One of the things that people always complain to me about is that promoters aren’t answering their emails. I wanted to break down why promoters aren’t answering your emails and then get into some strategies for how to actually get those replies eventually landing yourself onto the sickest gigs.
Promoters don’t answer emails for a variety of reasons, but usually it’s because they’re too busy or you’re not worth it. If you want more emails answered you need to be both able to clearly communicate and constantly elevate your value. I’m going to break down some core concepts behind both of those in this article.
Why Promoters Don’t Answer
Promoters don’t answer for two basic reasons. The first is that they are too busy, especially if they don’t have a relationship with you. Remember promoters have one of the hardest jobs with the lowest pay in the entire business and on top of that they are constantly assaulted by unsigned bands begging for shows. That’s not a winning combo.
Most promoters, especially coming out of COVID, need to be focused on the things that actually make them money and the things that are going to help push them forward. What this means in practice is they are working on the biggest shows they can get, and in a period where everyone is playing shows and everyone wants to go to shows… these are in no short supply.
How To Engage With Promoters Properly
One of the biggest things DIY bands don’t understand is that you need to be able to clearly communicate with promoters. This means being able to send competent emails where it’s clear who you are, what you want, and where you give some actual links to your music. It’s amazing how many artists fail to do this.
It also requires making a point of having a relationship with them. There are a lot of ways to do this, but one of the best at the club level is to actually go to the shows they book. Odds are the promoter will be there and if you go up to them and say, ‘Thank you for putting on a great show’ then guess what? You’ll get a positive reply and you can start to become friends.
You Need To Elevate Your Value
The other thing we talked about here is that promoters are not interested in bands who draw four people. You need to be able to prove that you are a band who is in demand and who actually have an audience who are curious to see you perform live.
There are a few ways to do this, one of the easiest is to post pictures of yourself performing with a big crowd out front. The other thing to do is to focus on grinding your socials so that you have a lot of organic interaction so promoters will look and see ‘Oh people actually care.’ And no – don’t pay for likes or whatever. Promoters can tell.
This isn’t a comprehensive article by any means, but it should be able to help you come to understand a little bit better what you need to be doing if you are trying to understand why promoters won’t reply. Engage with them properly and then elevate your value. Good luck.
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