25 ways to finance your next recording project, music video or major equipment purchase (III)

Continuing from last week’s article…

Three great ways to create cash if you’re in a working band

- Save money from paying jobs

One of the best ways for a working band to raise a lot of cash for a major project is through paying gigs. Even a band that works part-time could easily come up with at least $500 a month from live shows – that’s another $3,000 for your Guerrilla Music Project Fund in six month.

This method is a lot easier to manage, though, if the members don’t depend on band job money for basic living expenses. If the members really need the steady cash, try setting aside a percentage of gig money from each job, even if it’s only 10 to 20 per cent. Just take it off the top before everyone gets paid.

- Promote fund-raising gigs

Non-profit companies, environmental coalitions, and charities of all types use fund-raising events to come up with the operating cash for their organisations. People generally like to do something constructive for a good cause, so they show up and donate money. Well, if this technique works for charities, it can also work for your musical act’s fund-raising needs.

Strategy: Pick a night when you’re booked at a local club or hall and promote it as a “Show Your Support Night.” Ask your fans to play a part in your success story by helping you fund your next CD. Charge a minimum $20 donation at the door. Let attendees know that all the proceeds collected that night go toward financing the recording. Maybe even offer to list everyone’s name in the CD credits if they contribute.

You could also use this event to pre-sell your CDs – in effect, earning revenue before you’ve even produced them. Remember, you won’t get things in life unless you ask for them. Just make sure to give something of value back in return.

- Sell CDs, downloads, T-Shirts and merchandise

Your live shows can bring in a lot more money than just your performance fee or what you collect at the door in cover charges. If you and your act aren’t taking full advantage of merchandising, you’re missing the financial boat. Bands with even modest followings are reaping lots of extra money by selling T-shirts, caps, buttons, stickers, and more.

Obviously, if you’re trying to raise money for a big recording project, you may not have a CD to sell yet. But if you do, by all means, push them doggies at your live shows. Mentioning them often and enthusiastically from the stage is a good start. But if you really want to cash in on merchandising, set up a booth or table chock full of everything you have to sell and make sure a friend, roadie or associate mans it the entire night.

Check out these websites for an easy solution to selling your music and merchandise online:

Broadjam

www.broadjam.com

Lulu

www.lulu.com

CafePress

www.cafepress.com

Zazzle

www.zazzle.com

Important note: If you’re seriously using fund-raising and merchandising as a means to finance your next musical project, you’d be wise to take all the money earned through these methods and put it directly into your Guerrilla Music Project Fund account. And don’t touch it until you’re ready to invest in your specific project.

So you think this idea of raising cash from gig money and merchandising is great. But wait! What if your goal is to purchase a PA and light show? Without them, you can’t play out to earn money. It’s the ultimate Catch 22, right? Wrong! Here are some solid ways to play out and make money without your own system.

(Note: I admit, these next three suggestions are elementary, but I include them just in case you’re overlooking them.)

Work at clubs that have house systems

Many nightclub venues have their own in-house sound and lighting systems. By providing them, club owners can get bands to play for lower rates, since the band doesn’t have to haul in and set up its own system. Your job, then, is to find the clubs in your area with house systems and try to get work in those venues first. By doing so, you’ll get those paid jobs and merchandising opportunities – without needing your own PA and lights.

Work with bands that have systems

While you’re looking at venues with house systems, don’t overlook other opportunities for paid work at other clubs. One way is to work with other bands that already have good sound and lighting systems. Whether you’re opening, doing a split bill or headlining, try to align yourself with groups that will allow you to use their systems at shared gigs.

You may have to help cover the cost of the sound person or even do a little roadie work yourself. But that’s a small price to pay, considering the other band is bringing what you don’t have. By using this arrangement, you’ll open up your money-making possibilities to include practically any venue in your region.

Rent from stores, bands or discount services

This may be another selection from the Overly Obvious category, but here it is anyway: When you have a paid gig beckoning and you don’t have a sound or lighting system of your own, renting one or hiring someone to bring one in might be your best solution – especially if you know you’ll earn more than you’ll spend on the show.

Your options include renting PA and lights from music stores, sound companies or other bands and running them yourself. But don’t forget about hiring a freelancer to come in and do all the dirty work for you… at a higher price, of course. Some of the best deals may come from other bands that rent systems on their nights off (in fact, they may be doing it to build their own Guerrilla Music Project Funds).

Adding it all up

Let’s figure out what a four-piece band might be able to raise in six months using just some of the techniques listed here. First, let’s start with your potential as an individual. Suppose you were able to set aside just $20 a week from your day job for your Guerrilla Music Project Fund. You’d have just over $500 in six months. Then suppose you could earn an additional $20 a week giving lessons, doing home recording, or any number of things discussed earlier. That would give you another $500.

If you really tried, you could probably raise about $250 selling off some old equipment. And by trimming back some of your more extravagant musical buying habits, you should be able to redirect another $250 into the account over the six-month period. That gives you a total of $1,500 in six months using only your own discipline and ingenuity.

Do the math: Even though you could easily raise still more money by getting a credit card cash advance or a $500 to $1,000 loan from a family member, let’s use the more conservative $1,500 individual figure for our purposes. Now multiply that number by the four people in our four-member example band. Suddenly we’ve got $6,000 in the collective Guerrilla Music Project Fund.

And we haven’t even factored in fund-raising gigs, paid band jobs, and merchandise sales. Over the course of six months, a band could easily raise another $3,000 from these sources. Add that to the previous subtotal and you’d be on your way to raising nearly $10,000 for your next project!