The Price YOU Pay!!!

So it’s been awhile since the last post…apologies for that. Lots need done, first and foremost the August Spotlight artist will be up by Monday at the latest. I’m also in the process of building a playlist that will include the music of recently discussed artists or the active spotlight artist, allowing you to get snippets of the artists without having to fork over any of that hard earned dough of yours!

Speaking of dough, let’s discuss the payment of artists…a topic I’m asked quite a bit by people. “How much does it cost you to bring in band “X” compared to band “Y”?” Well location is pivotal, bands will come anywhere if you pay enough, however if you can catch them while traveling close by price plummets; especially if it’s an open date they’d be show less on otherwise.

The sad fact though is in the world where artists can get their music across the world with one click, it’s getting tougher and tougher to get out doing shows. It’s EXPENSIVE! Not only does the band have bills, the band members have personal bills, travel expenses on idle days and then GAS! With expenses going up across the board it’s getting harder and harder for bands to do shows for affordable prices. Even brand new artists that years ago you’d been able to get for maybe $100-$200 is now $400 and that might not even include lodging or food expenses you may have to cover. As a promoter this is an incredible uphill battle. You can bring in an amazingly talented artist but unless they’re HUGE it’s tough to get people to spend even $10 on a ticket. I’ve learned over the years that if you don’t have an artist in the upper echelon of their industry you better plan on cheap ticket price, which means you either need sponsors or have a real ability to sweet talk towards lower prices. Now my location, Northern Indiana, isn’t necessarily the Christian Music hot bed so that does play a factor.

The sad truth is though, this is just going to keep getting harder and harder as fuel, travel and all other expenses keep going up! Band’s prices will have to rise in order to pay their bills, which means you need deep pockets or big sponsors in order to put together a show that will both fill up with people and not cause you to lose money!

Just a quick thought from my noggin.