In the live event promotion industry, the last 10/15 years have changed the industry quite a bit. Promotion and marketing used to be predominantly a physical thing, but ever since technology developed and social media and the internet was easily accessible in everyone’s pockets, it has changed a lot.
Some of the old methods that people used are: flyers, posters, word of mouth, street teams, radio, TV, mailing list, CD/vinyl, adverts in music magazines, adverts in newspapers.
The modern methods of event marketing are: social media (including instagram, facebook, X, TikTok, YouTube), Bandcamp, Spotify and Apple Music, mailing list, radio, targeted ads, QR codes, website, linktree, local or specific social media groups.
To explain some of these a bit more, a street team is a group of people who will promote your event on the street, they do this by spreading the word of the event to people who they pass by, putting flyers or stickers accross the streets. In the modern day they still exist and are a valid way of marketing, they still do the same things but they also post about it on their social media. (Indeed Editorial Team 2022)
In some CD’s there would also be a flyer or a notice in the box about upcoming tours/gigs, this also applies to vinyls. As music has gone digital, CD’s and vinyls have been replaced by streaming services. So this way of promotion has also changed to be on streaming services as there is an events list on each artist’s page. This is on both Spotify and Apple music, it was only a recent idea that came about in 2022.
Radio is still a good way of promoting live events, however as radio listeners have dropped since music went digital, it isn’t as effective as it once was.From 2018 – 2022, radio listening has dropped 6%. The main drop off is that people don’t listen to radio to discover new music, artists and events, as the amount of people who listen to radio for this reason has gone down 16% since 2014.(Radio Ink 2022) This shows radio is more useful as a source of information, something to put on in the background while working or in the shower, and to make people feel a bit less lonely and be in a better mood. This shows that people are using radio less as a platform for discovering music and more as a product.(RadioToday UK 2022)
Mailing lists are still being used, and are a really effective way to let your core fanbase know about any upcoming events. A definition from (Cambridge Dictionary 2022), “A list of names and addresses kept by an organisation so that it can send information and advertisements to people on the list“. It has changed from a physical mailing list, where you would get letters about it, it is now an online mailing list, using emails. An online mailing list is pretty much free so that is a plus for marketers, however it is still used the same way as it used to be. Venues can also have a mailing list for people who regularly go to gigs at that venue. You can list your event on Bandcamp, which is a website and app where you can buy music, and merchandise from smaller artists. Bandcamp is a bit similar to an online mailing list as most people who see it, will be the most dedicated fans who check your page on bandcamp. Anyone can check a Bandcamp page, however it is mostly used for fans to check up on what the artist is doing.
Posters and flyers are still used today, but they mostly aren’t physical copies of it, or there isn’t too many of them printed. Posters used to be placed everywhere due to street teams placing them everywhere, however it is cheaper and easier to just make one online and share it around on social media and using all of these methods. It also reaches more people online, as there is an unlimited number of people that can see it online, but only a limited number that can see it on a street corner. A few still get printed and depending on the size of the gig, depends on how many they print and how much money they can spend on marketing.
QR codes are a development made which allows you to put your phone camera to an image, and it takes you to a certain page. These are used in events marketing to usually link to the tickets. They are usually placed on the few physical posters that are printed. They are quite good as when the person see the poster and are interested in the gig, they can buy the ticket there and then.
Social media is now the biggest way of promotion. With the reach being unlimited and the cost being relatively low. The content that is usually posted to market an event is a poster, a video of the band playing or a short interesting video to notify people about it. The videos have only recently started to be popular, since TikTok has been popular all social media’s have changed to these short videos. They reach a wider audience, due to videos getting shown to people using the algorithm that specific social media uses, but posts just get shown to your followers. These posts and videos get shared by the bands, promoter, anyone who is friends or interested in the event and venues to maximise the reach. Instagram and Facebook are the biggest for events marketing, with X and TikTok being a better tool for promotion of artists. You can also list or link to your events on a YouTube channel. You can also pay to make your post an advertisement on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. You can also pay to be at the top of Google’s search results, which is also useful but doesn’t have as much of an affect on events marketing. These adverts on social media are also targeted ads. They are targeted due to these social media companies using the data they have collected from people and then sending them specific ads based on that data. These ads can be really helpful as they will usually reach an audience that will have a bit of an interest in your event.(Goliger 2022) The social media groups that I mentioned above, are usually on Facebook. There are a bunch of these for about everything, UK Carp Fishing for example. There are music ones such as Bradford Music Scene, ENGLAND IS ALIVE WITH MUSIC and UK Musicians for gigs. These groups are good due to the fact you can target the city where your event is, and the people that have joined these are interested in music.
A linktree is a really useful tool to use. It is a website and all it does is have links to whatever you choose to put on it. An events marketer can put links to all their social medias as well as all the gigs they are marketing currently. This has made websites useless, as a Linktree is easier and cheaper to set up and does the same job for bands and events marketers. However websites can look nicer.
Magazine adverts aren’t as effective as they once were. This is due to the majority of music magazines going online only. The change has been happening slowly since the 2010’s, but in 2020 thanks to the pandemic, these magazines were really struggling so going online was the only option. You can still put your ads in these magazines, however as they are online and have less readers than ever, it isn’t as worth it as it once was unless you have a big marketing budget.(Snapes 2020)
Ticketing has changed over the course of the past 20 years. With events tickets now are usually sold online, and you get an eticket emailed to you after your purchase. This is easier for the consumer, as it can be done with a click of a button on your phone instead of having to go to a record shop or the venue. It is also easier for the event organiser as they just have to set up the ticket link themselves or if it is a big event the ticket company will do it. This has created companies such as Skiddle and Ticketmaster. An issue that has been created is ticket scalpers and people getting scammed. It is much easier to buy a bunch of tickets, and then re sell them at an extortionate rate. There is usually a cap on how many tickets you can buy at once, however it is still an issue. Fake tickets were an issue if they are using barcodes, however using QR codes gets rid of this issue as each one is unique, so there can’t be any fake tickets as you can’t replicate it. (Sheth, 2019)
Hybrid events are a very recent innovation that was made due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As people couldn’t leave the house, there were no gigs going on. So there were quite a lot of gigs being live streamed on YouTube and other platforms as a way for fans to still see live music. This happened with theatre as well, as a recording of Hamilton was put onto Disney+ during this time. As it was the only way of seeing live music at the time, it worked really well for the time when we were all locked in our house. However now we are allowed to go outside, they are now hybrid events, with an in person gig happening while it’s also live streamed. Sometimes the audience will have to pay for the live stream, or it can be free. These can be really good, as it doesn’t exclude a part of the audience that can’t make it in person, it could also be a cheaper option for some people, it expands your audience as you don’t have to live near where the event is to attend and it can also make some money.(Stegmaier)
Live events marketing has changed a lot over the past 20 years, the idea is still the same it has just become digital and there are a couple more options you have. It is even more vital than it ever has been.
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Cambridge Dictionary. “Mailing List.” @CambridgeWords, 16 Nov. 2022, dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/mailing-list. Accessed 5 May 2024.