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Every musician faces the initial angst of finding the right booking their first gig. The venue owner or promoter is basically someone that pays for your talent. The more people you bring in, the more tickets they sell, the more drinks they serve, the more money they make. Their top interest is you bringing in the numbers. So it's important not only to get the right venue for your band but also to be aware of promotion plans in order to prove to your promoter you can capture an audience.
Research, Research, Research
We can't emphasize enough how important searching out the right venue is. Think about your fan base and follow that lead. Don't book venues that don't fit your fan base. If you have a loyal following of 18 yr olds, obviously don't book a 21 yr. old + venue. Watch out for age restrictions and what type of demographic usually go to that venue. Check out the venues website in depth before you reach out.
Contacting the Venue
After you've researched and made a list of venues you'd like to play and have a good understanding of where you should begin, make sure your band is free on certain choice dates. Then it's time to contact the venue. If you're reaching out via email, keep it short, sweet and to the point. Put your band's name and the ideal date in the headline. Explain in the body what gigs you've played in the area and your success stories. If you have any personal connections to venue owner or promoter, mention them at this time.
Whether via email or phone call, once you book the venue, ask some pertinent questions to make sure that everything runs smoothly on the day of the event.
Availability and Rental fee are at the top of this list. How much is the rental fee? And do you they have availability on dates that matches yours? These questions alone may determine whether you’d like to keep pursuing this venue.
Also ask questions like:
- When can my show Start and when does it have to End?
- When can Doors open?
- What technical equipment do they provide if any?
- What time is the venue free for load in?
- What time can you sound check?
These are just a few examples of details you should know in advance. Many artists have a solid list of questions mapped out and on file for each time they book a venue. Each time you have a “gig day” you'll probably learn new things and most likely add new questions to the list for next time.
See if you can negotiate the rental price
Even though there may not be much flexibility in venue pricing, it's always worth a shot. Why not try and negotiate? Commonly there are two main factors that could help you get a better deal.
Factor 1
- Explain to the venue that you'll provide publicity for them before and after the show. If you're playing a local small venue you will most likely be doing most of your own promotion.
Publicity can change pricing. Plan ahead with ideas of how you promote the venue. Make a promotion plan. For example, this could be contacting a local radio station to see if they have an interview slot for you. This could be a win – win. Promoting yourself and the venue at the same time. Your social media channels and email list are important assets at this time. Spread the word.
Factor 2
- Convince the venue that you can bring in a good size crowd.
As mentioned before, for the promotor or venue owner, it's a numbers game. They want nothing more than to have a packed place where drinks are flowing.
A rental fee is usually a minimum amount that has to be made at the door. Proving you'll deliver a big crowd will show the venue that you can cover the door money and make extra income on drinks sales at the same time.
Signing a contract
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Many smaller venues will not have contracts but be sure to ask ahead of time.
Be aware that as you move into larger venues they will ask for a signed contract before the show. This contract will confirm the date for the show, payment details and any other special arrangements.
If the show falls through, you'll be liable for paying them the fee. So as always, make sure you read thoroughly contracts ahead of time and cover all bases.
So, Why A Membership?
Let’s face it — trying to create professional mixes without the correct knowledge, tools, services, and network is like playing a concert with a broken instrument to an audience of no one.
That’s where the Sage Audio membership comes in — the membership gives you everything you need to create professional mixes consistently.
The membership is the secret to your success — it’s the difference between the 1,929,999,999 of poor-sounding mixes and the .00000002% of mixes that make people say 'WOW!"
There are 7 unique value-points included in your Sage Audio membership.
Let’s go over each one so you can decide if the membership is right for you.
1. Sage Audio University
- SAU Flagship Mixing Course: 23-video in-depth mixing course that reveals the little-known secrets of mixing and matches the needs of the new music industry.
- SAU Flagship Mastering Course: 19-video in-depth modern mastering course that dives into every nuance of making professional-sounding masters.
- SAU Pre-Mastering Course: Concise pre-mastering course that details the latest industry standards for preparing your mixes for mastering.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from budding mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout each course.
- Each SAU course includes Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
- SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website and social channels.
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2. Private 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio private 1-on-1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us for advanced mixing feedback, in-depth discussions, and customized guidance that's tailored to your specific needs.
- Unlimited private access to us for advanced mixing feedback, where we provide detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Unlimited private access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve every aspect of your mixes and masters.
- Customized guidance that’s tailored specifically to your needs.
- Fast communication so you can improve your skills quickly.
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3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited professional mixing feedback directly from us so you can consistently improve your skills and create professional mixes.
- Mixing feedback is invaluable, and the Sage Audio membership gives you continual direct access to us for real-world feedback so you can improve every aspect of each of your mixes while you're in the process of mixing.
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4. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
- All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
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5. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with additional real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
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6. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
- 62 Recommended Free Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 39 Recommended Paid Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
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7. 800+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into categories so you can easily take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your skills at your own pace.
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