Playing Clubs

In this blog we discuss the music business but we like to try to keep our discussion grounded in truth. We understand that not everyone will or really even wants to be a superstar, famous, rich or wealthy. A large part of the musical community just wants to play great music in a great venue for great people. In this spirit I want to talk about something that is the life blood of over 95% of all musicians and that is playing clubs and why we do it. We do not play clubs to become rich (LOL) and it is not the club owners responsibility to support us or make us rich. Now I know a lot of my musician friends are starting to frown, but let me explain. The only reason to really play a club is to build a following that will by your music or merchandise and spend money to see you perform when and where ever they can. Most clubs can't afford to pay more than $800 for a band and those that can just won't do it. Now it's not for us as musicians to battle the club owners. Let's just be thankful for a venue to play and realize that it is up to us to prove and increase our value. If you are able to guarantee 150 to 200 people every time you play then you have bargaining power and you don't really need to depend on the club owner. If he sees that you can bring in these kind of numbers then he knows that he will make his money in food and liquor so you can make your money on tickets, the door and cd & merch sales. It's all about having the right perspective. The club owner is in business to make money and keep his club open and the musician is in business to build his/her name/brand and promote and sell music, no more no less. So let's not always look at club owners as enemies just understand that playing clubs should only be part of your plan and not the whole plan. Enjoy the journey.

The Truth

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