It starts with your draw
Venues and promoters book acts that bring people on the night. Before anything else, be honest about how many you can pull in your own city, and start where you can fill the room. A packed small show does more for your booking future than an empty big one.
Get these ready before you pitch
- A tight EPK with your bio, photos, links, and any draw or press.
- Live video that proves you can hold a room, phone footage from a real show beats a polished studio video for this purpose.
- Dates you can actually play, and a realistic ask, don't pitch a date you'd have to cancel.
- A short list of venues that actually fit your sound, see below, rather than every stage in the city.
Who to pitch
Target the venues, promoters, and event curators whose crowd matches your sound, not every stage in the city. Our Labels and Agencies directory lists booking contacts. For a live, city-by-city view of who's actually booking and what's already on, check venues (which rooms host live music, updated daily) and live (festivals and tours currently on sale), both are a faster way to spot promoters and venues already active in your scene than cold-searching.
How to pitch
Keep it short and specific: who you are, your draw, why you fit their night, live video, and dates. Make the promoter's job easy. A focused pitch to the right person beats a mass email every time.
Fees and negotiation
Early shows are often door deals or small guarantees; proper fees come as your draw grows. Know your worth as your audience builds, get the terms in writing, fee, timings, tech, and hospitality, and treat every show as a relationship for the next one.
Climb the ladder
Most acts move through a rough progression: open mics, support slots, your own headline nights, then multi-city runs. Each rung is unlocked by the draw and reputation you built on the last. See how live fits into your income.
The takeaway
Build your draw, prepare a real EPK and live video, pitch the right rooms, and climb steadily. The live chapter of the Playbook covers touring and riders, and the programme works on your live plan and contracts.