My Two Cents

During a recent conversation on Facebook regarding restaurants and bars that pay lots of money to hire bands, yet spend very little money to let people know about them, we had the honor of local talent agent, Judy Blem, chiming in to the conversation and sharing her two cents with us!

Judy – What's even worse are the places that DON'T spend "a lot of money" booking bands yet STILL get upset when a band doesn't "bring a following." Funny how in college business courses they teach you how to order food & beverages, deal with payroll, permits, insurance, etc., but they teach you NOTHING about dealing with live entertainment. One of MY biggest pet peeves are the owners/managers who decide to have a band pack up after two hours 'cuz "it's not busy enough" and offer 1/2 the band's agreed pay. WHAT!!?? Pro-rate at 50%? Umm, how about the fact that a gig is NOT 4 hours long if you count the hours it takes to set up and break down your gear, not including the travel time, and not to mention the fact the same band probably turned down a gig somewhere else on the same night that would have paid in full without a problem. My contracts do not allow for this to happen; there is no "pro-rating" allowed. If the band holds up their end of the deal, so should the venue. Bands who book themselves should just refrain from "promising" a crowd when even the most popular bands in town can't always guarantee their friends and fans will show up as this leaves a gray area for negotiation- and usually ends up not favoring the band.

The fact is that the business has changed from the days when we had 12 killer rock places in town and you didn't need to know WHO was playing. You just showed up and the band was great! With live music in every strip mall in every wing place & sports bar in town, this has driven down the prices bands get paid as well as exhausted and spread out the "following" of music lovers. But it IS a two-way street in the "business of cover gigs" - Bands should play SOME part in show promotion, but the venues DEFINITELY need not only advertise but to offer decent prices, good service and create a fun atmosphere that MAKES people want to come to their establishment.

Rob, your website www.weekendbroward.com and relentless promotion truly does help the bands AND the clubs. But I'm with you... the venues need to ADVERTISE more and NEVER rely SOLELY on any band for customers. For over 20 years as an agent, I have watched those kinds of places open and close in six months. I won't even take on a client whose first sentence is "I need bands with a following." Can you say "red flag?" There are some really well run places and there are some places run by folks who mean well but are often clueless. Maybe we can help them learn. Maybe not. But I'm not going to stop trying.  Alright, that's my two cents for the day.