“We only book acts we’ve seen…”

It’s so annoying! And it’s not always TRUE, even though it’s not a lie*.

A LOT of hosts/venues insist on seeing an artist before they book them, and that makes complete sense. They’ve spent months/years building an audience, and earning their trust that the concerts are always great. And MAYBE, they once had an experience where they were impressed with an artist’s online channels, but were disappointed/embarrassed by the concert that took place.

That’s when they create the new RULE: Must see you play in person before booking.

So what is a touring artist to do? With the help of our REMINDER button, you switch to the long game. Here’s an example::

I’m booking a tour of Florida in September because I like mosquitos and hurricanes. One of the hosts I want to approach says they must see me before booking. OK. On their profile, I set a reminder that I want to reach out to them 4 weeks before my Florida shows, with a message like

“Hi Host, since you only book acts you’ve seen, I have booked 3 shows in your area in September, and I’d be delighted to put you on our guest list for any of the three shows… [list of dates, nearby cities.] It would be so great to meet you and to see if our live show connects with you like we think it will. Please let us know if you can make one!”

Ninja move: If no response, try again 10 days later.

Shaolin Master: If no response, try 2 days before the first show.

Buddha: Rest. Enjoy the tour as it was meant to be.

USE the reminder button. It can be super-effective.

*Not a lie? – I’ve seen more than one host break this rule when the right act with an undeniable video reaches out.

Advertisement

LRN Fan Bulletin Upgrade!

I believe the new layout will be more compelling and effective for getting LRN fans out to your shows.

I once thought it was best to give folks the scope of our network, so they could share with friends in other areas, or check out shows where they travel.

Now we’ll focus on home regions, with lovely colorful pictures. Bulletin goes out every two weeks to fan members of LRN.

Enjoy! Fran

How to promote your LRFest show AND the festival showcase!

Here is how I promote my house concert and the festival showcase in the same email. Feel free to copy this and substitute your webflyer link in the first section!

Dear Friends,

Coming up soon is the most fun week of the year, where we celebrate house concerts all over the Tampa Bay area with the Listening Room Festival! I’m inviting you to join me at two events:

1. Our house concert, featuring A Tale of Two, on Monday March 13th.
   Here’s the webflyer – please click the RSVP button to join us!
   https://my.listeningroomnetwork.com/event-fsnyder20230313

2. The Festival Showcase, Friday March 10th! This features all the festival artists, at the beautiful Palladium Theater. Use the code “smile” to save money on VIP or Reserved Seats. http://www.ListeningRoomFestival.com

Your fan,

Fran Snyder

Why Listening Room Network is Absent from Social Media

While sharing my thoughts, experiences, wishes, and dreams on social media has led to many blessings, I am now becoming more private online, and that includes ListeningRoomNetwork, our festival and related business activities.

There was a time when we didn’t know each other’s every fleeting thought. And it was OK. Maybe it was better?

There’s something about human nature that seeks to find patterns, something in common. And there’s something about us that is riveted by conflict. Posts on social media, especially Facebook, seeking to share and explore issues too often descend into disrespectful conflict.

There’s also something about us that craves products that seem FREE. The hidden cost is the corporate abduction of our data, repackaged and sold to advertisers, spammers, and even thieves.

The final straw for me was learning that 3 of our Facebook pages (ConcertsInYourHome, ListeningRoomNetwork, and ListeningRoomFestival) had been taken from me. I had invested many thousands of dollars creating and promoting these pages. Some hacker in eastern Europe managed to remove me as admin, severing my access to my followers. How do I know this? Facebook told me.

And even though Facebook has a record of every keystroke I made to create and maintain these pages for years, they would not return these pages to me unless I gave them a copy of my driver’s license. It would be rudimentary for them to establish my identity with the gobs of information they already have. They just want more. I refused.

Of course, after 10-15 years of feeding them my data, I still have tons of useful connections and friendships with my Facebook profile, and it’s difficult to look away. There are interesting and kind people that I can only connect with via Facebook. But if I post something that has anything to do with my business, Facebook finds a way to hide that from you, unless I pay them.

Give us more money. Give us more data.

Trust us. Trust Alexa. Trust Google. Trust that Ring Camera. Trust. Trust. Trust.
Never mind the constant parade of hacks and leaks of our personal information by corporations and government entities.

Give us your info and we’ll make your life easier and more fun. It’s mostly true!
The trend is so powerful. How can you resist? Everyone is doing it.
Do you really want to go backwards?

I have no desire to live in the woods and to cut myself off from modern life. I enjoy the city and I like Google maps. I occasionally like to make a ripple in the water and see who is swimming online.

So – I can’t promise you won’t see me on social media, but I will be as absent as possible.

But the NETWORK? Doesn’t it need exposure and promotion via social media?

Not really. Our members are free to use social media as they wish, and they often share our content. Over the years I’ve found that our best artists and hosts come from word of mouth, not advertising.

For example, one of our artists tells a talented friend, “You have to join this site – it’s where I get most of my best gigs!”

Or an attendee asks a house concert host, “How do you do this?” and the response is “I joined ListeningRoomNetwork.com – they make it so easy.”

So, I’m not paying for clicks on ads and pages. I’m going as directly as possible to the people who appreciate what we do, and working to inspire them so they’ll share what we do.

If you want more, you can subscribe to our Podcast or join our network as a fan.

What do you think? I welcome your feedback here. https://my.listeningroomnetwork.com/contact

Fran Snyder

Founder, Listening Room Network & Festival

LRN Artists, Musicians and Bitcoin

Subject: Artists, Musicians and Bitcoin

Hi Friends,

Over the past 25 years I have watched musicians lose financial ground. It’s not just the value of recorded music that is decreasing, but the very dollars that we earn are being devalued in order to prop up stock markets and the rest of the economy.

In the next ten years, there’s going to be a massive transfer of wealth due to the increasing pace of technological and social change.

I want to see artists on the upside of those changes.

I am NOT a financial advisor. That said, I want to make it fun and worthwhile for you to explore Bitcoin, and there’s a very strong chance that you will financially benefit from your newfound interest.

Here’s all you do.

1. Download the CashApp from Square. Most musicians already trust Square, and won’t mind connecting a bank account to the CashApp. This is the absolute easiest way to buy Bitcoin.
2. Fund your App with $50, and buy $50 of Bitcoin from the App.
3. Reply to this email and tell me you did it – I’ll give you $50 off your next LRN renewal. (This offer is only for LRN artist members.)

Disclaimers: 

• I’m only recommending a $50 purchase. Don’t neglect your important bills for this!
• I don’t receive any direct benefit from  your purchase. I simply want to introduce people I care about (friends and customers) to a very important force. The value will go up and down… hold it for at least a year.
• I’ve made small investments in Bitcoin since 2017 and it has introduced me to profound concepts and people. I hope it does for you too.
• I cannot be your tech guy for this – if you are not good with phone apps… please ignore this entire message.  8^)

More Info on Bitcoin

• https://www.upfolio.com/ultimate-bitcoin-guide
• https://www.lopp.net/bitcoin-information/getting-started.html
• See who I follow on Twitter. https://twitter.com/cryptoartists1

 

2018 LRN Artists of the Year

Each year, we recognize three talented acts for their successful use of the site, and the reviews and recommendations we’ve received from our host community. Touring is a difficult sport, and these acts have demonstrated not just talent, but persistence, kindness, and a willingness to go where the opportunities are. Congrats!

 

Big Little Lions

Sara & Kenny

Escaping Pavement

 

Honorable Mentions

These artists had a great year with us as well!

Rupert Wates, Danika & The Jeb, Daniel Champagne, Dan Frechette & Laurel Thomsen,
Heidi Burson, Jackie Bristow, The Rough & Tumble, and 5j Barrow.

Note: Artists of the Year are not eligible to win for the following three years.

Book your Season – How to easily handle artist inquiries!

An idea for House Concert Hosts and Listening Rooms

One of the challenges of booking talent is staying on top of artist inquiries. If you are open to inquiries all year long, it can create periods of frustration when you feel you don’t have time to give artists a good listen. On the other hand, closing off your booking channel (red booking light) can make you feel like you might miss out on a great opportunity.

One great solution is to book a season at a time. That can be once, twice, or up to 4 times per year, depending on how many shows you do. Here’s an example to illustrate.

Booking Quarterly Seasons – Once per quarter, we listen to all our inquiries and choose the next 2-3 shows, 6 months out or more.

• In January, we book July, August, and September shows.
• In April, we book October, November and December shows.
• etc.

Of course, you can adapt this to your preferences. Maybe you prefer to book 8+ months out. Maybe you prefer to book 4 months at a time, like this:

Booking Three Times per Year

• In January, we book September, October, November, (December optional)
• In May, we book January, February, March, April of next year.
• In September, we book May, June, July (August optional!)

Some hosts and venues like to book their entire year in one shot.

What are the benefits?

1. You can let artists know AHEAD of time that you won’t be responding until your next booking window, so you don’t have the constant pressure to answer inquiries as they come in.
2. You can compare and listen to a full menu of options, and feel great about choosing your best options for the season ahead. You can get a real sense of which artists you want to keep in touch with, say, if dates don’t line up this time.
3. You have flexibility. If your dream act reaches out for a show outside of your current booking window… book her! If there’s so much talent that you want to book an extra show, do it! List the show, and artists will see the dates/months that are no longer available.
4. Promotion becomes easier and more effective when you can promote a whole season as well as individual shows.  LRN webflyers contain links to your next 6 upcoming concerts.

Will this work for all hosts and venues? Of course not. But if a booking schedule or season appeals to you… try it!

How to adjust your profile at LRN for seasonal booking.

• Put up a yellow booking light.
• At the top of your booking info, describe your basic process in as few words as possible. “We book seasonally! In January, we will decide on our bookings for July, August and September.
• Choose the first month (July) of your booking window as your Target Month.
• Then follow your plan!

Booking seasonally? If you’d like to suspend the weekly reminders for pending inquiries, just let us know.

If enough of our hosts/venues adopt this type of plan, we can update the site to make it even easier. Thank you!

Visit http://www.ListeningRoomNetwork.com to join as a house concert host or listening room venue.

Booking System Updates at LRN

Our Goals:

• make booking easier for hosts and artists.
• improve host response rates.
• decrease artist errors in reaching out to hosts.
• allow members to track results and learn how we can best improve this process.

Artist Inquiries

• automatically attach artist profile links
• feature most important information
• restrict emails to a length that hosts are more likely to read.
• give hosts easy decision choices and room to add details.
• allow us to track how things are going.
• copy the artist for easy record keeping, and the history is downloadable if you misplace your emails.

Host responses include

• clear subject headers for artists to sort and keep track in their email folders, and a link to the host’s profile
• the original request so that artists see what the host is actually responding to.
• the host email address if the answer is Yes, Maybe, or Not Now so that communication
• can continue independently. A reply of “No” prevents artists from persisting or challenging the host decisions.

This system creates tabs for hosts to organize the artists they’ve looked at. Artists with a Yes or Maybe status allow the host to share a “potential artists” page with their mailing list so that they can book shows with more interest, advance RSVPs, and better turnouts.

Please remember that some hosts actively look at the avails pages to find artists. Be sure to update your profile regularly to make sure that your avails are current and the right hosts can find you.

Your fans,

CIYH

LRN kickSMARTER campaign…

We started this fundraising campaign at Kickstarter, which became too limiting. You can now contribute two ways:

• Rewards and packages here: https://squareup.com/store/listeningroomnetwork
• Founder’s Page and tax-deductible options here:
  https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/fiscal/profile?id=16070

About

Let’s create a remarkable place for music fans and a support system for the listening rooms that we love. 

We started back when the internet was made of wool and sticks. It’s amazing what we’ve been able to accomplish with squirrel-powered computers and an etch-a-sketch.

But it’s time to rebuild!

In order to launch some wonderful new features and tools for our treasured artists and music fans, we’re totally revamping our websites. We’re making them mobile friendly, and paving the way for a brighter future.

We’re also launching fan memberships, allowing more people to connect and enjoy what we do, even if they don’t host concerts or perform.

In the video, I’m wearing a Concerts In Your Home t-shirt. That was our first website, and it’s still going strong today, with thousands of events each year. But all these events are part of a larger ecosystem of musical goodness. Great, intimate concerts don’t have to happen in a living room! They can happen almost anywhere, provided the right people show up.

That’s why we created the Listening Room Network, to support public venues as well as private ones, and to create lots of new opportunities for artists to find a listening audience and a living wage. You, the fan, get more opportunities to get up close and personal.

Replacing and upgrading 10 years of work is a massive investment of time and money, and your participation will help us do it quickly and do it right.

The internet was designed to help us connect… and so was music! Listening Room Network is about making those connections last. 

We’re excited to include you in our journey. As a supporter, you’ll be among the first fan memberships, and be able to help us in the creation of perks and benefits we’ll provide for our members. You’ll be able to see our updated designs and features before we roll them out.

Finally, we hope to inspire you to join your fellow fans and contributors at our Listening Room Festival, the largest annual gathering of house concert fans. We think you need a music vacation every year – Florida is beautiful in April, and this one-of-a-kind festival is so charming. Join us if you can!

Some of our Rewards!

 

You can now contribute two ways:

• Rewards and packages here: https://squareup.com/store/listeningroomnetwork
• Founder’s Page and tax-deductible options here:
  https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/fiscal/profile?id=16070

LRN Kickstarter – Message for hosts to share with friends.

MESSAGE FOR HOSTS TO SHARE – campaign ends November 15th!

Subject: A fun and worthy music project you can support.

Dear Friends,

You might already know how much house concerts mean to me, but you might not know how vital they are to the music world.

Right now, there’s a fun campaign to help more people discover and connect with these events around the world.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/365553320/listening-room-network-house-concerts-and-so-much

Please check out the short video, the meaningful goals, and fun rewards you can choose if you decide to contribute.

Thank you for your generosity. Hope to see you at our next show.

Your friend….