As with a lot of jobs in the music industry, the role of the music promoter has changed a hell of a lot in recent times, at the whim of a rapidly-shifting media landscape and audience behaviours.
We’ve spoken to a couple of leading Australian promoters to hear about the the biggest shifts that have occurred since they first started out, and how the prehistoric beast that is the music promoter has had to evolve in the face of industry trends, or be met with a swift demise.
“I always knew that I wanted to work in the live side of the music industry,” says Renee Rudolf, an industry veteran who now runs XIII Touring, bringing out enormous acts like Florence And The Machine, The Wombats, The Kooks, Ian Brown and Nothing But Thieves.
“I started out getting work experience in various areas of the music industry. I worked at a radio station, a booking agency, at local festivals and managed bands. I later got a job as a booking agent, and during that time I still managed bands.”
“Then I was offered a job to work for a promoter and eventually branched out as a co-promoter within that company. Now I’m running my own touring company, and still co-promote with other promoters.”
Nick Greco, on the other hand, started working as a promoter just as social media began to exert its influence, and has witnessed the change take hold in recent years while promoting Melbourne club Anyway, as well as helming Victorian New Year’s festival Beyond the Valley throughout its rapid rise.
“The first show I put on was seven years ago at a venue that no longer exists called Eurotrash Bar,” he tells us. “I flew in a hip hop group from the US, had no idea what I was doing and managed to sell around 200 tickets. Social media was only just starting to play a part in how events were promoted back then – a large part of how I promoted that show involved putting ads in print magazines and pole postering.”
The two major challenges for promoters these days are wrestling with a constantly-shifting social media environment, and trying to present live music experiences that capture the imagination of an audience whose tastes and expectations are quickly changing.
“Nowadays, working with social media platforms and creating better live music experiences is a constantly evolving process,” says Renee. “Promoters are adapting to the new ways in which people discover and consume their music, and learning how to reach and engage people through social media and maintain databases.”
“Digital marketing would be the biggest change,” Renee tells us. “The Internet and social media have become the largest evolving platform, from discovering new artists to promoting and selling out shows.”
“Pole postering and print still plays a part in what we do,” Nick says, “but such a large part of our promotion is now done online, through digital media and social media. And as digital/social media is always changing, we have to make sure we stay ahead of those trends otherwise our events won’t be marketed successfully and will fall behind.”
The old ways haven’t entirely fallen by the wayside in the face of the often-faceless social media and email, however. In the music industry especially, building genuine connections is as vital a part of the role as ever.
“Discovering new music through referrals from various sectors of the music industry and maintaining relationships is a skill that is still relevant today,” Renee says. “Going to live shows and music conferences and connecting with industry face to face will always be a fundamental process.”
With a few notable instances of large-scale tours and festivals running into rocky territory in recent times, such as the collapse of longstanding behemoth Soundwave or the disappearance of former mainstays like The Big Day Out or Pyramid Rock, promoters need to take increased care when putting together a lineup. According to Renee, it’s easy for promoters to get carried away following old habits – and that’s when they can find themselves in trouble.
“Most high profile international bands demand big money to tour Australia,” Renee explains. “Avoiding bidding wars with other promoters and knowing when to walk away is key to surviving. It has to be the right band for the right tour, venue, or festival – with the right ticket price – or it could end in significant financial losses.”
These festivals have fallen flat due to an over-reliance on what has worked in the past, failing to adapt to a more discerning audience spoilt by an ever-expanding range of entertainment options.
“Lineups need to be exciting now too, not just the same old recycled artists,” Nick says. “We try to make sure we get new artists who are at the forefront of what they’re doing, because everyone is sick of the same old.”
“Patrons also need to see value in the ticket price through the lineup – if there isn’t a handful of artists that a person finds attractive, they won’t want to spend on a ticket.”
With huge amounts of money are at stake, thinking outside of the box is also more important than ever, and a successful event nowadays relies on more than just putting together a huge lineup and expecting the crowd to flock to it.
“There has also been such a strong move towards refining other elements of events outside of the lineup. Everyone has such short attention spans, so we need to work out ways to constantly capture those throughout our events. We have to constantly work on the visual element, gourmet food options, exciting drinks, installations, performers, etc. Punters want the full package now, not just a blank space with a recycled lineup.”
For Nick, a lot has changed since that first slap-dash hip hop night at Eurotrash.
“As a promoter, you need to look at events with a 360 degree approach, and not just tunnel vision – I think this is the biggest change in how I run an event now from when I started.”
The days of simply booking a well-known act and putting their name on the poster are well and truly done.
