[Dixielandjazz] playing on the streets

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

You are absolutely correct Bill:

But even before you do that,  Go talk to the promotion and advertising 
manager of almost any Shopping Mall or Shopping Center, and talk them 
into letting you play in the Mall  Surprise surprise they usually even 
have a budget to pay you a reasonable fee to go along with the tips and 
CD sales :))   What they don't want is Loud Rock Music, and the only 
reason most of them do not have an OKOM band there everyday is because 
NO OKOM BANDS are soliciting the work.    The Big mall in my area has 
Jazz concerts in the mall on a regular basis and they have a performing 
rotunda for acts to play.   In the spring and summer time the outdoor 
Shopping centers also have a a major plaza suitable for an acoustic 
OKOM band to play.  To make your  self more acceptable, simply write up 
a short petition and go from store to store and speak to each manager 
about what you would like to do and then get them to sign it.  Take 
that to the Shopping center manager and they will have a hard time 
telling you NO.

Just keep going back until they say yes.   If it is not going to coast 
them anything they rarely say NO.    Now you don't want to pay your 
sidemen, or the sidemen don't want to play for the advertising and 
promotion benefit for their future employment find a guy who will and 
replace the one who won't.   Doing these kind of small gigs is better 
than sitting in a garage rehearsing for no gigs at all.   If you are 
any good you will be approached for other PAID bookings by total 
strangers who never heard you before and you won't have to do the 
dreaded "Audition" for their committee either.  Not to mention that 
they will usually buy a CD or two as well.   Treat this like a Business 
GUYS  AND IT WILL TREAT YOU LIKE ONE.    Leave you Ego at home nobody 
wants to se it anyway.   Shameless Self Promotion,  Did anybody take 
notes thE last time I went on this RANT, GO SCHMOOZE WITH A CAR 
DEALERSHIP AND OFFER TO PLAY FOR THEIR NEXT TELEVISION COMMERCIAL LET 
THE DEALER SING ONE IF HE WANTS TO, make a deal to announce your up 
coming gigs, talk him into paying you to play at the dealership 
showroom on the weekend, or better yet on Monday or Tuesday  when he 
need foot traffic.   Sell him a few Hundred Cds to give away to anybody 
who comes down to Test drive a new car :))   You can play in the 
showroom on those special promotion days or nights, and pay yourself 
from the CDs he buys.

Marketing Marketing Marketing folks.


Nobody needs to know how or if you are getting paid to play in the Mall 
or the Car Dealers, most will assume that you are, and the promotion 
and publicity you get for your band from doing it far outweighs a few 
hours of your time to go do it, and yes it is tax deductible too, so 
you are selling CDs making a profit and deducting the "cost of sales" 
and reducing your taxable income from the CD sales and other Paid Gigs. 
   First line on the Sched. C.  Advertising :))

If you have the kind of sidemen who demand $100.00  pay them but ask 
them to defer it and take it out of the CD sales income, and as it 
build and builds you will quickly see that it all works out pretty much 
the same as you get more and more gigs and sell more and more product.  
  Now if your band has several Cds,  even better,  those folks who 
bought  one last week just might come back next week and buy another 
one and so on and so on.   Who knows you might even get a call to OPEN 
for Kenny G".


If you compare this income with what most bands are making playing Jazz 
society gigs, hour for hour and factor in the travel expenses and 
drinks, etc.  you will more than likely find that you will make more 
money playing for FREE, and should build a new following of folks that 
would then go to see and hear you at Jazz Society events as well and 
join the Societies.

It would also behoove any Jazz Society to sponsor some of these gigs 
for the Good bands and go with them and solicit Jazz Society 
Memberships at these events as well.  It is a Win Win Situation folks  
and puts More OKOM out there and builds new audiences.    Co-operative 
promotion folks stretch those dollars,  heck the Jazz Society can even 
invite their members to stop by the mall and enjoy the show for free, 
dance a bit and show the new folks how much fun the music is etc,  and 
the Mall would be delighted that the Band drew all those new potential 
customers to the Mall to spend money even if it were only for lunch or 
a drink in one or more of the merchants.

Music is no longer the Music Industry folks, it is the Advertising 
Business  Join it, that's where the money is.

Go Advertise yourself,  "And Say It with Music"   And those who are 
afraid of the flak from the Union can simply respectfully request that 
the Union Get you a Better GIG and Pay you.   The Union should be doing 
the same thing, and would be stronger and a lot more useful if they had 
thought of these things many years ago to actually HELP their 
membership GET & KEEP jobs.

Cheers,

Tom  Wiggins


-----Original Message-----
From: billsharp <sharp-b at clearwire.net>
To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Sent: Sat, 8 Apr 2006 12:08:47 -0700
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] playing on the streets

    This is in response to the article about "play music on the streets" 
In Europe, it is apparently a way of life, and people returning comment 
on the number of musicians they see performing on the streets and 
plazas of the various countries. The official term for this is 
"busking" It seem to me that one way to keep our music alive and 
acquire new listeners would be to create(recreate?) a whole new 
generation of buskers. Why can't the "old farts" who can play OKOM 
start busking, if they truly love the music? They could ,as the author 
of the article said ,"..take it to the people" Man, if the people 
aren't coming to us, then let's go to them. I have busked many times, 
and it's always rewarding to watch the smiles on peoples faces, 
especially the little ones, and quite often teenagers will pause and 
show off some dance steps in front of the band, as they "strut their 
stuff" for their friends and girl/boy friends. Sometimes the tips 
aren't much, but oftentimes they're great, so things balance out. All 
those folks playing OKOM wait for jazz festivals to play, but what the 
heck do they do between gigs? - -sit at home and wish that there was 
another gig? 
 
  I know that in some large cities, like San Francisco, there are codes 
licenses involved . . . .so? - -don't play those towns. Most other 
towns don't mind at all. the basic rule for the law to leave you alone 
is 1) Don't block any access to building/sidewalks and 2) don't be 
loud. Some suggestions for finding good-sized "captive" audiences . 
.... read the papers to find events where people will be gathering, 
like a Hot-Air Balloon Lift Off Festival. Gather at the side of the 
area where they'll be eating lunch, and play. 
  Play in the plaza of a small town where lots of tourists sit to relax, 
or in a small park across from a conglomerate of large office buildings 
where the office workers eat their lunch---like the county courthouse 
areas. 
 
  One great way to get an unofficial "license to play" is to ask a store 
owner if you can play near the entrance to their store as a way to drum 
up business (for their store, of course), making sure once again to 
obey the 2 cardinal rules (above). In 95% of time, the owners are 
thrilled to have you playing. Play a couple of songs, then stick your 
head in them door and ask, "Are we too loud?" 
 
  This notion of busking is not just for for the young, but is for 
anyone who loves playing, wants to keep our music alive (and you may 
end up with a little spare change in your pocket). And why aren't the 
youth who we send to jazz camps, and who certainly have plenty of 
talent, not doing this between summer camps? 
 
  OKOM is being played by a lot of senior citizens - - -well, before 
they put you "in the home". why not get out in the fresh air doing what 
you love? And, If you don't love it that much - -sell the axe and buy 
another cable channel to watch the world go by from indoors - -- 
 
 [As an aside - - - 
  I've noticed a resurgence in an interest for people wanting to learn 
the ukelele, and clubs are popping up all over the place.. Along the 
same line, perhaps we need to form OKOM BUSKING CLUBS for people to 
meet, pick a locale to go play at, then go do it!] 
 
  
  
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