BUILDING CONCENSUS II: Committed Acts

Alright, you have what you need; Drive, ambition, supplies, etc.. Now you're going to use these things. You want to plan your tour at least 5-6 months in advance. You will need to do this because getting in touch and getting commitments from other artists is hectic. You plan your lineup, and then one or two of the acts fall out. THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS.

You will not end this tour without a "last minute" cancellation from somebody you have spent months communicating with, and they always want to wait until the day of the show to do it. ALWAYS!!! WHY??? People have their reasons, I guess. So, you will compile a list of ten acts you want to perform with for any particular town.

You want to have 4-5 acts on the bill, unless you are performing with a local live band then go 3-4 acts. I like to go to a couple different sites for this, one is the powerhouse: ReverbNation

I know folks like to use soundcloud, but communication sucks there... Another is Facebook hip hop networking groups, most states have these groups, some are official and some are started by a guy and he doesn't have many friends.

It is important to remember that most venues want you to link up with an established local act, so that it's not a waste of their time to book you, so finding the best acts with the best draws is imperative, or at least ideal. Finding those acts you will be most compatible and be the most successful with is tricky.

Sure you could message the top 10 artists on reverbnation charts for any city. But keep in mind that since hip hop act doesn't get to go perform live shows as much as a rock band, they rely heavily on the online path to greatness.

So just because an artist is number one online doesn't mean that it adds worth to their stock in real life.

Many bands I know have one song put online, they have 200 fans, but they're touring in Germany and making some decent livings, mostly because they focus on the real world aspect of their careers. And the opportunities have been cemented in that genre, most genres... Except Hip Hop/Rap You can get those opportunities too, it just takes a little time and a lot of diligence. When looking for these bands look to see who is doing shows and look around their profile for pictures of their shows.

Ask yourself this: 1. Are there a lot of people in this show? 2. What did the stage look like? 3. What did the crowd look like? 4. Do they have a facebook link back to their profile or band page? If they do, use it. They will respond quicker than on reverbnation. Bandlab is another good site to start communication with artists.

Something else to remember, you should personally dig their music, but if you can't, and they are still a hard-worker for their craft, swallow your pride and work with them. Like I said, if you have looked for the right artists to link up with, they are not checking their online stuff as much as the other guy you didn't pick.

So hit them up on facebook and find out if they want to speak further on the issue of booking the date in their city with you. You have to make sure also that this act is a working act, they don't sit around and record music and post it online, that is NOT a career in music. That is a hobby.

It will be harder to find a healthy number of acts in really small towns or largely underpopulated states like Wyoming for instance (much love to you all out there, still). Once you know who will be on your super, prestigious, exclusive list. Now get them all the same message and wait for them to get back with you.

One week is long enough, before you should move on to other options, like the guys you didn't pick (hey, no one said it will be perfect)

Whoever commits to this project, get a picture of them from their profile (preferably in a performance or promotional setting) and place it in a new folder for your promo pics. Or ask them, they may have an image they like to use.

But again, no matter WHO drags their feet, you are ultimately responsible for YOUR tour. Got it?

INTEL: Do Your Research

USE GOOGLE. In all honesty, there is no better tool than Google. Get a gmail.com account, and make it happen. You will want to access to their calendar app. Wherever you might want to post an event, on a site and you need to register, Google has a tab 90% of the time from which to sign-in (which sometimes I've seen a date I put on Google Calendar do a lot of the promo on it's own.

Google is NOT A PUNK out here.

There are sites to get your mission completed.

Some venue sites have links on their websites that go to pages and have rows upon rows of information on promotional tools like all the college radio stations, commercial radio stations, the newspaper...

Now if they have an artistic community; you can bet they will have a number or email of someone so you can get that radio spot while you're in town.

I used to look at cable providers, you can too if you know how to cut a 30 second promo of video and get some audio over the clip, the event just reached 10,000 people before you have even stepped into town. For the price, it's not bad to have that kind of promotion.

Do you see why I've said to plan 4-6 months in advance?

On reverbnation.com there are ways to sell your music online. You can also design your t-shirts buy them at cost and recoup the funds during the tour. Find download card distributors for your online songs.

Kunaki.com is competitively priced for CD duplication, and you will appreciate the company's flexibility.

You have to install their CD making wizard, but it's virus free and you don't even have to have it mixed to wave like bandcamp.com.

The Single Biggest thing you can do is merch. Become A Member to receive all the access to everything you need to build a national tour.

Become A Member

I'm not telling you not to get it mastered. If you care, it should show. But you can upload the album from like a zip. file. It comes in handy when you can only afford 20-25 CD's. Or even one, it's crazy.

You have to be on your merchandising square. Maybe I lied, because if you have no money to fund this tour (if you're just a hip hop artist and not balling) you need to start looking for ways to make money in your spare time. If you write lyrics, there's a chance that you could make money writing articles online, or taking paid surveys. You need about $500 to $750... If you got that, then you are ready to launch the process.

You can start with this survey. You can earn money, by joining this program, but I'll also make a couple pennies when you start here.

NEGOTIATIONS: Riders & Guarantees

This one is easy.

If you're touring, and you're:

A: Away from home,

B: An unknown, and

C: Unsigned...

You needn't ask for more than 150 to 200 dollars. An even sweeter deal would be to suggest that you can take 10 percent of liquor sales. As far as contracts go, many venues will not sign one with cash in the terms unless it has been cleared with everyone in their venue. This is hard to do because they are busy, ALL OF THE TIME!

So, your initial contract should not contain a monetary guarantee. In fact it should only state that the venue will hold the date for you and not double book, if that happens, you are the rightful designee for the events of that date at that venue. THAT IS IT!!!

Look, most venues won't even sign THAT contract, but it shows you are taking care of business. If they won't sign anything, then you have a choice:

A: Don't book with them, or

B: Book it anyway and hope they don't screw you over (A good way to prevent that from happening, is to keep in contact with the venues on a weekly basis, you calling them should not be about the date, and whether they forgot you, but rather to keep them up to date on the progress of the show. Keep the conversation about your commitment instead of theirs.

Sometimes venue owners, talent buyers, and entertainment managers forget who they talked to, and what date they agreed to... You must remember these two things:

1. They are human beings, and they are busy. THAT job is very busy, and most times, it's an auxiliary duty, so it just adds to their workload in the venue. So be patient.

2. No matter how unprofessional YOU think it is that they forget, they are STILL the venue, and they hold the keys to you performing for a living. So be FUCKING PATIENT!!!

You see, talking about YOUR commitments for the date will put your act in their minds when they think about that date. So even if someone wants that date they will know off the top, it's yours. So, without asking about it, you are securing your date more and more. You might even get them excited about it after a few calls and emails. Email them, yes. But call at least ONCE a week. And NO! Not at 7pm or 10pm. Yeah, you know they'll be there at those times, but a call from you during their business hours, will net you an enemy. You want find a formidable ally in these venues when you do plan you tour, get it?

150 for you isn't bad, you can charge 1 or 2 dollars for the show or make it free (which will increase the number of the crowd), If you charge, it is only fair to cut the locals in if you can.

Other than that, the #1 GOLDEN RULE is:

If the touring act is only seeing a small guarantee, the locals should not expect pay. Especially if the touring act does all of the promotion, this usually happens.

For the sake of starting networks and relationships; If you are able to put up the touring act at your place, you should. You would want the same love shown to you, I promise. IF you do a two week tour, and you secure a 150 dollar rider at all of the venues... And you take two rest days during that time (you will need them), your gross will be 1800 dollars.

Subtract about 500-600 for gas and lodging, it could be up to $700 if no one puts you up. You still have 1200 dollars more or less, for two weeks of shows preceded by 4 months of late nights and planning. Horrible, but if it's worth it to you, it gets better. You will begin to make more with this type of rider-style touring.

But since we're hip hop acts, we can't ask for the moon in some of these regions across North America. Keep it realistic, and they will bite. They will pay you more the next time if you put together one hell of a show. It has happened to me. And I know I'm not some special isolated incident. It happens all of the time.

A less appealing method and mixed rate of success, is liquor sale percentages. You ask for 10 percent for any sales over $1000. If you promote it well, and can get the venue to make some cheap fruity shot (you want the females on location to like it) or bomb in your name, you can see alcohol sales get to the levels both of you want to see, it is a risk, they may not do it. Or nobody comes and you make a Twenty.

So manage your expectations.