We're breaking even!

[huntedbyafreak]

Considering it costs peanuts in reality to have a forum' date=' it works out as a matter of pence for each person coming to our gigs to pay for the forum - I can't be bothered to do the exact maths, but the numbers involved per person are so insigificant that it wouldn't change anything about the gig prices - really, the difference involved would mean paying an extra pound to every local band that plays..in reality, what's going to help more, paying them that extra pound, or paying for the forum on here?

I know for a fact that we've never screwed anyone locally, so I do take offence at being referred to as such. If we've ever paid under the going rate for local acts, I've always explained why - and we've never "underpaid" just to pay for our forum. Considering we only now have one regular "prime" spot a month in a venue, I'd say we do pretty good not ripping anyone off while saving a little bit each time for a rainy day.

As for what I'd like to see on the website :

<promoter hat> I'd like to see a better way of advertising gigs without using the forums - perhaps a page where people could click to look at all the gigs on in a certain month. Ideally, it would be set up so people could add gigs - perhaps people who have paid to sponsor the place could automatically add gigs as a privilege, whereas anyone who hasn't would need them to be approved by a moderator first? I find the biggest problem at the minute is that there's not one page I can bookmark to immediately see what's on in a given month - the calendar is too..awkward? </promoter hat>

<personal hat> The radio is a great idea, provided there's no issues with copyright and suchlike. I can think of various things that it could be used for - instead of just music, why couldn't things like interviews be broadcast with local people?

In fact, considering you want to move away from being "about the forums" and more of a resource, what about having a page with comprensive information about all the parts of the "scene" - as it stands, there's not a place where people can learn all about the individual aspects of venues/promoters/etc - so information pages combined with interviews with people (text, that is) could be very fascinating to see.[/quote']

you??promoter?? dont make me laugh! you have screwed many people locally, with the money you charge for some of your, quite frankly, awful gigs that you put on!!

there is a difference between a promoter, and somebody who puts on gigs, you are just as bad as your mate paul stewart

[Cloud]

go and check out the special acts that they bring to aberdeen! see the handful of loyal punters who go to be amazed each week! then ask mike or graeme how much door money they took and how much the band cost! they will almost certainly tell you that they lost money but they dont care because there were 30 people who walked away truly delighted!

Does it matter if they made money or not? If they can afford to keep going, that's all that matters. How they keep going is of no relevance whatsoever - I assume if they're losing money, they must have another source of income that lets them carry on - which is fine by me.

But.

that is what music is about, that is what being a promoter is about!!! i think you have been hanigng around your mate cloud too much recently, he too seems only interested in making money or pulling "punters" through the door when it comes to music

Making money? Pulling punters? Well..in case it's escaped your attention, venues are businesses too. Not one venue we use charges us the "real" cost of putting on a gig - so we have to get as many people through the door so that they'll make some of it back on the bar, it doesn't suit *anyone* to have low gig attendances. If the gig is being paid for in full (bar costs, sound engineer costs, the lot), then it doesn't matter, but commercial reality means you have to go for bringing as many people through the door so the venue doesn't lose out.

you??promoter?? dont make me laugh! you have screwed many people locally, with the money you charge for some of your, quite frankly, awful gigs that you put on!!

Money we charge? Would you like an in depth explanation of how the only money we have saved from gigs is to pay for future gigs that might not be a success? That 50p extra you might pay on the door will pay for something else down the line - considering none of us can afford to put money into putting on gigs, what can we do?

there is a difference between a promoter, and somebody who puts on gigs, you are just as bad as your mate paul stewart

As bad as Paul? hmmmm..I'll let other people be the judge of that - but I've heard a lot of praise from people who appreciate us trying to put on bigger gigs without fleecing people.

As for what we do - we lose money on some gigs, we make money on some others, and the end result is that we break even. Everyone wins - but personally, it gives me far more satisfaction to see a busy venue and to be able to pay everyone well and to be able to see that the venue in question has broken even than it does to see the venue empty and out of pocket and the bands going home with a few quid.

If you want to donate a few quid to us so we can drop prices for a gig, please feel free.

Oh and as for us being as bad as Paul? None of us take a penny from putting on gigs, it's a non profit venture, with all proceeds being reinvested to bring other bands up here. Slightly different story, don't you think?

[Neil]

A radio station sounds like a great idea' date=' but would it be purely for playing unsigned bands, demos etc? If you're streaming copyrighted tracks ie commercial cds, there may be licensing requirements if you're planning on keeping this site legal...

Thanks for the link Frosty. Most interesting as the last time we did the radio station we did indeed play commercial music as well local acts and at the time MCPS nor PRS had any kind of licensing offering in place for online radio stations. Glad to see that appears to have been addressed now. I've fired off an e-mail to them to see what kind of licence aberdeen-music.com might need.

My comments were trying to be constructive' date=' with a touch of irony, sorry if you feel I have insulted your excellent operation etc, Aberdeen Music is a fantastic resource centre for NE Scotland music & we'd be lost without it. The fact is as a promotor, we would also love to say we are @ a break even situation. All we want to do is attact artists to Aberdeen who nomally don't come here & who we want to see ourselves, plus if we can promote local artists who are trying to do something which in our opinion is interesting, then great stuff. We are music enthusiasts, who are independent promotors & not a commercial operation. As you probably remember I did ask for a quote to be a sponsor about a year ago, but was put off due to the cost, which we couldn't afford. Didn't realise there was flexibility to these costs.[/quote']

Fair enough. I'll update the FAQ article to make the fact that there is flexibility in the sponsorship rates more explicit.

I do recall you contacted me but I can't remember what you asked for nor how much I quoted you! Please feel free to PM me again and let me know what you would like to have (e.g. calendar, forum, ad banners etc) and we can try and get something sorted. The sponsorship rates are changed quite frequently and I'm always trying to be as flexible as possible so I might be able to quote you a lower rate this time round. Please just let me know if you are interested because I'm always keen to get local promoters and venues more involved with the web site if I can.

[Chris]

I find the biggest problem at the minute is that there's not one page I can bookmark to immediately see what's on in a given month - the calendar is too..awkward?

what's awkward about the calendar? You click calendar and you get a listing of everything that's on that month. to see what's on for the 3 venues (assuming they've added anything) that have their own calendar you clik on their calendars. You're only two clicks away from the information you need.

[Hog]

you??promoter?? dont make me laugh! you have screwed many people locally' date=' with the money you charge for some of your, quite frankly, awful gigs that you put on!!

there is a difference between a promoter, and somebody who puts on gigs, you are just as bad as your mate paul stewart[/quote']

Are you kidding?!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hog]

Anyway, Radio sounds like a really good idea. Webcams too

[Cloud]

what's awkward about the calendar? You click calendar and you get a listing of everything that's on that month. to see what's on for the 3 venues (assuming they've added anything) that have their own calendar you clik on their calendars. You're only two clicks away from the information you need.

That's what I mean - it's still fiddly to click between calendars when a page listing (that could perhaps be printed out) would be far easier.. I know for me at least, if I could print out a page of gig listings for that month, it would make remebering about them far easier.

[Daniel]

My comments were trying to be constructive' date=' with a touch of irony, sorry if you feel I have insulted your excellent operation etc, Aberdeen Music is a fantastic resource centre for NE Scotland music & we'd be lost without it. The fact is as a promotor, we would also love to say we are @ a break even situation. All we want to do is attact artists to Aberdeen who nomally don't come here & who we want to see ourselves, plus if we can promote local artists who are trying to do something which in our opinion is interesting, then great stuff. We are music enthusiasts, who are independent promotors & not a commercial operation. As you probably remember I did ask for a quote to be a sponsor about a year ago, but was put off due to the cost, which we couldn't afford. Didn't realise there was flexibility to these costs.[/quote']

not being cheeky but........ what shows do you put on, ive never heard of you doing anything

[Neil]

That's what I mean - it's still fiddly to click between calendars when a page listing (that could perhaps be printed out) would be far easier.. I know for me at least' date=' if I could print out a page of gig listings for that month, it would make remebering about them far easier.[/quote']

hmm...I like this idea and it would be dead easy to do. What would be better - upcoming gigs in the next week or the next month? Actually, the box on the front page already displays the next 5 days worth of gigs so maybe a month ahead is better.

Chris actually came up with the rather good idea of sending out an e-mail to all registered members with a "Upcoming Gigs" listing that would also do the same kind of thing - maybe every month or week or so. I might implement this as well but don't worry, people could opt-out of it if they wanted to!

Anyway, good idea and I'll keep it in mind for the future.

[RF Scott]

not being cheeky but........ what shows do you put on' date=' ive never heard of you doing anything[/quote']

not being cheeky but...........maybe you should read gig announcements and pay attention to posters.

[Balvack]

not being cheeky but........ what shows do you put on' date=' ive never heard of you doing anything[/quote']

A search for "interesting music" on the Gig & Event Announcements forum comes up with 30 threads (as of 19:30 sunday 5th June) ...

All the gigs I've managed to catch have lived up to the name "Interesting", and it's no doubt a labour of love for Mike, Jenny, Graeme and co.

AMT on Monday @ The Tunnels and lots more damn fine stuff to come

[Daniel]

not being cheeky but...........maybe you should read gig announcements and pay attention to posters.

pay attention to what?....................chilli promotions presents

[Chris]

pay attention to what?....................chilli promotions presents

Interesting Music presents is usually how the announcement goes.

[RF Scott]

pay attention to what?....................chilli promotions presents

...Interesting Music Promotions presents. Notice how announcements made about these shows are posted by 'chili,' and notice the post right above yours for even more obvious clues.

[Chris]

That's what I mean - it's still fiddly to click between calendars when a page listing (that could perhaps be printed out) would be far easier.. I know for me at least' date=' if I could print out a page of gig listings for that month, it would make remebering about them far easier.[/quote']

Pfft. You're just lazy.

Still, not a bad idea.

[shaun]

not being cheeky but........ what shows do you put on' date=' ive never heard of you doing anything[/quote']

hahahahahahahaha

[Daniel]

...Interesting Music Promotions presents. Notice how announcements made about these shows are posted by 'chili' date='' and notice the post right above yours for even more obvious clues.[/quote']

ok i see them now and their is alot of them, but for some reason i never noticed them before

[You Nazi]

Anyway' date=' Radio sounds like a really good idea. Webcams too [/quote']

looks like they missed this one

[Cloud]

hmm...I like this idea and it would be dead easy to do. What would be better - upcoming gigs in the next week or the next month? Actually' date=' the box on the front page already displays the next 5 days worth of gigs so maybe a month ahead is better.

Chris actually came up with the rather good idea of sending out an e-mail to all registered members with a "Upcoming Gigs" listing that would also do the same kind of thing - maybe every month or week or so. I might implement this as well but don't worry, people could opt-out of it if they wanted to![/quote']

A combination of both would be best I suspect - perhaps a weekly listing by e-mail, with monthly listings available on the site? People tend to turn off with long e-mails, but something like "The Week Ahead" would be interesting. Perhaps to differentiate the two, the monthly listings would be just that, listings, whereas the weekly e-mail would have descriptions of just what the event was about?

To incorporate it into the sponsorship scheme, perhaps the weekly e-mails could have descriptions *if* the event was ran by a sponsor in some sort of way, to encourage people to sponsor the site - otherwise, they'd get a plain listing?

[Chris]

whereas the weekly e-mail would have descriptions of just what the event was about?

I don't like this idea purely for the reason that I believe the email will just be dragging information out of the calendar. And as I don't add descriptions of calendar entries, just links to the original thread this idea would mean more work for me

[Cloud]

I don't like this idea purely for the reason that I believe the email will just be dragging information out of the calendar. And as I don't add descriptions of calendar entries' date=' just links to the original thread this idea would mean more work for me [/quote']

Now who's lazy?

Would it not be possible to set it up so people would submit their own descriptions, so the whole thing would be automated? The idea would be that sponsors would do their own effort in submitting descriptions within a certain limit, then when it's time to send out the e-mail, it doesn't actually require much effort at all? Having seen what's possible with PHP, surely something like that wouldn't be hard to code?

[Balvack]

aberdeen-music podcast

Yeah' date=' Aberdeen-Music radio seems like a great idea. Local band material would be the best option.

[/quote']

Would something like this be workable DIY radio ?

Seems to work for this guy Tartan podcast and loads of others available here

[ClicheGuevara]

The radio wold be amazing if it worked. I'd just watch not to go overboard with local bands being on all the time, having a wide range of music playing. Having interviews, guest DJs, people trying to put on a comedy show (haha, how ace) would also be really good.

I agree with putting out a monthly e-mail with gig listings as being a good idea. Maybe having links from the the e-mail to the website with either the gig, or the individual bands descriptions? I don't know if that is too much bother, but it would be very helpful.

If this doesn't happen, could the promoters/venues be given the ability to send users their gig listings? This could be optional from their CP, so they could choose the venues they would want to hear from. Aberdeen-music wouldn't need to be a part of this, they could just give the e-mail addresses of people who have checked their box, and then the promoter is responsible for making and sending out the mail.

[kirkt]

not being cheeky but........ what shows do you put on' date=' ive never heard of you doing anything[/quote']

Interesting Music put the best shows on in Aberdeen. End of story. I've enjoyed each one I've been to in the past and I'm going to attend them a lot more in future.

[Daniel]

Interesting Music put the best shows on in Aberdeen. End of story. I've enjoyed each one I've been to in the past and I'm going to attend them a lot more in future.

as i said i wasn't having a go at him i have just never heard of him, but i have heard of his promotoin label just didnt know he was part of it or owned it