Promoter's Pain for Punter's Gain

Promoter’s Pain for Punter’s Gain

The scope of international music acts hitting Perth in the last few years has exploded and whilst this is good for punters who can afford it, local promotors are struggling to cope with the effect this has had on the market. The lamented cry of “no-one ever comes to Perth” is very rarely heard anymore but this has not made life any easier for the promoters working hard to bring international acts to Perth.

One of those promoters is local DJ, Charlie Bucket, a hip-hop, funk and soul DJ by night and part of Think Twice Promotions by day. Think Twice is a partnership between Charlie and Jimmy Lips, who was the creator of the Perth nightlife staple- Funk Club. Focussing on hip hop, funk and the genres that lend themselves to the music associated with Funk Club , Bucket and Lips have created a strong brand for Think Twice and a reputation for snagging international acts.

The live music scene in Perth has been revitalised in recent years with promoters bringing both big name international acts like U2, Coldplay and Bon Jovi heading to town, but also with more underground or less known international acts. Bucket and Lips have presented critically acclaimed international acts like Mayer Hawthorne, Peanut Butter Wolf, Dam Funk, Dead Prez, Aloe Blacc and plenty more to appreciative Perth audiences.

Bucket told 3rd Degree that Think Twice work with national promoters to make sure that a Perth date is added to a national tour for an artist who is coming to Australia.

“Usually a promoter on the East Coast will make you an offer for an act and basically we will take on the Perth show. You build up relationships with agents and they will offer you more gigs which makes it easier to bring acts to Perth” Mr Bucket said.

But Bucket does stress that while building good relationships with East Coast promoters is vital to keep shows coming to Perth, ensuring the gigs that do get booked will sell out is becoming harder.

“Its tough at the moment. There seems to be a saturation of acts coming through. There are gigs in Perth now that 5 years ago would’ve sold out but we’re getting less and less numbers now. We’re doing a lot of work to get shows over the line, but basically we’re finding that at the moment that there is just too much coming” he said.

Part of the over-satuaration issue for promoters is the change in the way that shows in Perth are able to be marketed. There have been big steps forward for promoters in both marketing and ticket selling in the last few years.

Promoters can now set up both company and event pages sites like Facebook and Twitter where communicate directly with consumers. Bucket says that the nature of promotions has changed significantly because once it was important to have a strong street presence whereas now building a brand is vital.

“Facebook is definitely an effective tool. The viral stuff does help because if you can create groups for gigs where people can go to you build up trust and people will trust your shows and keep coming to your shows.”

Bigger promotions companies like Mellen Events and Jam Music, who respectively promote the Future Music Festival and the Good Vibrations Festival have the luxury of an established company behind them to offer ticket specials like the 'Bring a friend for Free' offer that Jam Music offered for Good Vibrations or the very successful 'Buy Now, Pay Later' ticket offer that Mellen ran in apprehension of Future Music .

Mellen offered punters the opportunity to pay their ticket off in controlled instalments rather than in a lump sum. This ticketing system worked particularly well because the event on March 6 sold out and Arena Joondalup was crammed full with over 40,000 people. Jam Music, who declined to comment for this article, offered the 'Half Price Ticket' offer and the 'Bring a friend for free' offer when Good Vibrations in Perth failed to sell out.

Bucket says that although some festivals like Future Music are well planned and cater to the young people who will be buying the tickets, there is still a strong desire for smaller shows in Perth.

“In a city of over a million people, to have these events and festivals just makes it really difficult to maintain. I think there will be a shift in the music scene in the next few years where the larger festivals will die out because people will want to go back to that intimate kind of feel that those gigs can’t offer” he said.

Promoters in WA appear to be locked into a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' type of scenario where there are plenty of offers for acts to be brought to Perth but this increase is making punters more choosy about which gigs they go to. For those able to afford every gig that comes to Perth they're interested in, seeing live music in Perth has never been easier, but spare a thought for those promoters working hard to keep these gigs coming to Perth and to ensure the vibrant live music scene in Perth continues.

Originally Listed: http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/3575