As I was scrolling Facebook the other day, I came across a friend's post that discussed the way local musicians market their shows versus the way that well-established artists do. As he said, when it comes time to promote a show, local artists actually promote the venue with the same amount of emphasis as they promote their music. Rarely do you see “[artist name] at [venue name].” It's more of “Enjoy some great service and food while we play!”

I've done the latter way countless times, and so has he. 

The other day, I played a very well-attended show at a local theater, and the marketing behind that event was to promote our music, and our music alone. Then, on Tuesday, I played an event where the show's promotion consisted of talking up the venue's and the performers. However, attendance at the Tuesday show was low!

While the venue did help spread the word about the show on Tuesday, a lot of times I see posts where the musicians are the only ones advertising. It would seem to make sense that both venues AND artists should talk each other up; this is certainly fair if the artist is actively promoting the establishment's food, after all.

Does talking up the venue in local musicians' shows really help the venue? Is there a better way to cross-promote between venue and artist to make it a more symbiotic relationship?

These are just some things I'm thinking about today.