In the summer of 2013 I went on what would be my very last tour as an artist. I toured the cities of New Orleans, Houston, Austin, and Dallas for my album Next Round which was released through my then imprint, 2nd City Entertainment. When I finally made it back to my hometown of Houston from Dallas on a Mega Bus I remember looking at my bank account seeing that I barely broke even from the tour. Yes I did sell copies of my CD and ticket but it wasn’t enough to have me rolling around in dough. Once things finally settled I went back to assess why I didn’t make more money and it became painfully obvious what the issue was. No one in most of the territories knew who I was nor did I tell them.
In New Orleans I had the chance to perform at a beat battle. At this time I was trying to balance being a creative in two fields. In one, I had about 7 years of experience and knew what the role entailed. When it came to performances I had done well over 50 shows and had my own system that I would implement at every show.
- Arrive at the venue one hour before my performance
- Meet the promoter(s) and shake hands with everyone involved
- Buy the DJ a drink and exchange contact info. (The DJ’s became very important for me because through them I could meet other artists and do features to get my name out there.)
- Perform my 10–15 minute set
- Setup in the corner to sell copies of my album
- Take pics and make sure everyone is tagged in my photos and theirs
- Watch 3 more performances and network with the artists I thought were dope
- Head home and make sure I set a reminder to follow up with everyone 3 days later
This system helped me tremendously when on the road, especially when I was part of a live band. Most of the people I networked with during those days I still keep in contact with now. Not to flex, but it’s the reason why I’ve never paid for a ticket to SXSW all these years. I’m pretty sure after this pandemic that probably won’t be the case anymore.
Even though I had this system anyone who gives it a once over can obviously see that there’s nothing in there that speaks about promoting oneself before the show or anything about connecting with avid music listeners. This is something that is very common with artists. It’s easy to connect with another artist or producer because the relationship will be beneficial through collaboration, but most artists feel the only thing they can present to a common listener is “buy my merch.” Here’s a few things you can do to establish a relationship with someone that may become a fan later.
- Introduce yourself: This sounds like common sense but you’d be surprised how many artists, including yourself, probably don’t do this at a venue. People buy tickets to see local artists just like they would to see Beyoncé or Billie Eilish so why not take the time to meet a few of them. You’re going to be waiting around to go on stage anyway and like most artists you’re probably studying the crowd’s reaction to see what works and what doesn’t. There’s going to be downtime. Go say hello!
- Setup a Merch Table: Most promoters won’t have a problem with this as long as it’s not in the way. In fact, I’ve seen a few even encourage it because they feel it would enhance the patron’s experience. Having a few shirts or even CD’s, tapes, or vinyls on the table will make you standout. Your goal is to leave an impression and sometimes the sound system doesn’t capture the dynamics of the mix or those low adlibs that you fancy so much. Don’t leave anything to chance. Find a way to standout. One time I told an artist that I produced a record for that he should get a 5 foot banner printed up at Kinko’s with an RFQ code that will take people to his album so that they can have a digital copy. Just a few ideas that you can run with.
- Email List: Anyone who tells you that an email list isn’t worth probably hasn’t built up a fan base before. I’m pretty sure the people in the venue have one and when you introduce yourself simply ask. 50% of the time people will sign up for it. The goal of the list isn’t to necessarily get people to buy anything from you, but to keep them updated.
Hopefully my story and a few of these bullet points will help you out the next time you hit the road. Apologize, the next time you are able to hit the road.
