Many people dream about organising music events for a living, but they simply don't know where to start. If you are among these people, this post is for you! Here we have encompassed several important tips that will help you kick-start your music event planning career.
Find a Venue
Finding a proper venue is the first step to organising a successful music event. The size of the venue will depend on how many people you are planning to host at the event – there’s a huge difference between a gig intended to gather a hundred people at most, and a massive music festival. Always pick a venue you can fill, since nothing says failure as loudly as a half-empty venue. Also, when choosing a venue, make sure to pick a location that’s easy to reach, as it will maximise your chances of attracting more people.
Choose the Date
Events happening on weekends usually attract more people, since weekends are traditionally the time when people want to relax, unwind and entertain themselves. But sometimes all weekends are already taken and choosing a weekday is actually a better choice for the organisers. That’s why, before you decide on the date, you should make sure to browse through other events happening in the area at the same time to avoid overlapping. Also, when choosing a date, make sure to have enough time for planning. Music events take at least 4 to 6 weeks to plan , so booking an event a week in advance is not an option.
Book the Performers
Some music events have only one performer, a DJ, a singer or a band on the stage. Others, such as music festivals, encompass dozens of participants at the same place. If you are planning to hire multiple performers, make sure that their styles and fan bases match. Hiring dissimilar performers for a joint event can put people off. If they have to go through five acts they don’t like just to get to the one they do like, then they might give up on the event completely. Regardless of how many participants you have, you have to make sure to book them in time. Book performers as soon as you decide on the venue. Once you have your performers and venue taken care of, your job is half done.
Promote Your Event
Now that you have your venue, date and performers booked, it's time to advertise. Start with social media. Studies have shown that 25% of traffic to ticketing pages comes from social media. Facebook and Instagram are particularly useful for promoting music events as they both give you the opportunity to post advertising posters and even short videos to get people all pumped up about a certain event. But you mustn't forget about offline marketing as well.
Attractive posters are a must-have for any music event. If you are organising a small-scale event, put up these posters all over your local area, and at the venue where the event will be held. For bigger events, you might want to rent billboards all over the city or even several big cities and set aside some money for online, TV, newspaper and radio advertising.
Hire an Event Planner
If organising a music event becomes too much for you to handle, you can always hire an event planner to take care of the organisation for you. Event planners have experience in organising events of all sizes and types, and they will use both their know-how and their music industry contacts to ensure that you get the outstanding music event you dreamed of. Not only that an event planner will ensure that everything goes as planned , but they will also use their marketing experience to promote your event and attract more people.
Encourage People to Buy Tickets in Advance
Although most music events allow people to buy tickets at the entrance just before the event, it's advisable to encourage people to buy tickets in advance. Not only that buying tickets in advance will give you a good idea of how many people you should expect, but also, people are less likely to give up on the event if they have already purchased tickets. Sometimes even just a rainy day is enough to make a potential event-goer stay at home.
Statistics show that only 18% of event tickets are sold on the actual day of the event. So, if you fail to get people to buy tickets in advance, they will probably end up not buying them at all. Early-bird tickets and other special discounts are some of the methods you can use to ensure people purchase their tickets in advance.
Organising a music event can be a lot of fun, but can cause you a lot of headaches as well. That’s why you should make sure to follow these steps and ensure that everything runs smoothly.