Marketing to both Pubs and Restaurants

[senorblues]

I'm stumped. I'm not being considered for a lot of gigs that I know I can cover, and I think the reason is that I've provided a link to extensive audio and video clips that include songs that would fit one kind of venue, but not the other. It seems like they assume I'd want to play high energy songs in a restaurant and slower, laid back songs in a pub.

 

I'm considering taking them all down and putting up just one compilation that includes songs that I think would be suitable anywhere - Play Something Sweet, Such a Night, Tightrope, Dock of the Bay, Home at Last, The Way You Do the Things You Do, etc. Problem is, I wouldn't play even those in a pub the same way that I would in a restaurant. It's not just a volume thing.

 

It seems like a lot of guys solve the problem by not having any music on line at all (at least none that I can find on a search.) I'm not going to do an open mic, so what's the solution?

[daddymack]

You might try to set your samples up to demonstrate your versatility based on type of venue. A Pub 'set', a restaurant set, an anniversary party set, a funeral set...from salsa to schmaltz...separate, but equal. Your online samples, are they just audio, or A/V?

 

I avoided all that by having to make gig specific DVDs to give prospective clients, after a friend's website was hacked and linked to porn.

[senorblues]

I have both audio and video files. The Soundcloud counter seems to keep better track than Youtube, which helps if you're wondering if someone actually followed up and took a few minutes to listen.

 

I had separate pub and restaurant files, but probably went too laid back on the restaurant set. It's hard to do an apples-to-apples comparison if pretty much all the other acts are guitar based.

 

I've considered doing genre compilations and let them pick, but I get the feeling that they'll click on the first one that comes up on the page without considering whether or not I'd be able to know what would and wouldn't work at their venue.

 

I'm assuming a lot of guys are chameleons, but many others do pretty much the same thing everywhere.

[Pat'sStrat]

That's interesting. I tried to do both for awhile, but I gave it up and now just do restaurants. The pay is better, the hours are better, and generally the tips are better. I realized that i don't have the personality for pulling off a high energy show in a bar as a solo. So I guess to answer your question, I got nothin'.

[daddymack]

To be honest, my solo work has been limited primarily to private parties [a very odd niche], but I am preparing to go after both the coffee house and restaurant business, and possibly some small pubs. Each one seems to me [from studying what I see other performers doing] to have its own gestalt, although many tunes I cover will work across the board, many won't, so there is the whole tailoring aspect. So my promotional process is all about making me appear to fit all of the above without excluding me from any, so the need to specifically target aspects of each type of venue separately is crucial, IMHO.

[senorblues]

I saw a Facebook entry posted by a local coffee house looking for music to fill an open slot this Saturday. Finally got through to him this morning. Come to find out he was offering food, drink, a tip jar and maybe some money from the till if it was a good night. He actually used the word "exposure"! No thanks.

 

My inclination at the moment is to take down everything I have up and replace it with a half dozen "play anywhere" song clips, keeping in mind that restaurants are probably more suitable for me despite my soul/rock band roots. It's just that there are so many pubs out there, but for all I know, they aren't paying anything reasonable. I like the idea of having several compilations for different types of venues, but I think I need a dedicated website or email appropriate mp3s, as suggested. Basically, I don't trust them to pick the right online file for their room.

[Notes_Norton]

Sometimes being too versatile is a problem.

 

We are chameleons and had someone come out to hear us on a Retirement gig and wouldn't hire us for his club. Then he heard us again doing a Dance gig and said "What happened" and hired us on the spot. I said we are musicians, not rock musicians, not easy listening musicians and we play to the audience we have in front of us.

 

I didn't tell him "I told you so" before he came out the first time, but I wanted to. No matter how hard you explain it to people, some don't get it.

 

But being versatile has gotten me more gigs than it has lost.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[senorblues]

I replaced the audio file on Soundcloud and put up the following "play anywhere" tunes. I don't consider myself to be all that versatile. I can add ballads or include songs that are more up tempo, but basically, if you don't like what's here, we're not a good fit.

 

Nothin' From Nothin'

Pretzel Logic

Lucky So and So

Play Something Sweet

Tightrope

The Way You Do the Things You Do

Such a Night

Trouble in Mind

How Sweet it Is

 

Now it's matter of convincing venues I contacted a while ago to reconsider - assuming they even bothered to listen in the first place.

 

https://soundcloud.com/seniorblues/s...0-second-clips

 

 

 

 

[daddymack]

The only issue I have with what you put up is they are all at roughly the same tempo with very similar feel, which doesn't show depth or variety. Other than that, very well done.

[Shaster]

senorblues, I quite enjoyed your demo - both the material and the performance. I suspect however, that it might not be commercial enough for the typical lounge in my area, and not energetic enough (tempo wise) for the typical pub. Or rather, the aforementioned might be the perception of the average buyer - even if they're wrong. Might be the same in your market as well.

 

I'm not suggesting that you change your set list, but I am suggesting that if you've got some tip generators in your material, you might consider putting a few in your demo.

 

Again I'd like to say that your material is right up my alley. In fact I do six maybe seven Steely Dan tunes, including Pretzel Logic, but I rarely perform them - too high brow for my target audience. It's sad really. I try to play relatively hip stuff, but if I call out for requests, it's always requests for Fire and Rain, Sweet Caroline, Hotel California, Stairway To Heaven and so on. Nothing wrong with any of that material but man has it been warmed over.

 

Okay, now here's the 180... If you can find a few places that don't want the usual run of the mill material, then your selection could be a big selling point instead of a possible hindrance. I sure hope you can do just that, because we could use more of your repertoire, and less of Piano Man.

[steve mac]

Shaster puts it so far more eloquently than I could. I would happily listen to you all evening but if I owned a bar, then based on these songs (to be honest I only knew one of them) I am not sure I would be giving you a call.

[senorblues]

Thank you for your compliments and observations. I did realize that I hadn't included any of my RS500 tunes, but I have to say that many of my more obscure tunes get singled out for applause just as often as the well known ones. I also considered that songs like Georgia on My Mind, Take Me to the River, Heard it Through the Grapevine, Blueberry Hill, and Dock of the Bay are either too slow or too fast to be considered "play anywhere" songs. I also have to say that compelling rhythms, up tempos, and energy aren't the first things that come to mind when I hear what my competition is doing, but the bigger issue, I think, is that guitar tunes and guitar interpretations are the standard, and it may well be that the assumption is that a piano player will bring Fly Me to the Moon, regardless of venue.

 

If the consensus is that these really aren't "play anywhere" songs for tempo reasons, then maybe Pat has the right idea. Stick to restaurants and leave the pubs alone. But if it's all about familiarity, then maybe I should avoid rooms that hire guitars. There's no point in doing Creedence, Zep, Buffet, etc. all night.

[daddymack]

hey, now, I do 'Fly Me To The Moon' on guitar [but I just can't sing it like the other 'old blue eyes' did...]....and honestly, some uptempo swing would have been a good breakaway in your demo.

[senorblues]

Check the tempo on Fly Me and compare it to Lucky So and So . . . . The groove on both tunes are flexible, i.e. they work slow, half-assed, or fast.

 

Asking me to ratchet up ALL my tempos 10bps would be a reasonable critique. I like them where they are, obviously, but that doesn't mean they're being played at the best tempo for most rooms.

 

Fly Me (and Piano Man) is comparable to Free Bird and Mustang Sally. Overplayed!!

[pogo97]

... But if it's all about familiarity, then maybe I should avoid rooms that hire guitars. There's no point in doing Creedence, Zep, Buffet, etc. all night.

 

sig-worthy I think

 

The perfect fit, I think, is where the audience wants to hear what you want to play, be that a wide variety or just one genre.

[senorblues]

I should have said "If it's all about familiar guitar songs." For those of us of the keyboard persuasion, there's a difference between playing Elton John standards and Creedence standards. If you've got to take requests, you'd at least want people to request keyboard-centric tunes . . . . . . (Honestly . . . After a dozen gigs, I've never dealt with requests. How strange is that!?)

 

I'm confident people will like what I'm doing. It feels good when people are writing down the name of the tune you played that they've never heard, or when the waitress says you're her favorite, even though she's too young to have ever heard most of your material.

 

But you've got to convince the venue to give you a shot. I got my first solo gig because the owner loves Leon Russell. I got lucky.

[daddymack]

I wasn't suggesting you do 'Fly Me', just don't denigrate the song, because I like it [and yes, the beauty is you can start it as a ballad, and ramp it up after every turnaround until it is raging!]...what I was suggesting was some more up tempo material with some 'swing'...I also thought putting in Pretzel Logic was a nice choice [a tune most people don't cover, myself included] but tempo-wise flowed with the rest.

[Bob Dey]

I've always had the same dilemna. Playing electric guitar with background tracks worked out good 20+ years ago as I was playing bars and restaurant/bars that had a dancefloor (and people danced). Because of the vast variety of songs I've always done, I didn't know how to market myself image wise. I used to get more gigs than others because of my flexibility, but (as Notes said), fans and prospects also got confused.

 

Some punters loved the oldies I played, but didn't like the country songs - vice versa. In 1995 I decided to jump on the Acoustic band wagon because there were a lot of musos doing those gigs in my area. After a few years, that scene wasn't happening very much.

 

Now days, it's mostly retirement gigs for me. Bars are more likely to have bands now days. I would be inclined to market to restaurants that also sell alcohol if I were playing solo piano. The exception would be getting into a dueling piano bar situation. Those guys can make a lot in tips but it isn't a laid back gig. a lot of audience interaction and playing faster songs.

[ptkbass]

I'm convinced that what you put on-line has nothing at all to do with the gig you get. The bar/restaurant/winery/brewery manager has so much on their plate that almost always only go with what they know/have already hired in the past, or what their friend or colleague or employee recommended. Your disc is promptly lost, your website or Soundcloud is ignored. I've had best success simply with being relentless: you've gotta catch the cat in his/her office ten minutes after a cancellation but before the busy part of the day starts. Or stop in often enough so they can put a face to the name. I send them a copy of my gig spam...anything to just stay on their radar. You still need a web presence, but it's the interpersonal relationships that are a pain in the ass to nurture is what gets the gig.

[daddymack]

like any other type of sales gig [which self-marketing falls under], follow-up is crucial, and establishing your brand in the buyers field of view is absolutely necessary. I'm not sure how you could know when they get a cancellation, but I do agree you need to spend time in the room, chat up the management, show you are interested in their business, not just yours, and ingratiate yourself.

[ptkbass]

@ Daddymack...I was being facetious about calling ten minutes after a cancellation.

[RoadRanger]

Just curious why youse guys don't put up multiple FB pages to cover the different markets? I know of folks that do that - or at least have a website with different band names / sections for each. They often have the same personnel, or a subset for each.

[daddymack]

I knew that!

But more to the point, as a solo, I would tell them you're happy to fill in cancellations on short notice, even same day [assuming you are available].

[pogo97]

Pianos. Preconceptions problem.

 

Went to the local pub last night. The manager asked me if I'd host an open mic sometime (paid). I guess so… . then

"But don't bring the piano. I want you to play guitar. I like your guitar."

"Seriously?"

escalates, briefly, to yelling at each other

 

He likes guitar. He doesn't like piano. He's pretty simple that way. I don't get it.

[senorblues]

I've always suspected that was a possibility.

 

(Content of your post works well with your sig . . . . )