LIve Music to Liven Up Your Restaurant

One of the best ways you can bring in more customers and revenue is by hosting live music events at your restaurant or bar. While giving a reboot to your atmosphere, good live music can help encourage your customers to stay longer and spend more money. You also have more potential for new customers as the music wafting out your door onto the street lures in those passing by as well as the possibility of drawing in fans of the local bands you hire. So there are lots of advantages to making music part of your scene. But, while it may seem easy to find a band and book them for your successful and lucrative live music nights, without planning or knowledge, you could end up driving customers away or getting into legal trouble. First, you have to get your space and business ready for live performance. You need to ensure you have mapped out an ample floor space where the band can perform but will not be in the way of your patrons or staff. You should also make sure you have a decent lighting and sound set up, and that the noise from the music will not disturb neighboring businesses of violate local noise ordinances. As far as the legal end, you need to make sure you have a valid music license for live music and that your insurance covers the musicians. Finally, make sure you set a budget that accommodates the band you want to book. Artists need to make a living too. When you go to select a band, musician, or artist to perform, make sure to research them. Even consider going to check them out yourself first. You should also check out their social media and see what kind of following they have. Local bands are a great target because they will be a bit cheaper and eager to cross promote as they are growing their following in the community. But make sure that they understand you are expecting them to show up, act professionally, and deliver what your customers want. Make sure you have a clear contract that is signed and agreed upon by all parties. And keep in contact with the band’s manager throughout the night to address any issues that may come up so that they may be dealt with quickly and keep everyone in the agreement happy. It is also important to pick live music that fits your current clientele and venue. The genre of the music should be a good match to the personality of your restaurant. For example, if you have an upscale restaurant where people enjoy a several course meal, you may not want a loud, rowdy rock band that may be better for a bar setting. And consider the general age of the crowd you draw and try to make sure that the music you select is what they would listen to. For some venues, it may be a good idea to charge a reasonable cover at the door on the nights that live music is happening. But always make sure to let the press and promoters in for free. Remember, if the band gets a review in the paper, your venue will get a nice mention too! While there may be many things to do when starting to book live music at your venue, it will most definitely be worth it financially in the end and the process will definitely become easier once you get through the first few events and get on the map as a music venue restaurant!