Getting enough jobs to make ends meet is always a challenge for a musician. It entails marketing, personal relations, investment, preparation and a dash of psychology. How do we get the ball rolling, and what can we do to avoid problems?
The Basics
Whether booking your band, getting session work or freelancing, there are some simple things you can do to start getting more calls. As common-sense as they may be, many people don’t follow these guidelines.
- Have demo material. If I needed to hire somebody, I would want to hear examples of work. It doesn’t need to be a full CD, just some clips. Even live videos of gigs would give me some idea that this person is competent. As cheap and easy as it is to record video or audio, it wouldn’t impress me if there were absolutely no recordings. These can be posted on youtube or on a website.
- Get Referrals. Probably the main way anybody “breaks in” to any scene is by personal recommendation. The relationships you make with your fellow musicians is how you will prosper. Being personable and pleasant as well as competent can make all the difference.
- Be prepared. Whenever I am in a new situation, I try to “over-prepare” so as to be seen as professional and serious. I can recall some gigs where I was the sub and I knew the music better than the regular members. This impresses people, and you will often get the call when the position opens. You may even replace an under-functioning musician due to this level of preparation.
- Be professional. Make sure you are on time, wear the correct attire, follow the rules. When you mess these things up, it follows you; people love to talk about bad behavior.
- Network. When you meet new musicians, let them know you are available, and be pleasant. It is not necessary to be pushy or overbearing. Have your cards and links to your demo available. If you have CDs, be ready to give them out. Have a social media profile and a website.
- Be positive. Talk about things you like, music you enjoy, the players you have worked with. This will make people want to work with you, since they can expect enthusiasm and encouragement.
- Be versatile. Knowing enough about various styles to be able to function will serve you well. If you are so specialized that you can only do one thing, it’s going to be hard to stay busy.
Going Backwards
On the other hand, there are a lot of things that can undermine our ability to get established. I see these all the time, and the people doing them never seem to understand why the phone isn’t ringing.
- Bad Attitude: If you are “too cool” for the gig, you insult your fellow musicians as well as the audience. Nothing leaves a trail of ill will like a superior and condescending personality.
- Disinterested: Similar to the above, you have to let everybody know how “over” doing this kind of gig you are. Remember: you are getting paid to play your instrument, so you are already ahead of most musicians. It is a privilege to perform.
- Gig-stealing: If, on the other hand you are so desperate to work that you undermine others to get the job, this will follow you for a long time. I wrote a whole article on this side of the business.
- Gossiping and criticism. You may occasionally “bond” with somebody by complaining or putting down somebody else. (even if they deserve it) It is possible to get in big trouble if the wrong person hears this. Better to rise above this and keep your negative opinions to yourself.
- Over-hyping yourself. We’re all doing the same thing; putting ridiculous claims and impossible rosters of credits will annoy everybody. Here is an article about this type of promo.
- Double-booking and juggling gigs. If you are a freelancer, you can set yourself up for disaster by not keeping a careful calendar of your events and then double-booking yourself. Your choices are to back out of a gig or to send a sub. (if you can find one) Not all bandleaders are happy when a sub shows up, and they will probably slam you when your name comes up. Even worse, if you bail out in favor of a better-paying gig, your reliability is now forever suspect. Usually best to keep the gig you have, even if it means less money; your reputation is hard to reclaim.
- Unreachable. If you never return calls or emails, the work will go elsewhere. It is easy to get overwhelmed by all the communications we receive (this is something that I deal with a lot) but time is of the essence.
- Treat every gig the same way. The bottom line is that even the lowliest gig is still important, and requires your full attention and effort. You never know where your next opportunity is going to come from. As the handyman says, “no job too small.”
- Be careful of what you put on social media. I have seen posts on facebook that would keep me from ever hiring somebody: uncouth or obscene comments and photos will paint an undignified picture. Personally I prefer to keep overt political statements private as well; these sort of things never change anybody’s mind anyway. Unless you are a big star, you are wise to steer clear of controversy.
You may have noticed that none of these points are actually about how good of a musician you are. Even the best players can struggle if they don’t market themselves well or if they undermine their all-important reputation.
Questions:
- Do you ever get in your own way when trying to get gigs?
- Could you do a better job of marketing your skills?
- What do you think you could do to get more work?
