Okay, full disclosure: I have NO IDEA if this service will be helpful, but it seemed interesting and I thought it better to engage than to ignore. Ed Beeson gave some of his time to answer a few questions about Gigs4U, an online service meant to connect musicians with venues, and this is what we talked about. 

What is the overall aim for the app? What is it going to take over the course of the next 12 months for it to be as successful as you’d like it to be?

Our overall aim is to provide a link between musicians looking to get paid to play and the people who want to present top-notch live music with none of the usual hassles.

Over the next 12 months we plan to expand our roster from the 50+ local artists currently, to over 100 artists by the end of the year. Last year booked over 1400 gigs with 6 clients, and our goal for 2015 is to increase that to over 2000 gigs with at least 4 new clients.

Are you working with Seattle venues (which ones?) or more Northwest venues (which ones?)? Same question re: bands? What is your general process look like from meeting band to setting them up with a gig?  

Initially, our target client will be other organizations that produce on-going music programs like our existing clients: Port of Seattle at SeaTac Airport, Seattle Parks, Downtown Seattle Association, Seafair, and Friends of Waterfront Seattle. So we’ll be contacting every town in the region that has a “summer music in the parks” concert series – Edmonds, Bothell, Woodinville, Redmond, Bellevue, Renton, Burien, and many more. We target every venue that hosts weddings, conventions, corporate or private events. As far as traditional venues, we will also connect with everyone from the Tractor to the Paramount, as well as the larger festivals like Bumbershoot to Sasquatch, although those venues typically have programming professionals on staff, but may be looking for an appropriate opening act from time to time.

RE: Bands? Our basic process for recruiting is referrals and word-of-mouth – artists who have heard about the SeaTac program from other musicians, and we have a network of the regions top music business professionals. When an artists contacts us, we review their work and make a judgment on their fit with our roster. We strive to represent all genres and styles of music, as well as their quality. In other words it’s all subjective, based on years of experience and our ability to determine what the client wants.

RE: setting an artist up with a gig? It’s completely “mutually agreeable” and based on budget. For our “program” gigs like SeaTac, the artists fees are fixed and the artist opt-in or opt-out. For “concert series” or “one-off” gigs the artist sets their fee and the client decides from our recommendations that are within their budget. We also give consideration to secondary income opportunities, for example at SeaTac musicians can make several hundred dollars fro merch and tips.

The clients love our services for many reasons:

• GIGS4U represents only the top-notch profession artists representing every genre and style of music in the region.
• We provide a support person for each gig, so they have one person to work with as opposed to a new person each gig, and we control sound quality and volume as well as provide all the production needed.
• As a result of the founder (me) having produced thousands of concerts, we are very good at making sure all parties know exactly what to expect and what to do.
• We maintain all legal requirements: including contracts, 1099 forms, insurance, resellers license, etc. with each client for every musician.
• The people attending the performance love it.

And the guiding philosophy at GIGS4U is that if it is a good gig for the artist, it will be good for everyone else involved.

If there was ONE THING people knew about your program what would it be? And what are the best possible chances/scenarios for a ban to get booked? What’s the best contact info? 

ONE THING: actually 3 things – WIN, WIN, WIN. Musicians, Clients, and People (new fans), all love what we do.

Best chances/scenario for an artist to get a gig? My advice to artists is to play as many gigs as you can, because you’ll get better at your craft, and your business will grow.

Best way to contact us is at gigs4u.org starting March 1, 2015.