house concerts and 21st century touring

Veronica asks,

What do you think about house concert hosts charging the performers a percentage of the money at their show? I know some hosts provide drinks, plates, cups, etc. What if they put out a tip jar out to ask for donations for the house? Or what about actually charging the musician, say 20%.

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It’s a slippery slope that we don’t touch. House concerts require a generosity of spirit and effort - not money. Spending a lot of money on your events is an option, and one that we tend to discourage. Hosts are better off not complicating the money.

We choose to keep house concerts a purely altruistic endeavor for many reasons:

• to avoid any suspicion that the host has a financial stake in the outcome (business zoning, IRS, etc.)
• to avoid any sense that the house is acting more like a venue - ASCAP/BMI and other organizations would want to license (charge) anyone acting like a venue.
• it keeps things simple, and simple is always best.
• it attracts the best people to our cause. If we start talking about “an appropriate percentage for the host,” it will invite all sorts of people who really don’t understand the real reason why these shows happen.

If you love the idea of hosting house concerts, but feel you can’t afford it, then you have the wrong idea of what house concerts are all about.

Food expenses can be avoided by not providing food. I’ve seen big house concerts fill up consistently, and all they ever offered was tea, coffee, and stale cookies. It’s about the music - and they always had great music in a lovely atmosphere.

Your guests can be encouraged (or assigned, if you prefer) to bring a dish, bring cups, bring soda, or whatever else you think is costing you money.

Stay away from collecting crumbs - it’s not good for house concerts, not good for the vibe, and distracts attention (and income) from the artist. It’s tough enough keeping the donations separate from CD sales, why start a third pile?

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For so long, empty seats have been the bane of concert venues and saddened performers around the globe. In the house concert format, since most chairs are (re)movable, the Greater Council on House Concerts has formally decreed that the occurrence of empty chairs will no longer be tolerated, and the new law will be enforced by a new “burn that chair” app soon to be launched by CIYH in the famous Apple “App Store.” The app will be free for house-concert goers, but lighter fluid will be sold separately.

The Council expects that house concert presenters will now be more diligent in sending out event reminders, collecting RSVPs, and not over-estimating the number of guests who will show. Extra chairs will be accessible, but no longer will they be placed in shameful public view.

When asked for comment about the seeming severity of this law, Fran Snyder was quoted as saying “Not really.”

Source: Judge Fran Snyder of ConcertsInYourHome.com

In Other News: spotted in Wikipedia….
Fran’s rule of house concert seating:

For every guest bottom, there will be no more than one equal and opposite guest chair, unless the host wants the event to look poorly attended and the performer to cry.

Another important physical law of house concerts.
A guest in motion, tends to stay in motion, until the host asks him to shut up, sit down, and listen to the show.

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In the free House Concert Guide, I explain the importance of not having more chairs than people at a house concert. Nothing sucks the energy out of a room more effectively than empty seats. It’s even more of a problem when those empty chairs are in the front row, so I have always suggested that hosts pull a few close friends aside before the show to ask them to sit in the front row when the time comes. Human nature being what it is, there are a lot of people who feel uncomfortable looking that eager.

However, here in western Nebraska, I just learned a new trick from the Clarks.

What they do, is they set up a “fake front row” of 4 chairs that are ridiculously close to the performer (considering the space of their living room.) Naturally, no one wants to sit that close, so the second row seems like an attractive choice (close enough, but not too close.)

Then, a few minutes before the show, they pull the chairs out from the front row (to remove, or add to the back if needed) and the full second rowers find themselves in the front row. They grin, the performer loves it, and any pictures of the event now will look well-attended.

Of course, they explain this dastardly plot to the performers ahead of time. Also, if your room is exceptionally small, you may have no choice but to sit people ridiculously close to the performer - so my original advice would be more helpful to you.

When all else fails, be sneaky. Try the fake front row.

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