house concerts and 21st century touring

An artist reached out to me today and told me that “it feels a bit like begging” when he asks fans to host concerts for him. Ouch.

It’s always been a challenge for artists to maintain their self-esteem in light of the constant rejection (or worse, no response) that our work involves. Certainly, there is always room to improve our art.

But today, I submit that we can also improve our timing, our tenacity, our emails, and…

our perspective.

What if, instead of asking for a favor, you were offering a special, exclusive opportunity for your fans to enjoy you and your music in a truly remarkable way. Isn’t that what you are doing when you email them about house concerts?

What you do is valuable. But no one will believe that if you don’t.

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http://www.bmi.com/live

BMI has just launched a program that allows member artists to login and report their setlists at each venue they play. Here’s my response to the alert posted by Jeri Goldstein.

Please let your readers know that BMI can then use these reports to track down venues that are not paying license fees. Essentially, they could be paying performers to do their job for them.

Keep in mind the double-edged sword here.

Yes, it’s great if more venues pay licensing fees and artists who play actually get paid for it.
But it’s also possible that you’ll be “turning in” venues that will not be able to afford the licensing fees. There are three such organizations in the U.S. (ASCAP and SESAC are the others) and they all have claims for licensing dollars at public venues.

If BMI intends to pay artists for the actual songs played (instead of the usual system of sampling, which results in indie artists creating revenue for superstars) this is a great, important step forward. But there will be collateral damage. Organizations like BMI can sometimes demand exorbitant fees from venues who don’t know that the rate is negotiable, and sometimes unfairly applied. (Measuring total square footage instead of performance area, charging for an assumed full house at every show, etc.)

So use these forms judiciously, and don’t report venues that are on the brink of shutting down already. MOST IMPORTANTLY - do not report performances at house concerts or other private concerts. BMI can only collect for PUBLIC performances, and reporting your private events like house concerts will only invite hassles to your kind hosts.

Best,

Fran Snyder

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Email that creates thousands of dollars and great experiences for artists and fans.

Are you still using email to ask fans to buy your songs on iTunes for a whopping 65 cents per track?

Instead, what if your emails could generate concerts that provide a listening audience, free food, and a place to stay in markets where you only know a few people? Oh yeah, and $10-20 per person in donations and CD sales?

House Concerts (and DinnerAndSong events) are not for everyone, and they certainly favor small, extremely talented acts. However, if these events appeal to you, you can cut, paste, and send an email that has generated thousands of enthusiastic dollars to be transferred to the pockets of artists.

For free.

http://www.concertsinyourhome.com/blog/archives/1855

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