Sponsorship Deals?

[walk_yourpath]

Hey guys, ok here is the scoop. The band is gearing up for our album release come spring, and in order to make this show the biggest we can make it, a few of the band members approched a local music store and asked if they would like to sposor the show.

 

Well the company has accepted and is willing to help and here is what I would like to know. We are setting up a meeting to discuss the areas in which this company is to be involved, so far we have we can sell tickets from their location, we will put their banner up in the venue, display 4 x 6 advertising cards on our merch table, and they are willing to do a free give away.

 

So my question is should we bother to draft up a sponsorship contract and have both parties agree to all terms and sign on the bottem line? Or should we just go about this as freelance as possible. We were thinking of offering to go half and half for a raido promo but we are not certian as to the value of this, as most radio staions would charge a large sum and play our spot at 5am when none of our audiance is even awake LOL!

 

Lastly if there is anyone who has gone through this before, can you recommend and avenues we have not thought of yet? Should we ask for more, less? How do we know when they are asking for too much, or demanding too much for us?

 

Forgive me if this sounds very "noob" but this will be our first encounter with this type of situation, and we would like to apporch it in the most professional and respectful manner as possible. Any and ALL information that anyone could provide would be greatly appriciated.

 

Thank you for you time

 

Keep on the path

[daddymack]

I would definitely draft an agreemetn spelling out what each party brings to the table and the expectations...'if'n it ain't writ down, it nevuh happened'...

[Steve Nixon]

Without a doubt you need to draft an agreement/contract between both parties. There are so many things that go could both wrong and right in a situation like a sponsorship deal in relation to performance. You want to make sure you're protected just in case on both ends.

As far as a radio promo for the show. Have you gotten listening and/or demographics statistics from the station? With information like that you should be able to make better decisions on the effectiveness of the radio promo.

Having something tangible to present and digest with also help your co-sponsor decide if they'd like to participate.

[LAPennell]

I put together a 2 day "music festival" a few years back and over the course of the year leading up to it we sought out quite a few sponsors. What we did was basically set standards that they had to meet (financially, advertising, etc.) and gave them exclusive rights in their field. We had a local music store that "donated" top-notch backline gear so we could move bands through quickly. A local surf shop paid for radio advertising and fliers. A regional record label paid us to put their artists in good spots in the lineup (which allowed us to book even bigger bands than we originally were hoping for). We had Fuze (the drink company) sponsor all beverages. A local restaurant sponsored our "hospitality" room and catered food and drink for all the bands, staff, and "VIPs". All of the companies that did sponsorships also had giveaways that brought business to them as a direct result of this event.

 

My suggestion is to shoot for the stars. If you can make it a big event, people are willing to invest in it. Contact an alcohol distributor and see if they'll send out shot girls and free merch, see if the music store will give your band strings, cables, sticks, etc. for a shout out from the stage. The bigger you make it out to them, the more they will give. I know this from experience.