[Dixielandjazz] Playing for free.

[Bert Brandsma]

The Dixieland Crackerjacks did a free job for national TV a couple of years ago.

We did a scene in style of the N.O. funeral on a graveyard. (Filmed on a wednesday, early morning!)

It turned out to be a wise decision. The clip was repeated over 20 times on the first day and a couple of times in the next weeks.

The next day (On a Sunday, not exactly business day here) there was a phonecall for 104 gigs the next year. (Happily not 104 funerals!)

This contract was renewed 3 times, so we had over 400 days work from this little free thing. + other follow ups from people who saw us there.

 

But of course you have to be very selective about what free gigs you accept. I simply demanded garanteed TV exposure + our band name being mentioned.

 

Kind regards,

 

Bert Brandsma

www.dixielandcrackerjacks.com
 
> From: barbonestreet at earthlink.net
> Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:29:46 -0500
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Playing for free.
> CC: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> To: dixieorkest at hotmail.com
> 
> 
> > "Joe Hopkins" <jazzclarinet at cox.net> wrote:
> >
> > I have posted this before but I will do it again. I go into a club 
> > and ask them what their slowest night of the week is. Once they 
> > identify it I offer to bring my band in and play on that night for 
> > two weeks (one night a week) for free....then I suggest we sit down 
> > and discuss the possibilty of the club owner hiring us on a 
> > permanent basis. I say that by then we will both know whether or not 
> > we want to form a contractual relationship.
> >
> > I have done this three times:
> >
> > First time...we played there every Monday for one year.
> > Second time...we played another place every Tuesday and Wednesday 
> > for two years.
> > Third time...we are still playing in another place every Sunday 
> > night...it has been four years now.
> >
> > This will only work if you have a following and know you can get 
> > your fans to show up. (and spend money) I have friends here in town 
> > who tried it and the only customers showing up were the spouses and 
> > family of the band members and two or three pals.
> >
> > When I am asked to come play for free for exposure and cd sales ... 
> > I politely decline....we do not need more exposure. If asked to play 
> > for free for a charity event (fund raiser)...we sometimes agee if 
> > and only if we want to support the charity and if everyone is 
> > working for free.....free venue, volunteer waiters, bar tenders, 
> > cooks, etc......if anyone is getting paid, we refuse to participate. 
> > My musicians are free to decline the offer for any reason.
> >
> > By the way, I am playing ten Mardi Gras gigs next month...3 in 
> > Mazatlan and 1 in Puerto Penasco, Mexico...the other six are in the 
> > Phoenix area. These are in addition to my three gigs a week I play 
> > every week.
> >
> > I hope all the musicians on this list are keeping busy.
> 
> Way to go Joe!!!! Nice to hear about US bands that know how to get 
> paying gigs. Nice to hear about what's happing now, rather than what 
> happened years ago. Nice to hear about what a little band marketing 
> can do, instead of hearing negatives like why playing for free is 
> always wrong, or why there are no gigs for OKOM bands.
> 
> I admire your energy. I've cut my schedule back to about 100 gigs a 
> year. Not because there are no gigs around, but because I am aging and 
> want a little time to do some other things. After about 15 years of 
> band marketing, I now de-market by raising prices.
> 
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> To unsubscribe or change your e-mail preferences for the Dixieland Jazz Mailing list, or to find the online archives, please visit:
> 
> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
> 
> 
> 
> Dixielandjazz mailing list
> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
 		 	   		  
_________________________________________________________________
Het laatste nieuws, shownieuws en voetbalnieuws op MSN.nl
http://nl.msn.com/