Musicians have known for a long time that weddings are a lucrative business. Particularly now, when making a living playing music is harder than ever, many bands turn to weddings to supplement their income or form a whole new career as function players.
However, providing entertainment for the events industry – particularly weddings – is especially competitive.
There are literally thousands of bands competing for the same gigs, right across the country.
Therefore, it is imperative to keep potential clients informed with the latest reviews, repertoire and answer enquiries promptly.
But how do you set yourself up with regular wedding gigs? Below is some practical advice on getting established…
Maximise online presence
Every band and musician needs to advertise in order to make the public aware of what they offer. In times past, this would have been based almost exclusively on word of mouth, but nowadays this involves a website, profiles on all major social media sites and keeping them both up to date.
Internet users enjoy multimedia, and so by posting good quality images, your latest recordings and updates and informative video clips, a musician is more likely to grow an interested following.
Having your own website has gone from being a luxury, to a necessity. This is really a base to attract potential clients.
Whilst this is essential, a professional website can be difficult to keep up to date as regular blog posts and good SEO are needed for the website to rank well in search engines.
Remember, a client’s top priority is hearing what the band sounds like. Musicians will get best results by pointing their fans to their latest good quality, professionally recorded, audio samples.
It is also important to let clients know a band’s repertoire and the varying line ups that are offered.
Things to include on your website:
Contact Details
Always make sure you have all of your contact details clearly visible on your website. At least one phone number really is a must! When someone is planning a wedding they usually feel more confident if they have spoken to someone directly.
The wedding day is such an important (and expensive!) event in peoples’ lives that they dont want to leave anything to chance and the reassurance of chatting to a band member directly helps form a relationship and make them more likely to book you.
A telephone conversation also gives you a chance to chat about a first dance song, venue arrangements and anything that you may need (dressing room, refreshments) with the client.
Video Clips
Another key feature for your bands website or directory profile is a video clip of your band performing live.
There is nothing better to show how your band actually looks and sounds during their performances, so make sure it truly reflects your talents.
Have a look at these wedding bands – they are all pretty successful and most have a youtube video clip.
Previous Clients & Testimonials
If you have played gigs for impressive sounding clients in the past, then definitely advertise this on your website! Any big corporate events are going to really add to the “wow” factor for customers browsing your site.
If Marks and Spencer have booked you in the past, then make sure that’s prominent and links you to a name everyone knows. The same goes for celebrity weddings, parties or any other event that’s going to make you sound more appealing.
Likewise with testimonials. It’s good to get into the habit of emailing clients after every show saying thanks you for the booking and asking them if they would be happy to give you a quick testimonial they don’t mind being quoted.
If you’re just starting out, you can always find some previous clients and ask them for a quick quote (this may even inspire them to get back in touch for an upcoming gig!).
Potential clients want to see that you are experienced and you have done a good job at similar events in the past, and there is simply no better way to do this that to feature testimonial quotes from previous clients.
Adam Hughes, Last Minute Musicians joint-founder says:
Try to keep a record of your customers and always ask them to email you a testimonial. Again, clients like to read what other people have said about you.
Adam Hughes
Studio Quality Recordings & Professional Photography
Make sure that you have good quality photos and audio clips which accurately represent your band.
At the end of the day the first thing that your customers will do is look at the pictures and press play on your audio player. Then they will start reading the rest of your site and make their decision.
If your pictures and audio are not up to scratch then most visitors will navigate away.
Join a directory
For musicians to promote themselves to the widest clientele possible, it is sensible to add themselves to an entertainment directory.
At LastMinuteMusicians.com musicians can add a profile featuring the most important information that a band needs to advertise what they do.
This includes photos, mp3s, videos, testimonials, recent clients and a repertoire list.
Have a USP
Just one quick Internet search will demonstrate that are many types of wedding bands available. The best wedding bands hone in on their target audience and develop a unique selling point (USP) very quickly.
Register with a variety of Entertainment Agents
Often, agencies specialise in providing music for certain functions. Some are focused on weddings, others on corporate work. Search around for some agents who specialise in the new areas that you would like to get in to.
Registering with an agency however, is pointless if you have bad demo recordings and photos.
The most important two things that you need are quality audio clips and good looking photos. If you don’t have these… then you know where to start!
Keep networking
Whilst keeping up appearances online is crucial to creating a successful wedding band, nothing is quite as important as traditional word-of-mouth.
Make sure you’re always meeting new musicians – not only could these musicians end up being potential deps in the future but they could well send you work and enquiries that they can’t do.
Friends and family are also a great way to get off the ground. Once you’ve played at one event, any of the guests there may end up hiring you or recommending you to friends in the future.
Expand your coverage & diversify
If you are working primarily in London then you might want to consider looking for work further afield.
Likewise, bands from the North could also look for gigs in central London – Its all about expanding your client base.
Yes, it will involve more traveling, but you can always offset the extra time involved by charging a slightly higher fee and expenses.
Diversifying can also broaden your appeal. Just because you are a blues guitarist, it doesn’t mean that you can only play at blues clubs between the hours of 1.30 and 3.30am. OK, so that’s quite an extreme example, but the point remains valid!
You have a skill, your craft as a musician, and if you want to make more money then you have to use that skill to its most profitable end.
Try to get some gigs at weddings, corporate events, functions and private parties. Approach an entertainment agency and see if they will add you to their books.
Remember you can alter the “areas covered” section of your LMM profile!
‘Musicians needed’ adverts
Responding to adverts for ‘musicians wanted’ is a great way to get extra paid concerts.
Check out some forums and gumtree posts from clients looking for performers for specific events, like a product launch or corporate party.
Often the person who is booking the artists has never done it before and is not a professional event planner.
They just want to find a suitable band and book them with confidence that they turn up on time, play well and look the part.
Do you play in a wedding band? Do you have any tips on getting started? Let us know in the comments below!
