Concert and Festival Promotion Tips on Talent Buying from Promoter Hal Davidson

By: concert-promotions.net publishing
 
Feb. 7, 2010 - PRLog -- Promoting only what you like and not concentrating on which act will make you money is an expensive lesson to learn. You should figure your attendance, venue, costs and ticket price based on a level talent, not on a particular act. Another words, most $50,000.acts are going to draw about the same attendance. That’s why they are all $50,000.. That is the market value of that act. Unless you subscribe to Pollstarpro.com and look up that performer’s historic ticket sales and assess the value, you have no idea what that act is worth. You are just throwing darts. There’s more to it than that.

Your show’s attendance is mostly determined by the level of talent. National acts draw, local acts don’t.

LOCAL ACTS: 50 local acts may not draw what one- third tier level $10,000. national act does. In general, local acts do not draw sufficiently to gamble on, unless you are promoting in a nightclub or bar, or there is another source of attraction, such as a Chili or BBQ Cook-off. Promoting a concert or festival with exclusively local talent is a crap shoot. Actually a craps game is probably a better gamble. Mixing local and national acts is allowed, but you’ll have to check the headliner’s contract to make sure that performer will allow it. Some don’t. You may need a second stage, and make sure they are far away enough so there is no sound bleed. Funding, marketing and your energy are the other prime factors determining attendance besides the name of the headliner.

6.  TALENT: Don’t get yourself emotionally attached to one act. If you are going to do this well, you can’t let your feelings for one act get in the way. What if that is no longer available on the dates you have venue availabilities (avails)?

What if that local act you love can’t draw more than 100 people and you lose thousands of dollars thinking everyone else likes them as much as you do? What if you can’t afford the act once you find out the sticker shock in this industry. The talent agents and the acts want all of the money, not just some of it. The talent agent’s primary interest is to maximize income for the act and themselves, earning 10%-20% of the act’s take.

The odds are not in your favor, they are in the talent agent’s and act’s favor. They don’t care about your reasons to pay less. They have a market value and they are going to get it, or you won’t get the act. Just getting them to answer your calls, or call you back is a problem most of the time. The bigger the act, the tougher it is. You have to be a professional promoter with years of experience, with big bucks to book tier one performers. Sometimes it can take many weeks to get a decision from just one act’s agent. Dealing with talent agents today can ruin your whole day. It’s generally not a pleasant experience. Most agents act like they are doing you a favor.

If you have a weakness in dealing with the big agencies, consider a third party agency. David Drobena is highly recommended. "David is fast, honest and knows the true value of the act. His interest is in your interest. Let him negotiate for you and save the stress." Davidson said. Talent buying is an entire career unto itself.

7.  TALENT BUYER: David Drobena will take that entire aggravation off you, unless you really want to buy talent. David’s phone number is: 407-341-1319  in Florida. He can also be reached by email: pgajones@aol.com. He can buy talent for you anywhere.

If you decide to book the talent yourself, read more about talent contracts, rider contracts, talent negotiation, the Offer Form, talent buying advice, stage production instructions, stage production costs, a list of major talent agencies and their contact information and other valuable related resources can be found in either of Hal’s two comprehensive promoting manuals. Find the other 4 parts of this series of promoting tips at www.concert-promotions.com

Hal Davidson has promoting events since 1975 and lives in Rockville, MD. His email is hal2002@starpower.net

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concert-promotions.net is a specialty publishing company exclusively for concert and festival industry instruction books and manuals. Founder Hal Davidson has produced events, concerts, trade shows, festivals, circuses, casinos, ice shows, resorts and retail since 1975.
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