# I don't get it - Why no publicity?



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

There's a pool hall with a stage a 5-minute drive from here, underneath a a couple of restaurants and a Tim Horton's, that hosts live acts on some nights. Forum member Amagras played there once with his old band. And two years back, I missed seeing Eric Johnson there when my wife and I were in Scotland. Uli Jon Roth did a clinic there. So I look up their schedule of events just now, for the hell of it, to see if there was anything of note coming up. Tonight is Tony McAlpine, tomorrow is George Lynch. Earlier this year Twisted Sister and Pat Travers played there (separate occasions). And later in July is The Aristocrats. Yes, Guthrie Govan will be 5 minutes from my home. But absolutely NO advertisement of these events. No mention on CBC or in the paper. You either have to follow the artists' tour schedule to see if they're playing in town, or check out/subscribe to the venue's calendar. How come these things can come and go, without anyone knowing? I don't get it.


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## mister.zed (Jun 8, 2011)

Are you talking the Brass Monkey? If so - great venue. They have a great open stage on Wednesday night. I've played it quite a few times.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

That's the place.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

If they are already filling the place then advertising just eats up profits. You only advertise when you need more business.


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2019)

I played there once.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

A lot of places main promotion is through social media nowadays. And most don't even pay for ad posts. It's cheap/free and usually does enough to get people out that there's no way they will spend money on radio or print ads. Like @Kerry Brown said, if they are selling enough for shows, there's no way they will invest more than they need to.

Also, for any band I follow on Spotify, I get notice when they are playing nearby. And there's services like songkick as well that a ton of people use.


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## GuitarT (Nov 23, 2010)

torndownunit said:


> A lot of places main promotion is through social media nowadays. And most don't even pay for ad posts. It's cheap/free and usually does enough to get people out that there's no way they will spend money on radio or print ads. Like @Kerry Brown said, if they are selling enough for shows, there's no way they will invest more than they need to.
> 
> Also, for any band I follow on Spotify, I get notice when they are playing nearby. And there's services like songkick as well that a ton of people use.


This. I follow all my local venues, artists and events on Facebook. Around here very little music gets advertised through traditional mass media channels anymore.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Well that's no good to me. I don't do any of those things. Guess I just have to go the place's website, or speak to them next time I go the nearby Metro store.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Give them a piece of your mind. They need some lemon. I mean promo!!


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Likewise, there is a farm market near here that has amazing (usually blues) acts every Sunday all summer. They never advertise and they fill the place. The folk society that I'm involved with often sells out just through their e-mail list, so if you're not on it, you'll never hear about it.

What gets me are the venues (and bands) that never advertise and then wonder why no one comes. Often it is as simple as a few posts on social media or building an e-mail list (old-school, but effective).


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Not having gone to any of those previous shows, I have no idea if the venue does fill the place up or not. I do know that no matter how prominent the artist, I *never* see a post-show review in the paper, even though they'll do reviews and features on people playing 40-seat venues.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

I played there a couple of times a few years back, it was busy and we had very little to offer


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## bluebayou (May 25, 2015)

Follow them on FB. Most performances are advertised there.


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## jbealsmusic (Feb 12, 2014)

I've played there four times and have been there twice for shows. Always a packed house. My guess is there's no need for them to advertise more for most shows.

Done the open mic a couple of times too (maybe 5 years ago, before they renovated the stage area.) Generally a good vibe, nice folks, decent music, and enough of a crowd not to feel like you're playing to an empty room.

Social media seems to be the only place they advertise.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

While a few people may find the focus on only online advertising annoying, this is a huge savings for businesses over the cost of print advertising. And it's also very effective. So there's a good reason the businesses are going this route. Even looking outside of social media, a business can set up a decent web site for less than the cost of a single print ad campaign and get way more for their money.


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## Eyeban Ezz (Jan 19, 2018)

About 25 years ago, give or take a couple, Danzig did an instore at The Beguiling behind Honest Eds. Not sure how I heard about it but I told about 5 or 6 people about GD doing a signing at Bloor and Bathurst. They said they couldn't dig up any info on the instore event and completely doubted me but still they showed up, and at most there were only about 30 people there.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Old school word-of-mouth still works. Social networking is an extension of that, it's just a louder and more persistent mouth. Sometimes folks just sign up for everything...like a house concert venue that used to run nearby...some folk just did a season ticket so they wouldn't miss anything while others just showed up and paid at the door but never missed a show. The nearby bar had live bands 3 nights a week all through the '70s and '80s and I didn't care who was playing so if I didn't have my own gig somewhere, I'd attend. Besides a poster in the window, nary an ad.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Anytime anyone asks, why didn't they? The answer is money


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Caught the show (The Aristocrats) last night. Quite the band. A "power trio" in every sense of the word. Nobody really shows off: they basically have to catch up to what the other two are doing. Those Charvels that Guthrie Govan plays are remarkable guitars. They almost ring like acoustics. I hadn't expected to hear so much Hank Marvin in his playing, but it was there.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

mister.zed said:


> Are you talking the Brass Monkey? If so - great venue. They have a great open stage on Wednesday night. I've played it quite a few times.


Is go there just based on the name.


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