Does that only apply to major label bands or can a business not big enough to afford a major label acts sponsor an indie band? Is this still considered selling out? If you can please fill me in on how it works.
I think anyone can get sponsoredfor anything.
That said, I think the only thing that a band needs to get sponsorship for a tour is perserverence and salesmanship.
Have a professional lookning busines plan and proposal for the potential sponsors that you approach.
Make sure you can answer concerns like:
- Do they get advertising on your bus/truck? On the stage? On your posters? On your merch? On the band's stage clothes?
- If you do media interviews (how many per day/week/month of the tour?) what kind of mention does the sponsor get?
- Where are you touring? Does the potential sponsor do busines in that area? (No point in approaching "Bob's Tri-County Towing" if you are planning on touring the other side of the country, or another country).
- Are you a good fit for the business? (A death metal band probably won't get sponsorship from "National Bible Supply". Not even for ironic reasons)
Make sure you can sell the value of the sponsorship to the potential sponsor. They don't care about the value to you, they want to know "what's in it for me".
I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep
Thanks I wonder if there's a book out there for this.
A year or so back I saw a documentary on the Roadhammers, and part of it followed Jason McCoy (the leader of the band, and a well known Canadian country solo performer at the time) as he was trying to set up a tour and sponsors for that tour.
He approached several companys whose products were a good fit for the theme of the band (trucker country). It took him several visits/follow-up phone calls and letters to get a couple of sponsors from his starting list of a dozen or more.
I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep
It's very simple:
1) You want their money.
2) Companies usually want to keep their money.
So this leads to:
3) You must give them a real good reason why they should do so.
Now most companies place ads, whether that is on the TV or the local scout magazine. Let's suppose you go to the baker. The baker now has an ad running in the club magazine of his local footbal club. He pays $500 for this and he reaches 1500 people with the ad. This averages out to reaching three people for every dollar he spends.
And this is where you step in. Let's assume you'll be playing in front of 200 people, a very acceptable crowd for most bands. That equals to 200/3=+-$62.50 per gig.
That's a cool sum eh? Unfortunately the baker knows that his ad will only be noticed for a few hours, during which his shop is closed. So he probably won't want to shell out that kind of money. So you'll suggest the following: $30 for each gig, plus you'll make a little 'sponsor page' on your website where you thank him and give his bakery's adress.
Darn, that's not a whole lot, is it? And that big banner saying "John's Crunchy Cookies: there is no better!" doesn't help your image much either. So you'll want your advertizers to fit you better. Think about what you are doing, what your image could be. Then approach companies that fit well with that image, and repeat the above. Most important of all: if it isn't worth their while, they won't sponsor you. Getting sponsored is not some kind of polite begging.
Or you can try and get investors to put up money for you. You won't have to advertise or worry about that sort of stuff, but most of the time you are selling them a portion of your future earnings if you make it.
For them it's the potential of earning a lot of money down the road if you make it and for you you don't have to do anything and normally the money doesn't have to be paid back if you don't make it.
I would guess that it would be difficult to get investors if the band isn't that good..not saying that yours isn't but it's going to be hard to convince someone too give you say $5000 or so if you sux, but hey you never know. You should start with family first, maybe a rich uncle or something. Finding investors is more like polite begging if I can steal Arjen's words.
I'm sure if you searched you can find more than a few books on the subject.
Good luck with it!
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
.
Many say all you have to do is visit the intersection of Highway 49 and Highway 61 in Clarksdale, Mississippi at midnight.
a man may come up to you and offer to tune your guitar.
the rest is up to you. 8)
#4491....
