House Concerts - The Presenters Responsibilities

There are more and more folks wanting to share the music they love with their friends by putting on a house concert and there are some things you all, as presenters,  should know.   From several savvy presenters I have received a list of what they all think a performer should do and I have put up that list of what the performers should know here at Datamusicata. 

Now here are some things that the producers/presenters should know.   I am not doing this diplomatically, not tiptoeing around, , just letting presenters know what I’d  need and want in order to do a good show for them.   So Presenters…

The audience should basically come from your friends, as you want to mainly have people in your home whom you know and trust.    Many people are not comfortable having their address and phone number blasted all over the web.   Understandable and reasonable.  So you, the producer, are responsible for the bulk of the audience.  That being said, you should instruct the performer as to how to let his people know about the show and what you want in that notice in terms of contact info, address, etc.

Few people through the years  have asked that they get a percentage of the door for their trouble.   In the house concert world this has not been the policy of presenting music you love to friends you love.  The whole door donation has always gone to the artist. 

The more savvy producers get fans and local businesses to sponsor a show, so that they needn’t put out actual money themselves to help the musicians they love.

If you do cut a deal whereby you are taking a percentage of the door, you are now a business and open yourself to city business licenses and taxes and bureaucracy like you would not believe.   It’s just easier and better to be  altruistic.   It will come back to you, I promise.  

It’s even more strange if the artist provides his audience and you provide none of your friends as audients and you still ask for a percentage.   It’s bad karma, trust me.

If you do cut a deal whereby you are taking a percentage, you cannot also ask the performer to come early, set up the sound system, move furniture and otherwise do various and sundry errands that would cut into the musicians private time before the show, which I personally require to do the best show I can.

You want to make it as easy on the performer as you can.  You want to make the performer feel as special as you can, as that helps them do a good show.     Distracting, disparaging and discouraging the artist by asking them to set up the show only make it so that you will have an artist who is less focused on the  performance, which is the only reason they are there:  to perform and to be remunerated for that performance.

That being said, I always show up early and volunteer to help in any way I can.   But that is MY choice, not yours.    I still need to have at least an hour of private time prior to going on stage.

If you decide you want there to be an opening act, the recompense for that act is your responsibility, not the artist you have brought in.    Surprizing the artist by letting them know that they won’t be getting all the door because you decided you wanted to put on a friend or relative before them, won’t endear you to the artist, nor is it fair to the artist who has come all that way to do the show for you and your friends.

I usually spend the night at the presenter’s home so that I can spend some quality time with them, after the performance and the next morning when there is not an audience around.   Most performers will be spending the night and you should expect that and you should expect to feed them a dinner and a breakfast.

And finally, if you have to cancel, you can’t do it at the last minute as the performer puts these dates together months in advance and frequently travels far to do the date.    If you must cancel at the last minute, then it is your responsibility to find an alternative setting for the show, find the volunteers, tell them what to do, turn it over to them and give all the new contact info to the artist and the artist rep and follow up to make certain that the new volunteers are keeping their commitments.

Now that you know all this, if you still want to put on a house concert, go to http://www.jamesleestanley.com/contacts.html  and read the article written by the very professional and experienced hosts, Russ and Julie Paris.   Also check out  www.concertsinyourhome.com