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!
Great Ideas! Thank you.