Promoting Live Music - Online Event Websites

Are you in a band? Then your band had better have a MySpace page. MySpace is for live music what E-Bay is for auctions, what Google is for search engines and what YouTube is for home videos. You'd be surprised how many bands I know who do NOT have a MySpace page - it boggles my mind.

But MySpace isn't enough. Not for promoting your shows.

As many people as there are on MySpace, there are just as many on Facebook, and if they're not on either, they're on Twitter. And as many as there are on those social networks, there are ten, fifty or a hundred times as many who are NOT on either one. Get the word out ....

POWERFUL

www.zvents.com (also known as www.when.com)

For about $10, you can call in to zvents and they'll post your event for you. Or you can do it yourself for FREE. You can create an Event Page, a Venue Page or a Performer's Page. This site coordinates with cityguide.aol.com - one of the most popular search engines for local entertainment.
www.eventful.com
Post your event for free. The site also has The Demand, encouraging users to connect with friends via other social networks, like Facebook, to bring favored performers to the area.

upcoming.yahoo.com
Anyone who uses Yahoo! as their homepage is alerted to local events simply by moving their mouse over the Upcoming Events area, top right-hand corner of the page. This is huge.
www.google.com/calendar
The Google Calendar incorporates Google Maps - anyone doing a map search in the area will see your event listing.

POTENT, but less powerful

www.pollstar.com
Any concert-goers looking for an event would have to go to PollStar.com on purpose to look for it. But PollStar is a standard in the industry, like Billboard is to charts - if you're a serious band or venue, you need to be on pollstar.

www.jambase.com
JamBase was one of the first sites to host free event listings. Create a performer's page or a venue page and list your events. Again, any concert-goers looking for an event would have to go to JamBase on purpose to look for it - but your events will show up on internet searches. So there's that.

www.sonicbids.com
Not such a good site for promoting your events, but it is a standard in the industry for electronic press kits. Unless you're looking for gigs, sign on for the free version and keep it up to date.

AND I'LL BET YOU'VE FORGOTTEN

Contact the local press and media - newspapers, radio and t.v.

There are tons of writers, like me, just searching and looking for things to write about. Sure, buy advertising in the paper if you want to. But better than that, find out who's writing in the local newspapers and free entertainment papers and magazines. Contact them directly with your press releases - and give 'em something to write about!

Contact the local radio stations for interviews. Give 'em something to talk about!

Contact the local t.v. stations for interviews on their morning or noon shows.

If possible, get on their upcoming events listings, especially if your event has a charity or community-oriented spin. Hey, it's free advertising.

KEEP IN MIND - Earlier is better than later

T.V. stations need about one month advance notice. Newspaper journalists need about a 10-day lead time. Radio stations are much more flexible, but give 'em as much lead time as you can so they can do their thing.