BTTV BLOG » diy touring

Touring Tips No One Ever Tells You

todd — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 20:46:44 +0000

We see a lot of touring tips but these are few originals from How to Run a Band. Take a quick read here and click through for details on each. I’d pay attention to #6 specifically. Know your rights!

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Here’s a few pointers I’ve picked from the few small tours I’ve been on. These are things that no one tells you, but you end up learning the hard way.

1. Dont’ open a tab

2. Listerine has multiple uses

3. Take of your shoes and socks

4. Avoid hand cramps

5. Buy a case of bottled water

6. You have the right to remain silent and say no to searches

Read more @ How To Run A Band.

Best of TrueDIY 2010 Via Indie Ambassador

todd — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:56:15 +0000

The good people at Indie Ambassador have got a good thing going on and a solid series of DIY tips/tricks/advice/ideas. They’ve summed it all up in an end o’ year list that you should peruse. Topics covered…

Mike Gill: Music Videos on a Budget

Luke Garro: Saving Money on the Road

Ben Hoffman: Tour Management 101

Ben & Aidan: Make Your Local Show Count

There are 10 total so be sure to check them all out.

Read more @ Indie Ambassador Blog

10 Tips for Amazing Shows

todd — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:28:31 +0000

Hey, hey. We love numbered lists and WAMM has a good one about touring. Good stuff that takes a little planning and leg work but will make your tour/shows better, bigger more bad ass as it were. We give you two, and click through to WAMM for more.

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Every time a band has a gig, there are certain guidelines they should follow. This checklist of 10 items will help bands ensure each show runs smoothly and is as successful as possible.

Advance The Show

There is a lot of information that trades hands when setting up a show, and sometimes that information gets jumbled and isn’t communicated correctly. Make sure you are on the same page with the venue by advancing the show 1 to 2 weeks before your date. That way, no one gets surprised when the band asks for its $200 guarantee and the venue thinks they only owe $125. Print out those advancing emails and bring them to the gig, just as back up.

Show Your Promotion Efforts

As one might expect, venues love bands that promote hard, so make sure your hard work gets noticed! If you get a plug about your show on a blog, send it over to the venue. Use all of your social networks to link up with the venue online so both of you can cross promote. It is okay to toot your own horn in this situation.

Get 10 more tips @ We All Make Music

End Of The Year: Three Big Touring Tactics

todd — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 19:16:04 +0000

Lots of end of the year stuff coming down the line right now. Big lists and “things you’ve missed”. This one comes from CD Baby and recaps some interesting ideas on how to mount and pull off a tour. Remember, it’s all about the prep work. Do your homework and work hard BEFORE you get in the van. Then you can have a good time.

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With so much upheaval in the music industry, there has been a lot of talk lately about how “indie bands are now in the business of selling t-shirts.” Well, while we don’t think that is exactly true CD Baby’s physical CD sales are UP from this time last year!, it does raise a good point: Everything is changing, even touring.

Without tour support from a label, DIY artists have to make sure they’re getting maximum return on their time, financial investment, and effort when they go out on the road. After all, touring is one of the main ways musicians grow their fan base. And for the following bands, it is working!

1. Blue Cranes Go By Train-In one swift move, Portland’s favorite jazz rock collective teaches us 3 valuable lessons: garner massive press attention by embarking upon an environmentally & economically conscious national tour and have your fans pay for it all. Blue Cranes is a busy band. They gig often. They’ve toured often. But when it came time to consider a national tour, the cost of the undertaking was tough to wrap their heads around. But rather than be deterred, they took the challenge to their fans, successfully using crowdfunding site Kickstarter.com to raise enough money to mount the tour.

Read about 2 more @ DIY Musician

Find Upcoming Shows: 8 Sites Worth Checking

todd — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 21:12:01 +0000

This is more on the consumer side of things but helpful all the same. 8 interesting sites/apps for staying on top of what shows are coming to your town. Worth checking out and from Make Use Of too!

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Thanks to the web, you should never have to miss a beat. There are umpteen ways to follow your favorite artist, band, or even get advance notice of an upcoming concert. There are apps like Songbird or Last.fm which keeps you updated if any favorite band is playing in the area. Now, ever since Google mashups gained ground, I have become bit of a map freak. So I am heading to these eight websites which help to track bands and upcoming concerts with some help from maps.

Gruvr
Effingmusic
Last.fm (music map)
Gigzee
Tourtracker
Folkjam
Popbot

via Make Use Of

5 Social Media Touring Tips

todd — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:37:20 +0000

It’s time for tour! Just getting to this point takes a ton of work and doesn’t happen for every band on the planet. You’ve got some shows booked (hopefully) and maybe more on the way. You’ve got your merch ready to sling and of course your band is crazy-tight and ready to kill it. Now it’s time to gas up the van, head out and let the cards fall where they may. Right? Wrong. You’ve got more work to do.

It’s time for a little social media 101. You’ve got Likers, Followers, Friends and Fans that you want to follow every happening on the road. While they do, they’ll help spread the word about you through their networks. Why? Well, they like your music and want everyone to know about it. Or it’s because you’re a band on tour and everyone wants to do that, or at least be a voyeur to your shenanigans. So here are a few tips to help you keep them up to date and possibly get more people out to shows.

Facebook
If you don’t have a Page, make one. Maybe even swing by RootMusic and sign up for a free “band page” which ads some “band-centric” functions to Facebook Pages. Most importantly keep it updated and fresh. Talk to everyone who talks to you. Post photos and videos from tour on it constantly. Of course it helps if someone in the band has a iPhone, Blackberry or Android, but there’s a lot of down time on tour. Find yourself some internet and have at it with your laptop.

Another simple idea is to make Events for every show and invite all your Likers to every show. Even if they don’t live that city, they may have friends that do and suggest your show to them. It’s all about the personal referral.
Twitter
If you don’t have a profile, get one. Then follow all of the people from your email list (you have one right?) and start tweeting and retweeting as much as you can. Try to stay consistently engaged. People want to know what you’re doing at all times. So much of touring is “hurry up and wait” so it’s a great time killer to just sit around, drink a beer and tweet away while waiting for sound check. Just make sure it’s some-what
Tour Diary Blog
I used to think this made sense but with Facebook and Twitter not so much anymore. Bands usually keep at it for a few days and then fall off. You can try if you like, but I’d stick more short-form communication that’s closer to real-time.
Foursquare
It’s new. It’s fresh. It’s all about checking at places and getting fake prizes. Yes, it does sound kind of lame but it can work for you. Create a profile that’s the name of your band. Next, when you’re at the venue or cool spot check-in at that location to see what other users are there, and then send them a friend request. The same goes for your shows. If the venue is set up as a “Place” and other Foursquare users have checked-in, they’ll show up in the application and you can send them a friend request. All the while be sure to check in at every place you stop. It doesn’t hurt to leave a “Tip” about your band or show at every venue you play. It’s just another way for people to find out about your band.
Keep at it!
One band that I see really on top of their social media is Freelance Whales. Personal tastes aside, they really do make an effort to update their fans on what’s happening, when/where they’re playing and creating good conversation. When they first started only a few people where paying attention, but they kept at it and it’s paid off. They’re able to really engage people on every stop on tour and get a lot of free publicity out of the deal.

I’m sure there are a ton of other ideas and if you have them, throw a comment on here. It’d be great to hear them. Don’t forget that a lot of this stuff you can do when you’re not on tour. You can even prime the pump pre-tour and hire someone like War Room PR to get things going. Remember, being in band is essentially a story you get to tell while it’s happening. Everyone loves a good story. Just keep pushing it out, keep it interesting and remember it’s all just one big conversation.

Better Than The Van + Scion = LA Good Times

todd — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 01:46:39 +0000

Last week we jumped a plane and headed to the city of lost angels for the Scion Music(less) Conference. A little ditty put on by Scion to bring together all kind of minds from the music world to talk shop, present their ideas and listen to the RZA throw down about the music industry. It was a small affair and we were please as punch to be invited. We met a lot of great people and found out what happens in LA when the Lakers win a championship (see definition of urban chaos). We took some pics and you can check out all the happenings at Scion AV in a couple weeks!

Airborne refreshments.

A little Bollywood in a Hollywood cab ride.

Wu Tang! The RZA talks Bill Murray and why he sees spaceships.

The Scion content creation machine.

BTTV on the big screen.

Hummers and hotels.

We met a lot of great people from cool companies like Nimbit (direct to fan merch and music), Sonoma Wireworks (turn your iphone or ipod into a four track), Tunecore (digital distro giant), Reverbnation (you know), mTraks (curated download store) and one of my favorites Sound Exchange (an awesome nonprofit that finds money owed bands and musicians from online radio and streaming sites. you fill out a few pieces of paperwork and they hunt down what’s owed you.)

Fall brings some great things. A relaunch of the site with tons of new features and the return of Better Than The Van Happy Hours. We’re going big and we can’t go home. That’s it. Be well. Go on tour.

ABC News Talks to BTTV!

todd — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:31:36 +0000

“I have always tried to do whatever I can to help musicians out, since I feel like they give me a service I wouldn’t want to live without.”

Well said by BTTV’er Kate Battle out of Chicago. She and a couple others were interviewed for a story/interview that’s running today on the ABC news site.

You can get all the action right here.

Las Vegas, Now That’s City Livin’

todd — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:14:13 +0000

Las Vegas CityLife gave us a nice review and dropped in some interview tidbits straight from Scott’s maw. Read on, it’s a pretty funny piece.

Does Cher still have a show in Vegas?

Oh yeah and another funny one about BTTV via Paper Magazine!

MTVu, Cincinnati Beat and the BTTV Streat Team

todd — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:26:33 +0000

Another whirlwind day around here. MTVu picked up on Better Than The Van via our interview from the Daily Texan. Likewise, the Cincinnati Beat had some kind words.

In other news, Mason Taylor is the first BTTV Street Teamer to send in his pics! A fresh BTTV t-shirt is going out to him today! Here’s a sampling of his work…you can also see it on the BTTV Flickr stream.