Primary Blog/Gigging Musician Podcast/Episode 254 - Facing Challenges in the Music Industry: Sponsorship Struggles and Breaking Through

Episode 254 - Facing Challenges in the Music Industry: Sponsorship Struggles and Breaking Through

Thursday, October 17, 2024

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Episode Recap

In this episode, Jared opens up about a frustrating experience with event sponsorship and the challenges musicians face when competing with larger agencies. He shares the emotional rollercoaster of losing a major opportunity, how he navigated the situation, and why it’s essential for musicians to persevere through the obstacles. Jared also discusses his recent DJing ambitions, his exciting corporate gigs, and strategies to keep moving forward even when the path isn’t easy.

Best Quote

"It's never a straight line path. It's never easy. Sometimes it's easy, but also sometimes it's hard. And so it's just getting through the pain and dealing with the frustration, trying to keep a level head."

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Transcript

What's up renegade musicians? Welcome back to another episode of The Gigging Musician Podcast. Alright, so, you know, when I'm on these podcasts, I am typically a very happy, cheerful person. And that's kind of how I live my life.

I try to be happy because I think everybody wants to be happy. But today I felt a very different emotion. I felt pissed off, angry, furious.

Well, I'm happy now, as you can probably tell. But I want to share this story with you about what pissed me off, because it, it's about, you know, some of the things I've been talking about here on this podcast.

And I think it's kind of relevant for you all to hear about the struggles that I go through in addition to the successes, because the successes are super fun to talk about and relive.

The struggles I think are more helpful than they are fun to relive. Alright, so the first thing is, you know, if you are not familiar with this podcast or you don't know my strategies on how to book high end gigs, the first thing you need to know is that one of my favorite ways of making myself known to high end event planners and venue owners who host high end gigs is by simply finding opportunities to perform for them so that they know my act exists and what it's capable of. And one of the ways I do that is by sponsoring events in the events industry.

Yes, the events industry hosts their own events to hang out and sometimes have a couple drinks and just chat. And you know, the dj companies are very tuned into this and apparently also booking agents. So this is kind of why I'm frustrated.

Alright, so there is this event that is being hosted by the events industry, like one specific organization within the events industry that is a charity event here in Denver and that's coming up in November.

And so I had been in contact with a bunch of the organizers of this event, in fact last year before they hosted this event and I reached out to them offering to sponsor, and I saw in their materials they even have like a sponsorship package including here's what you get if you're the entertainment sponsor, blah blah blah.

And so I reached out to them last year and said, hey, we already have our sponsor for this year and reach out to us next year.

Let's keep it on the calendar so we can chat. So next year rolls around, that's this year 2024. And I reach out to them and then somebody else independently reaches out to me from the organization.

Actually, I think it was at one of the other events I was sponsoring that one of the organizers came up to me and said, hey, we'd love to have you guys, have you sponsor our upcoming event this year.

And so two people from the organization independently reached out to me and said, let's chat. And so then the other day, Wednesday, Tuesday is Thursday, by the way, and by the way, I'm actually on my way to a gig at the Cherokee ranch and Castle.

It's a nice corporate event. The company had a golf outing tournament earlier in the day, and then they're going to settle down for some cocktails and dinner, and I'm actually on my way to go and perform for them. It's a four hour gig.

The pay is 2000 as a soloist, and I'm providing sound equipment and wireless mics for them to use. So that's not a bad gig. It proves to me like, hey, you can charge 2000 for your solo gigs and keep raising it.

So I'm going to keep raising it anyway. So anyway, yeah, so we had that chat on Tuesday and the, like, we, we were just talking about what the opportunity is and what it looks like if I sponsor and everything. And I thought we were pretty much squared away.

The guy just had to go get some other people to sign off on it and then figure out if there was like a sponsorship agreement that we needed to sign. And then he did email me or he said to me on the phone, like, hey, I'm just, you may not be the only entertainment sponsor. Just a heads up.

We're also chatting with this other person and I said, that's totally cool. There's more than enough opportunity for everybody. Let's make it happen.

And so today is Thursday, and I get an email from the guy I chatted with on Tuesday saying, hey, just so you know, I chatted with that other person and they were the entertainment sponsor last year.

And because of that, we're giving them the first right of refusal and they want to be the only entertainment sponsor. And, you know, on the surface it's like, oh, okay, cool.

I don't have to give my entertainment for free. However, this was going to be a huge opportunity for me and my business and the marketing of my business, getting in front of all these corporate event planners who could see me do my great work and then consider me for their events.

And so instead of feeling relieved, I actually felt pissed off, like, and the thoughts went through my mind, like, you know, this person, they are a booking agent.

They have probably a multi million dollar a year business, and they, you know, I don't know, I guess I felt some negative emotions.

And this is why we as musicians often feel a little bit of resentment towards booking agents, because they do a great job of sweeping up all the opportunities, leaving the little guys like you and me to just pick up the scraps.

And so I felt like they were flexing their financial muscle because as a large company that does millions of dollars a year, they've got a budget where they're going to, instead of like, donating their, their time and effort, they're just going to throw money at it, pay a couple musicians like, pennies to be there and perform for them.

And I was like, this doesn't feel right. Like, how do I, how do I get in? Like, and so I called the guy and he said, hey, he emailed me back, I see your phone calls. I can't chat right now.

I'll call you back later. So we had a conversation. It's still not resolved, by the way, but basically from this conversation, you know, he said, yeah, they've been doing this for years and they do contribute in other ways to the organization, which is totally fine, but I also believe that there's more than enough opportunity for everybody, so why would they, you know, I feel like it's kind of selfish for them to want exclusive sponsorships.

Like, booking agents are all about exclusivity. And this is another demonstration of that. And I did kind of explain to him, oh, and he also said, like, when he was chatting with this booking agent, they mentioned, like, oh, well, if we're the exclusive sponsor, you know, we could just hire Jared to play for that event, but still be called the exclusive sponsor, which does not accomplish my marketing goals.

I'm not here to get a gig at this thing. Like, you know, that's, that's not my main purpose. I'm here to build a long term relationship.

And I'm sure that the booking agent knows that. Like, they, they know me. I've met them several times, and they're, they know that I'm all about, like, marketing myself and promoting myself, and maybe they feel threatened in some way.

So when I was chatting with the guy about this, I mentioned, like, you know, I'm not really interested in that because, and he's, he asked me, like, to explain it further because he thought that that would be a, the solution that I would go for.

And I asked him, like, if he did any handcrafting or had a side hustle where either he or any of his friends, like, sell their own products or services. And he said, not personal, but he has friends who do it.

And I said like imagine that your friends who make handcrafted items sell them through Etsy but want to get the name recognition. It's as if Etsy just, you know, puts their products and services on display and says that they were made by Etsy.

Or another example is like when, you know, Amazon is famous for this where they find creators, people who make awesome products and then Amazon list, they list those products on Amazon and what Amazon does is they take them, figure out how they were made, create their own cheaper version and call it the Amazon Basics version.

That's kind of how I felt like the little guy can't compete with these larger corporations with deep pockets. And you know, I do kind of, you know, want to be a larger corporation. That is one of my goals is to like make this thing big enough, make BookLive big enough.

It's never going to be a booking agency. I don't want that. But I do want to experience what it's like to serve massive amounts of people.

I serve a lot of people right now. I feel like I do a good job of helping them, but it's not enough. I want them like, I want millions of musicians to be paid what they're worth.

And then I feel like the way that booking agencies tend to do that is by taking a cut off the top and then using that cut to go and take up other opportunities from smaller businesses and pay musicians to play these sponsored events. Yeah, I don't know.

I mean, I am so glad that he did not answer the phone when I first called because I was genuinely very pissed off and it probably would not have been the most professional conversation.

I still feel like the conversation I had, I probably didn't do as good a job as I could have. But I felt I at least kept it calm and professional.

I tried to keep my emotions to a minimum, which is hard to do because these businesses, like when you're growing your music career, your business is your baby, it's like you're selling yourself and you feel like people are just trying to take from you.

And so that's, that's why I felt so weird about it. But anyway, that water under the bridge for now, the situation is still not resolved. He said that he would get back to me.

He said he understood where I was coming from. And he also has heard so many great things about my music. So even if this doesn't work out, you know, he would like there to be other opportunities for us, which is great.

But on the other hand, on Tuesday I sponsored another event and I actually did get to sponsor it. It was a like a summer social put on by a venue near me, which was awesome. They're a really cool, high end corporate venue.

And they. I got. I got to put these photos on my Instagram.

But what they did for all the sponsors was they put our logos everywhere, including they have this really cool piece of furniture that used to be one of the cars from like a ski lift gondola, right?

You know those gondolas, those enclosed cars that are suspended above the mountain by a cable and go up the mountain? They have one of those, and they just use it as like a furniture piece that they roll around.

They put some wheels on it, and then on the bottom of that gondola, they had a sticker, a gigantic sticker with all of the sponsors logos on it. I got to put that on my Instagram.

It's just so cool to see. And, yeah, so I played to welcome people to the event. And then for the last hour, I actually jammed out with the DJ, which I'm really enjoying doing that to the point where I'm actually considering learning how to dj myself.

So I could do an all in one DJ electric violin combo. I know that's another way that one of those saxophonists that I talk about who charge like ten to $20,000 per gig, that's one of the ways they raise their rates is by doing that, being able to dj, play saxophone. So I am in the market for a DJ controller.

I was chatting with my buddy Tracy Silverman earlier today. You know, I helped him run his Strum Bowing Groove Academy because I'm so passionate about what he does, too. And he had bought his son a DJ controller to use.

He DJ'd at a expo, like for the American String Teachers association about a year and a half ago. And he bought his son the DJ controller. They used it once at that expo, and then his son hasn't used it since.

So he said that he has one. He'd sell it to me half price. So we're working on that.

And then I will have to learn how to actually dj. So I see a couple YouTube tutorials and in my future, and also the guy that I played with yesterday, the DJ. Him and I had DJ'd a wedding previously.

He DJ'd, I played violin. His name is Ethan. He's a cool dude.

And he is a DJ for the company Elite entertainment here in Denver. And we did a wedding together at Sunspot Lodge at the Winter park resort. And so he does the training for all of the DJ's in that company.

And so I might ask him, you know, I'll pay it gladly, but I might ask him to teach me a couple dj lessons. Alright, that's it. This was kind of a ranty, rambling podcast episode, but I hope it's helpful to show you guys that it's never a straight line path.

It's never easy. Sometimes it's easy, but also sometimes it's hard. And so it's just getting through the pain and dealing with the frustration, trying to keep a level head.

Don't burn bridges, which I'm glad that I didn't answer the phone right away. And I'm sure that the, the situation will turn positive and it'll be a good experience for everybody. But it's gonna be a little bit messy.

And that's okay. We just have to accept that. Especially cause I'm in the middle of moving to a new house.

Ah, so much going on. All right, I'm gonna focus back on the road. Thanks for listening.

And by the way, if you're interested in learning how to break into these high end gigs, I'll show you how to put your website together, promote yourself, find these events to sponsor in my free High-End Gigs Masterclass. You can watch that for free at fulltimemusicacademy.com/high-end-gigs with dashes in between those words.

So high end gigs, that's all I got for you all today. Have a great rest of your day, and remember, "Your music will not market itself!".

Bye.

Episode 258 - Navigating Gig Challenges and Maximizing Opportunities at High-End Events

Episode 257 - New Gear, Big Gigs, and Building Corporate Event Connections

Episode 256 - Building Relationships and Delivering Excellence at High-End Gigs

Episode 253 - Why Marketing is Key to Unlocking High-End Gigs for Musicians

Episode 255 - Navigating Gig Challenges and Thriving Under Pressure

Episode 254 - Facing Challenges in the Music Industry: Sponsorship Struggles and Breaking Through

Episode 252 - Farmers Markets, First Gigs, and Staying Power: Building Connections Beyond the Stage

Episode 251 - Adventures in Aspen: Wedding Gigs, Fair Performances, and Finding Your Niche

Episode 250 - Mastering Product-Market Fit: Tailoring Your Music for High-End Gigs

Episode 249 - Booking More Gigs by Creating Strategic Opportunities: Live Showcases and Sponsorships

Episode 248 - Mastering Live Performance: How to Elevate Your Gigs with DJ Collaborations

Episode 247 - Maximizing Gig Opportunities: How National Conferences Can Boost Your Music Career

Episode 246 - Elevate Your Music Brand: How to Continuously Improve Your Marketing and Content

Episode 245 - Open Minds, Open Opportunities: Navigating the Music Industry Differently

Episode 244 - Capitalizing on Major Events: How Musicians Can Secure High-Paying Gigs

Episode 243 - The Renegade Musician's Path to High-Paying Gigs

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