INDUSTRY RESEARCH : PROMOTERS
WHERE ARE THEY MOST ACTIVE?
Of-course the bigger venues will always reside in popular metropolitan areas with higher population densities and education levels with more disposable incomes. Costal states like California ( the 7th largest economy in the world and a population of 45 million ) New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Florida and Georgia have been mecas for the music industry for decades but even central states like Texas, Tennessee, Illinois and Michigan make themselves known for their large populations and cultural diversity. Among the most popular cities are Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Dallas, Nashville, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, New York, Washington, Atlanta and Miami.
Today's promoters know these demographics well and have been consolidating with mergers and acquisitions for more than a decade offering artists a One Stop shopping experience that provides both Venue and Promotion across the nation and even globally. For an artist or band the appeal of this approach is obvious and translates into the biggest acts dealing exclusively with these top tier.
But what if you are a mid-size venue / promoter in the business who can deliver quality promotions on your own or third party facilities? You can focus on niche, alternative markets through single promotions or through multi-city / multi-venue "block bookings" either on your own or with the larger promoters.
But what if you are a mid-size venue / promoter in the business who can deliver quality promotions on your own or third party facilities? You can focus on niche, alternative markets through single promotions or through multi-city / multi-venue "block bookings" either on your own or with the larger promoters.
If you are a small Local or Regional promoter the best way to produce and present an artist is to maximize every show by targeting the full potential of the market and the venue. Your intent is to account for every seat, every ticket, every marketing opportunity and merchandising sale as to minimize costs for everyone including the artists. Increasing profitability can be achieved by focusing on Digital Marketing of both exclusive venues and the artists position in those markets. Developing a network of alliances with other agents, promoters, labels and marketers will help you maximize each opportunity to sell out a venues total capacity and develop your regional audience
The best approach to take is to Act locally but think Globally since there’s a gap between the artist who is being promoted through a national touring platform and the artist who is being secured solely for a single date in the local market. The promoters must adapt the national touring platform to a regional one and vise-versa. Offering multi-city and multi-venue to artists who aren’t on a national tour and promoting national up and coming artists through individual dates in their region.
This flexible approach allows the promoter to capture a string of artists and dates that can support and synergize each other creating unique cross marketing, sales and merchandising opportunities in any venue space. These venues have seen the bigger acts migrate to the ONE Stop shops and have had to open their doors with lower price points and more localized acts.
This can certainly be a source of sustainable incomes in the era of iTunes, Pandora and YouTube and has been best exemplified by the Summer Music festivals we discussed last year on my digital marketing blog and this year starting March 1 at TheWirelessCowbot.tv and WPLV24.
