Always Have A Business Plan While Stepping Into The Event Planning Business

As an initiator into the event planning business you may not feel the importance of having a business plan for your event but the fact is every promoter needs to have a business plan in order to be successful in organizing an event/show. Its ok you are interested to choose this line as a marker for your life but here professionalism matters most just than your hobby, as it involves money. Everything in the world which involves money should be planned accordingly. For organizing an event you need a lot of money. If you are to be financed by capitalists, commercial banks, angel investors then you should definitely prepare an event business plan. If you have enough within yourself to finance for your event then also business plan is essential to have a formulated goal to enhance the chances of success. Additionally it's also good to keep an updated record of your progress as a business person and also about monetary dealings i.e. how much money comes in and out from your pocket throughout the whole process; making out a strategic plan for the easiness of investors, sponsors, artist, is essential. So that everyone can know what's your plan. At the end their role also play vital role in the level of success you will gain out of your event.

First of all an executive summary related to the event should be prepared. The summary should contain a brief description of the following things.

1. What kind of event you are planning to organize?

2. What’s your target segment?

3. How will your event standout among others?

Now tend your focus to financial things. What will be the possibility of growth of income i.e. Potential profits, sales (ticket +beverage +organizing expenses)? Additionally you should also write down the exact amount of capital necessary for your event. Also mention in details how those funds will be utilized in terms of money. Now give detailed information about who you are as an event planner or promoter. If you have your team then you should mention all your members. Briefly describe your history or achievements as a promoter as it will give the positive vibe to the fund providers. Also write down who are or will be responsible for organizing the current event. Write only accurate points which will be better and clearer to them. Let them know what you can do.

Now, you can explain the details of your event fully. Start with a short title then follow it with a understandable description. Mention things like present scenario and what can be the expectations in the future? Do you have any thought of organizing same kind of event if this event gets clicked? What are things you are going to do to make your event standout? Show your creativity here. This is crucial to seek attention of investors. Make them known about your vision. Make them aware how you are going to be successful. Mention your type of advertisements, sponsors you want, lighting and other facilities you need.....show them your trustworthiness as a promoter to make them feel dependable on you. This page will give the investor a clear idea about your aim as a promoter to think about a definite response.

Mention how your event can generate profit? What are your strategies to attract a high level of audience? Explain how you will fix your ticket prices and how tickets will sell... whether through middleman, or online or through real vendor at the venue. Remember ticket price plays a vital role. Fix ticket price after summing up all the costs. Otherwise price of tickets will be overvalued or undervalued and the investor can notify this. And you will lose your chance. Correct ticket price is essential and it greatly plays a vital role in your income generation.

The word promotion in event organization means your way of communication with the audience. This is the crucial step you need to be pretty good at it. It involves the following things.

A: You should have the capability to think creatively about your messages and making it through taglines. Also make sure to mention your sponsored company's name, product..etc as decided.

 B: Also use social sites to spread the awareness about your event as much as possible. Social media is essential in the present scenario for effective promotion and also helpful to choose the target audience i.e. Types of people belong to your event.

C: Every business comes with risks and event business is no separation. Risks in these areas like marketing techniques, staffing of team members, finance management, organization of temporary facilities to be provided at the event. Every event promoter has to deal with these types of problems in advance before actual event, for the sake of yearning trust in investors if you are looking to stretch out funds from them.

D: The whole concentration of your event will be on live performance i.e. the stage must have a suitable lighting and sound equipment system. You should handover all the stage requirements to a specialized music production company. Just mention them what exactly you want, where you want which things...if any other technical..then also tell them. You may find difficulty if you try to deal with it on your own. (Assuming you don't have a backup team). Planning an outdoor festival is never easy. You have to arrange artists, vendors, venue clearance certification from the respective authority, marketing of the event. Promotion for ticket sales. Have sufficient days in your hand if you want to have a complete satisfaction about your organization...it’s better to have a team while dealing with these things.

E: Book for the space you need for your event in advance. Think about the size of your stage (including backstage areas) catering services, portable bathroom facilities..also camping arrangement. So decide for the space by taking the above concerns on your mind. When comes to finance management be careful,. Don't spend too much on trying to attract big artists..and you will be left with less fund for your remaining requirement. No investor will prefer it. They want a balanced performance. Search for your local talent...aspiring ones if you have some known audience. Your main job is to satisfy the festivalgoers. Yes they want music but they need other facilities too. In the real world there are a lot of djs and producers in every locality of the world. so it should not be a problem for you to make a choice among them.

Lastly, in any festival most of the times there are two types of people: Your influencers, and artist influencers. Both types of fansites will make up a huge part in bringing up the audience. So not only target your areas but also make effort to attract the artist fansites for your business.

Your Own Exposedness Is Key As An Aspiring Dj/Producer

Technology continues to have a 

plundering effect on both sides of our life i.e. professionally and mentally. Advancements are following the technology for some decades now and it has also changed the scenes/view point of electronic music inside out. It also changed the way djs and producers get noticed during old days. All over the world djs/producers are struggling now a days to get their talent exposed. Everyone wants to be connected to the successful artists to have a take off in their career. Record labels are the best option in the current generation to become noticed, but it's also full of competition. The reality is that there are so many underground producers and rising dj stars. Some even send their tracks to different podcasts hosted by successful artists like Armin Van Buuren, Markus Schulz Ferry corsten. The truth is that they are receiving nearly hundreds of tracks in every 2-3 days. SO its not possible for every artist to get featured and its also a minimal exposure as an aspiring artist if you are looking to hone the world with your sound. The candidate should not sit and wait enough for his exposure of talent. The artist must go out there and should express himself/herself to get noticed.

You may think that you have performed local shows, honing your crafts for endless hours, after practicing hard by spending countless hours in the studio...you have made a great track. You believe heartly that your tune is so much better than other tunes you have heard out. Its good, actually this thought will give you confidence. But the fact is that unless you put some extra effort for the exposure of your talent it's not going to work. Yes, technology is there but it cannot replace the hustle of the current generation. You have to go beyond the comfort zone to get discovered. Technology is made for people by people. There are so much people in the current technology that it's difficult to find the exact person. So be active and creative always if you want to have a broad career. Promoters are always on the top gear as tens or 100's of dis contact them to have their own gig. In this case it's your best bet to support promoter's every event; be an eye catcher to them consistently. This may or may not lead you to booking level but it's about networking, though having social media. Networking is key here as an artist.

Its better to adjust with rejections because your chances of being rejected is maximum in the initial stage. Be normal with the word "No" and make sure you don't loose persevere. You can contact 4-5 promoters, record label owner or club owners. These places are great to have a decent expectation for your talent. Meet as many persons as possible. Never ever lower any person. Meet many promoters and reach out to them continuously until they feel nauseous about you, not your name. You have got to be creative, to make them realise about your value as a Dj and sufficient reasons to book you for the gig. It takes a great level of hard work and time. No effort means no yes. So it's better to ask promoters by going out to their places.

Always make yourself open/available to everyone. Go to the events of your preferences where you would like to play in the future, meet people out there and interact with them. Keep doing it as much as possible and make people known about you. Show your true and genuine character while developing connections with them. Slowly build the relationship and it will matter a lot in your career further. Some of them may give you a chance to show your skills and recognize your talents under a space of an exhibition/event. Isn't it a kind of promoting??? Maybe it's small (100-500 people) but it's useful.

It’s vital to remain as a humble human being in this industry and always be aware of your upgradation. Also you have to be sure about your talent and level of potential you have. You will be getting negative responses by meeting an increased number of people with the time. But you shouldn't feel down about that. At least you leave an impression upon them. Its also not bad. Remain positive, never complain about your talent, and the seat you deserve in this industry. Its like you are showing gun to everyone around you to accept you as a king. Don't try it. Patience is the key here and always respect people. People will decide where you will seat in the industry...you just need to concentrate on your side of faults. Maintain your goodness and rectify your badness.

There is no denying of the thought that djing and music production is more than just a hobby to you. You actually feel good when you pursue your hobby. You may feel the need to convert this hobby to a fully passionate and fledged career. Its a good thought. But for it you should treat your art i.e. Djing/music production both as a business. You may have a day job or any other family business/other source of income, but your approach to your art should be professional like a company's approach towards it's workers. Everything people see, hear or read about you whether in public or in the internet it builds up as a brand you present yourself to the audience as a dj or a producer. Your fb postings, your tweets, your social thoughts all these are parts of a structure of your brand.

You are meant to have fun while doing all these, if you choose to become a producer or dj. Be professional and take right steps while being workaholic with your work. You are on this ride for your own exploration.

Warm-Up Dj: A Prospect Need To Be Forwarded To The Next Level

Warm-up djs generally involved in the festival lineup for the purpose of getting the crowd in mood...before the main act comes into the scene. Basically the warm-up djs play the role of appetizer to set the crowd for the headlining act which is the performance of the headliners by themselves. Its been such a for long time the tradition that is well-defined that warm-up acts should know their duties efficiently and they should stick to that. Generally the warm-up djs play the tracks to the genres like synth-pop, progressive, tropical, deep house. The boundary is defined here i.e. djs playing the sounds of the above genres will be warming up the festival crowd. Well, it sounds pretty fair that we are on a festival and we are there to have fun, listening to music... but to be predicted as we are going to have a decent lineup i.e. predicted style of music, for our festival...sounds boring. May be some of you not agree onto it...

Some also believe that warm-up dis shouldn't play banging beats or tracks that will be too energetic for crowd...as it's already taking the freedom out of the headliners. After all most of the audiences paid ticket prices for the main act on the lineup. Some of them may not accept this thought, that warm up djs should go beyond their own space. The meaning is here that we are here to see main acts but we want our headliners to do that... not warm-up djs. Aren't we in festival for the warm-up act....? may be a little bit of crowd excited in warm-up acts. We as an audience should take full advantage of the festival. We are paying for the festivals.....

Its been quite for some years that a healthy number of people believe that warm-up djs should be given more opportunities to do a bit more change in their sets what has been followed traditionally for a long haul. The supporting acts (Warm up) should be able to play to crowd highly to make them hyped for the headliners. The idea is to get beyond the concept of equality those are blinded for warm up djs and give them more freedom. This doesn't mean that the warm-up djs will be playing set of headliners or control the stage alone, but they should be able to feed off the response of crowd and give something extra to cheer than just a warm up act. But they have to keep in mind that the headliners are coming after them.

There is also a belief that warm-up dj sets turns out to be helpful for main acts to perform in a better way...creating a well rounded event overally. It’s nothing less than a self motivation for the up and coming warm-up acts but also for the headliners too. The both ideas i.e. Warm up djs on warming up sets and playing banging sets have it's own advantage and disadvantage. This class of thought depends on the respective venue, lineup, and the crowd. Its a decision to be followed in different circumstances. This does not mean that the warm up djs should be keeping back to his tracks. He just needs to be different on stage by himself without playing the headliner's track. He has been treated as a supporter to a headliner and it should go on. He should never step into the shoes of the headliner; otherwise there will be a truthless festival.

Different people may have different opinion, but we should understand the two sides. Whether a warm up dj withhold or pacify the crowd, a little bit modern approach is expected from him, making the dance floor more exciting without stealing the creativities from the headliners. There's a reason why some djs have longstanding avenues, opening up for the festivals, alongside performing as a club rocker(Music)  like Above & beyond, Aly & Fila, Dan Stone.... thoroughly have been moved up to the stages of excellent festivals. Being a good opening dj takes a lot of practice, good understanding of sound, and a beauty of track selection skill. His set can be the most memorable thing of an unforgettable nightlife or a missing element of an exciting night.

An important thing to be cared by warm-up djs is that the level of energy when the act passes to the headliner's hand. The headliner should not have to reset the energy in order to structure his set. If it happens then there is some mistake on the side of warm up djs. The vibe and energy in the venue should be seamlessly transited throughout whole stage performance. It takes a lot of time from a normal dj to become a opening dj. Someone having true love for music, crafty track selection mastery, and its understanding in different venues; all these collectively construct an elegant dance floor. Its actually a challenge to hype up the crowd while topping off headlining act at the same time. You have to be aware that for who you are performing, how they play, how they bring transition in their set...in fact a warm up dj should know overally a headline performer. Each headliner has a unique musical style and the warm up dj should know it.

The Stage Edginess

Stage fear is a very normal incident for many musicians and live performers. This fear generally indicates the nervousness before or during a live performance. There are many things that can go wrong on the stage while you are inexperienced but it's best to relax about that and practicing more on rehearsals before every gig. The more comfortable you are with your job the better you will be on stage. Its important to sound as a professional artist when you are on the stage. An artist should have an energetic and appealing body language when he is on the stage in front of crowd; because the crowd must have been energetic to watch the show otherwise they wouldn't have come to watch the artist. Its important to feed off the crowd your energy as well through the performance. Always move around the stage don't just Stick to one place. You can also have self tips from your fellow artist who will be performing on your venue. When you are on performance mode on the stage, be cognizant of who is in the crowd and try to know your audience.

Suppose the club on which you are going 
to play is packed, the crowd is on hype,

A day before your sound check was also good. You are on stage and the crowd is screaming your name. But you feel like something is wrong there, though everything is ok. When musicians get nervous before actual performance different things can happen. Physically things can be like dry mouth, butterflies in stomach, speed of heart rate, palm sweating etc.. Mentally things can be like plenty of thoughts are racing to your mind. Your attention to the things to be perceived by you turns to become a threatening issue for you. Instead of focusing on that you became more extraneous, more negatively thoughtful towards that. While emotionally we feel scared about our show and we think like we shouldn't be playing this stage. We should do something else. Just think if you are not here to perform then why you come here? The thing is you will not find a good answer to this question because you already decided in your subconscious mind that you want to get off this stage but you are not 100% sure and the anxiety plays a vital role here. Different kinds of anxiety need to be dealt differently. Its not possible to cure instantly them but it depends upon the performer how much strong mentally he/she is towards his/her passion.

Mistakes are a part of life but it shouldn't be repeated on row. Right..... Don't think too much into it. My mean to say is that don't utilize your brain on nervy things like What if i made a mistake on stage? What if the crowd didn't like my set?. The more you think about these issues, the low capacity you will have for real stage performance.. If you are not 100% sure what to do on the stage then you will never be big on the stage. So be focused on one thing at a time, something which you can control and which is present. If you are about to arrive at the venue then think only about the list of choices you will be doing there. Do more rehearsals. The more you do more you will be comfortable within yourself.

Rehearsal means running a rough performance quite similar to actual scene like as you would do in front of audience without any interruption. Going through mock performances many times before a show can also be helpful. Also recording audio making live of your production and sharing some of your videos along with it can also go a long way. Once you view your performances recurringly you will be able to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses on stage. Do a mock run-up of funny things whatever you would do from audience view and record a video of it. So that you become aware of everything that can happen on stage during the show. Don’t be artificial; be natural while doing all these things. It will help to reduce your uncertainty.

Mental rehearsing can lower your anxiety because it makes you comfortable with the performance in an intimate way and most importantly it is biased on your own terms. Having the real equipments in the hand while practicing on live mode, you should be able to visualize everything in your mind. It’s better to watch videos of your fellow artists show before doing it and make sure you follow your strategy; not theirs. Prepare your own strategy on your own decency, Otherwise you will feel uncomfortable in your task.

Forget all the anxieties and have a good sleep before your Gig day. Eat healthy, do meditation, get engaged with your side interests on a day or 2 days before your show. You need to be mentally ok before the day of your show. Be normal and make a final rehearsal before going to the show. Don't be in competition on anything on that day. If you are a solo performer then arrive the stage at half an hour before and be curious enough to meet and greet people out there. If you are on a lineup for a festival then you have to arrive more early i.e. be watchful to at least one artist who will be performing before you. The least you can expect from that is a boost to your psychology and the highest you can expect is one stand applause for your gig.

More or less music is about live performances...though Djing holds greater part of it

During the old ages, specially in the 90's many

rock bands, rappers, orchestras were

on fire and most of the gig bookings were belonged to them. As the years passed by the popularity of electronic music has soared in the form of djing. Now a days djs have got a way to be a part of these gig bookings. Whether it's a lounge night, a night club, a house party, large audience gathering like EDC, Coachella.... djs are playing everywhere. They have been gaining respect and attention for quite a decade now. Its not look like that djs will be stopping somewhere. After the giant stardom of rappers, instrumentalists, djs now have got the momentum and they are replacing those stardoms by themselves. With the rise of electronic music the art of djing is getting highly appreciated. People are interested in knowing who's that dj, instead of passing the terms like as a guy who's just playing music while they are in a party.

Being in a dj set a dj normally plays and mixes the pre recorded music through cds or vinyls. The tracks a dj plays overally include the artistic work of other musicians and sometimes also of himself. Dj sets helps the artist to have a more intimate connection with the audience. With so many people in the crowd it's impossible for a dj to get a clue of what a particular person actually want. But a dj can understand if the majority speaking about a particular thing. As long as the dj is producing the same kind of energy as the song, everyone in the crowd will scream out in excitement and be happy for their own presence. Dj sets give the artists a different kind of freedom. Having a USB drive in the hand with the tracks are being copied into that a dj can spin all the tracks to which he is mostly associated. A dj is a real dj who has the ability to construct a musical journey by piecing together and mixing various tracks in a unique way for matching with the crowd's reaction as a decisive turn out for each of his track selections.

A live set is a much more demanding performance by the people. The ability to handle an instrument and playing great music on live mode take many years and hours of practicing. Its not easy at all. To come up with new discoveries every time with new structure is difficult...specially on the stage. Live sets needs to be rehearsed accurately and this set is completely based on the artist's own composition and production. Its a pretty gentle and formal set of musical 
performance. When a person attends 
live concert (specially attendees) he 
knows exactly what to expect from the 
artist. When a dj performs his live set 
he is not merely doing djing with the 
tracks but he is actively making a live 
podcast on the go, by using CDJ 
equipment with the completion of 
multiple softwares and hardwares that 
are used for djing.

Some live performances may include actual instruments like guitar, piano board, string, drums, snares etc...While others may just use technical equipments like ableton, cubase to produce music and performing right in front of crowd. Live acts for djs can also generate the same level of energy from their live performances. The dj sets give the crowd an emotional rise and exciting vibes on a more personal level.  Live acts are very much useful when you are playing long sets, 
in large festivals. You have to keep 
the excitement up. 
Let's have a look at the words of Ibiza 
based Dj Mr. Julian perez.

“No DJ wants to sound boring when playing long sets but trust me, it's not easy to get the crowd engaged for many hours and I can personally count the number of people who can do it successfully with all my fingers in one hand. It is a big advantage when you have a musically educated and respectful crowd in front of you during long sets. From my experience, try to not sound repetitive by not playing tracks of the same genre one after the other. You need to be versatile on the track selection and keep a steady flow. You have to keep people engaged and anticipate the next record you’re going to play through feeling their vibe and see what works, and what doesn’t. Long sets give you the chance to showcase a proper history of your personality through music. Then you're able to show who you really are as an artist. The experience plays a huge part here. Important fact to note is that you need to figure out yourself when it's time to move. Stop playing the back-to-back with your own ego and pass the turn to the next DJ”.

A live set represents the way music should be designed according to the artist. A dj set represents the way music should be represented according to crowd. A live set is all about an artist and a dj set is all about crowd. But now a days artists have to do both the tasks effectively; Skills enough should be to represent both, if they deserve respect enormously.

Be Supportive to the Efforts of Promoters Specially in Underground Events

The word underground in party scenes has not been effective in maintaining the ‘Underground‘due to some unnecessary exposure to great events irrespective of any place. Promoters are mainly responsible for organizing any party and he ensures that every single event is performed accordingly with plan. In addition to it they also make sure that the safety of attendees is the first priority. In order to do these tasks effectively they also need the help from the people (attendees) in ensuring that the event runs smoothly and becomes a great moment to remember for the crowd. No promoter wants to see a burning end to his effort in organizing party scenes. Here are some ways we can help a promoter with regard to his effort in organizing events.

Free Mind: The underground is a place of independency where everyone is on the dance floor for themselves....not to be jammed by the worrisome thoughts of landing on someone unknown's photo or video. Don't use any phone or camera during the party without permission, as it's disrespectful and distraction. Every night life scene follows it. Yes, promoters can take out the photographs professionally by themselves or through their personal staffs because they are well known to these scenes. So it's better to post only those photos have been taken/shared professionally.

Transportation: Cars are better form of transportation when it comes to underground events. If you have your own car, then go with it. If you don't have, then have a cab facility, or be engaged with car of any of your friends while going to an underground event. More the cars are parked around the venue, higher the assumption of the high-class people inside the venue. All the cars should be parked legally. Any odd parking will detract attention in a negative way. As soon as you park the car, straight away go inside the venue. No unnecessary sound should be produced inside the parking area. Act like a decent human.

No unknown Sharing: Some people may have odd thinking to it but most of the time people forget to maintain it because of excitement. Don't make it a public buzz. Keep the news about the underground to yourself and inform only to those whom you trust with utmost. If you are unknown about the safety circumstances of the underground then don't share it socially on web. No unknown sharing, and if an unknown ever hits you on this cause then don't share anything about the event. Right people can get it from the right source...if they are interested to serve as attendees to the party.

Be playful: Everyone out there on the floor are key and integral part of the underground music movement irrespective of any city, country or world. Your actions, your response play a big role in the growth of these industries. You love yourself and for that you are a part of this underground community. To have unlimited fun is your No.1 priority here without any disturbance of third party. Music is and always should be the focus of any night life scenes from people's point of view. Social media engagement, getting laid with unnecessary/negative acts should never be a distraction that takes away from musical experience.

Don’t be so social: In today's world, for promotion of any kind of event social sites serves as the best tool for management. On the other hand this social media can also cause an underground event to be closed down. The mobiles we use now are equipped with GPS tracking in addition with Geo tagging facility. This facility makes it easy to find your location of underground event while you are checking in from any social sites like Facebook, twitter, instagram. So always make sure that your location services are disabled in your mobile. Its for sure we get excited when in an underground event and we tend to think about sharing that happiness with others. We can't wait to have getting social media likes, comment, favourites etc... And this is where risk comes along with the party to destroy the underground scene. Don't share anything socially, for the sake of yourself and promoter.

Have gentle attitude: There is no place for harassment, abuse, torture, in dance music world. And again in the underground scenes it's a big no. Treat everyone out there with respect and if you have been treated with any kind of harassment or tortures report it to the security section or staffs at the venue. An underground should be a place of enjoyment free from any kind of abuse, harassment. Everyone is equal there on the dance floor. Everyone should have freedom of space and we should respect that space. Why you are there on the dance floor? To dance, to have enjoyment for yourself...then why you bother about other things.

Promoters undertake heavy risks on behalf of hosting underground events. It has to be dealt with long negotiations to book line-ups for the festival. The negotiation section generally involve your favorite artist, choosing the perfect venue and taking utmost care for the safety of the venue, necessary beverage arrangements for the people, the logistics management and of course ensuring that everything goes on smooth when it's party time. Almost every single promoter of music festivals on this earth is a raver and music enthusiast just like you and it's the love for music and the movement of night life scenes that drives them to do what they love to do. So it's the moral responsibility of us attendees to put our all effort into making sure that the beauty of underground events never dies.