Accessibility

I had an hour long discussion with a guy while driving out of town on Friday night. His band has a couple of markets where the band really means something. When I say they mean something, the band is worth over 700 tickets in 2 markets. The largest market with a population of less than 700,000 and the other, their home market, has a metro population of about 400,000. This band is extremely smart about the way they handle each town by only playing about 4 shows a year in each because they want to create events and not simply be the band you can see next weekend if you miss this show. During the conversation, I tell this guy, "You know that you have not completely climbed to the top of the mountain yet in these markets." I know the band is doing well, but how could they up the ante and create even more anticipation for their shows? If they are selling a venue out one night, what could the band do to sell the venue out 2 nights in a row? In my humble opinion, they band should think of clever ways to create a demand for not just seeing the band perform, but giving a number of fans access to the band at sound check, dinner, lunch, etc. Could the band have a contest where the winners get to eat a free lunch with them at McDonald's? I found out that one of the venues they play sells bar food. Could the band have a contest where the winners get to go to sound check and have dinner at the venue with the band? Maybe this sounds stupid, or does it? When Gravity Kills played the Thanksgiving shows for a couple of years, we did a VIP ticket that included Turkey dinner with the band. These were the first tickets sold for both shows. Our fans want access. Ask some Gravity Kills fans how difficult it is to come to a sound check. Let's see, the last show we did in June, there were about 10 fans that just walked in the venue and hung out. Most of these people were from out of town but that is part of the reason they come. Yeah, they like seeing the band perform but, they would not spend $1000.00 for flights, hotels, meals, cabs, rental cars, etc. if their was no access. Give your fans time so they can invest their time in you. I hear the phrase "Attention Economy" thrown around constantly. If someone will invest their time in you, more than likely they will invest their money in you as well. Unless you can release a new track and or a new video every week or so, how do you expect to keep someone's attention without taking the next step through becoming accessible? Your fans want it. Let them eat cake. Let them eat cake with you.