in different demographics, but the purpose of this exercise is to figure out who, in general, responds most strongly to what you do. When doing this exercise, remove any outliers (such as parents, boyfriends/girlfriends, etc.) and try to focus on people who are only fans of your music first. 

Next, given the information you have, identify your primary demographic. This is the demographic you’re going to put the most effort into reaching. For example, if your music gets the best response from American female college students, then you might consider targeting a primary demographic of educated females, ages 18-22. In this case, any concert opportunity that helps you reach that audience will take priority for you. In general, marketers love the younger demographics for music, because kids in high school/college usually have disposable income, so if this is the crowd that truly appeals to your music, great. If not, it’s more important to pursue YOUR audience than it is to pursue a popular audience.


If you have trouble with this idea, think of an artist you sound similar to and analyze his/her primary demographic – what age and background are most of the people who go to this artist’s concerts? What is their financial background? Religious background? If you do something that becomes popular, it is likely that people of all different ages and backgrounds are going to be attracted to your music eventually. But it has to start with a consistent primary demographic, and consistent marketing efforts.


One thing to think about is something I call the “Hometown” Principle – the idea that people like to support their own. An artist usually has the biggest following in his or her hometown, because there’s this sense that he/she is “one of us.” This works in many different respects. If you’re a Christian or Jewish artist, zeroing in on church or synagogue events might be a way to get in front of a crowd who will understand and respect what you’re doing, and do everything they can to help grow your career and share your music. If you’re in a fraternity or sorority, visiting that frat or sorority house in the different towns you play will probably earn you more loyalty in that community.

Branding Pt. III: Define Your Audience

We’ve discussed the importance of how you’re seen. Now we turn to the question of who is going to see you.

What if the people marketing Justin Bieber had decided to target senior citizens as his audience? What if the people marketing Susan Boyle had decided to market her to thirteen year old girls? The success of an artist, independent or otherwise, is largely determined by where your biggest efforts are placed. You could have Justin Beiber perform at retirement homes across the country, and I’m sure they would have thought he was a ‘nice boy’, but he wouldn’t have been an international sensation. At the same time, you could bring Susan Boyle in to perform at every junior high school in the country, but my guess is that, as phenomenal as her voice is, most of the students wouldn’t really care about someone who looks like their great-aunt (the one with the cats). 

Modern success for an independent performer hinges less on your ability to reach an audience, and more on your ability to reach the right audience. People are so inundated with new information and media every day that they only remember a small fraction of what they see and hear – usually the things that are most relevant to them. Choosing to seek out a very specific audience you know will most likely respond to what you do will help you achieve more success with more efficiency, and help you connect with a loyal, lifelong fan-base.

Many artists play whatever concerts they can find, and I understand the impulse. In the beginning, this is the way to become good at what you do. You want to be playing as much as you can, having the experience of being on stage. In my recent interview with Jeff Riddle, Jeff refers to the 'fog test', that exists for most new businesses - (“When [artists] start out, they work with anybody that will pass the fog test – meaning, put a mirror up to their face and if they breathe into it and it creates fog then they work with them.”)  But don’t spread yourself too thin, especially as you begin approaching music as a long-term career. Remember that people often discover new music through their peers – people in their same age group or community. If you’re playing for people in their teens one night, college students the next, and their parents the night after that, you might do well with each crowd, but how are people in different areas supposed to talk about you or send their friends to your show, when it’s a different crowd, venue, and vibe every time? Your music may be universal, but you’ve got to pick a specific audience to focus on, and the more specific, the better. 

Exercise: Branding Brainstorm

If you haven't done this yet, now is a great time to dig in. In a document or on a piece of paper, write down answers to the following. If you have done  a branding exercise like this recently, see how many of these things you can remember off the top of your head.  

1.     Brainstorm words that you feel accurately and concisely describe who you are in your music. What style or tradition do you most relate yourself to? When you have a solid list, narrow it down to the top three strongest words or phrases that define your vibe as an artist and a personality. It helps if you have truthful friends or colleagues who you can run this by to get a sense of whether your image of yourself matches the impressions you give to those around you.

2.     Decide the top 2 genres your music fits into, and write down names of well-known artists who cover similar musical territory to yours. You might say ‘nobody fits into the same genre as I do’. Re-evaluate that. We’re all musically borne in the arms of the greats who have come before. If you had to associate even loosely with another musical tradition or genre, what would it be?

3.     Create a branding outline. This will be your cheat sheet when putting together promo materials, doing interviews, booking, and carrying out the day-to-day of your business. This can be a series of bullet points, or even a page with paragraphs summarizing your plans for the following:

-      How will you dress on stage?

-    Is there a font/logo you plan to use consistently with your name? Is there a specific color or colors you plan to use? This will come in handy for both web and print design (your website theme as well as fliers, posters, album art, etc)

-   Recurring themes in your persona that you want to highlight in public? (Are you a rebel? The sensitive poet? The fun loving boy or girl next door? The loner?) Derive these concepts from who you actually are (or who you are in your art) and you’ll be much happier in the long run. Again, it might feel unnatural to try to distill your personality down to such simple terms, but this is branding, and it’s necessary. This is what a record label would be doing if you had one, and you’ve got to learn to do this for yourself. 

-     Any performance name or nickname that you want your fans to know you by? Be careful here - names stick; this is something that will be very hard to undo. 

-     Any boundaries you have as far as your public image and presentation. For example, are you willing to be publicly political or religious, or do you simply want to be known as an entertainer? Elvis would often answer that he was only an entertainer when asked about politics at press conferences. Comedian Jon Stewart is a master at using his entertainer status as a shield for his hard hitting political satire and commentary, which has made it harder for the press and politicians to criticize him effectively. 

-    Any other defining qualities of your music that stand out – do you play an instrument that most artists don’t play? What quality about your music stands out most? Anything unique about your appearance? Voice? Personality? Performance Style? All of these things will help to define your brand and presentation.

What you’re doing here is forming a specific picture of your brand – how you wish to be perceived by your fans, and ultimately what you wish to be known for. This may change over time, and in a few months you may actually go back and re-evaluate this document. But for now, use this as a guideline. Your branding plan is probably something you will keep to yourself, or only share with your team and trusted friends, but it’s important to define for yourself what your boundaries and parameters are, and to be especially aware of how you want to be presented in public. If you don’t decide these things for yourself, someone else will eventually dictate them for you, and it could take you by surprise.

Branding (Part One)

6 MONTHS PRIOR TO TOUR:

1.     Define your brand.

2.     Define your audience.

3.     Define your goals.

4.     Create your business plan.

As opposed to later entries, in which I will lay out specific procedures you’ll walk through for every tour, this section details procedures that you’ll only need to do once (and revisit from time to time after). These things are all about laying a wider groundwork for your touring career, and, once you have them in place, it should be easier for you to take the more concrete steps. If you've already done this, it's always helpful to take a moment to re-evaluate your branding and make sure you're doing everything you can to make it effective.

DEFINE YOUR BRAND

If I name any A-list celebrity or public figure, you can probably tell me in one or two words what the public’s impression of that person is; not just what he/she is known for, but how people see him/her. 

Every artist knows that it’s important to be seen, but how people see you publicly is just as important. You and I could walk into a random party and immediately start making up stories about each person we see based on our first impressions. We could guess where each person likes to hang out, what they do, who their friends are, how much money they have, even what kind of music they like. If I pointed to someone and told you he/she was a musician, you could probably tell me what kind of music he/she plays on appearance alone. That’s branding! We could, of course, guess wrong about everything. But it doesn’t matter. We live in a culture of short attention spans and those first impressions stick with us. Before people even hear your music, they will likely be exposed to elements of your style, presentation, logo and graphics, fashion, nicknames, and the tone of your communication online. These things, in addition to your music, are all part of your brand, and they play a huge role in determining whether the right audiences will gravitate toward you. As a matter of fact, it may sound crazy, but audiences may form a solid impression of you - and may decide to like or dislike your work - long before they see you perform or even hear your recordings.

With a physical product like a sports drink, branding is easier to figure out. You research the audience you are after and mold the packaging, design scheme, and marketing to reach those particular people. For an individual - especially an artist - it becomes a lot harder. No artist is one-dimensional, but most good brands, at first glance, have a simple, one-dimensional appeal. The challenge is taking the most marketable, most memorable aspects of what you stand for as an artist and a personality, and distilling those into a brand that hooks people in, a brand that people can easily talk about.

Many artists are very resistant to the idea of one-dimensional branding, and worry that presenting themselves in such a limited way will negatively affect their creative options. The truth is actually the opposite – by branding yourself well, you will pull in the right people who will then have a chance to discover the depth of your work. On the other side of it, if your brand is too generic, scattered, or inconsistent, people won’t take the time to try and figure it out, and your work will likely remain obscure. The most iconic artists have been branded like this for decades; the only difference was that many of them had a team of people telling them what to do, and for the time being, you’ve got to do it for yourself. 

What do you stand for? What does your music stand for? What genre/musical tradition is your work a continuation of? If you sing folk songs about the struggle and plight of the workingman, but you show up in dressed in trendy clothing, carrying a flashy new guitar, you might send a mixed message to potential fans. At the same time, if you’re crooning ballads and targeting wholesome family audiences and you show up covered in tattoos, wearing a grungy t-shirt and ripped clothing, what are you saying to your audience? You want to make sure that your brand – your logo, mode of dress, and presentation – are in line with the audience you’re trying to reach and the impression you want them to have of you.

Your audience wants to see their best selves in you. This is why we listen to music – not to connect with the artist, but to connect with what the artist shows us about ourselves. Whether it’s our most poetic selves, our most eloquent selves, or our most rebellious selves – we look for that reflection in the music, movies, books, and other art we love. Become a conduit for that, in your own way. 

A Career In Music is a Career In Politics

There's a great HBO movie called The Special Relationship, which explores the complex relationship between an American president (Bill Clinton) and a British Prime Minister (Tony Blair). Toward the beginning of the film, there's a moment when one of Blair's advisors, after seeing Clinton's success, tells Blair, “It’s easier to change what you stand for than to change what people want.” For an artist, of course, this is terrible advice. Creatively, moulding yourself to what you think people want you to be is the kiss of death. But when it comes to your business, knowing who your audience is - and knowing how to tailor your approach to them - is the absolute key to your success. 


A tour is a political campaign. They have candidates. We have artists. Politicians hit the road with a message. We hit the road with our music. Politicians give speeches, but the most important way they connect is by meeting voters. We perform at concerts, but the most important way we connect is by meeting and interacting with fans. In politics, supporters speak with their votes. In music, fans vote with their money. Politicians are running for office so they can be the voice that speaks for their constituents' minds. We are running a campaign to be the spokespeople of hearts. 


Many artists think that touring is about showing up, performing, getting in the car, and driving to the next place. For these people, vagabond mentality can easily take over on the road, and it's shortsighted. If they get in a disagreement with a venue owner or another artist, they figure it doesn't matter because they're leaving town and will never see them again. And for people who think that way, they're right. They'll never be invited back. The reality is, as much as that hour on stage may be your favorite hour of the day and the one that keeps you going, the other 23 will make all the difference between success and failure. 


If it's not apparent now, wait until you get on the road and start navigating your way through complex and 'special' relationships with industry people, venues, fans, press, and other artists, over weeks, months, and years. You may be a musician, but make no mistake - if you tour for a living, you have a career in politics.


If artists really understood this concept, the world of touring would be completely different. Artists would approach the idea of professionalism differently. They would build relationships differently. They would spend more time making their fans feel special and important. And you know what? Artists would all make more money. Accepting that you are building a long-term reputation, and realizing that you have professional commitments to your colleagues, vendors, and supporters is an essential first step before talking about anything technical. Before you reach out to venues, it's important to know what you stand for, how you plan on conducting your business, and who exactly you should be setting your sights on. 


Next week I'm going to talk about branding, and present a few ideas that may help in that process. A lot of artists have trouble with the concept of branding themselves (they somehow liken it to the process of being marked with a hot iron). Instead, think about the following question: If you were looking at this as a politician might, and you were running a campaign around your music, what would your platform be? Would you have a slogan? What types of signs would you want your fans to hold up for you? What types of people would you be targeting to 'vote' for you? And ultimately, what feeling would you want to leave people with when they met you and saw you perform?


More on this next week. 

Interview with Music Publicist Laura Goldfarb

As part of our continued series of industry interviews celebrating the launch of moderntouring.com, I'm happy to present this talk with Los Angeles-based music publicist Laura Goldfarb. Her company, Red Boot Publicity (www.redbootpr.com), currently represents a roster of more than a dozen up-and-coming artists, and her clients have been featured in high profile media such as Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and VH1's Celebrity Rehab, as well as in numerous print publications. Laura is also the longtime host of the show SoCal Sounds on BreakThru radio.

MT: How important do you think print media is for an independent artist these days? 

LG: The importance of print media depends on the independent artist’s goals. For an artist who is content to lay low, play fairly locally (or coastally) and gradually accumulate fans through word of mouth by other fans, print media isn’t too important. For an artist however, who is looking to make their mark nationally and/or regionally, print media could prove extremely valuable. It not only provides the independent artist with a “portfolio” to present to booking agents, venues, festivals, etc., but it also offers a certain level of credibility and professionalism, allowing the artist to stand out a bit from the billions of others. Not to mention, in its purest form, it is one of the ways that people are introduced to the artist’s music. 

MT: At what point do you recommend that an artist start working with a music publicist?

LG: Understanding print media as it is today, I would recommend that an artist start working with a publicist when they have or are about to have a finished album and are planning to tour regionally or nationally. Print media space is so limited these days; independent artists must show the press that they are worthy of coverage. Today, “worthy of coverage” unfortunately doesn’t just mean talented – it’s a question of how active you are, how much you have going on to keep us interested. Also, depending on the publicist/PR firm, an artist might need to have already put in their dues a bit, worked their fan base and shown that the only missing piece is a publicist. A publicist should be viewed as a puzzle piece, not glue; make sure you can stand and function on your own before bringing one on -- it will make it possible for them to really focus on their job at hand.

MT: If an artist is going the DIY route, how do you recommend they approach press? What types of publications should they seek out?

LG: Call me! I would recommend they approach press the same way I do it – with honesty, patience, and persistence (but not annoyance). Don’t tell press how amazing you are – tell them specifically what makes you so amazing. If you don’t get a response the first time, that’s normal. If you don’t get a response the second time, don’t give up. Keep at it, trying new ways to present yourself, offering new information about what you’re up to. But please, don’t annoy and pester them, or they’ll likely never cover you unless you get signed to a major label or start touring with Lady Gaga. If you don’t hear anything from them after a few months, you can assume they aren’t interested, or aren’t interested right now. As far as publications go, reach out to the ones that are appropriate for your music, your interests within music, as well as your interests outside of music. If you’re a singer/songwriter, don’t pitch to a heavy metal magazine. 

MT: People make a big deal about getting radio play still. Is this still as relevant for the modern artist? If so, how does that work? 

LG: Note: radio is not my area of expertise. You’ll want to reach out to a radio promoter and/or someone who works at terrestrial radio to answer these questions. Otherwise, I would answer this the same way I answered how important print media is – it’s all about the artist’s goals. 

MT: Realistically, can an independent artist get the type of radio play necessary to really change the game for him/her? 

LG: See above. 

MT: Do you think major labels are going to continue to be important? Is it still a good idea for an artist to focus on getting signed, or should artists be seeking out opportunities to make a living independently?

LG: Major labels are, in most cases, well-oiled machines. They have a system, a team, and money in place that has the potential to skyrocket an artist’s career. When it works, it works well, and by that I mean, the artist has longevity. In order for the artist to make money through that label, they usually need to do consistently well for a long period of time. Otherwise, they’re a big hit with no money. The importance of the major labels again depends on the artist’s goals. Will they continue to be important in the grand scheme of things? Well, I’m personally fascinated by their existence, but I think artists can be and are successful without them. Nothing in life is forever, and nothing is certain. An independent artist would be smart to create their own well-oiled machine such that they’re able to make a living on their own. If they get signed, that’s the cherry on top. 

MT: In the years that you’ve been doing this, have you felt a big shift in the way the media works, and the importance of media for an artist’s career?

LG: In the last three years alone, I’ve seen hundreds of daily and weekly newspapers, and even glossy magazines fold. Three years ago, new media - otherwise known as blogs and online media - were the cutting-edge target. If an artist wanted to be viewed as modern and “keeping up with the times,” a new media campaign was a necessity. Three years ago, writers found job security in online media. Recently, the New York Times published an article explaining how blogging is now a thing of the past, and it’s all about online social media like Facebook and Twitter. As far as importance of media goes, I haven’t seen much of a shift in that time. It’s still important, depending on the artist’s goals.

MT: What are the qualities you’ve found in the most successful artists you’ve worked with? What has stopped artists you’ve worked with from being successful? 

LG: The most successful artists I’ve worked with are genuinely talented, incredibly active (consistent touring, new music, videos, etc), honest, patient, persistent, open-minded and have a great sense of humor. They also really make it a point to learn as many aspects of the music industry as possible, and always ask me questions about print media and publicity. Simply put, they are involved. Those who have unfortunately not been successful usually did nothing after releasing their albums, refused to play shows even locally, resisted setting up and maintaining ways in which to stay in touch with fans (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, artist websites), and had unrealistic expectations. By that I mean, they genuinely expected to have features in every major glossy magazine reviewing their debut album or EP. Not that that shouldn’t be a goal nor could it not happen, but to them, any press they considered to be “below” a national magazine was worthless and ignored. They ultimately set themselves up for disappointment and failure. 

MT: Have you personally witnessed a lot of the effects of the changes in the industry through the artists you’ve worked with? Where do you think we’re headed as far as music and the singer/songwriter genre, and what types of people do you think will be successful?

LG: I’ve worked with artists whose music (and/or whose press campaigns) were richly funded by both independent and major labels. I’ve seen them not sell the amount of records their labels wanted them to and suddenly that motherly love they once received from the labels disappeared, as did the funding. It was devastating. Most of the artists I work with now are independently funded. Every day I see how the print media aspect of the industry is changing; it’s getting smaller and more competitive. Music publicity today is a real workout; it’s a tough, exhausting, demanding job. A sign of a good, successful publicist is that they’re checking their iPhone or BlackBerry every 20 minutes. When you see an album review of an independent artist, it probably was made possible by weeks of work, if not months, on a publicist’s end. 

A bad review, while not ideal for artist nor publicist, is today considered somewhat of a success just because space for any coverage is so limited and coveted. As far as where we’re headed musically – who the hell knows! Record sales show that it changes regularly. I think music fans love singer/songwriters though, but as far as who will be successful, again it’s not only a matter of how talented they are but how active they are. A proactive, persistent yet patient, honest, open-minded, hungry type of person tends to find the most long-lasting success.

You can reach Laura at laura@redbootpr.com

-Martin Storrow for Modern Touring

Interview w/ Jeff Riddle of TheGiveGive about Negotiation with Venues

Jeff Riddle started out as a touring musician, and eventually went on to work in booking/artist management and artist/venue consulting. He managed my career for over a year, and helped to secure me tens of thousands of dollars in concert fees. Jeff now lives in New York City, where he heads the East Coast division of a successful marketing firm. He also runs TheGiveGive (www.thegivegive.com), a blog that specializes in teaching professionals to build lasting business relationships. I recently spoke with him about booking, and specifically about the process of negotiation. Note that in much of this interview, we're talking about negotiation with venues that are willing to pay a guarantee, such as colleges, private events, festivals, etc. 

MT: When you realize you have interest from a venue or a college, what do you want to keep in mind?

JR: First you’re going to want to address the mindset. The typical mindset in the negotiation (and a common misconception!) is that the artist is going to feel undesired, and that the other party (venue, presenter) has all the power. The reality is that if the other party is willing to work with that artist, they need the artist, too. So once there’s a mutually agreed-upon movement forward, the artists need to understand that they are in a much more powerful position than they let themselves have. Remember that just because you ask a question, or ask for something, doesn’t mean they aren’t going to want to work with you anymore.

MT: An artist might also run into a situation where a venue hasn’t committed yet, but is ‘shopping around’. This happens a lot with colleges, especially college festivals. 

JR: That’s another mindset. Say they email you back something like: “This sounds interesting, but how much does it cost?” In this case, the artist becomes a commodity. The venue is basically price shopping. Depending on how you feel about this as an artist, you can respond one of two ways. You can either say, “We don’t talk price until we’ve had at least a commitment that a venue wants to move forward,” or, if you are okay with that and have an idea of what they might generally pay, you can name a price range. For example, you could say, “For this type of event, I usually get this range of price, depending on details - travel costs, promotion, etc.” This gives you leeway.

MT: Do you think every artist should set standard prices for each type of show they might play?

JR: Yes, I think they should have a general price point for each type of venue. With every new business, when they start out, they’ll work with anybody who will pass the fog test – meaning, put a mirror up to their face and if they breathe into it and it creates fog then they’ll work with them, (laughs), And that’s kind of how it works with the artist, too. Anyone who will even give them a dollar, they’ll play for them, because it’s like ‘Oh my god, I’m getting paid’.  So in terms of price point with every business, you can take one of two approaches – you can either start high and work your way down to figure out your fair market value, or you can start low and work your way up. Most artists are going to start low, and that’s okay, but one of the advantages to starting high is that your value is set high – there’s an association with price and value – so there’s some power because of that, but at the same time there is a possibility that if you’re trying to book a full tour, you cut out 2/3 of the shows because you’re not even in that range.

MT: So how do you know if you’ve set a good price for yourself?

JR: A lot of it is based on peoples' reactions. Based on how they react, you are able to determine what they’re willing to pay.  And in most businesses, pricing is so similar, but for artists every venue is so different.

MT: That’s one of the hardest things about the music industry, especially for independent artists. It’s hard to know what the right approaches are.

JR: There are all these standard approaches that people talk about, rules of negotiation – like, for example, ‘the first person to name a price loses’. Most people go into this looking at it as a win/loss – meaning someone is going to win and someone is going to lose. Unfortunately, the problem with that is that if you look at it that way, the artists are almost always going to lose. Instead, you should approach this entirely as how do we create a win/win situation, a situation where the venues are happy, and we’re happy too. That should be the mindset and the general approach.

Have a general idea what your price is – if you are super flexible and will play for $10 one night, but another venue you want to try to play for $500, that can hurt in the long run. You should standardize pricing to the best you can. Along these same lines, artists should have a non-disclosure agreement with every single venue; a confidentiality agreement that they won’t share the price you gave them with other venues. 

You should also try to subsidize as much as you can; try to get venues or organizations to try to pay for products, travel, promotion, etc. Sometimes, at colleges for example, they can budget out separate things in different areas. For example, if you go to a company or marketing organization and try to do something with them, they may only have a limited budget in some areas, but then in other areas they can make up the cost with travel, because it’s a different kind of expense – things like that.

Artists should have a standard terms and a standard agreement. The venue might send a contract, but you should also have a standard contract to use. Even if they send a contract, still having some standard terms of your own - attaching a rider, for instance – makes you more consistent and more professional, and the more professional you seem, the more money and respect you’ll yield. 

MT: I was talking earlier about how an artist is somewhat replaceable until they hit some level of notoriety or critical mass. 

JR: The critical mass is all based on financial value – and I think that’s something else artists need to remember with negotiation. We all know there are plenty of artists out there who are not that musically talented, but they’re getting paid a ton of money. At the end of the day, you have two choices – you either go into your room and do art, and it’s all about the art and it’s for you, but if you want to get out there and make a living at this, you’ve got to look at as a business, and unfortunately in the business community, they don’t really care as much about the art. The more you can understand that, the more negotiation will make sense, because it’s kind of a counter-intuitive approach.

There are two ways to go about this. If you’re going to just show up and be entertainment, then you’re just a commodity. But if you’re dedicated to building a following, and leveraging the tools and resources that exist out there, then that’s something different. In that case, the negotiation doesn’t even matter.

MT: Any other advice?

JR: Building and leveraging relationships will be really important, too, as a marketing tool. If you’re playing one place, these guys all know everybody else, too, so it’s in your best interest to A) build a relationship with them and be really professional and B) Leverage it in the right way.

MT: And people talk between each other more than we realize – venues and agents all talk with each other, and it’s a smaller community than we might think. 

JR: One of the things a lot of artists don’t have going for them s professionalism. If you’re professional, it can go a long way. People really appreciate that, and they’ll talk about it.

-Martin Storrow for Modern Touring

*Visit Jeff's blog at www.TheGiveGive.com