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    How to Make a Living as a Gigging Musician
    How to Make a Living as a Gigging Musician
    How to Make a Living as a Gigging Musician
    Ebook94 pages1 hour

    How to Make a Living as a Gigging Musician

    By Brian Kelly

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    About this ebook

    Many musicians aspire to pursue their love of music by attempting to find some sort of job in the "music industry". However, many times they end up doing something related to music but not actually involving live playing. In reality that is what they really want to do, but live performing has the reputation of not being the most lucrative career path in the world.

    I had that same mindset before as well. I didn't think that I could actually make a living through gigging with my band. Therefore I opted to do things such as give guitar lessons, become a guitar technician, and even concert stage design.

    I realized one day that what I REALLY wanted to be doing what to be performing live gigs several nights per week. It took a couple of years, but I am now doing exactly that. I make enough money from playing, and I gig often enough that I now consider it my full-time job!

    As fun as it is to play live gigs several nights a week, it is still a business. I am constantly making new contacts, and getting my band into new venues. I do a little work with booking agents, but I mostly book all of my own gigs.

    In this book I touch on all of the important business aspects of "playing as a job":

    - Creating the right product
    - Marketing techniques
    - Negotiating techniques
    - Building a following of fans
    - Acquiring new gigs
    - Maintaining ongoing relationships
    - Weekly gigs (aka. "verticals")
    - Monthly and bi-monthly gigs
    - Expected payment

    ....and lots more!

    I've been doing this for about 15 years now, and while I really do love playing, I still look at it from a strict business standpoint. Because of that mentality, I play 3 to 5 well-paying gigs per week on average. It's basically my full-time job, and I love it!

    If you are looking to pursue the lifestyle of a gigging musician, this book may be just what you need!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrian Kelly
    Release dateJan 31, 2013
    ISBN9781301171545
    How to Make a Living as a Gigging Musician
    Author

    Brian Kelly

    As of the age of 30 I decided to become self-employed. My goal was to design my life so that I could make my full time "job" (if you want to call it that) playing music. I now currently spend my extra free time writing books, blogging, training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and playing music. All of my books generally contain one underlying theme - "Live how you choose to".

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      Book preview

      How to Make a Living as a Gigging Musician - Brian Kelly

      How to Make a Living

      As a Gigging Musician

      By

      Brian Kelly

      SMASHWORDS EDITION

      * * * * *

      PUBLISHED BY:

      Brian Kelly on Smashwords

      How to Make a Living

      As a Gigging Musician

      Copyright © 2013 by Brian Kelly

      Discover other titles by Brian Kelly at Smashwords.com

      The Artist and Musician’s Guide to Quitting Your Day Job

      51 Freelance Ideas (Free)

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      *****

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Chapter 1: Finding the Right Band

      Building Your Own Band

      Join a Pre-existing Band

      Cover Bands vs. Original Bands

      Specific Things to Look For

      Chapter 2: Making a Name for Yourself

      Building a Following

      Marketing Your Product

      Making Every Show a Special Event

      Always Maintain a Professional Appearance

      Chapter 3: Acquiring Paying Gigs

      Starting Small

      Know Your Worth

      Booking Agents

      Making Your Own Connections

      Chapter 4: Ongoing Business Relationships

      What Makes Them Invite You Back

      Don’t Flood the Area

      Recurring Monthly or Bi-Monthly Gigs

      The Vertical

      Private Parties and Clubs

      Holidays

      Never Burn Bridges

      Chapter 5: Investing Back Into the Band

      Taxes

      Registering as an LLC

      Conclusion

      Introduction

      Running any type of successful band is a business. Many people, especially those that are not performers themselves, do not realize this. The perception that many people have of what it is like to be in a band is only a small portion of what actually is involved. It is certainly a lot of fun to have the opportunity to get out there and play in front of lots of people, multiple times per week, all who are looking at you and cheering for you. Honestly, that alone has always been my main motivator that drove me to reach the point that I am at today. However, it took a lot of time, trial and error, and learning how to make the right moves in order to get to where I am at today. That is the part that many people don’t realize. It didn’t come from luck. Rather, it came from persistence, dedication, and learning from my many mistakes along the way.

      I am currently playing live gigs anywhere from 2 to 6 times per week. 4 per week is the norm for me. Each gig pays anywhere from $500 to $2000. We have two guaranteed shows every Wednesday and Sunday night. Those are called verticals, and I will get into much more detail about what a vertical is in Chapter 4. In addition to our two verticals, we play almost every Friday and Saturday night at various locations. Often times we play parties or private country clubs during the daytime on a weekend prior to a nighttime gig. Having multiple shows per day is not an uncommon thing for us anymore. Sometimes we are offered other random weeknight gigs as well. We play A LOT, and I love it!

      Our schedule is extremely packed, and I attribute this success all to two things – the fact that we have a great group of musicians who are all friends with each other, and the fact that we have been following a successful business model. In my opinion, both are equally as important. However the former is pretty much a given. Obviously, your band should be good, and you should all get along with one another. It is the latter that is not always so obvious. The fact that a band is a business, and should be treated as such is what a lot of people do not understand.

      Just look at any popular band and think of where the money is generated from. Take a band like Pearl Jam for instance. Every time they play a show, hundreds of thousands of people show up. All of those people are there spending money – ticket sales, shirts, drinks, food, CD’s, etc… The venues that they play at make some SERIOUS money when a band such as Pearl Jam performs there. Therefore, the venues are willing to pay top dollar to the band in order to get them to play there. If no one were to show up at the shows that they play, then they would not be in nearly as much demand. It makes sense.

      Now, I cannot guarantee that you will ever get to the point where you are as big as Pearl Jam, because I have not yet achieved that level of success myself. However, I can teach you how to get your band to the point where you are playing several times per week, and getting paid for every show, making a few thousand bucks per week on average. The model is very similar to that of a big band such a Pearl Jam, but it is just on a smaller scale. This model can be taken as far as you wish. It can cause you to reach the point that I have reached, or it can cause you to excel well beyond where we are. Who knows? If you make all of the right moves, and you approach this in an intelligent manner, maybe one day you could be selling out giant arenas like Pearl Jam or some other big name band does. It’s up to you, and how far you are willing to take it. It’s a matter of persistence and intelligent thinking.

      I’ve learned what I know over the period of about 12 years or so. I’ve played in all types of bands, and it wasn’t until about 5 years ago when I found my current band that I thought to myself, this is the one. Once I found the right band, I stuck with them, and we’ve overcome several obstacles in order to get to where we are at today. As I said, there was a lot of trial and error involved, and nothing ever came easy. It took a lot of time to figure these things out. By following the model that I lay out in this book, you can bypass many of the trials and errors that I experienced and significantly cut down the amount of time that it takes you to get to the point where you are playing several paying gigs per week.

      As with the music itself, this is a bit of an art form. The only way that you are ever going to learn all of the little intricacies of the business is by diving right in and doing it. Experience is by far the best teacher there is. However, having a nice guide with some solid advice to follow will significantly help you along the way in conjunction with your experience.

      I’m going to be explaining my business model in the form of

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