Want more money $$$?
Yes - I feel your pain & hear you loud & clear!
Let’s start with the obvious: Local talent buyers are still paying 1983 wages for most public gigs. Sadly, I feel somewhat fortunate when I can wrangle $1,000 out of a venue / promoter for a Zongo show. (7 x $100 / man plus $300 for sound).
Will this get any better any time soon? Not that I can see. With over 200 local bands working SLO County for cheap, this is an unfortunate cyclical pattern. However - there is value in playing these public shows if they can help us directly promote ticketed shows.
How can we beat the system and make some more $$? Glad you asked. In the music event business, there are 2 parties that stand to gain the most: 1) The promoter and 2) the bar. If you’re not either one of them, you’ll be paid a fee - which is as low as the promoter can get you to go.
An answer: Become the promoter and sell tickets to your own shows. In other words, take the risk and make the promoter’s cut. This means self promoting shows at select venues and present Zongo music with a re-tooled, tightened up show. I’ve got a lot of resources at my fingertips and have developed a well rounded skill set on promoting music.
I’ll even do a lot of the heavy lifting on:
Venue negotiation
Hiring support talent to open shows
Hiring audio engineer
Graphic design for promotional materials
Design & manage event ticketing platform
Set up social media assets
Get press releases out
Get the event listed on all local online entertainment calendars
Get the event on the New Times / My805Tix promo, including emails out to 29,000+ local ticket buyers, event in print in New Times & Santa Maria Sun, New Times/Sun social media, etc.
Get the event featured & run display ads on Big Big SLO online calendar and featured on the new Paul’s Picks email newsletter, reaching 2,000+ music heads locally.
Write feature article in my music column in the Estero Bay News, with 10,000 copies delivered between Osos & Cambria.
Design, print and distribute concert posters around the county. (North Coast / SLO / South Coast).
That’s cool, Paul - but where’s my extra cash? Great question. First let’s get something straight:
Playing music doesn’t make money (except the fee you’ve negotiated with the promoter)
Selling music does.
SO - Imagine a scenario like this:
An illustration of a potential money making Zongo gig:
We all jump in to actively promote the show
I’ll set a guarantee of $100/man, with an incentive to earn more - based on how many tickets you can sell, either actively or passively:
When I set up the ticketing page, I can give each of you a unique promo code / direct link / QR code. You promote the show through your own circles, and every ticket that comes through your code earns you an additional $5 on top of your $100 guarantee. I can run reports to see where the traffic comes from to compensate everyone accordingly. So instead of working for the 1983 $100-flat chumpdown, you have the opportunity to control your own compensation. These numbers are just a ballpark & hopefully a close approximation:
$100 - do nothing and just show up.
$200 - get 20 people to purchase tickets through your code
$300 - get 40 people to purchase tickets through your code
$400 - get 60 people to purchase tickets through your code
I’ll even be a bro & help you market your code by:
Printing individual event cards with unique QR codes
Printing posters with unique QR codes with an obvious “Click Here for Tickets” call to action.
What can you do make this happen:
Be willing to do more than just show up and play.
Share your unique link / QR code with anyone & everyone via:
email & social media
handing out your own custom event cards
Putting up posters with your unique code
In summary:
We’ll never make $500/guy in a 7 piece band for playing local, free-to-the-public shows. If you want to make some more $, we have to self-promote our own ticketed shows. I’ve seen this work really well with a couple other local bands, and I know it can work. However - It will only work if we are working together to sell tickets and actively market this.
