I showed up at Guitar Center this morning just after they opened and was able to talk to two employees who play live music around town.
Omar seemed to play bigger shows, but both of them indicated they play more house parties and churches than bars and clubs, though each would like to break into that scene more. Omar said that he did spend a lot of time chasing down gigs, but that the amount of time put in was proportionate to the result. He said that, for a product like I was describing, networking with other artists to find people to play with, and fostering a DIY culture were big draws.
He suggested that offering the ability to buy download cards and have them shipped to the artist would be great, and suggested that I talk to some connectors in the business, such as Alex from Paperhouses, Sasha Lord, and Steve Lambert.
Eric was in many ways like Omar, but seemed more focused, right now, on small house shows. He suggested that a street team, that would go around promoting in their region, hanging fliers and posters, would be valuable. Furthermore, if there were a way we could offer a premium service which guarantees up and coming artists a spot for their posters at exclusive venues, he would pay for that.
Omar said he would pay $5 to $10 a month for the service, though if it could replace his marketing efforts on Facebook and elsewhere, he would pay more.
Eric said that if we could get band guarantees, and then take a % of that guarantee, every artist would use it (don't think thats feasible unless the band has 10+ ratings, because we need to be guaranteed of their performance).
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