I have been thinking for the past few weeks of how to create a healthy economy surrounding the unsigned circuit whereby artists can make some money. The majority of promoters on the showcase scene in London do not pay unsigned, emerging artists. The benefit for artists when they first start out on this circuit is to have the opportunity to hone their live performance skills and hopefully convert more fans. Once their fan base is built to a reasonable level they can start to earn some money. If an artist performs at my night and overheads have been met then I'll give them a slice of door revenue that reflects the numbers they have attracted. I think that is only fair. In the least, they'll get some free drinks and maybe some food, dependent on the venue. In many instances, the promoter also works hard to acquire press and some, including myself, use their influence to put their artists under the radar of talent scouts and publishers. To add to the value of the gig to artists I like to also source good photographers who are looking to develop their portfolio and keen to provide live shots for artists websites.  Some promoters also spend time providing artists with the opportunity to broadcast their music and be interviewed on associated radio shows. All with the goal of extending the reach of their artists and highlighting to the public just what great talent there is out there waiting to be discovered. There are some unsigned artists to whom this is very frustrating indeed and I've heard of so many incidents of genuinely caring, hard working promoters who get confronted at the end of the night by angry unsigned bands and artists who feel exploited if they don't get paid, despite not having brought an audience themselves or the overheads being met. I know from experience it can be quite daunting if they don't understand the situation clearly and aggressively accost you at the end of a usually exhausting evening. There are a fair few female promoters I know who have been corned by male bands at the end of an evening and have been traumatised into almost giving up. Fortunately they never did.

Anyhow, as most of us know, the chances of getting signed are slim and many performers continue to grace the unsigned circuit for years without progressing. In my nights I also incorporate a poet and/or comedian which brings added financial problems in terms of pay out. Performance poetry is on the rise and with people such as Scroobius Pip breaking into the mainstream it surely is only a matter of time until this particular art form receives much more recognition. But it's not there yet. Part of the reason I book poets for my nights is to help spread the popularity of this medium. Many people are unaware of just how dynamic, engaging and enthralling live spoken word can be and I like to convert my predominantly music orientated audience to this delight. Only with bigger audiences and more media attention can performance poetry start to develop it's own economy and be less reliant on charitable income. The difficulty with booking poets and emerging comedians is that they don't generally attract a following therefore a cut of door revenue does not work. At least comedy is mainstream so the hard slog of unpaid gigs can more regularly be paid off when you hit the bigger clubs. The progression ladder for these poets are more limited unfortunately. So, we're left with many very talented and lovely people who should be afforded the chance to make some money. What can we do about this?

A few options I can think of:

Acquiring Arts Council funding to subsidise fees - very difficult indeed to acquire, particularly in this climate when budgets are slashed to fund the Olympics.

Sponsorship - again difficult in this climate and you have to have built a strong brand with good press and a proven good following in order for the company to reap the benefit of marketing with you. However, this is a route I'm keen on persisting with.

Book well known acts to help subsidise the lesser known acts in these shows - many well known acts once they're off the unsigned circuit tend to want to stay away; or at least their managers/agents want them to focus on bigger venues and they're just too busy etc. Plus their fees are often too high for the smaller capacity venues to cope with.

Merchandise - help create merchandise to sell at gigs that can generate more income for the artists. Perhaps collectively, promoters and their artists could compile a CD and sell it at gigs, splitting the income. Perhaps a live, edited copy of the night could be made available for download afterwards? I like these ideas and wish I had more time to pursue it...fingers crossed I may come across that time soon! If anyone wants to get involved to help with this, please let me know!

I'd also love to hear anymore ideas as to how to make the unsigned circuit more fruitful for artists...

Jxx