As a musician myself, I was brainstorming a list of performance ideas, and I would like to share some with you! I hope it can get you thinking outside the box and take your performance career to the next level!

You have heard about approaching restaurants/businesses and asking if they are interested in having live background music. I have had some success with this, but my personal experience was that I found it difficult to persuade them about the value live music can add to their business. They weren’t that interested in paying me a decent amount for a night’s work, and half the time they wanted me to promote the evening and bring an audience! That’s a lot of effort on my part for little return….

What I have found to be more financially successful is the following…

Approach the business with an idea for a “Themed event” to tie in with a major festival/event in your area. The business will be more inclined to pay you what you deserve if they can anticipate a spike in guests for that day. Some examples…

• A winery may like to promote a special Mother’s Day lunch with live music
• A winery may like to promote Aussie wine month and have live music every Sunday throughout May!
• A local restaurant may like to take advantage of the January Sydney Festival and have live music to coincide with popular festival events
• A micro-brewery in Melbourne may like to promote Melbourne Good Beer Week with live music on the weekends (12-21 May)
• An upmarket hotel may be interested in live music for a high tea event to celebrate Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea on May 26
• Approach Scienceworks, CSIRO Discovery Centre or Science Centre and Planetarium etc to see if they want live music during National Science Week in August (try and think outside the box!)
• Oktoberfest!
• Approach a florist to see if they want you to perform outside their shop on Valentines Day

I hope that gets you thinking! If you are having trouble finding events, here is a list with dates to help get you started! VIEW HERE

Also, I would encourage all artists to join our private facebook group “The Art of Booking House Concerts” HERE where you can network, learn, share experiences and brainstorm ideas!