Brian ONeal's Notes...How to book an independent artist (my view)

[Lady Flava of Flava News]

How Bookings Work (for the independent artist)

This is what I hear often (especially after I post a new concert date on my page):
-"When are you gonna perform in my city Brian?"
-"I see you posted San Diego on your tour dates but not MY city"
-"I saw a jazz band at a bar in my neighborhood. Why cant you play there?"
-"I want you to play in my town. I know the club owner. I can ask him to hire you and your band."

First, thank you for wanting and supporting me to perform in your town/city. There is much involved in booking me and my band. I'm going to explain the process (as it relates to my genre of music) on how an independent jazz artist is booked/hired for events.

Independent artist v. major record label artist:
Boney James, Brian Culbertson, Sade, Herbie Hancock are examples of major record label artist. They are booked for major and minor tours on a consitent basis. This happens because major labels provide funding for it. Large budgets allow artist to play almost anywhere concerts are held (ie: Jazz Festival, Jazz Cruises, etc).

Major label acts also get regular airplay on radio which in turn fuels the demand for that artist to perfom live. You'll almost always see a stream of performance dates for artist like these. Some of them even have the luxury of turning down many concerts (because they can...LOL)

Then there are artist like myself. Independently owned, funded and maintained (BCO Media, Inc.) In a nutshell: we do it all ourselves and usually on a very small or constrained budget. Unlike major label record deals the indepentent artist is responsible for the creation and maintenance of their own website(s), accounting, marketing, email, photography, booking, inventory, contract negotiations, graphics/flyers, mailing lists, videos, sales, promotions, public relations, etc. Whew! Thats a lot. (this blog is about the booking aspect of the business)

Bookings:
Performance dates can come to an artist many different ways. The artist can hunt for venues, promoters, open festivals, etc. This requires the artist/band to have a press kit or promo package.This package is like a resume plus. It contains photos, your music, any video clips, press clippings, awards, stage and sound requirements, etc. You can see an example of mine at www.brianoneal.com.

Artist will spend a lot of time in promotions and marketing to try to acquire bookings for performance (or radio play). We solicit our material to as many promoters, venue owners, and booking agents as possible. The majority of them ask for this press/promo package (also known as an EPK - electronic press kit). Then there's simply word of mouth. This ties in with "who you know and/or who knows you" - hence our need to be exposed on the internet (ie: myspace, ourstage.com, facebook, blackplanet, etc). Continuous networking!

Many of my friends and fans on myspace will often suggest a particular venue that they know or whom they know the owner or talent buyer. This is always good for independent artist. It puts us one person away from being in contact with someone who could possibly hire us. Depending on the level of experience and/or requirments of the artist determines whether a performance contract/date is signed for the venue. I've gotten many leads and contacts from many of you on myspace this way. My requirements dont always match up to what that particular venue/booking agent is willing to give.

Example: I was referred to a venue in a large city where my friend knew the owner. He was looking to fill a weekend date with a good jazz act. Beautiful venue, nice sound system and it accommodated 1500 people. The price was right too! I had to decline the date because of lack of transportation and hotel accommodations exluded from the deal. This venue owner didnt have the budget to cover the cost for the entire band transportation and hotel so he suggested I come alone and possibly hire musicians from that city. Of course this breaks one of my requirments for many reasons.

1) I perform live (not to prerecorded music).

2) I have a show and it would be close to impossible to teach other musicians all my songs in a day or less.

3) Theres usually no flexibility in having a rehearsal with them (me flying out a few days before to meet the new band and practice).

4) How would one go about selecting the right musicians for the event without ever having met or performed with them?

5) Its simply a gamble I prefer not to take. I take my live performance as serious as I take composing the music you hear on my website.

6) I'd be paying to perform.

I love what I do and would gladly do it for free. I cant expect my staff and musicians to do the same. Therefore, they must be paid!!!!!

To schedule a performance for me and my band many things must take place before signing of a contract. The date has to be available for all parties involved (the musicians, soundman, etc). To avoid me having to shell out $4000 or more for hotels and flights for myself and staff the performance amount has to be agreed upon and a deposit must be made. This is the most fundamental business rule when selling a service such as entertainment.

Performance dates appear on my calendar then dissappear:
This happens due to lack of contractual terms or deposits being made or a contract not being signed by the person doing the hiring. Can you tell I've experienced quite a few "business bumps" along my musical path? LOL

I'm sure many other artist could attest to this... Its called "paying our dues". Not only do we have to play our respective instruments exceptionally well and have a good stage presence but also have very good business skills. Thank goodness for managers!!!

Sometimes schedule dates are cancelled due to buyers changing their minds, misscheduling, lack of funds, or simply not able to fulfill their end of the contract. These things happen occassionally (seems it happens to most independent artists). One reason given by some promoters and talent buyers I've personally come across is "Brian, we love you and your work, but you're not mainstream. You're not on the radio. And I'm not sure there is a big following for you here. Not sure if you can pack my venue." I hear that quite often. Since I do maintain a mailing list and have heard from thousands of my fans/friends I always verbally reassure them I can pull a crowd. Let the fans decide. Venue owners/promoters are in business to make money and they can consider us a gamble/risk.

Back to Myspace (exposure):
(Remember: this is a business)
Many promoters and talent buyers watch myspace artists. They look at the number of friends they have, number of plays on songs, page hits, comments people leave on my page and the overall sound and image of the artist and decide wether the artist is sellable / marketable...

Myspace has provided many opportunities for me thus far. But I'd have to say its the friends/fans that really do it for me here. You are all helping me reach the goal of being able to perform where YOU want me to perform simply by leaving the comments you do and listening to my music as much as you do. I sincerely thank you for that!!! The amount of time I spend on myspace alone is well worth it. As I type this we're getting calls about doing full blown tours. Yes - Brian O'Neal on his own tour! Woohooooo. So keep doing what you're doing. Keep supporting what you see and hear on my page and any other independent artist you like. Leave comments about their music, videos or sound and what it does to you. Thats what promoters read. They could care less about comments that
say "Hi Brian, you're soooo sexy". (I kinda sound like a polititian asking you to VOTE FOR ME)

My Booking Info:
To book me and my band please visit www.brianoneal.com and click the "Press Kit" link. If you have any questions pertaining to booking/touring/merchandise please contact Kelly Adolph at [e-mail]. She's also on myspace in my top friends!

Hope to see you all on tour!

-Brian

[THE Dubber]

This break up is Excellent !!!

Give Thanks, Dubs

[Penelope Flynn]

What a well-thought out step-by-step explanation of how independent artists deal with booking. It was very informative! So when can we expect the blogs on "accounting, marketing, email, photography, inventory, contract negotiations, graphics/flyers, mailing lists, videos, sales, promotions, and public relations..."? :D

[Robert T Sells]

Wow thanks for all the info Brian! This was truly a very comprehensive process on how to get booked as an indie artist, and as an indie artist myself, this was truly a blessing to hear. I will take it and apply it to what I do.

God bless you,
Anointed Poet

[sis.slaine]

how about an interview and when are you going pless us in the UK with some live dates