Week in Review - 7 March 2014

This has been a typical work week for GME. I spent a couple days working from my office in Portsmouth getting caught up on marketing some upcoming events.

Today I attended a Hampshire Chamber event at the Portsmouth Marriott, 'Future Portsmouth,' and I am so happy to be a part of this growing area on the South Coast. They talked about planned development, grants and loans available for small to medium sized companies, and the main focus was Apprenticeships and how companies of any size can benefit as well as support our local economy by hiring an Apprentice.  

It was a struggle getting to this early breakfast seminar, especially after spending an amazing evening the night before at the O2 in London with Beyonce! I saw her last year at the O2 but was sitting in the nosebleed section of the arena ... this year, we were on Level 1!  What an amazing show. I was literally drained by the end of the night, and by the time I arrived home well after 1:00am I had major doubts about making it to my meeting. I'm so glad I did, though, because I left the meeting feeling even more connected to my adopted community!

On 8 March, Mayfield will be performing again at The Jolly Sailor. This is our first gig there this year and we are looking forward to spending a Soulful evening with our friends in Southsea!

My party band, 'Move On Up' will be performing at The Grosvenor Casino Osborne Road for their Wedding Fayre on Sunday, 9 March from 12p.  Hopefully, our performance will lead to a couple bookings. With our unique blend of Soul, Funk & Rock classics, we work hard to make any event sizzle from start to finish!  

Finally, I am gearing up for the first of five Foodies Festivals for which I will be managing the entertainment stage.  GME was scheduled to work on seven events, but the entertainment for the Marble Hill and Kenwood House festivals will now be handled directly through these venues.  Our first event is Brighton on 3-5 May. I will be announcing the performers for Brighton in the next couple weeks!  Watch this space.

That's it for now ... have a fabulous weekend!

Karaoke Singer vs. Backing Track Performer

Okay, I admit it … I have signed my name on many a list and flipped through very large books listing every imaginable song, and then took to the microphone to belt out one (or more) of my favourite songs.  Karaoke nights are fun and many venues offer these nights in lieu of bringing in live performers.  However, there is one huge difference between Karaoke singers and backing track performers … entertainment value!  Karaoke nights can be entertaining, but usually for all the wrong reasons.

Blues Bros. by Disco Divas!

At GME I work with some amazing solo, duo & tribute acts who perform with backing tracks and they create a ‘show’ atmosphere with their performances because they are stellar performers!  More and more venues, hotels and event planners are seeing the value in booking a backing track performer because it is a smart choice if you have limited space or a small budget.  A solo or duo act with backing tracks is a great option to create a big band sound for your guests at a solo or duo fee.  Another option is to pair a solo performer or tribute act with a DJ for a party night or event adding the ‘live’ music element to the occasion.

Our aim at GME is to keep music live which is why I encourage solo and duo performers to consider adding backing tracks to enhance their shows which gives entertainment bookers affordable options that allow them to continue to bring fantastic live entertainment to their venues or events.

Elainor Knight-Solo Performer

If you are a performer and you currently use backing tracks or might be considering using them, I recommend visiting www.karaoke-version.co.uk.  They offer thousands of backing tracks in .mp3 format for download at a reasonable price, and each track gives you four key options. 

Secret Smile Duo

This is ideal for the solo performer. They also offer custom backing tracks which are multi-track .mp3’s allowing you to alter or omit any of the individual parts that make up the track. This is ideal for solo performers and duos who want to remove the piano part or the guitar part, etc. leaving room for you to add live instrumentation. There is a .com version of this website too. 

GME is currently running a Holiday Entertainment special for the month of December:

Book a GME Solo Act for £180 for 2 45-minute sets of festive music. 

Book a GME Duo Act for £250 for 2 45-minute sets of festive music.

Contact us today to enquire about one of GME's acts, or provide information about your next event on this booking form and let us handle the details ... 02392 280829.

The Beth Oliver Band - Original Band With A Familiar Vibe

From an agent's perspective I understand the hesitation of entertainment bookers to hire original bands but I don't support it! Here's why, there are some amazing original artists who are creating new music that somehow feels comfortable, familiar ... Like you've heard it before and audiences are responded to these artists! Here at GME we are blessed to represent The Beth Oliver Band and they personify being an original band with a familiar vibe.  Fronted by Beth Oliver who's just your ordinary Pompey girl! and backed by some of the finest musicians on the South Coast, you cannot listen to this band without trying to sing along even though you may not know the words, or at least tapping your feet to their tunes if not full on dancing.

I've been working with BOB for over a year now and have watched them grow as songwriters and performers and whenever I've been to their shows be it in a small, intimate venue or a festival playing to several hundred, their 60s inspired pop music elicits the same reaction ... A good time had by all!!

From a fellow performers perspective, I know the struggle that exist when deciding if you're going to be an original act doing your own material and probably not working that much or if you're going to be a cover band which makes it a little easier to keep your diary filled or if you're going to be something in between. BOB is truly an originals band, because even when they do a cover, they put their own stamp on that cover making the transition between the new and the familiar seamless.

I highly recommend this band for events, venues and festivals because they give their audience the best of both worlds ... Creative, new songs laced with the familiar vibe of Lily Allen, the Beatles and other favourites from the 60s offering a new sound that is uniquely The Beth Oliver Band!

Click here to learn more about The Beth Oliver Band!

Contact Information - Vol. 3

Alright, I’ve been to your website, I’ve clicked on your ‘Kick-ass’ song because you don’t have it set to autoplay, and your kick-ass song has wowed me and I now want to contact you …

I cannot tell you the frustration of wanting to contact an act once they’ve got me pumped about their music, and then having to search for their phone number or email address. Yes, it’s great to have the typical ‘contact’ page on your website, but I encourage you to have your phone number and email address prominently featured on every page of your website, and on all your social media pages. Don’t make the person who is ready to work with you have to hunt for your contact details.

Even if you have a form set up on your ‘contact’ page for people to email you through your website, please include your email address too.  I personally never email acts through their website. I’m put off by it and I just move on to the next one. My husband asked me why I do this, and it’s because I use the emails I send as part of my follow-up system and I can’t do that when I’ve had to send an email through a website.

If you use a FB page to promote your music, make sure your phone number, email address and a link to your website is included in the ‘Short Description’ which is that box underneath your photo. Don’t make us have to click on ‘about’ to find your contact details! 

Same goes for Twitter! You need to have all your contact details on your profile, because this is the page people will land on if you have peaked their interest with one of your clever tweets. Again, make it easy for whoever wants to contact you to be able to contact you.

So, after I wrote this I went to my own web pages and realized I wasn’t exactly practicing what I was preaching. So to not be a hypocrite, I have followed my own advice and made it much easier for people to find my contact details. 

Take a look at my pages:

Website:  www.gmmbookingagency.com

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Gmmbookings

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/GmmBookingAgency

I do hope this information is helpful!  Until next time, happy music making!!

Your Kick A** Song! - Vol. 2

In Volume 1 of this blog, Autoplay, we discussed that autoplay is baaaaaddddd!  I also touched a little bit on making sure that the tracks you choose to represent you on your webpages be your absolute best tracks ... in other words, your 'Kick Ass Tracks!'

Generally, you have about 8 to 15 seconds to impress someone at the initial point of contact.  Go to the main webpage that you use to represent you and really listen to what's happening in the first 8 to 15 seconds of your first track.  Has that time all been taken up with the intro?  Is there a better part of this song that you can edit your track to fade into that has the 'wow' factor?  Is the first song on your site your best song and are you showcasing the best part of your best song?  This applies to originals and covers.

I have been booking entertainment for 5 festivals this year and started the booking process sometime in February.  From that time 'til now, I have received a few 100 artist submissions expressing interest in performing at these events.  It has been this process that has fueled my starting this blog.  About 40% of these submissions never got heard because the first track on the webpage they linked me to was 15+ seconds of intro.  If I haven't heard what you sound like by 15 seconds, I'm no longer interested. 

Your first track on your webpage needs to be your Kick Ass song, and this song needs to represent everything about you and your sound in 15 seconds or less.  If you sing like an angel, or belt like Beyonce or if you're quirky like GaGa, anyone listening should now this by 15 seconds in.  If you have managed to wow the person you are trying to wow in 15 seconds, they will want to know more about you and listen to other tracks, watch video, etc. (this same rule applies to video demos ... you have 15 seconds max to impress).

If you would like help in this area, link me to your 'Kick Ass' song in the comments and I will have a listen and tell you my thoughts. I am here to help!

Happy music making!!

Next blog ... Your 15-Second Elevator Pitch!

Autoplay - Vol. 1

Scenario:

Artist has set up a lovely webpage and has setup their kicka** song to start playing automatically when anyone visits their webpage.

Artist has sent a link to this webpage with their kicka** song setup on autoplay to a very busy Agent who is looking through hundreds of submissions from Artists trying to fill a booking request.

Busy Agent has a few minutes while waiting to go into a meeting and decides to click on said link of Artist with the kicka** song setup on autoplay, and much to the Agents embarrassment, this kicka** song is now playing in the middle of the lobby of an important client, and the Agent can't figure out how to get the kicka** song to stop playing.

I can give you several more scenarios that all lead to this conclusion ... Autoplay ... Noooooooooo!!

GMM Booking Agency is small, but I get almost 100 inquiries a month from artists contacting me to consider them for the agency, or artists responding to my ads looking for bands.  I can only conclude from this that larger agencies are receiving thousands of inquiries a month.  Whenever I have a spare moment or two, I go through my ever-growing list of potential acts and have a nosy around their webpages, etc. When I am ready to listen (which sometimes involves me having to put headphones on) then I find the music link and play a track.  The webpages that autoplay when they load, I instantly close to stop the kicka** song from playing; then I move on to the next artist on my list.  The chance for that artist to be heard by me is lost.

Before becoming an agent, I had songs on autoplay on my webpage.  Now, I don't.  Give yourself a chance to really be heard by not forcing a song on a potential client or agent. Let us control when we hear you once we're on your page.

Next blog ... 'Kicka** Song!'  Tune in next week ...