Invest in Your Live Show. . .Or Die!
by Andrew Hoag of Colorado Audio Group
Nobody enjoys quality musicianship more than I do. I’m one of those rare music fanatics who could listen to my favorite album play in a Kindergarten classroom and still enjoy it. But bands don’t make any money on album sales these days. Local bands have to give away their music free and make their money on live shows. Even national acts are only selling $1.29 itunes tracks instead of $19.99 albums and are still making the lionshare of their money on live shows.
The bands I’ve seen emerge from our local scene all have one thing in common. These bands invested in their live show. Whether this meant creating custom lighting, hiring a full time sound engineer, or designing a video backdrop that played behind them on stage, simply being a good band isn’t enough to get you signed. And it isn’t enough to sell tickets. And it isn’t enough to pay rent.
The big national labels figured this when the internet became a tool to steal music. Putting a bunch of talented musicians on stage and trying to sell tickets wasn’t going to keep them in business once the income from album sales disappeared. The value of their band’s live show production became so high, labels and management companies spent hundreds of millions of dollars a year hiring sound companies, custom lighting designers, and traveling engineers to run it all. With so much on the line, they simply couldn’t afford to entrust the quality of their product to a local crew.
Fast forward to today and the live concert production business is a multi-billion dollar worldwide industry which is somehow connected to every single national or international level act from every musical genre.
Why?
Because a well balanced audience mix, a coordinated light show, and creative stage decor sells records and keep fans engaged long after the last semi-truck pulls away from the loading dock.
A stadium full of cheering music fans will always scream during a 2 minte guitar solo (whether the guitarist deserves the applause or not…). However, that short little burst of excitement has no longevity. The second the show ends, every single one of your screaming fans completely forgets about that little burst of excitement and summarizes the entire experience down to just a few short memories. At least 2 of those memories will be about sex, drugs, or booze, so that leaves your band with just 1 more chance to leave a lasting impression.
If your band’s performance hasn’t generated a physical and emotional connection to your music by now, then the entire show was a waste of time. The sensory experience of feeling a good mix and watching the lighting change perfectly to the cues in the music leaves an impression on your audience that can’t be achieved in any other way.
Your novice internet marketing skills might generate a decent turn out, but what happens after the show ends? Are you fans going to stay engaged, buy music, and talk you up to their friends? Is your live show even memorable enough for people to talk about? Is your music SO good that it doesn’t matter what it sounds like?
Ask yourself what are you doing to be competitive in the marketplace of live music in Denver? After all, your fans buy concert tickets to be entertained. Even your best friends can’t justify paying a cover if the show isn’t entertaining.
After the countless hours you put in at rehearsal, don’t forget that your average fan is music-illiterate and that at the end of the day…you are just another form of entertainment competing against hundreds of other entertainers just like you.
Harness and leverage the value of great sound, creative lighting design, and stage decor in your band. Great sound doesn’t have to be expensive and custom lighting can be bought from Home Depot. Whatever you do, do something to set yourself apart and generate the emotional and physical responses necessary to develop new fans. If you don’t, someone else will…and you’ll find your friends talking about them instead of you.
Category: Shop Talk
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