A Story of What Not To Do

I was talking to a club owner today and he was in the middle of canceling a some dates of a band that had been doing very well for him. I asked him why and he told me that the band had told their fans not to drink as much when they come out and see them. I understand wanting your fans to party responsibly but WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT? I am not being an asshole here but when broken down to the lowest common denominator, live music is a vehicle for clubs to drive revenue. Do you really think that clubs can make enough money on 15 to 20% of what they make off the door to be profitable and keep the doors open? I will tell you what I tell every band out there. IF THE CLUB OR BUYER LOSES MONEY ON A SHOW, EVERYONE LOSES! What I mean by this is that every night a club loses money on a show, it erodes the confidence that the club has in live music. It shrinks the chance of a club taking a chance on a new act that the club may want to book but is afraid of booking because they might lose money. I am not telling you bands out there not to get as much money for a show as you can. I am telling you to look at your relationship with a club as one of a partnership. Another thing I tell bands is, with all things being equal, the band with the lower money deal will always get the gig. Exercise fiduciary responsibility with your clubs and you will have gigs. Bleed them and not have the big picture in mind and nobody will get the gig...except for the local DJ.