How important are concerts for a musician

It is very important for a young musician not to waste his energy, but to direct it in the right direction. Yes, someone will say that youth is what youth is all about, that you need to be as active as possible and take part in any small musical events in order to make a name for yourself. But ask those musicians who have literally burned out creatively by their 35-40 years - was it all worth it or was it necessary to direct their energy to something really constructive?

Yes, here we are talking about concert performances, which often do not bring any dividends - neither moral, nor material. And all because the musician simply chooses the wrong concerts and simply loses his time. So what kind of concert performances don't get in the way, but really help you develop your musical career?

Supports - do you need them?

Warming up another famous band is not really performing for your own audience. You're just warming up the audience and getting them in the right mood, like a glass of aperitif before the main meal.

But if we're talking about a band that's just starting out, these performances are a real opportunity to hone your skills, learn how to behave in front of an audience, and quite possibly make some of them your listeners. And the more such "warm-ups" there are, the better. Of course when you become more experienced you will be organizing the concerts (or your concert director will do it), so you will be the headliner and the opening act will be a little known but ambitious young band. It's a kind of "circle of young musicians in nature.

Performances at showcase festivals

A showcase festival is an event at which emerging musicians who are not yet known to a wider audience perform. The main purpose is to draw the attention of the media, as well as people who are professionally involved in the music business. In fact, it is a kind of "showcase" of young talent.

Such events are held not only in Europe and the United States, but also in our country. One such festival is Moscow Music Week, which has been held since 2015. But remember that in order to participate in this event, you need not only to apply and hone your performance, but also to prepare and inform those people you want to interest in advance. In particular, you will need to contact promoters and journalists so that your participation in this festival will be noticed.

Province or big city?

People in small towns are not particularly spoiled by the performances of famous musicians. Often such cities are part of the so-called "chase" of some musician, who in a short period of time travels around as many small towns as possible, where he performs at local venues. Needless to say, the only purpose of such concerts is to make money, and the quality of such concerts is out of the question.

So it turns out that people in the provinces willingly go to almost any concert held in their city. Does that make them a less sophisticated and ungrateful audience? Not at all. There is another thing, if you put more emphasis on small town gigs in local venues, you are almost guaranteed to get 150-200 people, but you may fall prey to self-deception. It will seem to you that in any case you will gather "your listener" in any city, even in Moscow, even in St. Petersburg. But when you face the realities of this life, when your concert in Moscow will be attended by not more than 10 people (and the local audience is quite demanding), it can really damage your self-esteem. And with such a label of "unrecognized genius" you will have to fight or put up with somehow (but it already means the actual end of you as a musician).

The solution is simple - play at different venues, including in major cities, where you can gradually gain an audience and constantly be in the info-field. But also about the small towns do not forget - the performances there bring a lot of pleasure both to the musician and the local audience.

Does money always solve everything?

The next point is a corollary of the previous one. Yes, you can make a lot of money in a small town, but how will it help your musical career? For this reason you should intersperse such performances with participation in various showcase festivals and opening for more famous musicians. These activities are aimed specifically at your promotion, because here you get to know new people in the music business, you start to get gradually recognized.