Martin Cloonan
(University of Glasgow)
Creating Live Music:
An Industrial Perspective
www.gla.ac.uk/departments/livemusicproject/
The Project
Promotion of Live Music in the UK – a
Historical, Cultural and Institutional
Analysis
 The

www.gla.ac.uk/departments/livemusicproject/

Personnel

Progress
Live Music

Live Music and Popular Music Studies

Economic Importance

C.I’s as economic driver, Music as part of C.I’s, Live
Music more valuable than recorded, Live needs
organising >

The Promoter

Live Music as part of the C.I’s
The Promoter
 What
is a promoter?
 History
 Risk
takers?
 Different
types
Defining Promoters

the term ‘promoter’ is widely used in the music industry to describe
the person or company responsible for the physical organisation and
presentation of a concert or festival’ (Laing (2003: 561)

Responsible for ‘hiring venues, arranging stages, sorting out public
address systems and lighting, employing caterers and security
personnel, advertising the show and coordinating the sale of tickets’
(Negus 1992: 130)

‘for ensuring the safety of both the public and the artist during the
course of the gig and for conforming with licensing regulations’ (Music
Managers Forum 2003: 23)

‘financially responsible for an… event’ (Kemp et al 2008: xiii)
History

1955 – Showbiz impresarios: ‘.. it was an old boys club and Harold
Davison, Lou Grade, and Tito Burns were managers and agents and
promoters all at the same time in the old-fashioned way’ (Boyd 2008)

1960s – New entrepreneurial class

Student Unions - ‘The music business was built on social secs, and
that’s where they learned about profit and loss, and how to deal with
agents, it was a fantastic training ground’ (Jenner 2008)

Newly aware musicians – ‘‘what you’re really seeing the big picture
was the capture of huge swaths of the towering heights of the music
business by middle class performers’ (Boyd 2008)
More History

1970s – mid1990s: Dominance of Recording

1990s: Napster and downloading

2009: Era of the gig?

‘that live music experience that you can’t replicate is
what people are buying into. And that’s what’s built the
industry, that’s why it’s so big’ (Mackie 2008)

‘selling a unique experience’ (Kemp et al 2009: 1-19)
Evolution

‘promoters moved from being a shady individual
who knew the bands, going back to the 50s and
60s… . So there’s a kind of process, and I think
you can see how promotion has changed,
become more structured, more organized, more
professionalized, and much much more profit
orientated, as you would expect from the
companies becoming bigger, late capitalism,
service industries’ (Williamson 2008)
Risk?

‘Promoters take nearly all of the financial risk in organizing a tour or
concert, usually guaranteeing artists a minimum income from
events. Their role includes costing events and tours, and booking
venues’ (Competition Commission 2007: 13)

‘… yes, it is a financial gamble, and sometimes it’s a white knuckle
ride when there’s a lot of money on the line, and you’re looking at it,
and you’re looking at how many tickets you’ve sold, and you know
what the fee is, and you’re going, “oh no!” (Hobson 2008)

‘… obviously there’s going to be the financial element of, “I really
must break even, otherwise I’m pretty fucked”’ (McLean 2008)

‘I suppose it’s a bit like gambling, it’s a bit like addiction. You have
one gig in 30 that actually does well enough for you to go out and . .
. I think the best one, I went out and bought a bicycle for my son’
(Deadman 2008)
Buzz

‘And then it’s a great buzz when the venues
phone you up, or you go online, and they say, “it
sold out in 7 minutes, the first Tom Waits”, you
know, and it’s just, like, wow . . . So that’s a
high! That’s a really good thing, um. But your
work doesn’t stop there. Then you’ve got to do
what you’re paid for . . . What you’re paid for is
two things. One, you’re taking the risk, right?
‘Cos you are the only person who is underwriting
the show, you’re risking it all. But two, at the end
you have to produce the show too; you have to
come through with your promise’ (Mackie 2008)
Minimising Risk

‘It’s all about what we’ll do next time – you plan ahead…
it’s always like, OK, we’ll play this this time, and then
next time when we come back . . . So you’re always
thinking next time’ (Mackie 2008)

‘a lot of them wouldn’t phone me for Def Leppard,
because I wouldn’t answer the call . . . I wouldn’t want
them, you know?.. People know I’m not good at
promoting heavy rock or hard rock.. It’s just something
I’m not good at… They tend to come to me with more
singer/songwriter stuff, and we’ve built up a reputation of
that sort of thing over the years and I’m good at placing
it, finding the right sort of venues’ (ibid)

Pay to play, ticket deals etc
Enthusiasts

‘I never wanted to be (a promoter) unless it was something I wanted to put
on… But by and large, most of the gigs I’ve put on over the years have
made a profit. I’ve always paid people fairly, and that’s another reason I’d
never make it as a promoter. If you pay everyone reasonable money for
what they’re doing, the chances of making a big profit decrease’ (Williamson
2008)

‘The great character was that they were free, and they were a social thing,
you know, the performers played for free, we got the equipment for free, we
did what we did for free… those are the only gigs I ever really enjoyed
doing, were the free ones, because you didn’t have to worry about the
budget, you didn’t have to worry about whether people had bought the
tickets. You didn’t have to worry about anything except turning up on the
day… I’ve always found when you do things for free they’re some of the
nicest events because it takes a lot of pressure off. Altruism is a much
underrated and undervalued, ironically undervalued, motivation. And I think
altruistic motivations are often the best’ (Jenner 2008)
Employees

‘People, who’re, Harvey Goldsmith or whoever,
who are booking the Stones into Don Valley
Stadium – he doesn’t do it because he likes to
hear the Stones play: he does it because he
can earn loads of dosh out of it. Surprise,
surprise!’ (Deadman 2008)

Live Nation

360 Degrees
Creative Promoters?
 Shaping
the Live Experience
 Motivations,
audiences, artists
Motivations

‘I was going out and not hearing the music I wanted to hear, and I thought,
well, the way to do that is to go out and play the music the music I wanted to
hear, because there’s probably some other people who want to hear this.
And oddly enough, I was right!’ (Hobson 2008)

‘the ethos of it was, um, very much to do something that wasn’t like a
normal gig. So we didn’t want to do it in a licensed premises that puts gigs
on. So it was great because we were able to “create a space” where people
could do what they wanted, and it worked so well, it was a really brilliant
thing. It was the kind of thing you couldn’t plan if you set out’ (Electric Blanket
2008)

‘As a promoter, I put on shows that have interesting bands that I like. I don’t
seek to make any money out of it… I put on gigs, you know, that I would
want to go to and that I think other people go to.. . I’ll put on a show that I
think people are going to enjoy that I actually care about, otherwise I
wouldn’t spend five hours walking around the streets in the pissing rain
sticking up pieces of paper on walls’ (ibid)
Audiences

Like a dinner party?

‘people come to the gig, leave with a good feeling, as if they've been entertained, and
that people cared about what they've heard and the place they've heard it in’ (Morton
2008)

‘we were doing things in terms of atmosphere, in terms of the kind of audience we
drew, the kind of groups that we booked, that no one else was doing’ (Boyd 2008)

‘.. as a promoter I just like a venue, you know, where they leave you alone, and have
decent facilities, i.e. a PA that works, and that sort of thing, and reasonably priced
drinks’ (Razor 2008)

‘Well, it’s like, it’s like a good firework display, I always think of, you know. First of all,
don’t get lots of shitty little cheap fireworks, get a few really spectacular ones. It’s like
anything, you kind of, you get the order, you build it up, you’ve got to think of the
climax and the dramatic, sort of thing’ (Deadman 2008)
If your name’s not down

‘it’s tactical. So it’s either rewards or it’s people in the business or
it’s kind of compardres. Obviously you’ve got to try and keep it small
- sometimes you succeed. But on the other hand, you know almost
in advance that if you have a very small guestlist it’s going to be a
poorly attended gig, you know, if nobody wants to scrounge in on the
guestlist’ (Deadman 2008)

‘And I suppose also there’s certain people, thinking tactically, that
you want in your club, say like Phil Oakey from Human League is
someone who sometimes pops down, so he’s someone who always
goes on the guestlist. So if you’ve got someone who’s basically,
you’re playing their records. I mean, that’s one of the criteria, if I’m
playing someone’s records, they get in for free’ (Razor 2008)
Getting it wrong/right

‘Because you’ve let everybody down. You’ve let the
people that bought tickets down because the
atmosphere won’t be that good because it’s only a
quarter full. You’ve really let the band down because
you could have worked a bit harder so that they could
have had a better gig, because their careers are
depending on it’ (Mackie 2008)

‘if you’re purely live music, you are just selling something
totally on the artist, sort of thing, so it’s right, there’s this
band who’ve got a profile, you’re advertising that.. so
people who’ve heard of that band will come, whereas as
a club/live music promoter, I’m selling my night as an
experience’ (Razor 2008)
Educating?

‘I like to give people something they haven’t seen before, sort of thing… when I book
touring bands I try to book ones that have never played in Sheffield before, or the
type of bands who wouldn’t normally fit in at The Leadmill, or the Academy or Plug, or
wherever.. we try to give the audience something different, something that’s going to
entertain them, and something they’re going to go away and talk about’ (Razor 2008)

‘I suppose it’s a bit like the, without sounding too pompous about it, it’s a bit like the
Reith-ian principles of the BBC – you know, education, enlightenment, and . .
.entertainment, that’s it. You want to entertain people, you want them, you want them
to say, “oh wow, I’ve never seen that band before, they were great, check them out’
(ibid)

‘I mean, my tactic often is to try and get people to listen to people they wouldn’t
normally listen to, or haven’t even heard.. It’s a kind of educational… that sounds a
bit patronising. But you know, you try to introduce people to good roots music’
(Deadman 2008)

‘I mean I’m not some kind of elitist, I didn’t want necessarily a niche audience, but I
did want people there who knew and would really appreciate the music, and that’s
what I got. I was really happy about, and that actually mattered more to me than
breaking even’ (McLean 2008)
How to treat musicians

‘I think it’s important to make them feel welcome and wanted and
part of everything.. we’ll always cook for them’ (Hobson 2008)

‘They’ll remember that they were well looked after… I think if they're
relaxed and there's minimum hassle, they're calmer. Whether they
play better or not, I don't know, maybe some bands would be better
totally hyped up and annoyed’ (Morton 2008)

‘I always make sure that everybody leaves them alone for at least 30
minutes before they go on. Seal the room off, let them chill out and
get ready for the performance. There’s plenty of time to talk to them
afterwards, and afterwards they’ll quite enjoy talking to you, so you
can have a chat with them at soundcheck or teatime and then just
leave them and then that’s when they do their work, they put their
minds to what songs they’re going to sing’ (Mackie 2008)
More hospitality

‘it’s really important that these bands feel like they’ve been looked
after, and that they’ve enjoyed their experience, so that they’ll come
back. ‘Cos if they have a bad experience, they’ll say, “we’re not
going back there again”’ (Pearce 2008)

‘We’ve been requested all sorts of things, like, you know a mask.
The [name of band] wanted a mask, ‘cos they were collecting them
on their way round, which we did, and they thought it was amazing.
We’ve been asked for a crossbow, arrows with flights, and five times
drugs! [laughs] We didn’t supply that, but, you know, it’s those little
tiny details, and actually giving it to them. Like giving them their
local paper, and their national paper, and a packet of fags, or, you
know. At the end of the show, taking them a bottle of champagne,
and saying, “Oh, that was brilliant. Oh, we loved it”’ (Pearce 2008)
Business Sense

‘at the end of the day bands talk to other bands on the circuit, ‘cos I quite often gets
bands emailing me or calling me up and saying “my friend in such and such a band
did a gig for you last month – can we come and play?”, which is really nice. I think at
the end of the day, it’s like any scene, it’s you know, it’s a bit cliquey, a bit incestuous
and I think if you mess people around and you’re not straight with them and you treat
them badly, it gets out and I think it kind of comes back on you, so I think it’s
important to look after bands’ (Razor 2008)

‘giving them a better gig than they could do if they kind of arranged it themselves, you
know, in terms of playing to a good audience and the gig being promoted properly
and, you know, them getting looked after, and getting paid, at least to cover their
costs, at the very least. It’s about looking after the artist, ‘cos I think at the end of the
day, even if you’ve got no money, you can still provide hospitality, sort of thing. So, I
think it’s important, because I’ve played in bands myself and we used to do gigs –
you’d spend 5 hours driving to Norwich and get there, and all there would be would
be a few curly sandwiches and a family pack of supermarket own brand crisps and
some warm lager to greet you’ (ibid)

‘Artists’ royalties are drying up, and the managers’ incomes are drying up, so they
phone them at that mansion in, whatever, in Essex, and say: “Get fucking out on the
road, we need to make money!”’ (Mackie 2008)
Creative Accounting?

‘…what the promoters have told bands isn’t necessarily the truth.
Because if you have a deal against costs, for example, you’re
getting paid 80% of gross income less costs. If the promoter says
they’ve spent £2500 on flyposting, maybe they have maybe they
haven’t, it’s always in their interests to up the costs, and there’s just
not enough time in the world for a tour manager to demand to sit
and see receipts for everything. So I’m sure again, what they tell the
bands might be different from what their actual bottom line is’
(Williamson 2008)

‘the tour manager needs to have a counter and be counting people
on the door and be walking around. Then you can contest . . . Like,
posters cost 30 quid, and they actually only cost three quid, and . . .
security cost this, etc. And you know, you have to be on that kind of
level’ (West 2008)
Dirtiness and creativity
 ‘It
is a nasty back-stabbing business. . .
oh, it’s a horrible business’ (Wilson 2008,
emphasis Wilson)
issue = ‘how firms, industries and
society at large organise for creativity’
 Key
(Lorenzen 2009: 93)