Since when are bar owners incapable of driving traffic into their own establishments?
There was a time when Halifax bars actually a) paid their bands an actual rate instead of “the door”, and b) advertised to get people in the bar. These days, bars that do either of these things are few and far between. You hire a band to bring people into your establishment, yes, but since when is it the SOLE RESPONSIBILTY of the *act* to bring the people in? Advertise in a local paper fer gawds sake – most of the time it’s freaking FREE!
And if you’re going to advertise in a local paper, do it every flipping WEEK, not just when you have a bigger name act in there! Great, so Grammy-winning “Skippy the Wonder Band” is playing there on October 23rd – it’s freaking SEPTEMBER!
Why should *I* have to post our gigs in the local paper when you’re barely paying each member of my band minimum wage? And while we’re on the topic, minimum wage has risen over the last 15 years – how come bars are still paying bands the same amount of money 15 years later? Musicians are some of the only working people who make the same amount of money or less as they get more experienced. Where’s the fairness in that? (Unless of course you make it “big” – but let’s not even get into the politics involved *there*).
But I digress. My main point is, my band *does* bring in 30-50 people per show. The stay, they drink, they eat, they spend money. But OUR paycheque doesn’t get bigger, and you bar owners (or managers, depending), don’t seem to get that maybe *you* could let a few people know we’re going to be playing in your neighbourhood.
We have fans, and we ALWAYS get new fans when we play somewhere, but not if your locals have no freaking idea you have live music. Oh yeah – and by not telling people you’re having a live band, you piss off people who prefer *not* to see live music. I’d be irritated by a sound check in the middle of *my* dinner too, if I hadn’t been expecting it.
Point being, type up a freaking AD, or add an extra $25 into our pay for things like poster printing (not cheap), or advertising in the local paper. It’s YOUR job as the bar owner to get people into your establishment – OUR job is to keep them there.
This article appears in Sep 4-10, 2008.
You people are totally missing the freaking POINT.As I said in my original post :There was a time when Halifax bars actually a) paid their bands an actual rate instead of “the door”, and b) advertised to get people in the bar. These days, bars that do either of these things are few and far between. You hire a band to bring people into your establishment, yes, but since when is it the SOLE RESPONSIBILTY of the *act* to bring the people in? Advertise in a local paper fer gawds sake – most of the time it’s freaking FREE!Which SHOULD have told you MORONS that I have OBVIOUSSLY told you I’ve been around awhile…And the whole point (aside from the digression about the pay never changing) was that if the bar doesn’t let people know they have live music, how the *$^# can they get any people in BESIDES what the band brings.Youre all a bunch of INGRATES
apparently someone pissed in h/is/er cornflakes this morning.
30-50 people a show? Sweet fucking jesus, you’re right. The amount of revenue that the bar would get from your 30-50 would be enough to run the establishment for the next year at least. There’s no way in hell a bar in Halifax would ever see that kind of business in one night without your band fucking rocking their socks off. You’re complaining over an extra $25? You would have no complaints if the bar gave your shitty band $25 more dollars? haha, why don’t you grow a set of balls and ask for it instead being a pussy(albeit a pussy bringing in an unfathomable 30-50 people to an otherwise dead halifax bar scene). I’d really love to hear about the politics involved in making it big, and how the man is going out of his way to hold you back. I mean come on, you’re getting 30-50 people out every show? You should be playing MSG for fucking sure.
csts hit the nail on the head. This is a ridiculous post. Until you become big enough to generate enough revenue to cover more than staffing costs and lights and the beer you drink, you are your own advertiser. Facebook is free, use it to network and advertise. It appears that you think that because you might have generated $1000 that they dont have costs. How much do you think they make per meal, once they have paid for the actual food, and the guy that cooked it, and the fuel it took to cook it? A buck? As a former DJ, i filled clubs with over 2000 people, 5 nights a week, and they paid $5- $10 bucks to get in. My pay was $500 a night. Now, i generated over $25k in cover and booze sales a night, but since i was sleeping with the owner of a club, i got to see how much she actually took home at nights end. After insurance, hydro, security, staff, paying for the beer and liquor for the next night, taxes, and all that…… she went home with a $1500. That is right pal, i made 1/3 of what the owner did. Granted everyone was there to see me, but i didnt have to fork out the $300k to own and build the club. I wasnt responsible for business choices. Please, do your homework on how this industry works before complaining like this. You will go nowhere and fast with this attitude. Better yet, get yourself management, they deal with the owners and you just get your money and STFU.
I think the poster was trying to say that the “locals” AREN’T attending live music functions because they aren’t advertised, and therefore the bar owner is EXPECTING that the band brings their own people to the venue. Therefore, “Salty”, the 30-50 people the band brings in are the ONLY people present except for the 2-3 drunken regulars you find at EVERY bar.Seeing as how we’re talking about live music venues, believe me – 30-50 people CAN make or break a bar – especially if the owner is too cheap to help pay for advertising costs.
its not really the bars job to promote.The marquee, for the most part, doesnt promote its own events… a promoter does.Here is a problem, if all the little bars, promoted for each band that came into thier venue, on each night they were there…….. how much do you think that would cost? In the long haul, a lot, and here is why. Ever pass them poles downtown that are FULL of posters advertising events? how many do you actually stop and read? 1 maybe 2, and when the board becomes jammed with posters, it becomes a clutterfuck and you find it too confusing to even bother reading. It then becomes a contest of who can make the most eye catching poster, and that makes it more costly to print. I know its a catch 22, but when you only draw 30 people, that isnt a lot of money.
Homie;Not disagreeing with you at all here. Just saying that as a former pro entertainer, I would regularly get asked by bookers “How many people can you bring?”A legitimate question, given that if I say “10” and someone else says “120”, they’re getting the job.By the same token, everybody (including our poster) wants everyone else to do the work for them – promoters want bar owners to guarantee a certain number in the audience, bar owners want bands to guarantee a certain number of warm bodies, and bands want their groupies to guarantee attendance every time they play.Lots of bands/entertainers use Facebook, it is indeed a great tool, but I can understand why our poster is asking the bar owner to pony up advertising that they HAVE live entertainment…
ok, if you have a booker that asks…. “how many people can you bring” you are likely playing a crap venue. Anyone that is half decent and discovered, doesnt have to hear that question…. until you do, you have to earn your stripes playing at venues like the OP is talking bout. Its part of the game.there was a stage where i was the dj that was out flyering and playing empty rooms, but in time, the game changed to where there is an opening dj and i get paid huge bucks for 2 hours work. Its called knowing your place. Complaining about it isnt the case.Actually in this case, the real fault is the OP. Like you said, expecting others to do the work, when in fact if they did a bit more work, they would have someone hired to do all this publicity. Dr Dre, used to sell his music out of the trunk of his Malibu.
there was a time when DJ’s used records. There was a time when beer was a buck, there was a time when people wore tons of hairspray to go to clubs….dude, things change. The way business works has changed. You need to adapt or shut up.and oh, “getting the door” is to YOUR advantage. There is no overhead there, so if you spent the $25 bucks, and managed to hustle up more than 30 people, say……..100 or so, you would make decent coin at $3 bucks a head. by the way….”you hire a band” and “a band that books themselves” are not the same. One must work harder than the other. Get to work and adapt flyer boy
Homie – will you marry me? Just don’t tell my hubby. LMAO
And you would NEVER hear Nine Inch Nails on mainstream rock radio. Still getting used to that one.
Actually, come to think of it, wouldn’t the Coast be a great place for bands to tell people they have a gig? Like right here in this section? Like if our poster had thought less about whining and used some shamelss self-promotion? Like maybe saying: “Since bars don’t seem to be advertising live music like they used to, and Facebook only works for people who already know us, and flyers just get ignored and add to global warming, how could a person get more people to show up at their gigs?”
dont act like a fan of mine or you will become ostracized (spelling is way off i think)but seriously, how can one complain when they generate a whole 30 people. I think i could play the recorder and beg 30 people to come hear that noise, doesnt mean i can demand others pay for the advertising to hear the joy of THE HOMIE ROCKS THE RECORDER
ok, going back to work…*irony of this OP, i work in this industry with the exact sorta thing that you are complaining about*exactly what you are talking about, is encompassed in my profession….. im not a promoter, im not a manger, im not a bar or club owner, but i am connected to all of these people, and your post made me giggle.
Funny Homie. I can rock the kazoo – but NOBODY would pay to advertise that – except fruit stands that could sell the audience rotten tomatoes to throw at me.However, I think the “30-50 people” thing has merit – if a bar usually only gets 10-15 people, your at least tripling their audience, I would think a bar owner would post something in the Coast online to help add to that audience, no?I see stuff advertised in here regularly, but not regularly advertised – ie.: there’s a bar just up the street from my place that has live music EVERY Friday night, but their marquee outside only advertises their “big” show of the month, and they don’t allow bands to put up posters.The only reason I know they’ve got live bands is because I go in for wings, and see the bands setting up… Like quite a few other places, they only sporadically advertise in the Coast. I have to agree with at least that part of “Skippy the Wonder Band’s” Grammy-winning post.But otherwise, s/he is a whiny freak who, after all that time “in the business” should either retire or realize that you can’t get an attitude like that until AFTER the fame/drug rehab.
hey OP, have you ‘been around for a while’ stuck in a kindergarten? calling people names in an argument isnt a good way to go. makes you sound immature at the very least.music business it tough. its hard to make money. and if you are going to whine about it, it WILL show in your attitude, and this won’t help your case.when i throw shows (i do not own/operate a bar) i spend at least $100 on posters, and i usually get at least 100 people in. what can i say, advertising pays off in the end. whining doesnt. if bars i book arent willing to advertise to my standards, i have to take matters in my own hands. which i do. without whining.sounds to me, like you are in the music for the money. in which case, it doesnt surprise me that you have such an attitude, such tone of posts, and so little people showing up.
Hear hear sir!But to play devil’s advocate, you can get 100 people to show up simply by putting up posters? Do these people pay cover which goes to you, or does all their money go to the bar?At $100 for 100 audience members, that’s $1 per person spent out of what $500 paid a night? SO if you have a 4 piece band, that’s $25 per person right off the top. That’s $75 per band member less whatever transportation, food, beer costs.Therefore, the band isn’t making any money because they have to pay for advertising the bar COULD have assisted with by putting something in the local newspaper, yes?So therefore, it stands to reason, the “OP” (still dunno what that means – original poster? orangutan penis?) isn’t in it for the money, just doesn’t know how to make whatever point s/he is trying to get out…