The music industry is notorious for being A BIT crooked. But, not every person in the industry is trying to eat up everyone else. But due to the costs for venue’s to throw live events, they have opted to place the burden on the rapper or band contacting them about a gig. The sound engineer, lighting person, production manager, promotion, security, and anything else they can figure to toss on the list, goes into the cost of production. Hence, the artist pays.
Live music venues have always had a bittersweet relationship with the city. Chicago is a city that is moved by back door dealings, and if you aren’t prepared to drop an envelope in certain city officials lap, then you could be jumping through hoops for a long time. The license needed to have live music at your establishment is what’s called a PPA (Public Place of Amusement) license. This license can cost from about $700 to over $13,000 depending on the size of the venue. Plus general costs of running a successful business in a major market, the purchase and upkeep of sound equipment, keeping a business up to code, even the electric bill…all play a part. When this happens, venue’s begin to shy away from certain music. They decide to have a more focused approach. Because ultimately, wherever you’re seeing a show, that place is making it’s money off the bar. If you have two hundred people in the joint, but they are all outside getting stoned, that isn’t good for business. Most places generally take a 15% cut of the door after production costs as well, this is to make sure they cover their expenses. Rising living costs, unemployment, weather, all of these things affect the status of a functioning venue.
But it starts with the artist. Artists are the people that shape and lend color to the adventures and tragedies of the world around us. They work tirelessly for months on a project that they aren’t even sure will leave their mothers basement, but they toil and trudge through the terrain of broken dreams anyhow. And then when they finally find a venue that is interested in putting them on their stage, they bring no one. The room is empty. Sometimes the artist is simply new to the scene and hasn’t made too much headway as far as networking goes, but often it’s a result of an artist that didn’t push the event.
No one wants to promote. Many look at it as they’re the artists and someone else is the promoter. But this is 2014, and like the rest of the world works, so too does art and entertainment. You have to hustle. An artist can’t expect the venue to bring the people. An artist shouldn’t even expect the booker or the promoter to do it. The promoter (if he is professional) will always be pushing the product, but if he’s the only one doing anything, you can be looking at a quiet evening. Promoters aren’t magicians, they aren’t big shots, and they don’t know everyone. The days of promoters raking in huge profits is gone. With the production costs the way they are, a flailing economy, margins are razor thin. And booking agents or talent buyers are booking entire calendars for a venue. They simply don’t have the time to push every single date on their calendar.
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