INDUSTRY RESEARCH : VENUES
WHAT CAN A VENUE DO FOR AN ARTIST?
Performing at the right venue can be the difference between a huge payday and cancelling a tour, both the artist and the promoters have a lot to lose if they make the mistake of playing a venue that's not appropriate.
There are many different categories to consider with capacities, stage types, costs and popularity. Up and coming unsigned local artists generally play at bars in their local communities. These venues tend to have capacities of 50 to 250 and might have an open mic night or a house band. These venues are a great place to develop your stage presence and get used to the logistics of performing live. The income is not the major driving force at this stage unless it's the weekend and even then it will probably just cover the night's expenses.
When a local act gets tired of opening or closing a local bar and they have a big enough fan base and budget they will venture into moving to a venue like a casino, ballroom, auditorium, hall, playhouse or even a hotel, market or zoo where they might have an audience of 250-1000. If the band can deliver the entire audience themselves they may be able to run their own shows but this is rather difficult to do while playing at the same time. At this stage the band can begin to build the stamina and momentum needed to master their own music and get a manager to help them grow.
Now, the more enterprising artists will use a manager or booking agent from the start and provided their chops are up to par will get entry into larger community sponsored events like performing arts centers, county fairs, small theaters, cabarets, pavilions, band-shells, amphitheaters or outdoor festivals which offer multiple bands and stages. Local festivals will need to fill 3 or 4 stages and can potentially drive 1,000 to 5,000 attendees providing the opening acts with a large audience. Entry into these festivals can cost a band from $500 to $1500 but it is a well worth expense as they can exploit their attendance socially, gain new fans while making themselves available to possible label and publishing scouts at the festival. Unfortunately, these events are held yearly only so if the band can plan ahead the momentum from these events can lead to A&R representation or publisher interest if nothing else it can lead to participating in even larger festivals like SXSW in Texas or Boonaro in Tennessee.
Moving to the big shows requires that you be signed and managed by a large label or publisher that can sell thousands of tickets to the larger theaters with capacities of 5 to 10 thousand seats. Hockey arenas and national baseball fields accommodate from 20 to 60 thousand patrons and the largest football fields have capacities from 60,000 to 100,000 fans. Go NFL!!! The biggest seating venues are found in car racing with the Indy 500 holding upwards of 250,000 paying customers. Certainly very difficult to entertain that many folks :-)
So, indeed the right venue can do a lot for a new or established artist. Sometimes just knowing that your favorite artist played there also is reward enough, ie CBGBs, Troubadour or House of blues.
WHERE ARE THE MOST VENUES?
According to the www.TheIndieVenueBible.com there are more than 30,000 Venues, over 3,000 Booking Agents, with more than 3,000 festivals and 2,000 colleges that are always looking for a few good artists. They break the list into regions, states and cities as depicted below...
REGION STATES Agents Venues Population
Northeast NY, NJ, PA, CT, MA, RI, VT, NH, ME, DE 400 5,200 65 Million
Northcentral IL, IN, KY, MI, WI, OH, IA has the most 290 4,900 50 Million
Southeast DC, FL, MD, GA, NC, SC, TN, AL, MS, VA 240 4,800 72 Million
Southcentral TX, LA, OK, CO, AR, KS, MO 250 3,900 50 Million
Northwest WA, AK, WY, MN, NE, ND, SD, ID, OR,MT120 2,500 26 Million
Southwest CA, AZ, NV, UT, HI, NM 370 3,500 56 Million
Some of the best cities for artist have a mix of population densities and supply chain support. I am referring to cities that emulate the Music City. Nashville, Tennessee has more than 180 recording studios, 130 music publishers, 100 live music clubs and 80 Recoding labels. California and New York have similar reputations as music capitals but much larger populations and venues and the biggest music conferences take place in Miami with the Winter Music Conference as well as Texas with the South by South West at the start of every spring.
Other metropolitan cities where the cultural diversity, per capita incomes and population densitties converge follow below.
Metropolis State Musical Acts Population
New York City NY 115,767 8.0.M of 19M
Los Angeles CA 175,083 4 0 M of 37M
San Diego CA 46,267 2.0 M of 37M
Austin TX 35,953 1,0 M of 25M
Chicago IL 69,963 2.8 M of 12M
Phoenix AZ 35,293 1.5 M of 06M
Philadelphia PA 45,508 1.5 M of 12M
Washington DC 41,518 600 K of 600K
Seattle WA 37,224 600 K of 07M
Atlanta GA 41,747 500 K of 10M
Las Vegas NV 27,513 500 K of 03M
Miami FL 33,637 2.3 M of 18M
Tampa FL 28,339 300 K of 18M
Newark NJ 26,443 300 K of 09M
research conducted using the Bureau of Labor Statistics at www.bls.gov, the 2010 US Census at www.census.gov and The Indie Bible at www.indievenuebible.com.
WHICH VENUES GENERATE THE MOST REVENUE?
Until you get signed by a record label like Sony, RCA, Mercury Nashville, MCA, Warner Brothers, Capitol, and Columbia or you get a publishing deal from the likes of Universal Music Publishing Warner-Chappell Music and you get famous you will not gain entry into the largest International or national stadiums and arenas hosting 10,000 seats or more. However, you or your manager can book shows during of-nights at local/regional festivals, bars, clubs and smaller parks and recreation venues like amphitheatres until you have the capital to invest on these larger venue.
TOP INTERNATIONAL
Venues State Capacity Owner-Promoter
The O2 Arena UK - London 20,000 AEG
Barclays Center NY - Brooklyn 17,732 FCRC/AEG
The Wells Fargo Center PA - Philadelphia 19,500 Global Spectrum
Palais Omnisports FR - Paris 17,000 AEG
Staples Center CA - Los Angeles 19,079 AEG
TOP NORTH AMERICAN VENUES
Venues / Promoters State Capacity Owner-Promoter
Barclays Center NY - Brooklyn 17,732 FCRC/AEG
Staples Center CA - Los Angeles 19,079 AEG
American Airlines Arena FL - Miami 19,600 Basketbal Properties/AEG
The Wells Fargo Center PA - Philadelphia 19,500 Global Spectrum
Sprint Center MO - Kansas City 18,500 Kansas City/AEG
Prudential Center NJ - Newark 18,711 Apollo/AEG
MOST SOUTH FLORIDA EVENTS
Venues / Promoters State Capacity Owner-Promoter
Bi-Centennial Park FL - Miami 45,000 Miami-Dade County
Bank Atlantic Center FL - Sunrise 20,737 County-Sunrise Sports Ent
American Airlines Arena FL - Miami 19,600 County-Basketball Properties
Broward Center Au Rene FL - Ft-Lauderdale 02,700 Broward County
Dreyfoos Hall FL - Palm Beach 02,195 Palm Beach County
Fillmore Theater FL - Miami 02,500 County-LIVE NATION
research conducted using data reported by both Billboard magazine and PollStar at www.billboard.com www.pollstar.com
HOW MUCH DOES RENTING A VENUE COST?
Obviously the bigger the event the higher the investment and operational costs. Take for example the Ultra Music festival run by Russell Faibisch. Production costs might reach $25-30 million dollars this year but when he started it in 1999 at the age of 21 and still attending Florida International University, he borrowed 10k from the bank and drew 10,000 fans. In 2014 he is expected to attract 300,000 fans and 300 performers. It might generate as much as 25 million a day or 75 million dollars in economic activity for the city of Miami including the rental of the Bayfront-Bicentennial Park and other city services. His event alone brings in 12% of the total revenue for the parks operator and $500,000 on top of the previous $600,000 he payed for almost 200 police officers to patrol the event. Rental for the park should last 15 days from set-up to breakdown and cost another $250,000 or 15K per day. ( According to an NHL report on arenas the cost of operating an arena ranges from 6 million a year for small arenas 6K or less to 16 million for 20k+ which is equal to a monthly cost of 500k-1.3 million usd. The figures below are per day based on an NBA report wich found operational costs of $700-800 usd per seat for much larger arenas of 20-40k seats. Leasing payments for rental ranged from $3-7 million per year while there are many venues that publically price their venues online others handle it privately. )
Below are a few estimates based on this research and other public rental information on some of South Florida's most popular venues.
Venues / Promoters Capacity Operator Rental Fees
Bicentennial Park 45,000 Bayfront Park Trust $7K-15K+
Bank Atlantic Center 20,737 Broward/SSE/BBT $10k-40k +
American Airlines Arena 19,600 Basketball Properties $20k-40K +
Broward Center Au Rene 2,700 Broward County Greater of 10K or 10% tkts ( * ** )
Dreyfoos Hall 2,195 Palm Beach County $7k-15k + $1-3 tkt + fee ( * )
Fillmore Theater 2,500 LIVE NATION Varies on Season and Style
Parker Playhouse 1,168 Broward County $2.5k + 3.5% tkts + fee ( ** or $1K)
* Services Included : Single performance of 4 hrs with Box Office Services, House Management, Internal Security, Existing Sound and Lighting Inventory.
** Extra Charges : Front office, Security and Cleaning $100-150 per hour,
4% of Credit Card processing 10% Group Sales 25% Merchandise
4% Production Fees + Drapes, Lights Sound, Spots, Mics, Pianos...
*** Not Included : Stage Labor, Extraordinary sound/lighting equipment rental, Props, Credit card charges, Insurance, Sales Tax, Ticket Surcharge, Traffic Control (external), Piano/Piano tuning, Spotlights $50-150 Fees.
**** Bar and Catering : Hosted Bar Beer & Wine $10 per hour per person top Shelf $20
Catering HORS D’OEUVRES $30-50 per dz ( Butler, BBQ Luau
20% Gratuity and sales Tax extra
