9 Things To Consider When Choosing A Music Venue
So many musicians that You know where to play locally. You've been to most clubs and have made mental lists of the venues you'd like to play. Some of them are venues you want to pursue now and some you set as ones to work for when your fan base is a bit bigger. Some you've played and have vowed never to play again and some you can't wait to get back in at. But what about booking a tour where you don't know the town, have never seen the venues and don't have people on the ground to report back?
Here are 9 things to consider when choosing a music venue either at home or when booking a tour:
1) Capacity
Every booker wants to know what your draw is. If you have no history in the area (and no online buzz) then your draw is 50. Well, that's what you'll say. You can get 50 people out to any show if you're smart about promo (and team up with great local openers). Locally, once you're experienced and have a name around town, when you book your big shows every 6-8 weeks you'll have a pretty good idea of how many you can bring.
When you can, always book a venue with a capacity one person smaller than your draw. Meaning, if you can draw 500, book a 499 cap room. If you can draw 50, look for 49 cap rooms. It's better to sellout a 200 cap room than play a 500 cap venue and have it two-thirds empty. Sure, it's cool to put well-known venues on your tour calendar, but it's better for your overall career to pack people in and give the best possible show to a full house - regardless of the size. Those who get in will be buzzing with excitement that they can experience an exclusive (to ticket holders) event and those who get turned away will know your next time through they'll need to get tickets quickly.
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