Your musician partners
There are no better promoters than the bands you hire, but this also means you'll have high-profile powerful detractors if they aren't happy with you. In2une knows what they need to be happy. Here are some of their needs:
National touring acts-for the most part-charge from $150-$300/musician in a 100-200-seat room, and $200-$500/musician in a 300-600-seat room, depending on their schedule, itinerary and day of the week. Of course there are many levels of fame and fortune for the touring musician, but those who would book a small venue are usually confident they'll be able to fill it up.
In2une offers band promotional services as well, and those bands utilizing those services get priority for bookings.
In2une understands the difference between common courtesy and over-indulgence, and we know a professional when we see one. All of the bands and musicians we partner with are professionals. We carefully select the bands and musicians we work with, and quickly remedy any "situations" should they arise.
Bands are traditionally and definitely paid after their performance in cash. Checks are very taboo (unless you cash them on premises for bookkeeping purposes), because often times bands are made up of individual musicians who are in several bands, and who live in diverse locations, not to mention the touring musician who is paying for a motel room and gas for the van with your money. In2une recommends setting up a separate cash "band account" in a safe on premises to guarantee enough cash on hand to pay the band. This account can be built up over time with small percentages from other receipts to accommodate the extra expense of a touring band or musician without much impact on daily income.
Artist relations is very often overlooked by most live music venue operators, and it loses them many thousands of dollars in revenue annually. The musicians performing at your venue are your greatest resource. They can give you feedback on what is working and what isn't. After all, they've performed in many other venues, and see mistakes first hand. Cultivating good relationships with the performers gives you invaluable feedback on your business, and helps to recruit these artists to be potent promoters for your venue. Take care of them. Pay them well, and cater to their needs. They are your bread and butter. Musicians are not your employees, they are your partners. Remember, bands need you to be a good live music venue. Otherwise, they have one less good place to play. They truly want to help. Let them!
Most if not all musicians are not in the music business to make millions of dollars. Those who actually do are literally one in a hundred million. Musicians play music because they love it, and in many notable cases because they have to for psychological stability. Hey, they're artists! What this means is that the music comes first. What this also means is that venues can abuse this psychological need by low-balling the money spent to hire musicians. Most musicians make the same wage they did 30-40 years ago. This is not fair, and fosters an atmosphere of distrust and frustration in musicians toward the entire business of music performance. In2une is not attempting to "fix the world," but does have pay standards that must be agreed upon prior to contracting with us. Minimum pay is $100/musician/date for weeknights, $150/musician/date for weekends. This is slightly higher than current artificially-low norms, but will have a pronounced tonic effect on the bands you hire. They will be willing to go the extra mile to help promote your venue, because you are indirectly paying them to do so. In2une strongly encourages bands to promote themselves, and especially at your venue, because the more they promote their gigs at your place, the better attendance will be, and thus higher likelihood of repeat bookings.
In2une embraces the notion of rewarding bands for consistently attracting their fans to your venue. This should translate into pay raises, bonuses and other incentives.