05 Apr 7 Reasons Why Your Fans Don’t Go To Your Shows (And What To Do About It)
Original Article Found On: How To Run A Band
Author: Chris Seth Jackson (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
When bands set out to do show promotion, rarely does the band take the time to think of how that show appears in the eyes of their fans. To get people out to your shows, you need to take a step back and look at it from your fans’ perspectives.
Here are 7 reasons that people won’t come out to your show followed by some ideas and tips to overcome those objections.
1. Can’t Get To Or From The Club
If the club you booked is far away from convenient bus lines or a quick cab rad for someone, not many people are going to show up. So even if your last show in so-and-so city was awesome, a different venue at a different location can be a totally different story.
In Seattle, I’ve stopped going to a lot of shows because the bus schedule changed, and I can’t get home from most clubs without an expensive cab ride. The show has to be an impressive lineup to make me shell out for that cab home.
So think of how you can overcome this. Do you have a big van that can squeeze some more people wanting a ride? Can you start a car pool among your fans and reward the designated driver with free passes and free merch?
2. Your Fans Are Broke
You have your show at the first of the month, and no one shows up. What gives?
Everyone paid rent and can’t afford to go out this weekend.
Clubs and bars can be expensive. You can buy a 6 pack of beer for the cost of just one beer at a club.
Maybe your ticket price is too high. You’re charging $10 to get into your show where all the other clubs only cost $5. It doesn’t seem like much of a difference, but, for a fan on a budget, $5 means another beer or two.
How can you overcome this? You can experiment with lowering ticket prices if that’s possible (which it usually isn’t). Can you use your band’s complimentary beers as a reward to a few fans?
Is there some incentive to overcome the price and club’s costs? A raffle or contest?
How about something social? The social element can overcome someone’s resistance to price. If they see all their friends showing up or know that there’s going to be a chance of hooking up, the price becomes even less important.
3. Your Fans Don’t Like The Club
Even though you love that dingy dive bar with loud music, your fans could find it a big turn-off.
Overpriced drinks. Too loud music. Nowhere to sit. Too crowded. Nasty bathrooms. Mean staff.
If your fans just simply hate the place, it’s a hard sell to get people out.
How to overcome this? Sometimes those perceptions of the club are unfounded. If you can paint a different picture of that club to be friendly to your fans, you might change their minds.
Or, just don’t book clubs that don’t fit your fans. Ask your fans what their favorite clubs are. If you know where your fans love going, you’ve just made your show promotion that much easier.
4. Something Better To Do
Your show is completely deserted. What’s going on?
Turns out there’s a football game/famous band playing/huge festival happening right now.
If there’s a better show or event going on, people are most likely not going to your show.
How to overcome this? Can you turn your show into an after party of that event? The SuperBowl after party!
Or, do more research before booking. If you know The Big Huge Band Your Fans Like is playing the same night or weekend, you might just want to block off that weekend (and go enjoy that show with your fans).
5. Didn’t See Your Promo
You didn’t put up fliers. You only put a couple of posts on Facebook. You only promoted the show for the past week or two.
Most people probably didn’t see your post on Facebook or notice your Event invite. A good Facebook promotion needs multiple postings throughout the month at different times of the day.
Did you try to get into the local paper? Have you tried reaching out to local media?
If you do very little promotion, don’t expect anyone to show up. The club isn’t going to do it for you. The promoter may or may not do it for you. The other bands are most likely not doing anything either.
How to overcome this? Promote immediately, as soon as the show is booked. Don’t rely on just one media outlet to promote your show (like Facebook).
For social media, people see things at different times of the day. If you promote in the morning, but everyone checks their accounts during lunch only, no one will see your posts.
Reach out to others to promote. Make sure the other bands and the club are also promoting. Encourage your fans to promote your shows by sharing with their friends (, but remember to make it fun for them!).
6. Don’t Know The Other Bands
Your fans may love you, but they will not come to your show if the other bands suck.
Maybe the other bands don’t suck, but no one has ever heard of them. Maybe the other bands are from out of town.
If the line-up is weak, your fans may not want to pay the costs of getting to the show, buying the drinks, or just dealing with hours of music they don’t want to listen to.
How to overcome this? Keep a growing list of bands you should be playing with. Always be asking your fans what local bands they like.
Do this for every city you plan on playing.
If the bands on your bill are actually good, make the effort to introduce their music to your own fans. Use Spotify or YouTube playlists to give the fans a taste. Use a little showmanship to make it seem like the lineup of the century.
7. Your Show Doesn’t Stick Out
All things being equal with your show as compared to other shows that night, yours just doesn’t stick out. There’s nothing special to it.
Your fan looks at the Facebook event and only sees the names of three bands and a location to go to. Yawn.
If your show doesn’t stick out from the pack, there’s not much incentive for your fans to choose your show over another. Especially if there’s any of the above 6 conditions occurring, forget it.
How to overcome this? Take the extra time to make your show into an event.
What can you do to make your show stick out? You could make a theme for the night. You could make it a benefit. You could get some crazy, non-musical acts on board to give it more of a “circus” feel.
Be creative with both the theme and maybe even your own act. Is there something special about your show tonight that fans will be kicking themselves if they don’t see it?
Just don’t be boring.