"Matching Great Musicians with Great Bands"

For inquiries or questions, email us at info@gigsforyou.com.

Some Of The Topics We Will Be Presenting

Format: (2) 2-hour lectures
             (1 or more) workshops/jam sessions
Dates:

2 Monday Evenings - April 26 & May 3, 2010 - 7pm to 9:30pm

Location:

Instructor: Brian Choper, successful musician, bandleader, agency owner of Washington’s Entertainment Connection
                Sessions will include guest educators and musicians invited by Brian.

Price:

Advanced Ticket Purchase
Professional $60/session
Student (w/School ID) $35/session

On-site Ticket Purchase
Professional $70/session
Student (w/School ID) $40/session

Who Should Take This Class: Classical musicians, Rock Musicians, Jazz Musicians, People Creating their own music, People wanting to play for Others, Band Managers, Band Leaders, Music Professionals, Music Students.

Class Objectives: To help you define your own goals, to share our experiences in the way the music world works rather than the way we would hope it works, To help you make your goals realistic and choose appropriate strategies for achieving them.

Details of Class include: What is your dream? Do you want to be a player in a major orchestra? Do you want to manage your own band and tour? Do you love playing with a different band every night as a contract player? Are you looking to be a studio recording artist? Are you a music writer looking for someone to buy your compositions? Are you looking to make a name for yourself as a player with a solo career? Are you looking for fame and fortune, or would you rather lead a more private lifestyle?

There are many ways to start and manage a career in music, but they all revolve and evolve around your desires as an artist, and therefore only you can answer this question. This seminar series is designed not just to explain how the business of music works in the real world, but how you fit into the strategy and what you need to do to make it happen, depending on what role you elect to play within the music business.

We are not just teaching a class, we are trying to help you by providing you with the information you need to move forward in a career mode of your dreams, in order to accomplish your dreams as a performer.

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Some of the topics we will be presenting will include:

1.  Deciding on the type of performer you want to be. There are three categories of performer:

a.  Classical
b.  Project band performer
c.  Contract performer

Each of these categories of performer require a slightly different strategy for success within that field. So, your career goals here do make a key difference in how you find work. The course is designed to help you through an understanding of these differences and how to decide the type of performer you want to be and how to become that type of player.

2.  What are your initial goals? What goals are realistic, which are unlikely?

a.  What are your resources and assets. How much time can you afford to spend working toward these goals. In other words, do you have the money and time to devote to the process of achieving your goals?

b.  What are your fears? Do you fear change, are you set in your ways, and if someone gives you advice that might be unexpected or new to you, are you comfortable following it, or is that creating a problem in your life?

c.  Based on your answer to "b" above, will you need support help to make any life career change happen, either through family support or perhaps through professional career guidance?

3.  How do you make money as a performer? How do you charge? What do you charge? How should you collect?

We explain all of this. It is very important. Everyone has heard horror stories about the player or band that got ripped of by the client or club. In most of those instances, the problem was in part the fault of the performer, not that they are shady, but they did not protect themselves.  Performers who do not protect themselves, leave themselves open to these sorts of bad things. Part of this seminar is geared toward explaining how to protect yourself and your band by explaining how to manage a bid, a contract, and how to get paid.

4.  How to brand yourself as a performer and as a band. Although this is a long term process, it is extremely important to understand for anyone with ambitions of being a career performer. This seminar explains what it means to brand yourself, how it's done, what you need to do to make that happen, what it’s like to do the work without a publicist and how to begin the process.

5.  How to find work. This is what it's all leading to. It takes some pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, making phone calls, sending letters, press kits and emails. However, we have seen artists make so many mistakes, poor or improper presentations and presentations that simply make the artist look bad. This seminar is designed to outline what to do and what not to do as you network and solicit business, promoting yourself or your band. We also spend time explaining how to price gigs in ways that actually make them easier to sell.  In our workshops/jam sessions, you will have an opportunity to practice this with the possibility of some real and positive results.

Topics Which May Be Covered in Future Courses:

• The art of managing a band
• How to find the work and then how to sell your band
• How to price yourself or your band – how not to under-price yourself
• Roles as a producer
• Press kits and the impressions they make
• Recording and distribution of your material
• How to book area concerts
• Composing and selling songs, getting known in NY, Nashville, LA. Las Vegas

For inquiries or questions, email us at info@gigsforyou.com.