Band Sponsorship 101 Part 2

Okay, after writing the first installment of this article, I’ve been receiving many requests to write the follow up articles on the topic. So here it is. All I ask is that you carefully evaluate your band before using any of the information past Part 1. Don’t ruin it for everyone else or even for your future project(s) by going off half cocked and shooting from the hip. Be sure that your band is stable and won’t be delivering excuses to your sponsors instead of profitable results. The last thing we need is every half assed band saturating the market and ruining it for everybody else.

Getting real money sponsorship will require thinking corporate. That means speaking the language of statistics, target marketing, brand image, and unit sales. If this is something that none of your band members are capable of doing, that’s okay, find someone you trust that can. If your band doesn’t have management, this is a great opportunity for you to maybe get your parents, family member, or a close friend involved. It’s very important that you give this person the freedom to negotiate in your band’s behalf. It’s even more important that your band fully honors whatever this person negotiates for your band and here’s why. When whomever you choose to do your sponsorship negotiations in behalf of your band actually gets a person’s time that has the authority to administer your band a sponsorship, the last thing your band representative needs is to keep contacting the band to see if it’s okay to accept or decline terms of a potential deal. They may never get another opportunity to reserve this person’s time again. Now don’t get me wrong, any major high dollar deals will give some time to review and comb through a contract. You can also draw up a contract between your band and your band representative with terms stating that any deals over a certain dollar amount needs to be discussed with the band first before inking a deal. I always set the limit at 10,000.00 dollars with my bands. So anything under 10 grand I didn’t have to bother them with it. To get the best results, you should also compensate your band representative. A 10% – 20% commission on gross sponsorship revenues should be more than fair compensation. I will include a sample contract in the next installment of this article that you can download and use, or modify to your band’s needs.

Like I mentioned before, BE SURE YOUR BAND IS STABLE!!! If your band is changing members like the weather, immediately disqualify your band for sponsorship and DO NOT PROCEED past Part 1 installment of this article. I would recommend that your band be together at least a year, preferably 2 years with little to no drama and no band member changes before practicing anything past Part 1 installment of this article. If you do not heed this warning, then you are most definitely setting yourself up for a lot of unnecessary headaches and very possibly some legal problems. It’s been my experience that many bands tend to overlook their internal problems and ignore the big picture, which always seems to be a formula for disaster. No matter how much you want your band to succeed and be the envy of your music scene, it just ain’t going to happen if you don’t make a serious evaluation of your band. I’ll be the first person to say, I told you so. Now that we’ve got that all out of the way, let’s cover what tools your band representative will need to successfully get your band some sponsorships.