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Guest list Epidemic

Entitlement Epidemic of the Guest List Request

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There’s no easy way in writing this one so here it goes: Stop asking for guest list from promoters that you have yet to make any deep or meaningful connection with. Rule of thumb: If you don’t know their favorite food, favorite shows, favorite beer, and favorite hobbies then the answer is no to your guest list request. Sorry, but being broke and still wanting to see your favorite artist is not an excuse to ask for a guest list from people you barely know. Today there is a sense of entitlement that is fueling an epidemic of guest list requests.

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12-year-old organizes rave in school toilets

12-Year-Old Boy Caught Organizing Rave in School Toilets Has DJ Equipment Confiscated

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Start them young they say, and that couldn’t be further from the truth for the 12-year-old boy in the United Kingdom caught organizing his first-ever rave… and in the school toilets no less!

Unfortunately for the young lad, as a result of his actions his DJ equipment, speakers and disco lights were confiscated.

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10 Principles of the Electronic Music Industry

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Taken since the inception of 6AM in 2008, we have been able to develop and follow key principles that have helped us knock down barriers, break through troubled times and reach our goals in the electronic music industry while continuing to hit key milestones every step of the way.

The information contained herein has helped shape who we are today and represents what we stand for in the global electronic music industry. We are far from perfect, we are constantly learning and always working to improve. More importantly, we need a constant reminder of these guidelines ourselves, which is also part of the reason we are publishing this article. We want to hold ourselves accountable while sharing something we hope can help others, or at least can spark a conversation on subjects we feel are important.

We not only hope you find this useful but more importantly we hope you find the strength to apply the guidelines within this article into your own journey and discover the things you didn’t think would be possible by peeling away the layers of negativity and self-sabotaging behavior that are stopping the progress you wish to attain. We are all in this together, you are never alone.

Thank you in advance for hearing us out and we’ll see you on the dancefloor soon.

Much Love & Respect,

6AM

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Promoters: The Tastemakers and Educators of the the Music Industry

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Over the years the word “promoter” became somewhat of a taboo in the electronic music industry. I remember working for a club back in my early days and being advised to stop referring to myself as a promoter but use the word “VIP Host” instead. I was confused.

Back when the job title first came to be, a promoter was an event organizer. They usually founded and owned the event brand and took care of everything from the planning to the execution of their events, including booking talent, securing and setting up venue, all logistics, etc. As the industry grew and changed so did the the classification of what a promoter is and does. These days there’s promoters who are paid a per/head or per/ticket amount to promote an event organized by a bigger promoter, oftentimes promoting several event a weekend at more than one venue. They usually have no say in the event’s planning and execution, including the acts set to play at the events he is bringing people to.

With that said, however, it remains important to underscore and understand the role of promoters within the realm of the music industry we find ourselves to. We all know and refer to DJs as tastemakers and educators of the crowd that is in front of them. A truly good DJ doesn’t play it safe, instead understanding the importance of bringing something new and unique to the table each and every time they step up behind the decks. A quality DJ is able to wow a crowd with tracks they have never heard, instead of resorting to known crowd-pleasers. A top-tier DJ educates, taking their “students” on a lesson of music throughout the duration of their set.

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How to Know When The Right Time to Outsource Is In The Electronic Music Industry

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If you’ve ever started a business or large-scale project it is likely that you have experienced the inevitable feeling of overwhelm. At some point or another, after trying to do everything yourself, it becomes hard to keep up with all the tasks on your to-do list, and especially so when strict timelines are involved.

It has happened to almost all of that at some point in our life: we come up with a great idea, big or small, and need to convince others to believe in it and come on board for the idea to really take off. Think about it, it applies to music producers in search for a label for their latest work, or event promoters looking to launch a new event series.

This can be a dangerous situation because with every idea there are many risks involved. If you can’t get your close friends and acquaintances interested in the idea then how can you convince the rest of the world to? You can get stuck between trying to push it through yourself without the help and input of others, and outsourcing the necessary work in order for your idea to become reality.

No matter your approach, it is often recommended that creatives in both business and the arts focus not on one but on multiple ideas. If you want to grow a plant you must begin with many seeds, rather than plant just one and hope it grows into something.

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The Underground Electronic Music Scene Needs More Collaborations

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“Let’s link up and collaborate!”

Yes I am completely aware of how stereotypical that sounds, but given the climate of the electronic music industry we live in today, the need for collaboration is higher than ever.

Here is a simple truth: promoters can choose to view everyone else around them as competition or, instead, as essential elements in nurturing the scene they themselves are a part of. In the United States the more underground sounds of electronic music are still playing catch up to the EDM beast that exploded shortly after the turn of the new century. Every week I hear and read comments from house and techno fans asking for bigger and more, especially when they compares the United States’ scene with that of Europe. They want bigger events, more production and, more importantly, acts that don’t tour in the States often. Let’s be honest here though, these acts are either really expensive to bring Stateside or are simply too high a risk for the promoter as they don’t promise high enough attendance to make the booking viable.

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Editorial: The Anxieties of Being An Electronic Music Event Promoter And How To Face Them

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It’s 7:30pm on a Friday night and I am waiting for a man I have never met outside of a venue I have never heard of, nor seen, before.

I have spent the last 7 days driving all over Los Angeles scouting for venues, looking for the right location for what could be the biggest event of my career as an electronic music event promoter. My other business partners have done the same, all to no avail. We located a few gems that will be available for future use, but haven’t quite nailed down the space we so desperately need at this very moment. And the brutal honest truth is that the clock is against us.

“Relax, be patient and you’ll find the right spot!” I’ve been telling myself over and over for the last two weeks, and while I believe it, it’s hard to remain optimistic as the hours and days fade away. Our event is tomorrow night, and with just over 24 hours to go we are running out of options. To top it off, the venue owner I am supposed to meet is 30 minutes late, which is making me and the three other people with me antsy at best.

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Abstrakt and Jeremy Underground Find Peace Following “Saunagate” Debacle

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Yesterday we reported on the “hot” subject (pun intended) that had the internet in a bit of a frenzy: Jeremy Underground’s performance for Abstrakt in Edinburgh, Scotland, had been canceled following an agent-promoter fall-out over seemingly ridiculous hotel requirements. The entire thing got out of control quick, first with the agent physically threatening the promoter and then with internet trolls threatening Jeremy Underground on social media after the story, which you can read here, broke.

Since, Abstrakt and Jeremy Underground have talked and found peace, and the agency concerned also apologized to the promoter. The solution that they have reached pleases everyone and gets money donated to charity in the process, which seems like a win-win all around.

Read the full statement below and let this be a lesson for all concerned, especially agents, on how to work better together for the purpose of growing and nurturing the underground house and techno scene both locally and world over.

 

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How To Make The Most Out Of An Event Failure

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As any event organizer will tell you, you cannot always expect an event to go exactly as you hoped it would. Of course, it pays to prepare for any situation that may arise in the event to ensure everything goes smoothly. But sometimes, no matter how well you have prepared, there are those instances that will completely catch you off-guard, and especially so if disruptions are caused by factors beyond your control.

While you cannot do anything in the event of those unforeseen situations, you can, however, control how you get to react in those situations. It is important to remember that your reaction in such cases can make the difference between a slight blip and a massive, show-stopping issue.

Here are some helpful tips to help you control the situation in case of an “event fail”:

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Effective E-mail Marketing Campaign Tips Promoters Need To Know

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The importance of e-mail in every-day communication is pretty much a given and a necessity in today’s world. It has become part of day-to-day life that 91% of people check their email every day. As such, it is important all the more for events promoters that their email marketing campaigns get to reach its intended audience effectively.

But the question arises: how do you actually know if your e-mails are reaching your audience effectively? Admittedly, this is something that is not easy to determine without access to event industry e-mail standards. Fortunately, Eventbrite’s Event E-mail Benchmarking Report offers great insight on e-mail marketing campaigns and their varying levels of effectiveness.

Effectiveness here refers to the number of those who received an e-mail actually clicking on the e-mail link to sign up or buy tickets for an event. This number is measured by the “click-to-open rate” (CTOR) which programs like Mailchimp are able to measure.

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