Agent suggestions

[mrtcat]

Can anyone recommend agents that they have worked with for wedding / function gigs. One of my bands has tried Alive Network and a few of the bigger agents but so far we haven't managed to get on their books so looking for some possible alternative places to apply. 

We have basic diy promo videos etc and are happy to invest in professional productions but it's tricky as we've found many of the agents don't want branded media. Do we make an unbranded video that costs a lot but isn't much use elsewhere? 

When we play gigs we tend to pick up more work but things are thinning out and we could do with a bit of support on the booking front.

Any advice or suggestions welcome. 

[FuNkShUi]

If its weddings you are looking for, what about wedding fayres? 

They have been really good for us in the past

[mrtcat]

10 minutes ago, FuNkShUi said:

If its weddings you are looking for, what about wedding fayres? 

They have been really good for us in the past

That's something we really haven't ever done so I'll look into it today. Much appreciated. 

Edited November 16, 2017 by mrtcat

[FuNkShUi]

We were hesitant about it, but for a relatively small investment, we booked 6 weddings from our last fayre.

One thing i would say, is to check if you can have a full band (some have let us, some only allow acoustic). 

Then, if you can have a full band, we try to let everyone know (other stalls and guests) when we will be performing. 

We usually say we will perform 3 songs on the hour. Worked for us anyway

[Burns-bass]

The video thing is simple. My business (I won't plug it, as that's crass) would create a couple of edits (branded and unbranded) of the same video which you could use. In fact, most video production companies should, it's not particularly time-consuming to do. At the same time they should also be getting you some professional quality stills as well.

One thing most bands do is focus on the product, when they should be focusing on the experience. A promo video should include feedback from those there, quick snippets from those involved, some nice pull quotes etc. You're there to make people happy so show happy people...

Is your band branded well? When people spend lots of money on a band (or, more accurately what they consider is a lot of money) a good brand can really reassure them they're serious. It can be expensive (although doesn't need to be), but is a great investment that will pay off if it's done properly.

Funnily enough I was speaking to an events manager who provides services for weddings yesterday, and we concluded that weddings (and business in general) is all about trust. The couple need to trust that the other person will turn up, naturally, but also that everything will come together on one day and create something special.

Get the trust, you get the gig.

Good luck. I love a wedding with a brilliant live band, long may they continue. 

[mrtcat]

1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:

The video thing is simple. My business (I won't plug it, as that's crass) would create a couple of edits (branded and unbranded) of the same video which you could use. In fact, most video production companies should, it's not particularly time-consuming to do. At the same time they should also be getting you some professional quality stills as well.

One thing most bands do is focus on the product, when they should be focusing on the experience. A promo video should include feedback from those there, quick snippets from those involved, some nice pull quotes etc. You're there to make people happy so show happy people...

Is your band branded well? When people spend lots of money on a band (or, more accurately what they consider is a lot of money) a good brand can really reassure them they're serious. It can be expensive (although doesn't need to be), but is a great investment that will pay off if it's done properly.

Funnily enough I was speaking to an events manager who provides services for weddings yesterday, and we concluded that weddings (and business in general) is all about trust. The couple need to trust that the other person will turn up, naturally, but also that everything will come together on one day and create something special.

Get the trust, you get the gig.

Good luck. I love a wedding with a brilliant live band, long may they continue. 

Would you PM me some info about your business? It sounds like possibly it might be worth me having a more serious chat with you. Cheers

[Burns-bass]

Will do.

I’m not touting for work, but I’m more than happy to offer some advice and all that on branding and video stuff. I’m sure it’s not just me either with these skills, perhaps we could do a little guide?

[mike257]

Burns-bass is right - if you're touting yourself to multiple agencies, you need unbranded promo. It's not at all unusual for the same band to be on multiple agencies under different names, to avoid the "why are this same lot cheaper on this other page?" scenario. You'd probably be expected to use a different name with the agency than you did for your direct business, at the very least. Unbranded promo means they can also easily overlay their own branding on to it when it's published on their site. 

With regards to your original question - I've always found Function Central the best to work with out of the bigger names. I'd say 90% of enquiries we'd get from them would turn in to solid bookings, whereas some other agencies would call with all sorts of spurious requests that never went anywhere.