I was in the same boat as you (former talent buyer) and I stopped counting how many artists would "guarantee" X amount of people and yet would become angered when the venue representative (myself at the time) would ask them to define what they were "guaranteeing". The live music industry has always been a speculative industry, the Cost o…
I was in the same boat as you (former talent buyer) and I stopped counting how many artists would "guarantee" X amount of people and yet would become angered when the venue representative (myself at the time) would ask them to define what they were "guaranteeing". The live music industry has always been a speculative industry, the Cost of Opportunity does exist, and the line between "pay to play" and artists being empowered to own their own means of production is fine. I wonder if the Internet is helping or hurting live music, but the entire process really puts the onus on the Artist to also become the Creator and the Marketer.
I was in the same boat as you (former talent buyer) and I stopped counting how many artists would "guarantee" X amount of people and yet would become angered when the venue representative (myself at the time) would ask them to define what they were "guaranteeing". The live music industry has always been a speculative industry, the Cost of Opportunity does exist, and the line between "pay to play" and artists being empowered to own their own means of production is fine. I wonder if the Internet is helping or hurting live music, but the entire process really puts the onus on the Artist to also become the Creator and the Marketer.