Rock the House: Promoting a Live Music Event

• Event Planning
• Higher Education (non-degree)

Rock the House: Promoting a Live Music Event

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson, you will be able to understand promotion and marketing strategies for a live music event.

Introduce the learning objective to the students and explain what they will be able to do by the end of the lesson.

What do you already know about promoting and marketing a live music event?

Know Your Audience

Identify the target audience for your event. Consider factors such as age, music preferences, and location.

Age

Music Preference

Geographic Location

What brands do they like?

Discuss the importance of knowing your audience and how it can impact your marketing strategy.

Choose the Right Venue

Select a venue that fits the style of music and the expected audience size. Consider factors such as acoustics, location, and accessibility.

Is the venue big enough/ too big?

Is the sound set-up appropriate for what the artists need?

Do the people who like that type of music live close-by?

Is the venue inclusive? Wheelchair access?

Explain how the venue can impact the success of the event and provide tips for choosing the right venue.

Create a Compelling Message

Craft a message that communicates the unique features of your event and appeals to your target audience. Use catchy phrases or slogans to grab attention.

Discuss the importance of creating a compelling message and provide examples of effective event messages.

Use Social Media

Use social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to promote your event. Create posts, stories, and ads to generate buzz and attract attendees.

Explain the benefits of using social media for event promotion and provide tips for creating effective social media content.

Partner with Influencers

Collaborate with influencers in the music industry or local community to promote your event. Offer them free tickets or other incentives to encourage them to share your event with their followers.

Discuss the benefits of partnering with influencers and provide tips for finding and reaching out to potential partners.

Offer Early Bird Tickets

Create a sense of urgency by offering discounted early bird tickets. Set a deadline for the early bird offer to encourage people to buy tickets sooner rather than later.

Explain how offering early bird tickets can generate more ticket sales and provide tips for setting up an early bird offer.

Create a Street Team

Recruit a team of volunteers to help promote your event. Provide them with flyers, posters, and other promotional materials to distribute in the local area.

Discuss the benefits of having a street team and provide tips for recruiting and managing volunteers.

Use Guerrilla Marketing

Get creative with your marketing by using unconventional tactics such as flash mobs, chalk art, or public stunts to generate buzz for your event.

Explain what guerrilla marketing is and provide examples of how it can be used to promote a live music event.

Create a Press Release

Write a press release that highlights the key features of your event and sends it to local newspapers, radio stations, and online publications.

This can be sent to the media who (if they have a section promoting festivals) can include your event.

This will include information on the venue, the performers, the date, ticket prices/links etc.

Explain what a press release is and provide tips for writing an effective one.

Use Email Marketing

Send out regular email newsletters to your mailing list to keep them up to date on the event details and offer exclusive deals.

Creating a mailing list is important as it allows you to make your existing fans aware of any updates regarding future events. 

Discuss the benefits of using email marketing for event promotion and provide tips for creating effective email newsletters.

Create a Hashtag

Create a unique hashtag for your event and encourage attendees to use it when posting about the event on social media. This will help generate buzz and make it easy to track social media activity related to your event.

Discuss the benefits of using a hashtag for event promotion and provide tips for creating a unique and memorable hashtag.

Create a Sense of FOMO

Use tactics such as limited time offers, scarcity messaging, or exclusive deals to create a sense of fear of missing out (FOMO) among potential attendees.

Discuss the benefits of using FOMO tactics for event promotion and provide tips for creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity.

Activity

In groups of 2, you will receive information about an upcoming music event including the venue and line-up of artists. As a group, using the worksheets on your desk, you need to put together a marketing/promotion strategy that will help draw attention to the event and sell tickets.

Remember to think about:

- Social media marketing - How will you engage people online?

- Traditional marketing - How will you make people on the street aware of the event?

- Promotion stunts - Can you think of anything controversial that will draw attention to the event?

- Influencer partnerships - Are there any influencers that you think align with the event?

Review the important points from the lesson and make sure students understand the main concept of promoting and marketing for a live music event. Answer any questions that students may have.

Festival 1

Genre: Hip-Hop

Headliners: 

50 Cent, Outkast,  & Lil Uzi Vert

Location: London

Festival 2

Genre: Metal

Headliners: Metallica, Slipknot & Korn

Location: Birmingham

Festival 3

Genre: Dance

Headliners: Calvin Harris, Skrillex & Prodigy

Location: Manny