Marketing / 04.22.20

Concert Subscriptions, Care Packages & More: How Indie Promoters Are Weathering the Crisis

Access Staff

Billboard (04/20/20) Mims, Taylor

The COVID-19 crisis has spurred independent music promoters to follow creative strategies for remaining financially solvent until live events can resume. "If you are a promoter ... you have reach and you know how to market and get info in front of people's eyes," said Margin Walker owner Graham Williams. Indie promoters across the U.S. started requesting financial assistance in mid-March through GoFundMe campaigns, concert gift cards, custom T-shirts and merchandise, and livestreams. In one example, the Nether Meant virtual festival raised more than $8,000 for the Good360 coronavirus relief fund through donations, merchandise for Minecraft avatars and digital VIP areas and meet and greets with artists. Some promoters who run venues, like San Francisco's DNA Lounge, are leveraging regulations permitting continued food and alcohol sales to collect revenue during closures. Indie promoters also are launching subscription services, like Noise Pop's tiered Culture Club subscription via Patreon. "I don't think [subscriptions] are something you're going to be able to base a business on entirely, but it is a nice piece of the overall puzzle and we have to be diversifying and thinking about this," said Noise Pop Industries founder Kevin Arnold. "It can't just be ticket sales."

Read the full story from Billboard. 

Tags: News , Mobile , Digital Marketing , COVID-19 , Coronavirus