[Dixielandjazz] Music Festivals are BIG BUSINESS

[Dixiejazzdata]

 Some of the indeed are very successful and offer opportunities for new and emerging bands in many genres of music, even though many of these opportunities come from Pay to Play situations or a percentage of the door, 
( the oldest game in the book to run on bands)  many have to take the door off the hinges and saw it into pieces to get their portion. :))  LOL   These so called conferences, and Seminar related Festivals garner much of their income from the new and wannabe bands and artists paying fees to get on the bill, some as high as $250.00  + all their own travel expenses to get there and live for two or three days.     The Really Good ones might sell enough Cds to break even, if indeed they get awarded a GOOD spot for the Right kind of Exposure on a stage where there are many people.   Playing on an obscure stage in the back of the festival or three blocks away form the main stage area is useless and nothing but a way to appease the LOCAL bands begging to get on the festival.     They Key here is that your band actually Have Promotability, and a good track record of playing events that people will actually pay to see you, or that you play enough high profile gigs ( paid or otherwise) to get that needed exposure to attract many people out to see you.

Gone are the days of just hiring musicians, there is no shortage of musicians wanting to play 7 days a week, the better more established ones usually have built themselves a circuit in which they can find consistent places to perform and get paid what is acceptable for their services.   However those that continue to play in low or no paid circuits are not helping their career opportunities because Professional Promoters actually follow bands and check on their attendance records and can easily asses their monetary value  ( if any) to their event.   And Union Scale has nothing to do with it either, ask all those bands paying to play, of playing for the EXPOSURE.

Exposure Gigs are not all in all a bad thing, but they have to be accepted very carefully and selectively to maximize the Exposure benefit to the band in the from of publicity and Promotion.   And remember that when you play those "Big Fundraising Benefits"  for the Cancer Society, United Way, Red Cross, etc.  you are generally just being scammed out of your time and everybody knows you played for free, so the Exposure you get is going to mostly be to other people who know you played for Free and they too have a great cause for more exposure to you if you will play for FREE.

Most so called " Showcase " gigs are the same scam, especially if it is made up with all unknown bands who can;t draw out 500 people to buy a ticket to see and hear them.  Bands flock to pay to get on a showcase to play to nobody but the promoter and the other bands.   CMJ  mentioned in the article has many such showcases, as does SxSW  in Austin, Texas.   The promoters of SXSW have turned it into a wannabees Mecca  and make a fortune off of bands all over the World clamoring to get on that festival.   Pick them carefully and handle your EXPOSURE carefully to make certain you are actually getting exposure to something other than the elements.

 
Now a question?    Why are there NO Dixieland or Trad Jazz Superstar Groups out there ???????  that will sell tickets for a major Festival?   Just because you played a Festival every year for Thirty years does not make you a Headliner or in some cases even a favorite act to the public.   What does your act do the rest of the year to promote and elevate your status in the community and in other cities,events, and states countries etc.?   You need to  ( as the new term is today "BRAND" your act and make it a well known household word within the music community to broaden your fan base, and always remembering that your really are only as Good as your last Performance.  :))

Cheers,  hope everybody had a great Holiday yesterday,  even our British friends who didn't celebrate it for the same reasons it is know in my neighborhood as the Hot Dogs and Hamburger Holiday to all my British friends and neighbors.    

Tom Wiggins
Saint Gabriel's Celestial Brass Band

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen G Barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: B.B. Buffington <dixiejazzdata at aol.com>
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thu, Jul 5, 2012 7:50 am
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Music Festivals are BIG BUSINESS


While Trad Jazz festivals shrink, it seems that music festivals, especially 
those promoted by professionals, are proliferating. The below is excerpted from 
the New York Times and explains why and how. Perhaps there is a lesson here for 
trad jazz festival operations?


Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband