How To Get Booked For Shows In 2024

Today's artists are facing some tough competition. It feels like everyone and their grandmother is trying to make it in the music industry.

Don't worry, we'll give you some cheat codes so you can start getting booked for shows.

🙏 How To Get Booked As An Upcoming Artist?

As a new artist, getting booked for live shows without experience or a portfolio of past shows may seem impossible.

Fear not my young sprite, there are ways to get gigs with little or no experience.

First, let's look at how artists got booked in the past and then we'll show you how things have changed for the better for new artists.

😔 Before 2020: The Dark Days

Artists needed to have serious experience performing and touring. If you didn't consistently hit the stage, bookers and promoters wouldn't even answer your email, sorry!

The next best option was to have a friend or family member work at the venue you want to perform at. Yes, being an insider can mean you get to go the easy route and get booked consistently while the rest of these hopeless artists' emails are ignored.

If you had no connections to bookers, or promoters or weren't being managed by a booking agent, you're out of luck.

You were forced to perform a few times a year at random showcases in your city.

😍 After 2020: A Hero Was Born

This is when the world changed for all of us. No longer were independent artists willing to wait to be picked by the music industry.

The live music industry shut down and that's when everyone realized how important it was to perform to earn a living.

Qoncert was born. In 2022, a couple of artists and a developer got together and said "Yo, we've been touring full-time independently for years, let's help other artists do it without a cosign."

And the miracle took flight...sort of. We'll get to that later.

🎤 How Rappers Get Booked For Shows

As a rapper, getting live shows can be difficult. There is a stigma in the live industry that rap brings problems to venues and promoters.

We know this isn't true, but good luck explaining that to people who don't care.

Without a reputation in your city, it'll be an uphill battle for you.

1. Put together an EPK that showcases your music, who you are, and what you've done in the past.
2. Explain how many people you can bring to the show with evidence. Give real numbers for past shows.
3. Be persistent but don't come off as annoying or entitled.

Don't give up if you get a lot of no's. This is a numbers game. Eventually, someone will give you a shot just to get you off their back.

🎸 How To Book A Show For Your Band

As a band, you have it easier than rappers. No one thinks you'll shoot up the venue so you're starting a little further.

But the downside for bands is that you expect to be paid from day 1.

That's all fine and dandy but that's not how you control your career. If the venue or promoter is bringing the people and all you're doing is playing some instruments, you are replaceable.

Don't fall into the trap of doing random gigs every month. This will not help you. People are there to drink and listen to music in the background and don't care about you or your music.

You will not convert them into fans. The venue or promoter owns that relationship which is very dangerous for your band.

1. Build your fanbase and know who they are.
2. If you do gigs, talk to the crowd and let them know where they can find you online.
3. Book a show yourself to learn how to bring people to your show.

💵 Do You Always Get Paid To Perform?

Artists who feel like victims think they need to be paid for doing their first show.

If you built a business today, do you expect people to throw money at you without a real product or value?

What value do you offer? Playing instruments or rapping a hook isn't valuable to people because everyone can do that. Whether they sound good or not is debatable.

Market yourself and your music to attract your fans. Music is a business, don't ever forget that.

If you're still confused about how we feel about this, check out this Youtube video where Sean explains why we don't like the "gig mentality".

🕺💃 Are Showcases Worth It For Artists?

A showcase is an event where multiple artists perform throughout the night.

No one gets paid but it can provide exposure for your music. There is no harm in doing showcases. Just know that they are random events.

We tell artists to do shows with a strategic plan in mind.

Are you building towards something? Which cities are you performing in? Does this help with touring later?

Random shows are just that. Random. Don't think you are moving your music career forward by doing showcases a few times a year.

How To Get Booked For Shows As A DJ?

As a DJ, getting booked may not be straightforward. Have you thought about what types of shows you want to do? Club or venue?

1. Use Qoncert to get booked as a DJ in your city.
2. Contact the promoter if the show is at a venue. See if they need a DJ for the night.
3. If you want to DJ at a club, contact he club owner to get a shot.
4. Book an entire show and DJ the event.
5. Make profiles on apps that list DJs for booking.

Most of these options likely won't work well. But, we (Qoncert) work with multiple DJs in various cities.

Unfortunately, we only work with a handful of DJs in each state and give them first dibs on shows. Some of our DJs perform with us every week and rarely decline a show.

The more Qoncert expands to new cities, the higher the chance you can be our exclusive DJ for shows you want to do.

Final Thoughts

The easiest way to get booked today is to use the Qoncert app. We aren't just saying that because we built it. We are independent artists who struggled to get shows and had to do everything from scratch ourselves.

With Qoncert, you don't need to send in your music or EPK or wait for an email reply. Get the app, request a slot on a show, and hit the stage. It's that easy.

Let's work!

‍