Endorsements and opening acts

As a live music geek, I am always interested in the opening act.

Who has the headliner (and their manager) agreed to share the stage with? Why was the act chosen? Is it simply because they are on the same label and somebody owes somebody else a favor? Or do the headliners love the opener’s music?

I always arrive early at the music venue to check out the opener.

Back in April 2009 I caught The Faint at my favorite music venue in the world The Fillmore in San Francisco (apple anyone?). The opening act was Ladytron.

I hadn't heard Ladytron before, but was instantly transfixed by the New Wave style Electropop combined with a high-end dance-club light show. Their sound sort of reminded me of some of my favorite bands from my college days like the B52s but updated.

The next morning I went to iTunes and downloaded several Ladytron albums (yes I support artists by paying for music). I also put Ladytron into my Ticketmaster alert profile so I'd know when they next hit the Boston area.

On Friday night, I finally got to see Ladytron again, this time at The Paradise in Boston, a perfect small club for live music.

The idea of opening acts intrigues me as a marketer. If Ladytron hadn't opened for The Faint, I never would have heard the music and spent money on their art.

Opening acts are smart marketing

There are many other ways that opening acts can be used by marketers. An obvious parallel is in the conference business where an organizer chooses a headliner who will draw a crowd and sell some tickets but they also offer an opportunity for lesser-known speakers to share the stage. When done well, the opening speakers are up and coming presenters who are just as skilled as the headliner with an important message to deliver, but aren’t as well known (yet). When done poorly, the opening speakers are poor presenters but given stage time because they paid a sponsor fee or they’re buddies with the organizer.

Endorsements

Looking at it more broadly, offering someone an opening act slot is an endorsement.

There are many examples of endorsements as a marketing tool. A few that come to mind are product endorsements used in advertising, book jacket endorsements, quotes offered in press releases, references for job applications, the setting up of blind dates, and well-known people serving on high-profile advisory boards. LinkedIn built an entire company on endorsements of business peers.

As with the music world, all of these forms of endorsements work well when the person doing the endorsing truly believe in the product, company, or person they are plugging.

When it is strictly a financial exchange, the entire endorsement system falls apart. If someone simply takes money to endorse a product they do not actually believe in, they diminish their credibility. Do that too many times, and there is no credibility left.

If you are in a position to offer your endorsement, do it carefully. Don't be afraid to say "no." Be extra cautious about taking money for an endorsement.

If you are looking for an endorsement, find someone who people trust. Aim high.

PS. Ladytron's opening act on Friday night was VHS or Beta. Never heard of them before. Now I have. And since Ladytron introduced me, I take the introduction seriously.

DMScott Photo: Ladytron at the Paradise on October 7, 2011.

Comments

[Sean Carpenter]

David

Excellent post. Many people choose to tailgate and arrive late at concerts, blowing off the opening acts. This article shows a great reason why that could be costing the person who chooses that path to miss out on a new experience and possibly learning of a new act that they just might end up liking.

This same concept also works in reverse.

I remember in the late 80's/early 90's The Grateful Dead toured with Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. As a University of Florida student I was always a huge Tom Petty fan but hadn't completely "bought in" to the Grateful Dead. My older brother was a Dead Head so I had been to a few shows and liked their music but wasn't a full blown Dead Head. Knowing that Petty was "endorsed by them" made me like them even more.

That pairing also might have had something to do with the eventual pairing of Petty and Dylan as they created The Traveling Wilbury's (along with Orbison, Lynne &Harrison)?

Keep bringing the great stuff. You're surely one of my favorites. Who knows...maybe one of these days I will "warm up" for you.

Sean Carpenter
Columbus, OH

[David Meerman Scott]

Hey Sean -- many thanks for this. I would have loved to have seen Dylan and the Dead but when thy toured together, I was living in Asia. Would love to share the stage with you!

[Antonio Ferrandina from http://www.piano-marketing.blogspot.com]

Very useful stuff!

[Claire]

Ha yes, you could learn about an endless chain of new acts that way.

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[Rob Maguire]

The marketing behind opening act selection is indeed an interesting discussion.

At the Saskatchewan Jazz Festival, we select openers for a whole bunch of different reasons. My favourite rationale, however, is when we're in love with an übertalented artist that is unknown in our market, and seek to build demand for them over several years.

For example, the first year an artist may open for a larger act in front of 3000 people, and perhaps play a small club show the next night. The following year, we can probably book the artist into some clubs on their own. Eventually they can play in larger clubs during the festival, and ideally, one day become headliners in their own right.

Since we're in a small market and have a mandate to program and promote non-mainstream music, we take the business of opening slots — and the marketing thinking that goes into filling them — very seriously. And nothing feels better than jamming a few hundred people into a sweaty bar to see a tremendous live act that was previously unknown in our town!

[David Meerman Scott]

Rob -- I really appreciate you jumping ins with your perspective on booking acts. Thanks. As a live music lover I am thrilled that you book based on the music!!

[Brad Farris]

We do this on a smaller scale by planning seminars with one or two other organizations. Each company brings a speaker, and their audience. We share useful & relavent content to each other's audiences and hopefully gain some fans.