Nate Dorough is a promoter from Michigan that runs Fusion Shows, puts on Bled Fest, and does work with Phantom Creative Group as well. It’s been a long time since we’ve had Nate on the site, but we’re stoked to have him back. In his new blog, Nate dives into phony “booking agencies” and how they, nine times out of ten, only hurt and take advantage of younger bands who might not know any better. It’s quite an interesting read for both general fans and musicians in young bands, so check it all out below!

Here we go, kiddies. 

It’s been a really long time since I blogged for Zack.  Fusion Shows has been insanely busy, and Bled Fest is next week, so I’ve been out of my mind.  But I have to speak up about something that’s been bothering me lately.  

There’s too many “booking agencies” in the world. 

Let me explain. 

I don’t dislike booking agents.  In fact, I freaking appreciate them, and respect their work.  It’s hard work booking tours.  There’s a lot of bands out there that need them, and as such, there’s a ton of booking agencies out there. 

But there’s too damn many people out there pretending to be agents. 

Kids (and a lot of bands) don’t understand the difference between booking agencies and concert promoters.  They’re all “booking companies” to them.  And while yes, we’re all booking shows, there’s a difference.  Booking agencies work for the artists.  They book tours.  They reach out to promoters (whether they’re independent promoters, venue in-house buyers, or Live Nation/AEG) to secure gigs for their clients.  They’re involved in the entire process, but their focus is maximizing what happens for their client.  The promoters then put together, produce, market, and sell tickets for the show, and pay the bands.  I’m a promoter.  My company, Fusion Shows, buys shows from agents.  We love 95% of the agents we work with. 

Just like I used to spend a lot of time on MySpace promoting our shows, I now spend far too much time on Facebook, doing the same.  And I see far too many bands working with booking agencies I’ve never heard of.  It’s not that I’ve heard of every legitimate booking company.  That’s not true at all, but here’s the thing:

IF YOU DON’T ALREADY DRAW GOOD CROWDS TO SHOWS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, A SMALL BOOKING AGENCY CAN’T REALLY HELP YOU. 

What do I mean by that? 

Well, here’s the first part.  As a small independent promoter, we book a lot of shows with a lot of people.  I work with agencies who represent artists as huge as Weezer, Foo Fighters, etc.  We also accept shows from smaller agencies that have good buzzy, nationally known artists who play smaller rooms. 

We also work with independent local and touring acts with no representation whatsoever. 

Who we don’t usually work with is “Yippie Kay Aye Booking”.

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Nate Dorough is a promoter from Michigan that runs Fusion Shows, puts on Bled Fest, and does work with Phantom Creative Group as well. In his seventh blog for our ongoing Contributor series, Nate discusses the reality of there actually being an “economy for bullshit” in the music industry, but how important it is to support what you believe has quality. It’s a great read and is certainly relevant whenever you question a tour lineup, so check it out and enjoy!

I learned an awful lot in the three years I worked with Koji. About him. From him. And by doing things for him. “There’s no economy for bullshit” is one of my favorite things that he ever said to me.  

I’m not sure he’s right though.  

Today, a friend promoter of mine told me that this “Barstool Blackout” Tour sold out his nearly 1000-capacity room in not that large a town, in 2 hours. Sold out. 2 hours. Nearly 1000 tickets. And it’s basically just a trashy party, with no-name DJ’s, fog, some laser lights, and 1000 skanky college kids grinding on each other spastically.  

Nearly $20,000 raised in mere moments, by a few shrewd businessmen. No real talent or musical ability involved.  

There IS an economy for bullshit.  

However, the important thing to understand, for those of us who believe in the power of music, is to support the things that are not bullshit. Foxy Shazam has a new record coming out next week. So does Nada Surf. The Swellers are on tour. La Dispute’s over in Europe with Former Thieves. Tiger! Tiger! and Elliot Street Lunatic and a million great Michigan bands have big local shows this week. The Menzingers are out with Rise Against, a huge opportunity for them. Cheap Girls has a new record coming out next month. Into It. Over It.’s out on the road on the Where’s The Band Tour with some amazing musicians. Weatherbox and Hidden Hospitals and Citizen and Squid The Whale are touring independently and playing a show near you.  Record stores and DIY venues are scraping by to provide a valuable service for you. DO NOT TAKE ANY OF IT FOR GRANTED!

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Nate Dorough is a promoter from Michigan that runs Fusion Shows, puts on Bled Fest, and does work with Phantom Creative Group as well. In his sixth blog for our ongoing Contributor series, Nate goes above and beyond to discuss “club package tours” and what bands are doing right and wrong with them. Nate also lists fantastic pointers that are helpful for both bands and fans to check out. It’s a great read and is certainly relevant, so check it out and enjoy!

For my first POZ contributor blog in far too long, I’d like to take a moment to address the package tours hitting clubs this spring.  “Clubs” are the venues that are 150 to 1200 capacity rooms.  Therefore, I’m not talking to Coldplay or Foo Fighters about their arena tours, and I’m also not talking to Squid The Whale or Jeff Pianki about their DIY tours.  Strategies vary for different room sizes and types of tours.  

I run Fusion Shows in Michigan, an independent concert promoter whose calendar is made up of about 80% of bills fitting this description.  3, 4, 5 band packages playing in 200-500 capacity rooms.  I’ve done about 300 of these shows over the past 4 years, so I guess I’d call myself a bit of an expert on the subject.  

While you (the bands or the agents responsible for these bands) are putting together your 2012 tours, please take a peek at the following ten (OK, thirteen) suggestions that will make your tours sell to the best of their abilities (because that’s what we all want, right?)

SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL PACKAGE TOURS
#10 - KEEP TICKET PRICES LOW!
This one seems obvious, but I don’t think that the casual fan realizes that it’s generally the band’s team (manager, agent, band) that sets the ticket prices for tours.  People are broke, and they have a ton of options these days, especially during the busiest touring seasons (spring, fall).  Keeping ticket prices low will ensure that more people come to the shows and have some extra dough to spend on merchandise.  

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Nate Dorough is a promoter from Michigan that runs Fusion Shows, puts on Bled Fest, and does work with Phantom Creative Group as well. In his fifth blog for our ongoing Contributor series, Nate discusses a Foo Fighters concert he attended recently and just how incredible it was. Nate relates this kind of performance to how younger and new bands should “leave it all on stage” with their fans to give them the most worthwhile show they can. It’s a great read and is certainly relevant, so check it out and enjoy!

Last night, I saw the Foo Fighters in concert, at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Being a concert promoter, I don’t often purchase concert tickets anymore. I see so much live music (3 to 4 shows a week), I get used to the comforts of having backstage access, an office to relax in, not to mention I can generally guest list myself to almost any show in the state.

However, this summer, Live Nation announced that the Foos would be touring, and I grabbed 4 tickets the day they went on sale. The past few months, I’ve been targeting that date, as the Foo Fighters have long been one of my favorite bands. I was excited. I was the flip side of the coin, part of the marketing demographic I spend all of my time identifying.

We got there in time to see one song from Mariachi El Bronx. I get why the Foos brought them on the tour. They’re cool and all, but kind of a novelty, and it was blatantly obvious in front of a bunch of radio rock fans. They got a warm response though. Rise Against took the stage next, and played a predictably awesome set. I’m a “fan”, I suppose, but not enough to where I know the names of the songs or what albums they come from. It felt like a pretty good mix of radio songs and deep cuts, but I’m sure a “true” Rise Against fan would disagree. 

After a 30 minute changeover, the Foos took the stage at 9pm, opening with “Bridges Burning” and “Rope” from the new record, “Wasting Light”. In my eyes, this might be their best record. A lot of people have treated Foo Fighters in the same manner that they treat Weezer (blah blah Pinkerton blah blah) or Jimmy Eat World (Clarity is like totally the best!). I’ve never been on that team, as I think everything Dave Grohl and company have done has been top notch. Yeah, I love songs off “The Colour and the Shape” as much as anyone, but I honestly think that “Wasting Light” is their best effort, and the largest crowd to ever see the Foos in Detroit (on a Monday, no less) packed their asses into the Palace to agree with me.

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Nate Dorough is a promoter from Michigan that runs Fusion Shows, puts on Bled Fest, and does work with Phantom Creative Group as well. In his fourth blog for our ongoing Contributor series, Nate discusses how the music industry has radically changed in terms of how labels treat legendary bands and even younger bands that are selling music at a fast rate. It’s a great read and is certainly relevant, so read up and enjoy!

I’ve been having some interesting chats with folks from all sides of the music industry, and there’s a general consensus cycling through most of these conversations.
 
Simply put, it’s tough to be a good band these days.
 
Jimmy Eat World just got dropped from their label. JIMMY. EAT. WORLD. One of the best bands that has ever existed. Wasn’t making enough dough for their label, and poof, gone. The music director at a local radio station told me today that a newish active rock band (I forget the name) sold 150,000 copies of their first record, but had a few too many expenses, and were dropped as well. To think that bands selling that many records are A. not profitable and B. not even worth keeping on a label makes me wonder what the hell is going on in this business.
 
However, on the other side of it, there’s an incredibly healthy independent scene going on right now. Small labels and independent artists are able to build loyal fanbases better than ever before. They don’t particularly make money, but they get to the public eye, at least in the music scene, faster than ever. There’s so much great music these days.
 
Yesterday afternoon, I spent the day hanging out on a college campus at an event called “Mainstage”, a welcome-week event with vendors, student organizations, live music, and lots of free stuff. We get a table every year, and we pass out thousands of flyers and give away a whole bunch of tickets. In past years, bands like Eve 6 and Every Avenue have performed. This year, it was 3 local artists. I hadn’t heard of a single one of them.
 
Of the 5000 or so students in attendance, I only noticed maybe five or ten (at most) band-related T-shirts. The band T-shirts I did see were the following:

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Nate Dorough is a promoter from Michigan that runs Fusion Shows, puts on Bled Fest, and does work with Phantom Creative Group as well. In his third blog for our ongoing Contributor series, Nate discusses a dilemma that many individuals within the industry have to deal, whether to be or not to be “an asshole” in regards to business. It’s a great read and is certainly relevant, so read up and enjoy!

One of the things I’ve learned in the music industry is that there’s two ways to get done the things that you need to get done.  The first is to be an asshole.  The second is to not be an asshole.  

Let me explain.

There’s a definite hierarchy in this business.  The agents and the labels hold the power.  The agents (in conjunction w/ the managers), they control who tours with who.  And since most of your money’s made on the road these days, that’s important.  And the labels, well, they’ll front you the money to make that record you’ve always dreamed of making.  That money that you don’t have because you’ve bought 3 vans, printed thousands of CD-R’s, crappy Gildan T-shirts, and then put the rest in your gas tank and belly.  

As an artist, you can get your way by simply yelling.  A lot.  All the time.  About everything.  You’re right, they’re wrong.  You’re sure of this, because the people around you have told you so.  So your record, it’s gonna sell.  All you gotta do is push hard.  Don’t let anyone stand in your way.  Don’t respect history, don’t respect the customer, don’t respect yourself.  Just get that dollar, because you’re not going to have another chance.  Hide service fees in your ticket prices.  Sell your email lists to everyone else.  In an industry with a tiny profit margin, it’s easy to think this way.  I might not pay my bills this month.  And that promoter, that manager, that agent, they WILL pay their bills if they get that tour, that show, that record deal.  So let’s get in the bulldozer, plow down everyone in our path.  Be an asshole.  

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Nate Dorough is a promoter from Detroit that runs Fusion Shows, puts on Bled Fest, and does work with Phantom Creative Group as well. A few weeks ago he wrote up a welcome blog for his PropertyOfZack Contributor series, but now he’s back with his first real write-up! In his new blog, Nate discusses “merch cuts” in-depth and how they can play into his job and the industry as a whole. It’s a really interesting read and certainly gives a ton of in-sight on a situation that directly matters to fans, so read up!

As a promoter, you’re often the bad guy.  I watched at a recent Fusion event as my business partner at Fusion Shows, Irving, tried to gather “merch cuts” from 3 bands that I was absolute blown away by tonight.  The bands looked at him like he was crazy, but it’s something that was contractually agreed upon, as was the guaranteed payment they were to receive.  

Basically, somewhere in the long history of developing the current promoter/agent/band relationship, the distrust grew so deep between parties that to justify the guarantees that were being paid to bands, to bolster the small margin of income that promoters receive, promoters began to demand a percentage of the band’s merchandise sales in return.  The thought process is that if a promoter didn’t put on the show, the merch would have not sold in the first place, thus justifying some sort of commission.  

It’s a stupid part of our business, and I hate it.  I pay you money to perform a show, and then you give a part of that back to me.  When Dave Matthews Band plays an arena show, I kind of get it.  There’s plenty of money to go around.  But at the 425-capacity Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids, it’s something I wish I could skip altogether.  Sometimes the venue takes the cut.  Sometimes the promoter.  But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been saved from a horrible loss on a too-large guarantee by a nice cut of a band’s merch.  

It’s uncomfortable.  When a band puts their hard work and their blood, sweat, and tears into a piece of art that they choose to sell to barely scrape by, it’s frustrating for them to have to give up any piece of that.  They’re already paying a chunk to their manager, their label, giving away way too much merch to friends and supporters, and putting the rest in their bellies or gas tanks (let’s not get started on the rising costs of that).

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Nate Dorough is a promoter from Detroit that runs Fusion Shows, puts on Bled Fest, and does work with Phantom Creative Group as well. Nate has been fantastic to PropertyOfZack over the past few months, and he’s great at what he does, so we thought he would be a great addition to our Contributor Blog feature. Nate’s first blog is just a little hello message from Nate, but he’ll have a lot more coming in the future. Read up and enjoy!

For my first blog post as a guest contributor at PropertyOfZack, I’m writing while at a show. That’s fitting, because I’m a promoter. This is what I do. I go to shows. I book shows. I market shows. I handle accounting for shows. On my off days, I go to other shows.

I guess I should start by introducing myself. My name is Nate Dorough. I’m 32 years old, happily married, and living in the booming music metropolis of Howell, Michigan. All sarcasm aside, it really is the perfect place to run a concert promotion company in Michigan. We’re less than an hour from Detroit, Lansing, Flint, Ann Arbor, and less than two hours from Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. It’s as central a location as you could pick. And with the stranglehold that the big boys (Live Nation and AEG) have on Detroit, I have to be able to present shows in a variety of markets to get by.

I co-own an independent concert promotion company called Fusion Shows. We book a long list of clubs from 200 to 1100 capacity throughout Michigan. We’re the only promoter in the country that I’ve found that does 100% fee-free ticketing. I’ll get on my soapbox later about that. I also am the booking guy behind Bled Fest, and manage and book tours for a small roster of acts, including Koji and Jeff Pianki.

Tonight, I’m sitting at a show in my hometown of Howell, a $5 hall show at that. It’s early in the evening and absolutely pouring rain, and as such, there’s only about 40 people here so far. I’m answering emails (that’s just what I do), and I’m listening through the wall to a young band that’s mixing covers of mewithoutYou and Say Anything with originals. It’s a weird position to be in, sitting at a $5 hall show that’s grossed $200 so far, having just fielded an email from a booking agent with a quote of $25-30,000 for an artist we’re considering for a festival this fall. It’s cool to be able to support our local music scene, do these shows for young bands, and still book acts like Dashboard Confessional, Against Me, Every Time I Die, and Copeland.

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