Gigs. They’re what every burgeoning musical act has to contend with when trying to make a name in the public. Whether you’re a band, a solo artist, or a large ensemble, you need someone to hire you to play at their venue for their audiences. Doing so gets you paid, for one thing, and earns you some street cred and notoriety, for another.
It’s accurate to say that these types of gigs are a type of proving grounds for new musicians; playing in these bars and small clubs are how you put your stuff out there and see how you do in public spaces.
If gigs are proving grounds, how do you get to those proving grounds in the first place? Is there another set of proving grounds to go through?
If you’re a newer musical act, and you want to start getting hired in places where it matters, read these three tips for getting noticed.
Join a Talent-Booking App
One thing you can work on immediately is getting your band hooked up on a talent-booking app. These kinds of platforms act as brokers that match up clients and performers so that when someone needs a jazz band to come to play for their party, they can find your profile and hire you based on your description and musical specialties.
The bigger the platform, the more likely it is that you’ll get found so that when people search “entertainment near me” online, they will eventually come across your profile. This is a good idea to try so that it’s something working in the background for you while you get on some other, more active methods of self-promotion.
Go into Your Community
Secondly, you’ll need to start getting into your local music scene. Chances are, it already has something of a scene already. But it’s your job to get out there and figure out where your place in it is.
Concert promoters are willing to help those they believe in and those who match up with their preferred style. See if there are other bands already playing in your local clubs, and then ask around about how they got those gigs. See if you can be given a chance to prove yourself to the point where you get an invite to perform, yourself.
Get on YouTube
Just like with the talent-booking app, you can use any publicity stream you can get your hands on, so while you’re going after promoters and venues, you can put performances of your band online for the world to see.
Building an online community of fans can only be a good thing for you, and you might just be able to land shows and other benefits based on the strength of your YouTube videos. That way, when anyone asks what you’re like, you and others can direct people online to check out some of your studio recordings or recent live shows.
Put some time and effort into all these steps, and you’ll be in a better place than you were before.
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