Key Points:
- Love pop music and ensure you are up to date with trends and music news
- Go for the best acts you can afford
- Be realistic whilst remaining ambitious, courteous and determined
An interest in modern music is necessary if you want to sustain your energy over the average three months it generally takes from researching bands to a show in your library. You will also need to communicate effectively with a number of music industry partners for your GILIL show from booking agent, to tour manager, to sound engineer, to the band themselves. Then you will need to communicate with the new audience you are hoping to generate, and the press and then your colleagues.
Essentially you are chasing some degree of wow factor, and positioning it in the place a lot of people would look last to find it a library. Acquainting oneself with contemporary music trends and the media that represent and promote individual bands and artists, and making it your job to keep abreast of events in the music world is also of paramount importance and vital to the success and reputation of the project.
You will have probably assessed the need for live music for young people in your community, and the range and popularity of venues at young people’s disposal close by. If there are few or none, then even better; your project is filling a gaping social community need and with the right choice of acts and the right marketing and message, your GILIL night will respond to that need in the most exciting and immediate of terms.
Good artists
One of the keynotes to remember is that GILIL is nothing without good artists. Its reputation and ticket sales rests squarely on the ability of the team to pinpoint bands and artists who will make a difference to the community and how they feel towards the library. Will your gig give the town a lift?
Good, reliable sources of excellent new bands and music trends and news, both online and hard copy, are:
- Music Week
- Uncut
- Dazed and Confused
- Artrocker
- NME
- www.gigwise.com
- Various BBC Music sites
Once you have researched and listened to your short list of artists that you feel would suit a GILIL show, it is time to get in touch.
The approach needn't be overcomplicated. Remember, you like the agent's band and want them to come and play. That's all. Yet approaching bands, artists, managers and agents remains a challenging yet rewarding task. Persistence and the ability to illustrate your love for music, awareness of events management, and your desire to team together with your chosen artists as a promotional opportunity that would benefit both the library and the band will go a long way.
Pitch this opportunity to the band as if the chance to play a library is both unique and cool with huge cultural outcomes for all parties the sheer added value of quirky exclusivity is the hook here.
You can either contact the band’s live booking agent or email/call the band directly through sites like Myspace, or through contact details on their official websites. One word of caution: Agents often hate it if you go direct as you are basically cutting them out of the equation and bands pay their agents to schedule the touring and negotiate offers and fees.
A band just starting out and desperate for live gigs and exposure will be your best bet for direct hiring for a GILIL show. Otherwise booking agencies like Coda Agency, The Agency, X-Ray Touring, 13 Artists and Primary will consider your offer for the band of your choice to play your library and make the final decision based on a number of factors. It’s often a painstaking process, drawn out and including many unreturned calls, date changes and false starts but the wait is always worth it.
The advice here is to be patient and open-minded. Stay courteous and remain true to your principles. Keeping a positive frame of mind approaching the business of booking your band will shine through your correspondence and make you a dependable person for them to deal with.
And when the email arrives confirming that an artist like Bat For Lashes has confirmed to play the humble library stage, you are in the happy business of playing in the major music business world and attracting a whole new bright-eyed audience into your library.
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Photo credit: Frances Ross