house concerts and 21st century touring

Amy Petty: A Case Study on How to Get Started as a CIYH artist.

This thread was started by an artist (Michael) who was interested in joining CIYH, but was smart enough to email a few members of the site before joining.

He received positive responses, (several artists thankfully copied me on their replies) and I’d like to share this one in particular because it shows a really great way for artists to get started after joining CIYH.

First, Michael’s great questions he posed to several artists.

My name is Michael and I’m an artist.

I’ve been looking at the concerts in your home website with a view to joining it and wondered if you’d be able to give me a little info about it:

• Have hosts contacted you just because you set up a profile? (i.e. without you actively contacting them first)
• Have you actually gotten gigs by contacting hosts through the site?
• Do the hosts require recommendation of you from artists who have performed for them before?

It’d be great if you can give me a little info!

Thanks

Michael

Now, Amy’s thoughtful and enlightening reply:

Hey Michael!

It’s funny that I’m receiving your email.  I am literally right now emailing with one of the CIYH guys.  

I’ve been signed up with Concerts In Your Home for exactly 5 days.  (A newbie!)  But I’m already in the process of booking two shows!
 
Here’s what I can tell you after my short time with the site:

1)  No one has contacted me cold yet.  I do have a friend who has been contacted by hosts without contacting them first.  In one case, she was recommended to one host by another.  In another case, I think they had seen her perform before.

2)  The first thing I did when I joined was find all of the hosts in my home state (New Hampshire, which is small and generally pretty unpopulated) and send them an email, just to introduce myself.  I just said hi, that I was new to the site and wanted to let them know that I was available for shows even on short notice because I am so close.  I’m booking a show for Fall 2011 as a result. 

I also emailed a bunch of places in Michigan (my family lives there and I visit a lot) and said hello to them.  I’m booked for a show in January as a result of that.  Because there are so many artists on the site, I kinda think it would be silly to wait for hosts to come to you.  I think eventually though, they will if you do it right.

3)  So far, it looks like I’ve been booked on my own merit.  No recommendations are required.  I think they help for the higher profile house concerts, but generally the hosts just book who they like.
 
If you’re gonna join, I recommend doing the upgrade.  The cheaper one doesn’t seem worth it to me.  You only get one song and no video, so the host has to track you down online and that’s not cool.

And I know I only just started, but I am really glad I signed up.  It’s been totally worth the time and effort for me.  Fran and his peeps are good guys.  You would laugh at the email I sent him…I basically said ‘I’m sick of the pay-to-play thing and I won’t sign up for CIYH unless you talk me into it’.  He obviously did.
 
Good luck!  Let me know if you visit NH!  I’ll be in Mississagua in September but unfortunately won’t be making it up to Toronto (one of my favorite cities in the universe, btw).  And let me know if you decide to join or have more questions!

Talk to ya-
AmyP

Click on Amy’s picture to see her artist profile at CIYH - the content might have something to do with her success as well. — fran

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Subject: Things you should know about hosts at CIYH

• CIYH is a free service for hosts.
• We are dedicated to helping them (and inspiring others) to put on great events and avoid mistakes.
• Hosts who join are not obligated to book CIYH artists.

How does this benefit you as an artist?
1. You can connect your fans/hosts to us without pressuring them to host other artists if they don’t want to.
2. We help hosts increase their audience so that YOU make more money when you play there.
3. We give them tips to avoid mistakes than can reduce your income when you play there.

I just did a house concert with a very experienced host, and we had a small turnout. The heartbreaker, however, was that HALF of the audience did not make the donation. If this can happen to me, I know it can happen to you. Our house concert guide (available from the resources page) gives clear and easy suggestions to insure that most guests contribute.

How can you most benefit from our free resources?
1. Email each host on your schedule, and tell them about the free host resources page. If your hosts use this information, it could easily put an extra $30-60 in your pocket at each show, and it could prevent canceled dates due to a low number of RSVPs. (I just had one of those.)
2. Make the host resources page a part of your confirmation messages from now on - include this link in your email. http://www.concertsinyourhome.com/resources/forhosts.html

Your fans can get free, helpful information, with no strings attached. We want every house concert you do to be a success.

Best,

Fran Snyder
ConcertsInYourHome
My Music - House Concert Blog - Twitter - Facebook

PS - As an artist, I’m sending the free resources page to every host I book from now on - I don’t care how much experience they have.

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In case your head is spinning as much as mine with all the opportunities (chores) of self-promotion, this one should be a priority. Its user acceptance is skyrocketing, and the interface is very friendly. Here’s a breakdown on how to make it onto Pandora.

Getting-Your-Music-Into-Pandora-by-Michael-Zapruder

Your fan,

Fran Snyder
ConcertsInYourHome.com
ListeningRoomNetwork.com

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