Beanbender's Franchise Information

Ever wanted to get lots of phone calls from lots of musicians at all hours of day and night? Ever wanted to lose small amounts of money on a regular basis? Ever wanted to get tapes from all over the country of music beyond category, description, and even listenability? Ever wanted to spend one night a week, every week, no matter what, listening to strange noises in the company of a bunch of odd characters? Ever wanted to have a bunch of musicians sleeping on your floor, drinking your booze, making long-distance phone calls?

If your answer to any (or preferably ALL of the above questions) is YES, then:

WHY NOT OPEN YOUR OWN BEANBENDER'S FRANCHISE?

Here's what you gotta do:

• If possible, if you aren't totally misanthropic, find partners or volunteers who will help you with this project. It's way more work than you anticipate! More on this below.
• Walk around town looking for vacant commercial property. Get the name of the owner and convince them to let you use the place FOR FREE for concerts, as a service to the city, for PR. If that doesn't work, approach galleries, coffee shops, bars on weeknights, record stores, etc. This is the hardest part, but sooner or later, someone will say yes.
• Look for someone who will donate a PA, mics, cords, stands, etc. Also not easy, but promise them publicity for their studio, store, etc.
• Buy whatever other impliments you need (e.g., chairs, couches, lamps, coffee pots, extension cords) at your local flea markets or at yard sales.
• Get food and drinks to sell. Look for donors, or make cookies yourself. Perhaps selling beer from a cooler is okay where you live; check out the legal necessities. Snacks are good (and often you'll have missed dinner getting the space ready!), and you can raise a little extra money for those times when you want to give someone a guarantee.
• Find musicians who want to play for a percentage of the door. Though it is much better if you can offer guarantees, you probably don't want to lose too much money right away. You will be discouraged. However, check out Meet the Composer granting possibilities. You'll have to find a non-profit arts organization who will front for you for that. Really, no matter how much you love the music, you will begin to resent your series if you keep putting your own money into it.
• Since you don't have much money, you have to find out who is already planning on being in your neck of the woods. Get in touch with festivals in your general area. Often European musicians traveling to North America are getting government funds for travel, and they're just looking for more places to play.
• Be certain to be very clear about all arrangements when discussing shows with musicians. Explain what the series is all about aesthetically and financially. Explain your payment policy (e.g., percentage of door, or guarantee, or combination). Find out exactly what equipment they want you to provide. Agree upon a time when they will arrive at your space. If they're travelling, discuss accomodations. Ideally, all this should be discussed at the time when you are offering the gig.
• Scheduling is messy. We try to stick to a 3-step process: 1) Bands we don't know must submit a tape. No one plays whose music we haven't heard. 2) Once you've decided who you want to have play, find out everyone's schedule: what days work, what days don't. At this point, make it clear to the musicians that you are not giving them a date yet; they are not confirmed; you will call them back to confirm once you've made out your schedule. This protects you from having to try to move people around later. 3) You figure out the month's schedule, then call everyone to confirm. Try to do a month at a time, at least a month in advance (that is, on January 1 you are finalizing all of February shows). This is to give you lead time for advertizing.
• Remember: You don't have to call everyone back! No one in their right mind would call everyone to tell them that they won't be playing a concert. It's very unpleasant, and you would quit booking if you had to do this. Don't be a masochist!
• If you do get stuck having to tell someone why they aren't playing, here's a list of reasons why some people are not playing at Beanbender's this Wednesday.
• Keep a mailing list. Mail monthly schedules at least a week before the month begins. Ask local musicians to mail cards to their own mailing list.
• Make sure to get your schedule to local media way in advance - often 3-4 weeks is necessary. Ask radio stations to give away tickets. It doesn't cost you anything, and they like to do it. While you're at it, ask them to interview you or the musicians. Make sure musicians send promo copies of their work to whatever local stations will play this kind of stuff.
• For advertizing, see if local record stores or music stores will go in on an ad with you. If there are other music series happening in town, consider collaborating with them to put out a calendar together.
• You will need help on the day of the show. We have one person at the door, one selling coffee and snacks, and one as MC/soundman. You'll want to have extra volunteers so you can take a day off now and then.
• Set up a web page. Feel free to copy our structure if you like. Let me know so I can link to you.
• Let other promoters/bookers nationwide know about your series, so that when someone is looking to play in your area you'll get called.