Standing Out in Crowded Live Music Venue Markets

There’s no denying that live music generates a unique set of emotions that can’t be experienced by simply listening to recordings. Live performances are often more interactive and give listeners a chance to discover new music and artists. Additionally, live venues offer a sense of community since listeners are surrounded by others who share their love of music. 

As a music venue owner or operator, it’s your job to provide the best possible experience for your performers and audience members. This is especially significant as the industry recovers from the impacts of the pandemic and many listeners are still hesitant to attend live events. A recent report revealed that 50 percent of ticket holders are no-shows for smaller indie music venues. 

With numerous live music venues in every city, competition to attract artists and listeners can be fierce. This blog will describe how to make your live music venue stand out in a crowded market. 

Assess What Your Venue Currently Offers

The first thing you need to do is take an objective look at your venue. During your assessment, ask yourself the following:

• Is it set up efficiently for music performances?
  Is the stage the correct size and shape for the type of music performances taking place? It should be situated in a way that allows all audience members to see the stage clearly.
• Do you have adequate and comfortable seating?
  Without enough seating, attendees may not want to stay for the entire performance
• Does the venue have good acoustics?
  One of the most important things for a music venue is having great acoustics. This means that sound should be clear and crisp throughout the venue, without any echoes or distortions. You may need to invest in sound-proofing materials or make other adjustments to your space. 

If you’re not sure about the answers to the above, ask a music professional or music lover to give you their honest feedback. Once you know what needs to be improved, you can start making the necessary changes.

Related: What to Consider in Live Music Venue Design 

Attention to Maintenance and Upkeep

If you want your music venue to stand out, you need to make sure it is well-maintained. Address any maintenance issues as soon as possible to ensure that your music venue is a comfortable and enjoyable place for music lovers and music artists alike. 

It should be obvious, but a music venue that is clean and well-maintained will be more appealing to music artists than one that is not. A dirty or run-down music venue reflects poorly on the music artists who perform there and could turn them away.  

Proper ventilation is also essential since it prevents the music artist from feeling overwhelmed by the heat and noise of the crowd. Ventilation is especially important to protect artists and listeners during the ongoing pandemic. 

Create a Music-Friendly Venue

If you want to attract music artists to your venue, it’s important to make sure that you have the proper equipment.  Use high-quality microphones, amplifiers, speakers, mixers, and any other necessary sound equipment. This makes for a better live music experience for both the artist and the audience. Artists should feel confident that they will be able to produce a great sound at your venue without feedback issues.

No one wants to see a band perform in a dark and dreary space. Make sure your music venue is properly lit so that audiences can see the performers on stage by installing or upgrading to professional quality stage lighting. This will create a more enjoyable and interactive experience for everyone involved. 

Recruit Popular Talent 

Recruiting well-known artists to perform is an excellent way of standing out in the live music venue crowd. But how do you go about attracting such artists to your venue? 

Begin by taking the pulse of the local music scene in your area to ensure the artist would receive a favorable turnout. For example, if you’re recruiting a country music artist, but listeners are more into rock in your area, you may have a poor turnout. 

Be sure to offer the artist a competitive rate for their performance. Research what others in your area are offering and match or exceed those rates. Consider that artists have higher costs due to inflation and supply chain issues. If you need to make adjustments in your performance budget to accommodate their higher rates, the investment can pay off in the form of more ticket sales. 

While you may have to make some adjustments in your budget to hire a popular artist, it can pay off by boosting your venue to the forefront of the community music scene.

Related: How to Find Bands to Play at Your Venue

Create a Welcoming Environment for the Artist

You want your music venue to be the place that music artists want to perform at. For this reason, it’s important to make artists feel comfortable. This can be done through the following actions. 

• Set aside a comfortable backstage area for artists
  Music artists should feel welcome and well taken care of when they come to your music venue.  Have an area backstage where music artists can relax and prepare for their performance, as well as refresh themselves in between sets. 
• Employ knowledgeable staff who can assist artists with equipment setup. 
  This shows the artist that the venue is professional and organized. The artist will also feel less pressured, not having to search for power outlets and figure out cable connections. 
• Offer complimentary food and drink for the artists.
  This is a perk that artists will appreciate, especially if they are often on the road and may not have time to obtain a proper meal. 
• Provide artists with an opportunity to sell their merchandise at your venue
  Many artists appearing at smaller venues are just starting out and publicizing their music through newly released albums as well as other merchandise. Allowing them the opportunity to sell their items at your venue will be greatly appreciated.  

Promote Your Venue 

Promoting your venue is necessary to attract talent and audiences. This can effectively be done in several ways. 

• Use social media to advertise your venue. Make sure to use hashtags specific to your venue. You can go one step further by live streaming your shows on Facebook Live, Snapchat, YouTube, or Instagram.  A recent study found that people who watch live music videos are 67% more likely to buy tickets.
• Promote your venue through music publications and online directories.
• Distribute flyers and posters in music stores, music venues, and other public places.
• Your music venue should have an easily accessible website that provides all the information potential customers need to know, such as your location, contact information, performance schedule, and more. 
• Get involved in the music community by attending music festivals and other events. This will help you network with other music professionals and learn about new artists. 
• Offer music industry discounts to students and music professionals. This will make your venue more appealing to up-and-coming music artists. 

Get Organized

So what’s the key to holding all this together? Organization. It’s essential to any booking process, and venue bookings are no exception. Accurate and efficient budgeting is a crucial part of the process since you must carefully consider promotional costs, artist compensation, security, permits, and other expenses.  Accurately tracking offers, deals, bookings, and ticket sales is essential to your venue’s success.

Organization is one of the top ways to make your live music venue stand out because it will result in a well-orchestrated, exciting, problem-free experience for concertgoers and artists alike. Your music venue, in turn, will be a sought-after location for a great all-around experience.

Stand Out With Prism

Prism’s innovative all-in-one management system can assist you every step of the way with calendar management, offer generation, deal tracker, revenue and expense tracking, and settlement reports. Additionally, the centralized platform allows you to communicate and collaborate with stakeholders, ensuring that everyone on your team has access to real-time data. With Prism’s advanced features, managing and organizing your venue has never been easier. 

In a music scene that’s ever-changing and constantly growing, it can be hard to make your music venue stand out from the rest. But, with a little organization, creativity and know-how, you can ensure that your music venue will be the one that artists will prefer over others. 

Whether you’re booking a small event or orchestrating a large-scale production, Prism will help you keep everything organized, so you can focus on what really matters – making your event a success. Contact us to schedule a demo and see how Prism can help you streamline and centralize the planning of your live music events.