Sign up for the Micro booking collectives kick-off meeting!

What’s this about?

For me and many others I talk to, creating a steady booking routine is one of the most difficult obstacles to master. Booking feels like cold calling, especially as a self-managed solo artist. Most e-mails never receive an answer – promoting what’s close to your heart can feel like shouting into a void. 

How about instead of battling this task alone in front of your laptop, we do it together? What if we organised in a decentralised, collective way? Why not collaborate in groups, like bands, ensembles and DJ/nightlife collectives do – and share the work?

That’s why I would like to initiate a network of small booking collectives that show up for each other. Don’t book yourself – let someone else write the e-mails you’re dreading to send. You return the favour by doing the same thing for them. No need to invest money you haven’t yet earned in a booker or an agency. Find your peers, make new friends, create consistency in your workflow, have impact!

How it works:

• Form small groups (max. 5 people) of artists from compatible genres/styles
• Have a monthly in-person meetup (~ 3 hours) – if you don’t show up, no one’s booking for you (attempt to keep it fair and non-exploitative)

• Everyone is writing booking e-mails/calling venues for another person:

• • Initial mail
  • Follow ups
  • The ensuing correspondence could be handled by the artist themselves to negotiate the details – or not!
• Progress is tracked in a project management tool (or a spreadsheet) to keep things balanced. If one artist needs more help, they can request it from their less busy team mates
• Optional: Present yourself as a bookable line-up to venues. Dedicate one of your meetings to setting up the structures to strike fast when one hears of an opportunity to curate a night at a venue (basically the requirements below combined to one booking kit).

Requirements to join: 

• Have your booking kit ready: 

• • Details of your performance
  • Booking fee
  • Tech rider
  • Pictures
  • Promo text
  • Links to your music
  • Website link
  • Social links
• Have text blocks ready for quickly customisable e-mails in all necessary languages
• Have a booking contact database/spreadsheet that matches your style:
  • Venue/festival name
  • City
  • Contact (name, e-mail, social)
  • Further research could be part of the work meetings but you need to deliver a foundation
• Be structured enough to attend the monthly meetings with very little exceptions. This only works if everyone treats this as a cornerstone of their artistic work life. No flakiness when it comes to your music!

If you want to become part of this, fill out the form above. I’ll set up an initial meeting in the second half of September with all interested people in Berlin, so we can get to know each other and form our first collectives.

If you just want to steal this idea and already know the people you wanna do it with – great! Go ahead! Let me know how it goes if you feel like sharing! This is not tied to any commercial interest on my end, I just want to find ways to make a musician’s life easier in this crazy economy.

Let’s get active! Let’s get booked!