Recently a friend brought this article from the Phoenix New Times to my attention. The article concerns the ruminations of a local Phoenix music message board, and the concept of Pay to Play. If you’re unfamiliar, Pay to Play is one of the more prevalent and shitty ways in which bands get screwed and promoters suck the quality out of a music scene. It works like this, Venue X is throwing a show, which may or may not be headlined by some second rate scene band, and in an effort to make sure the show doesn’t flop, the promoter sells the opening slots on this mediocre event to whatever local bands are willing to sell enough advance tickets. Anyway, as someone that’s been on the promoter side AND the artist side, I felt the need to weigh in, and more or less back up the dude that wrote the Phoenix article.
I understand why promoters practice pay to play, obviously. It ensures that they don’t lose money, it allows them to hold more shows, and it makes their job easier. But let’s get one thing straight: if your job is “talent buyer,” “promoter,” “booking agent,” or any other variation of that term as it relates to a venue, then your job is to promote the show. Your job is NOT to prey on the dreams of unassuming teenagers and force them to do your job for you. Your job is not to fill the concert calendar and hope for the best. If you have trouble getting bodies through the door without practicing Pay to Play, then you’re simply not good at your job, as you are making poor business decisions and providing a miserable experience for your paying customers.
Perhaps the most offensive thing about Pay to Play is how deceitful it is, and promoters who practice it should really feel ashamed of themselves. Bands that fall for the Pay to Play scam are brought in under the guise of opportunity, but are given the worst slots, short amounts of time, and are given either no, or incredibly unfair, pay. What’s worse is that the people these bands turn to in order to sell their tickets are their friends and family, and what good does playing for 20 minutes to a room full of family and friends do? We both know that opening for The Click Five on a Tuesday night (or any night) isn’t going benefit anyone, so why are you forcing bands to come up with the cash to support this show that you shouldn’t have booked in the first place?
Promoters that practice Pay to Play may not realize it, but they’re also alienating their paying concertgoers, because the concept lacks quality control. By putting cash above all else, the practice is sacrificing quality by giving exposure to the artists that are willing to pay, not necessarily those that deserve to be heard. It’s a dilution of the accessible talent pool and it has decreased the quality of live music at the local level. Personally, I’ve been subjected to this disregard for the listener so much, that there are venues I refuse to go to even when there’s a headliner I like. I’ve just been burned too many times.
As disgusting as Pay to Play is, you bands need to listen up: you are not off the hook. The internet has made you lazy. Making a Facebook event and inviting your friends list does not a promoter make. Design a flier, photocopy it, and put it in the hands of every person that may be interested in your show. Pass it out at other shows, at the mall, at school, at rehearsal studios, practice spaces, kids on the street that look bored on a Friday night, etc. This has become so rare that actually doing it is bound to get you noticed. Let’s be honest, most of us just click the “Not Attending” tab on our Facebook invites before we even finish reading them anyway. And if you’ve even logged into Myspace in the last year for any reason at all, well, you’ve got bigger problems. So get out there and make that personal connection.
And you don’t have to stop there! Demonstrate that you care by being well-practiced. If you make every live event an awesome, memorable experience for promoters and the audience, then you’ll get that success you’re looking for.
In closing, let’s cut the shit. If bands and promoters all put a little more effort into their respective responsibilities, there would be more shows, more often, and with better bands. Please, help make live local music enjoyable again and stop acting like a bunch of adult babies.
