Festival Producer Hal Abramson Spells-Out Essential Concert and Festival Promotion Tips for 2010

PRLog (Press Release) - Feb 05, 2010 -
Before you dive into the finer points of promoting anything, it’s wise to have a reality check first. In speaking to hundreds of promoters or wannabe promoters, common misunderstandings have emerged. Some are old preconceptions, some have come out of this “I want it now” world. Not so fast.

What are you in such a rush for? Promoting a festival in 3 months or a concert next month is a great way to lose all of your money. Take your time.  The longer you take, the better your chances of success. Time to align the myriad of details, approach sponsors, figure out the market and most of all, secure proper funding, will all contribute to a more sane experience. Rush and pay more, have less done well and increase your stress level unnecessarily. It’s stressful enough already, making crucial mistakes on the front end will reverberate through the entire promotion.

1.   FUNDING: Attempting to pay for a festival with ticket sales or sponsors is fraud. You need a certain amount of core funding no matter what event you do. Have you established a company, obtained a Federal Tax ID number, a checking account and retained a lawyer yet? Promoting without a lawyer’s legal advice in these times is nuts.

2.   COST/ REVENUE SHEET: Do you know the amount of funding you need? The ticket price, the breakeven point, the net and gross potential can only be determined once you complete a cost and revenue sheet FIRST.

3.    VENUE: You can’t do a cost sheet until you’ve interviewed the venue manager and determined exactly what the venue provides. An entire list of questions must be first answered before you call the talent agent. What avails. (available dates) does the venue have? Do this out of order and you will reveal to the talent agent the amateur that you are. Are you aware that the venue requires references from other similar size venues?

4.    TALENT: How can you talk to the talent agent until you have the first 3 items addressed? Without  doing your homework through industry resources like PollstarPro, how do you know what the act is even worth. Determining how many seats the act you are bidding on can fill, largely determines which venue you need. Don’t get emotionally attached to one act. Book a cost level of of performer instead. All $50,000. Acts will
generally have a history of filling the same number of seats.    

These 4 items need to be decided and acted upon first before you can go to the next step. See a complete Promoter Order of Action at Hal’s informative promoting web site: www.concert-promotions.com

Speaking to new promoters with dreams of promoting concerts or music festivals almost every day, Hal Abramson offers initial consultations for free. “What’s so amazing is after reading my book and hearing my advice, more than 90% of all clients still make critical mistakes. They will learn the hard way. Seems like they order the book, only read the parts they like and ignore some of the less interesting legal and professional considerations.” Abramson says.

Hal’s helpful web site offers his successful How Not To Promote Concerts & Music Festivals, 345 pages, and his recently published more concise How To Promote Concerts Simplified, 140 pages. Hal uses his 35 years of promoting experience to help new and established promoters, everyday.