Entertainment Industry Insider

My bands going to Canada. We have a van and plan to bring our merch with us. We hear it’s a tough border crossing so what can I do to make it easier?
                                          -Ryan. Phoenix, AZ

Make sure you have all your paper work in order prior to pulling up to the check point. Make sure you have every piece of equipments serial number listed on the correct forms. Have copies of all the forms you’ve filled out. Make sure you’re not drunk or stoned. Don’t try to take drugs oranything questionable into the country, the officers will find them. If you think you’ve hidden it in an amazing spot they will never find, then Lassie is going to find it. Ship your merchandise in advance to a friend or the promoter so you don’t have to worry about taxing. Rockstar attitude may be a nice novelty onstage but be polite because they already hate bands at the borders. Reason to come into the country?… tourist.

I’m a promoter in a smaller market but have been moving up to do larger shows. How much do I really need to do for the band and their crew? I mean I’m paying them and they still want me to feed everybody. What are they doing with the money I’m giving them?
                                           -AJ. Salt Lake City, Utah

Larger acts on tour spend the entire day in your building or venue. This is after riding on buses all night long. They are looking forward to breakfast before putting up truckloads of equipment and lighting that will make your show a success. They don’t usually leave until after 2am so it’s their home for the day. And when you see things such as “bus stock” on the rider it means the food and beverages that gets the act from your city to the next. Then it’s the next promoter’s problem. Trying to cut costs on feeding them makes you look like an amateur. You’re not in this by yourself and no ones trying to take advantage of you. You wouldn’t expect to be on a flight for 6 hours without someone feeding you so you cannot
expect someone to be doing your show for over half a day and not provide them with meals.

My band is not a band that can get their own plane like Iron Maiden. We have to fly commercial. Why is it such a god damn pain to fly?

-Rylan. Philly, PA

Oh yeah. I’ve seen guys like you there. Here’s the deal:

1) If you’re body looks like it got attacked by a tackle box, remove all of the jewelry BEFORE you get the airport. There is also no reason to wear 3 studded belts, a neck collar, and chains to fly to the next city. I’m sure you look really hardcore onstage but you’re sitting on a flight for 3 hours and going through multiple check points with metal detectors, time to be normal.

2) Don’t be drunk, high, and stupid. It might be cute onstage for your fans but not for the security men with stun guns who have been working the past eight hours straight.

3) “Carry on” means carry on. Not that Marshall bottom you love so much. What they say is what they mean, if it can’t get into that clear carryon box, it’s not walking on the plane with you.

4) If you’re lucky enough to have a tour manager have him pre-check everyone in. He can manage all the documents and be able to give everyone their stuff at security. Make him the last person through in case there are any problems. He should also have copies of everyone passports, tickets, and anything else associated with the trip.

5) Yes you have to go through like everyone else. Don’t wait for the second before you get to the scanners and metal detectors to take off your shoes, belt, or take your keys out of your jacket. There are real grownups there that know how to fly and don’t want to wait for you.

6) Be polite. I know you’re a rockstar but Slash doesn’t even throw up in airports anymore. Acting like a spoiled singer will get you no where in life, especially in an airport. The better behaved you are the smoother the experience it will be.

7) Finally, don’t get too drunk on the plane because you probably have to go to work when you land, you’re not on vacation.

I’ve called a lot of agencies because I want to do a show with Garth Brooks. I was also interested in doing Reba McEntire and several other artists like them since country is big here. The people I’ve talked to will not return my calls or give me any type of prices or availabilities. I’m willing to pay more then double what I’ve heard they’re asking. This has also happened with the auditorium in town. Is this an exclusive club or am I missing something?

-Lisa. Houston, TX

Most major venues that do that acts such as Garth, Reba, a Justin Timberlake, or Madonna have exclusive promoters who book for that room. These are promoters who buy bulk dates with the act at the beginning of the tour then promote them throughout the world. The reason these artists don’t use independent promoters is because these companies will buy 30 dates through the country to 100 dates worldwide and still pay a premium price. The other variable is that most of these promoters have had ongoing relationship for upwards of an entire bands career span. They are friends with the bands management, agents, and the band members themselves. The artists’ management is not willing to take a chance on a new promoter in a new market that would jeopardize this long standing relationship. The best idea would be to look for artists that aren’t top shelf acts, something maybe more along the middle range to promote and get started with. A lot of these acts will fall “under” the exclusive promoter radar and are available to do smaller venues with generally the same amount of profit.

Hey Bill. I’ve promoted a couple of shows with some local bands and I’m moving up to do some concerts. A friend of mine in the concert business says you have to pay for food, drinks, hotels, and a bunch of other crap. What’s up with that, if I’m paying the band shouldn’t they buy their own stuff?

One of the things we do unlike any other agency is we created what is called a “turn key package”. The turn key package enables us to handle all those details you’ve mentioned. A lot of new promoters are not familiar on how to do these things. That’s why we specialize in making things easy so they can concentrate on selling tickets and making money. You can always outsource all these different items as a promoter. But as a young promoter most vendors will try to take advantage of you not knowing if you’re coming back for show number two. What I would advise is you let us handle all the details and you deal with selling tickets and making enough money to pay me. By the way I’m going to need a well done cheese pizza at 2pm and a six pack of Redbull at 6pm in my office.

I’ve recently gotten married and I’m in a band that goes out on the road frequently. We aren’t huge but we tour pretty decently on our own. My wife wants to come out on the road to be our merch person and help us organize things. The other members are totally against it.  

Um……Yoko Ono / Spinal Tap / Nooooo!

I’ve been looking on Pollstar and as a young promoter I’ve been calling the major agencies to book their acts but I can’t get anyone to call me back. I have the money and want to book stadium acts with people like Christina Aguilera, Miley Cyrus, or the Eagles. How do I get these people to get back to me?

 -Jeff, Riverside, CA

Major agencies deal with established customers who they have a comfort level with. People such as us at Booking Entertainment fit into this category. We’ve done many shows with these agencies in many different situations. When we call them they know it’s something that will happen and something we will produce for them so they have nothing to worry about. If you are wanting to book these types of shows without a track record it will be very difficult for agent to respond to you. You can contact us regarding booking if you need so we have relationships with agencies world wide.

I don’t get it. I’m in one of the best bands around and we aren’t famous yet. We rule over all of those bands that MTV plays. I keep calling all these companies and leaving my contact information and no one ever calls me back. The big booking agencies tell me that someone will get back to me but then nothing. Your company has even gotten at least six emails from me. Why will no one call me back?

As much as we would like to work with new and young acts, our main business is providing full concert solutions for corporate events and promoters with major acts. Developing young acts, it’s not really what we do. We are seldom called on to provide “opening acts” for concerts and when we do it always a name act. My advice is to not call the larger agencies or companies. Look for someone in a smaller capacity to develop your act into what it should be. Do not give up and keep working hard on your dream. Give me a call if you’re playing in the neighborhood (NYC) and can buy me a beer.

How do I get equipment endorsements so I get free stuff for my band? We’d be willing to advertise the company on our Myspace and website. Who do we contact about this?

-Jimmy. Anchorage, AK

Hey, just what Ampeg is looking for! A link on a myspace or bands website that gets 20 hits a day! They sell major music equipment so of course they would love to be showing their gear off at Buttheads Bar and Grille every other Friday night. On the bright side there are many companies, usually regional who may be interested in giving you some type of endorsement or gear. The best thing to do is research. They are going to want to know where you’re playing, how many people you’re drawing, and what time of advantage it would be to have you as an endorsee. Most major endorsements are handled by the bands production manager or individual tech. Those pictures of people you don’t know in guitar magazine endorsements are exactly that, people you don’t know. Is Fender giving you a deal if you’re not on tour? No. But you may get some strings at cost. Good luck trying to round up some free junk.

My band is starting to play bars and junk. We need to get backstage passes right?

-Brian. Lexington, KY

Great question, do you think the bar you’re playing at is going to need to see some credentials when you go to the bathroom? Or is this just something to wear around the bar to get a girl to talk to you? Either way if you’re not on a tour playing venues that will be checking them there’s no reason to have them. It makes you look pretty stupid. If you haven’t gotten a girl to notice you while you were onstage, her possibly spotting your laminate after the show probably won’t help you at all.