Written
February 28, 2023

“You don’t need to pay to play – if anybody approaches you about whatever venues they say they’re booking, run the other way” (Ari Herstand in an interview on his podcast “Ari’s Take” with Jordan Anderson, the new talent buyer at The Troubadour)

Los Angeles is home to some of the most prolific legacy venues in the world, many of which are on the Sunset Strip and garner plenty of attention from touring artists and talent. People flock here for the chance to see a show at these venues, let alone book a show of their own. Unfortunately, that same eagerness results in an equally fervent effort to capitalize on artists and fans. 

In a phenomena following Quarantine, the local LA music scene has been bursting at the seams with young and highly ambitious bands, resulting in a hyper-competitive and overly-saturated live music market. As a result, it’s becoming more and more necessary to discuss the standards of what to expect in the live music industry: deals to say yes to and deals to avoid like the plague.

RUN AWAY SCREAMING!

As of late, a common issue that’s been spreading among younger bands in the scene is the “pitching promoter.” Local bands will receive emails from third-party promoters who market themselves as partners of legitimate, well-known venues. They prey on young, local bands who don’t know anything about the music industry yet, pitch them great emails promising them to find dates at these venues, and end up convincing them to pay far more than they should to do so. 

It all comes back to a capitalization on the spectacle surrounding legacy venues like The El Ray. Bands are so starstruck by the idea of performing at these places that they’ve grown up with that they overlook the fact that they can’t realistically play them at their level. This results in a sad, but common overcompensating mindset: “I’ll pay you all the money in my pocket if you help me book <insert famous venue… that they have no reason to be playing>.” How these promoters end up actually booking these shows is a question of legacy as well; many of them do have legitimate connections or contacts, but the “shows” they’re putting on with local talent are less promising. They often present in the form of showcases, in which the lineup of artists will have absolutely nothing to do with each other musically and have a “hit it and quit it” mentality (bands show up right before their set, then leave immediately after it’s done). The whole “Pay To Play” mechanism is often used in discussion and criticism around the decline of The Sunset Strip. Nobody wants to go to these venues when the kind of show put on is a completely transactional one.

DEALS YOU CAN EXPECT

Typically, you can expect to book shows at legitimate venues via a booking inquiry form on their website, a contact you magically acquired, or an email that the venue has dedicated to general inquiries / bookings. You or your manager can then send a quick, succinct message about who you are, what kind of music you play, and what your draw is. Once you’ve managed a date, there are many standard deals that you can expect as you navigate the live music industry, however, at a local level there is really only one base standard:

Door Deal / Percentage of Net 

(A venue will take an amount off the top to cover expenses before they split the door)

The most common type of deal for a local band performing at a smaller venue (100-500 person capacity) is the door deal. With a door deal, the artist will receive a percentage of sales after state sales tax and expenses that come from the venue (the cost of the sound guy, security, door guy / box office). These expenses can range anywhere from $100 to $400 – but you should never be paying more than $400 in venue expenses for smaller venues.

Sometimes, venues will do door split from dollar one, meaning they will split the door with you from the first person who pays a cover. So, if 10 people come at $10 a ticket and you have a 70/30 split with the venue, your band ends up getting $70. However, most venues will at least take $50 off the top for the sound guy.

DEALS YOU SHOULD BURN, BURY, AND THROW AWAY

As many deals as there are that respect your time and value as an artist, there are just as many that undermine you and your work:

The Minimum Draw Deal

Sometimes, promoters or venues will offer you a 50/50 split of door income – but only after you draw a set amount of people. For example, if the “minimum draw” is, say, 50 people and the ticket price is $10 but you only get 55 people at your show, then you only make $25 while the promoter / venue gets $525. These deals work in the interest of the venue by mitigating their risk should you not bring in as big of a crowd as you think you can. The kicker, though, is that if this venue or promoter doesn’t think you can get enough of a crowd on your own, it’s not worth it to take the show yet.

The Girl Scout Deal

This deal often occurs when self-proclaimed “local promoters” find new, young bands and promise them dates at venues but require them to take full financial risk.

The “deal” can go one of two ways

1. The band has to purchase tickets from the venue in advance and then resell them (bands end up doing all of the promoting and marketing work for the promoter and then get screwed out of their own ticket sales).

2. OR if the band doesn’t sell enough tickets before their show, they have to buy the rest to make up for it. 

These deals are futile and bands are better off playing at a house show in terms of profit. Paying a promoter for the clout of playing a big venue is NOT WORTH IT, especially if you were able to sell all of those tickets on your own. 

CONCLUSION

“Local promoters” may pitch simple deals that sound amazing, but overall, if you were at the level to play the venues they pitch, you would be able to make that deal yourself. Legitimate promoters and talent buyers do NOT need to pitch you. In this industry, it’s incredibly important to know your worth as an artist not just for growth, but to protect the value of your music! Play venues that want you, that fit your fanbase, and that you think you can sell out (+ if you can manage to sell all of those tickets yourself, why do you need the promoter to get you exposure in the first place?). Should you or your band notice a sketchy deal coming from a promoter or venue, warn your friends. Know your worth. You’re all in this together.

As always, CTRLNOCTRL will do the best it can to help local artists navigate the music industry, let you know WHO is coming up, WHAT to listen to, and WHERE to see it all live.

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