Concert Help!!!!!!!!

[berwyn2006]

Hello everyone as you can see i am a newbie in this forum but i am looking for advise or help( so if anything sounds stupid i'm sorry but my mom always told me there is no dumb question), so here we go. I am a concert promoter, i have done 6 shows in the Chicago at the house of blues, Arie Crown, & the skyline stage. I have dealt with a lot of artist not the real big ones like Mariah carey or Rhianna, but maybe in the 30K-40K range. I have a tour coming up where i will be doing a great number of cities. The biggest problems of course is raisng capital, with the economy the way it is sponsorship is out of reach it seems. I have yet to even obtain sponsorship for any of my previous shows. So my first question is it even worth it to do shows in this type of economy? 2) How can i raise more capital? 3) how and where can i obtain sponsorship? I do have the resume of all the work i have done, with pics, references, flyers and whatever else is needed. Thanks in advance

[fthom]

I don't think the ecconomy is in such a state that people won't come to see shows, however, companies are being more tight about their available funds and so sponsorship I'm sure is hard to come by.

One option would, perhaps, be to bring a certain theme to the tour - and a theme that would fit in with getting funding. For example, if you were to do a tour that focused on being 'Green' and 'Environmentally Friendly'(don't know how...but I'm sure you can figure that out!) then there would be more opportunities for funding as you are filling a niche gap that sponsors are more likely to jump at...

Hope that helps,
ft

[jasaunders]

Start the same way everyone else does, with traditional financing from friends, family, credit cards and banks. You are very unlikely to receive equity financing for this, your best bet is debt financing through traditional channels.

[berwyn2006]

i do have a name for the tour it is called the "Soul 4 Real Tour", it is a show with known artist and they will be performing with live bands to bring the feel of real music back so my biggest draw per say would be women because it's r&b/ neo-soul. As far as traditional ways of raising money what are those ways, can you break it down and explain it. Thanks in advance.

[oceansideaddict]

When is this tour? Who is on the bill? How many acts? Who? Signed or unsigned talent? Whos booking the tour? How many dates and where? tour support? What kind of advertising do you plan to do? radio? print? online? what kind of music?

[fthom]

I think by traditional he means taking out loans from banks, credit card debt etc. basically, meaning that you have hanging credit debt and interest around you all the time.

If anything DONT do this...it would be madness - especially in todays 'credit crunch' times!

Having debt over you is more likely to put future potential sponsors off!!

Do you have a website for the tour?

[berwyn2006]

no i dont have a website for the tour is that something that i need to do, if so i will definately get that up and running.

[fthom]

oh right....no I was just wondering, I suppose it is something that could be developed from a marketing point of view - but you'd have to have the sponsorship to pay for it first!

If you want a small (ie. Home page and contact page) put together then I'd be able to do that for very little money...PM me if you interested!

[berwyn2006]

i'm interested in your web service IM me on yahoo berwynthompkins

[fthom]

sorry I don't have yahoo instant messanger....email me at info@cairngormagency.com

[berwyn2006]

ok i bought the websites, what's next

[Woodcs82]

Hey i just created a site for the Music industry .... --> Music Industry Network -- ((Alpha Testing)) - Where the Music Industry Connects with Each Other!

Feel free to join us. Its free.... i just started it , there are about 25 of us now.

-C

[Gopal Dev]

Hey there, I have approached several charitable foundations here in Montreal to organize a few fund raisers on their behalf. Once I presented their marketing directors with my detailed plans for the shows and proved I was legit they allowed me to use their name when approaching corporate sponsors which were then much more open to supporting the gigs/tour because then their endorsement became a tax deductible expense and those soulless suits would look like good guys. That's the truth but it works.

Approach large companies (telecom, banks, hydro, TV, anything) in your town that you know will want to associate with respectable charitable foundations like the Children's Miracle Network, American Cancer Society, Heart and Stroke Foundation, or any Hospital related foundations, amongst many other possible ones. Have a solid lineup for the show(s). Companies will then take your events much more seriously because of the involvement/support of the charities as well as quality entertainment. It becomes a win-win for everyone.

The foundation makes money from a portion of ticket sales/merch and the donations of the corporate sponsors, the sponsors get a tax deduction and look good, the artists associated with your shows get good press, and you can raise ticket/merch prices and have rental costs, performer guarantees, catering etc... covered so you're not putting down any of your capital to run the gig, thereby allowing you to turn a solid profit yourself. Try to get some or all of your advertising costs covered up front by the corporate sponsors. Approach local press, radio, TV and they will be interested in covering your event, giving you FREE promo. Worst case, you invest in some flyers, newspaper ads to start just to get the ball rolling for the first few gigs and prove yourself. This investment is a fully tax deductible business expense for your company so no big worry here. If successful, future gigs/tours will run smoothly and you won't have to put anything of your own down.

Regardless of the economy, people want to be entertained, but because of the economy more people need a hand. Large corporate entities always want good PR and want to have more after-tax dollars so they will always be happy to donate to a charity rather than pay the government provided you are for REAL. Get a good charity involved and do some good while you're at it. Give it a whirl and let me know how things pan out. Worth a try at the very least.

Gopal (The Musical Mad Scientist and Entrepreneur)
The Integral Official Website - Welcome
The v-Fusion Group

[fthom]

ok i bought the websites, what's next

Email me and let me know what you want from them...(email add is above)

[rejoice]

can't you start selling tickets to raise funds? especially if you start confirming acts and have your website brochure to a link where people can start buying 'early bird' tickets... from where i am sitting you need to get the cashflow going... if you are in dire need then start cold calling and cold emailing companies and have a proposal written up with the different sponsorship levels you will consider... and which level they are interested... make sure they get link backs and flyer/poster branding space... etc... etc

Disclaimer: I have no experience in how it all works but i love music and the industry and think you are doing a great job... fuck the economy... when times are good people go out and 'celebrate'... when times are bad they go out and 'drown their sorrows'... either way you will have attendees... time to get the ball rolling!!!