There is just two choices and none of them are easy. But I time from time bump into bands that can’t see the logic in this, instead try to cut out shortcuts.

If you think you are good enough, or actually excellent enough to break it big so you start making money showcasing is the thing. Today there is guaranteed a showcase a week somewhere in the world. The good part to be on showcases is that they bring in people from the music industry and that playing on these festivals adds on your story, and as I written before the story is everything today, forget about numbers or cool gadgets, the story is number one. Also, you have a chance to meet new media

On the backside, the showcase never pays for you. Of course, that is the same in the whole business world. If you have a platform where someone can show off their product you don’t pay for them to be there. Logically if you pay for bands then you are a festival and then you get the big names and small bands really never has a chance. Also here you are up against other really good new bands.

See the whole thing of it is an investment. Yes, you have to pay to get there and live there but it adds to your story and you can broaden your network.

If you want to take the slow road is that it won’t cost that much. You start taking gigs in your home area. Then after 20 gigs, you take the cities next to that area and so on. The good side is that you build up a solid audience that sees you very often and might be superfans in the beginning. and the investment is low, just gas and you are in the same area all the time.

The backside, of course, this takes a long time to bring out the audience and it tends to be the same people. The risk is that your are nagging out the same places. Also is that you re not reaching any bigger stuff in your story.

Trying to do both is totally useless. That is where many think they can do it. If a smaller showcase festival they try to make them pay for the band or just ignore that festival. Instead, they try to get into the biggest festivals and pay heavily for that. Of course, you need the smaller ones to even make an impact on the big ones. Then they try to just take smaller gigs around that. This is never working and I see so many bands gets into that trap. Instead of just going and keep things rolling they put all on one gig on a big one.

In reality, they are on the myth that someone should just stumble in and see the band and start to invest in it. In the real world, they are checking the story and if the band is going somewhere they might invest in it. But the gap from where they start to invest today from twenty years ago is huge. Where bands broke before is today the threshold to start looking into an act.

So the big investment has to be done by the artist. And yes you can take the slow road but it can lead that you won’t get forward fast enough to make it. The fast road and then you have to be really good and invest a lot of money and take every chance you get. But never try something in the middle that leads to nowhere.