For booking concerts, if you’re not getting the results you’d like, you may wonder how to improve your email pitches. Get the 5 action steps below so you can book more—and book better—performances in the future.
1. Pitch to the right presenters
There are many types of presenting series. These can range from libraries with small budgets that bring in children’s programs a few times a year, to large university series that program a wide range of music as well as dance, theater, spoken word, and more.
That’s why it’s essential to do your research before you send the pitch. Take a few minutes to read the series’ site: check out the mission statement and history, along with the artists and programs that the series has booked in the past. This will help you discern whether you and your program are a fit—and help you write a stronger pitch.
2. Forget the “one size fits all” approach
No one wants to be spammed, but when you send generic pitches that’s exactly what you’re doing to presenters.
Instead, demonstrate in your pitch that you’ve taken the time to find out what that presenter’s series is all about. Use what you learned in your research to state how your program aligns with that series’ focus, mission, or community.
Tailor your pitches to the target list of presenters you’ve researched. Effective and compelling pitches are ones that are customized for each intended recipient.
3. Rethink what presenters are looking for in a pitch
To be clear: presenters do NOT book artists simply because they can attract an audience. Nor do they choose solely on the program an artist is offering.
In short, presenters look for a combination of artist, program, and context. Presenters ask themselves, Does this program and artist work well with the balance of our planned season and our mission? Is the program socially relevant and culturally alive to the time we’re living in? And presenters ask themselves, is this a fit with my audience and community now?
4. Think beyond standard programming
Think about it from the presenter’s point of view. If she or he books a NOT-so-well-known artist to perform a recital of standard repertoire, what are the chances of this concert drawing a decent sized crowd?
After all, people can stay home and listen to recordings of standard works by any of their favorite artists. These days, in order for people to venture out to concert halls (or go online for a digital performance) it takes something more: Creative and relevant programming is the answer.
The programming approach we used in music school won’t cut it. Don’t simply program repertoire from contrasting periods (Baroque, classical, romantic) along with a short contemporary work thrown in right after intermission. You can do better.
5. It’s a new world: Program for it
Artists are rethinking who they are collaborating with and whose music they perform.
In this Me, Too, and Black Lives Matter era, presenters are especially focused on booking socially relevant and culturally inclusive works composed and/or performed by BIPOC and LGBTQIA artists. Even the most traditional concert series need to represent and reflect the new reality of this transformative time we’re living in.
To help with re-conceiving the programs you pitch, here’s a . . .
BONUS: 7 tips to creating dynamic programming
If you want to book more and better concerts, you need to offer programs that energize audiences. For example, you might build a program around . . .
- A thematic idea (NON-cliché). Find a surprising link among the works you perform, a thematic idea to use in your spoken intros to pieces. Examples of non-cliché themes include envy, resistance, retribution, chemistry, outsiders, mysticism, and liberation.
- Premieres of new works (find underrepresented composers whose music you love)
- Unusual pairings (e.g. Baroque ornamentation with Contemporary improvisations, or a program exploring the parallels between particular classical and jazz works)
- Collaboration with a local guest artist: another musician, actor, dancer, or video artist
- The celebration or commemoration of a local historical event, person, or organization
- Music from another era and its relevance today, such as music of WWI or of the holocaust
- Works presented with their inspirational sources: literature, dance, the visual arts, or theater in multi-disciplinary programs
Note: You don’t need to have a theme and title for your program. But you DO need to have a clear rationale—a concise description that piques the interest of the presenter and her audience, to convey that you’re offering a cohesive, engaging, and relevant experience.
Check out the programming of several series you are aiming to pitch to—read the short blurbs and program descriptions that are used to promote each event to get more ideas.
Here’s to your future: may it be enhanced with creative programming and engaging pitches so you can get more of your best work out into the world.
For more help
To get detailed hands-on help with upgrading your email pitches and related promo materials, this may be just the thing. Get step-by-step instructions with real-world examples, plus expert editing feedback so you can fine-tune your email pitches, Bio, photos, videos, and website. It’s all in my signature Get the Gig program.
Looking forward,
Dream Big, Plan Smart, Live Well
