gig promoters promoting Irish bands (1 Viewer)

[rettucs]

Just an observation that got me wondering. Is it just assumed that the bigger gig promoters in Ireland are specifically there for overseas acts playing here?

It seems to me that if you look through the listings for gigs on aitken, MCD or even Foggy Notions, you won't see many Irish acts listed.

I'm not having a go here. Far from it. Those promoters (2 of them anyway), do a great job in putting on excellent shows. Its just a question, thats all.

I'm not in a band. I've never been in a band. I'm never likely to be in a band. But I do go to lots of gigs so would have a good idea of whats on. It seems Irish bands either have to promote their own gigs or else some smaller promoter (most likely operating from a shoestring budget) put them on. On the face of it this would seem quite limiting.

Should the bigger promoters be getting involved in putting on more gigs featuring local acts?

An obvious reason why they wouldn't is that they're likely to lose money on such a gig. With MCD and (maybe) Aitken, I'd imagine this is reason enough for them not to touch such a venture with a barge pole. I knew a guy who promoted gigs a couple of years back. He said that he'd maybe make money on 1 gig a year, and that gig would cover the cost of the losses of all the other gigs he put on. But it didn't stop him doing it. He loved the music, and loved that he was putting these acts on for the few people that were interested.

Anyway, thats what I'm thinking about this monday morning.

 

[dudley]

foggy deffo do a decent amount of irish only line ups
i'd say mcd do too, with the likes of the coronas/bell x1 etc

 

[Foggy]

MCD, Aiken Promotions, POD, the venues directly and the smaller promoters all put on a lot of Irish acts. But quite often a local act is in a better position to promote their own shows and there's no reason why they shouldn't just do it themselves.

Just an observation that got me wondering. Is it just assumed that the bigger gig promoters in Ireland are specifically there for overseas acts playing here?

It seems to me that if you look through the listings for gigs on aitken, MCD or even Foggy Notions, you won't see many Irish acts listed.

I'm not having a go here. Far from it. Those promoters (2 of them anyway), do a great job in putting on excellent shows. Its just a question, thats all.

I'm not in a band. I've never been in a band. I'm never likely to be in a band. But I do go to lots of gigs so would have a good idea of whats on. It seems Irish bands either have to promote their own gigs or else some smaller promoter (most likely operating from a shoestring budget) put them on. On the face of it this would seem quite limiting.

Should the bigger promoters be getting involved in putting on more gigs featuring local acts?

An obvious reason why they wouldn't is that they're likely to lose money on such a gig. With MCD and (maybe) Aitken, I'd imagine this is reason enough for them not to touch such a venture with a barge pole. I knew a guy who promoted gigs a couple of years back. He said that he'd maybe make money on 1 gig a year, and that gig would cover the cost of the losses of all the other gigs he put on. But it didn't stop him doing it. He loved the music, and loved that he was putting these acts on for the few people that were interested.

Anyway, thats what I'm thinking about this monday morning.

 

[rettucs]

I know I'm coming at this from a position of total ignorance, but I guess why this came to mind is moreso because of the following;

- cost
- advertising.

of course anyone can book a venue, print off a few posters and play their gig. But, given the possibility of losing out financially, would bands be reluctant to do this at least on a semi-regular basis?

I'm thinking back to the lad I knew. He put on these bands and absorbed much of the cost of doing so. The money from the bigger gigs offset the losses from the smaller ones. So, rather than just facilitating the gig by organising the venue, etc, he was also doing a certain amount of advertising (via a mailout, website, etc), as well as easing the financial risks.

Acknowledged that some of the promoters mentioned do put on Irish bands, but is it the case that they'll only do so if each and every gig they put on is likely to make money?

And just to repeat, I'm not having a go here. These promoters, FN most especially (in my view), are owed a debt of gratitude. I'm just asking the question to bands I guess. Is the perception there that these promoters are somewhat out-of-bounds in terms of being an option of getting a gig put on.

On the advertising thing - the likes of MCD have a mailout and website that I'm sure hundreds of people read intently every week. Getting a mention on that would, I'm sure, be worth more than any amount of posters you could print off.

 

[billygannon]

I don't think this is true. I think that in recent years bigger promoters have been putting on more Irish acts in support slots.

 

[ann post]

But quite often a local act is in a better position to promote their own shows and there's no reason why they shouldn't just do it themselves.

on the whole, i agree with you - but from experience - the point where you stop being just songwriter/musician and move being songwriter/musician/manager/promoter/schmoozer possibly isn't the healthiest step in terms of making good music. some people are made for it, some aren't.

 

[daveTOM]

Might be 4 months late but anyone interested in promoting their music/gigs is going to like this; The-Open-Mic.com is a new site for irish bands to promote their music and very soon their gigs. With the gigs section nearing completion.

We use facebook and twitter to advertise gigs too with a fast growing following and more an more bands every week we hope to bridge the gap between garage bands and the monster of a music industry

www.The-Open-Mic.com

 

[ajlard]

Hi, i'm representing a young but very talented glasnevin band called REMOTE STRANGERS. They ve just finished recording a 5track EP which is available to download ( or listen to) from soundcloud.com or the remote strangers facebook page. Any help or advice we can get regarding gigging and promotion would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

 

[east hastings]

Hi, i'm representing a young but very talented glasnevin band called REMOTE STRANGERS. They ve just finished recording a 5track EP which is available to download ( or listen to) from soundcloud.com or the remote strangers facebook page. Any help or advice we can get regarding gigging and promotion would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

if you want someone to listen to the music, add a link to where you can listen

 

[damien]

new members can't post links.

 

[pete]

they can, but the posts get moderated. it's because of them spammers.

after about 5 posts the moderation stops.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

Hi, i'm representing a young but very talented glasnevin band called REMOTE STRANGERS. They ve just finished recording a 5track EP which is available to download ( or listen to) from soundcloud.com or the remote strangers facebook page. Any help or advice we can get regarding gigging and promotion would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

glasnevin, rock n roll central..

 

[east hastings]

they can, but the posts get moderated. it's because of them spammers.

after about 5 posts the moderation stops.

oh right, fair play

 

[pete]

Need to establish yourself as a trustworthy poster first. Just like the credit union. Sort of.

 

[GO]

http://soundcloud.com/search?q[fulltext]=remote+strangers

 

[ann post]

- cost
- advertising.

of course anyone can book a venue, print off a few posters and play their gig. But, given the possibility of losing out financially, would bands be reluctant to do this at least on a semi-regular basis?

On that note, I've been throwing the idea around of setting up a fund-it page for the next gig we do.

 

[rettucs]

On that note, I've been throwing the idea around of setting up a fund-it page for the next gig we do.

aim big friend. Set it up to raise 20 grand and book the point depot on new years eve

 

[ann post]

aim big friend. Set it up to raise 20 grand and book the point depot on new years eve

Also considering a 'fund the rest of my life' campaign. I think it would work better long term than coming back every year or two looking for a few grand to put out a record. I just need a one time payment of about 500,000 to cover the rest of my musical endeavors.