Arizona Based Music Venue Changes the Game on Pay-to-Play

June 11, 2010 - PRLog -- This includes not being promoted on fliers, posters, radio commercials, or other marketing collateral used to promote the event.

Launch Pad Music Venue is a national company offering promotional services to the artists they book. This enables the artists to gain exposure in a professional platform, and give artists access to media outlets that are often too expensive or unattainable. Media exposure is crucial to an artist's music career. Interviews with magazines and radio shows help artists reach a broader market.

"The business model is so unique that the sheer concept of it has caused a stir in the music industry," said DJ Hipnotik, the owner and founder of Launch Pad Music Venue.

A campaign by independent artists has formed where they are refusing to pay for performance spots, and are demanding promoters to stop charging them to perform.

"Most of the decisions against paying for performance spots derives from lack of information and knowledge of the music business, and not understanding what a music promoter's role is," added DJ Hipnotik. "Very few professional venues are willing to risk renting directly to artists. Even independent record labels must show they have a proven track record of bringing in a crowd before a venue grants use of their facilities. If an artist or label is able to book directly with a venue, then the venue will extract a price from the door and control ticket prices. It's just the nature of the business, the nature of the beast.  What artists don't realize is they still would be paying to play."

Launch Pad Music Venue was founded to give independent artists a professional platform to promote themselves. They add the artists to all of their promotional materials, including any radio and video commercials. The company has three booking tiers. They offer free, donation, and paid spots. If an independent artist is a bankable draw, then Launch Pad Music Venue will pay the artist.

"Independent music artists who can guarantee a crowd of 50 or more people can get paid. These deals are typically made through ticket and/or door sales, such as a split deal in favor of the artist. This deal is setup before the show in writing, where it's clear how much the artist will receive," confirmed DJ Hipnotik. "Special tracking is initiated to provide accurate sales numbers."

The Indie Survival Guide: The Complete Manual for the Do-It-Yourself Musician reported "you might have three hundred people on your mailing list, with only thirty coming out to see you on a show night. Only a fraction of your fans will ever attend any one of your shows. To get as large a draw as possible, you should always be trying to get new fans (page 224)."

Launch Pad Music Venue believes in exposing you. The business model was setup for independent artists looking to break into new markets and gain new fans.

"The main thing is exposing the artists to potential fans. We post the artist's photo, bio, and music to our official web site, and allow the artists to post their personal pages and videos. Additionally, we educate artists in how to market to event attendees, such as making sure they bring quality merchandise to sell, along with their personal promotional materials. Also, we offer a table they can use to setup their merchandise. Unfortunately, over 99% don't take advantage of the offer, or they bring poor quality merchandise to sell," stated DJ Hipnotik.  

Launch Pad Music Venue works to take care of any artists they book for their events.

"The promoter is responsible for providing the venue and getting the crowd, but its the artist responsibility to make sure the crowd enjoys a quality performance, and have quality merchandise to purchase. Promotion is a team effort. I have watched some artists abuse the free spot. They have a tendency to not take the event seriously because they didn't pay for their spot. Some artists don't show up or are late for their performance block. They don't understand that this reflects on the promoter, who invested time and money into the event, especially if they included the artist in promotional materials. Neither do they consider that the attendees are potential fans, who may have seen their name in our promotional materials and came to catch their performance."

Launch Pad Music Venue wants to ensure independent music artists understand the value in promotions.

"Artists don't understand the value some promoters provide. The cost of marketing an event can exceed into the thousands just to pack a venue. The artist booking fee barely scratches the surface of the promoters investment. Giving an artist a free spot and the artist brings in less than five people is just not good business sense, particulary if the venue pushed the artist," exclaimed DJ Hipnotik. "I'm all for giving artists opportunities, but it has to be a win-win situation for all invloved, from the artists to the venue to the attendees. Like I  said, its a team effort."

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About Launch Pad Music Venue
Launch Pad Music Venue was founded in 2006. It started as an idea to create a professional music venue for independent recording artists in the genre of Hip Hop and R&B. In 2009, when the fall of CD sales and the rise of digital media started to make its mark on the industry Launch Pad Music Venue was born. With the rapid decline of music venues allowing independent Hip Hop and R&B performances, and a choice few
requesting exorbitant rental and deposit fees, Launch Pad Music Venue came to the rescue. It created a professional platform for artists to showcase their talent. This makes it innovative because any artist performing in a Launch Pad Music Venue can benefit from being featured in promotional and media resources the venue uses to promote its showcases, such national press releases, print ads, interviews, online ads, and commercials. Visit Launch Pad Music Venue at www.launchpadvenue.com, for additional information.