Some questions I'm regularly asked by bands and performers, plus other important information:
1. How do I get to play?
Contact the Venue Organiser of the venue you'd like to perform at. Their preferred contact details are on the page of the venue they're running (see links bar at the top of the page). If you do not know or have not worked with this Venue Organiser before, they would generally prefer it if you sent to them an example of your music when you contact them.
2. How do we get a link to our website on the site?
This should happen automatically, if the Venue Organiser has all the links for the bands playing at their venue accompanying their schedule. If you have a website and a link hasn't appeared despite you being on the schedule, it may be because one hasn't been submitted - we'd like each bandto have a link to their page from the Springboard site, so if yours isn't showing up here please email iankj76@iankj76.karoo.co.uk and we'll ensure it gets added.
3. I'm a confirmed act but our name hasn't appeared on the Venue's schedule.
Each venue's schedule is usually uploaded as a whole when received, so even if the Venue Organiser has confirmed with you, they may still have other acts to organise/confirm before they submit their full schedule to me. If the full line up has been posted to this site, the Venue Organiser has confirmed you're playing and your name is still missing, please email me iankj76@iankj76.karoo.co.uk and we'll make sure the line-up is corrected.
4. Can we perform at multiple venues ?
Acts do often perform at more than one venue, but bear in mind if you're already scheduled to play at one or more venues a Venue Organiser might just decide to prioritise an available slot for an underrepresented act rather than giving it to someone who's already performing - it's completely up to them, so it's always best to ask if you're not sure.
5. Is there a payment for performers ?
Sometimes either payment, expenses, or payment in kind depending on your arrangement with the Venue Organiser. . As a grassroots free festival, acts generally (and generously) give up their usual fee to perform so we don't have to charge the public to get in to the festival's pub venues, keeping it accessible for everyone. That said, we're not complete grinches, and we ask that the Venue Organiser offers at least a thank-you drink to the participants and/or a contribution towards their expenses - it's up to the Venue Organiser depending on their budget how much is made available for this.
- IMPORTANT NOTE:
If you are performing original material live, you will be entitled to performance royalties because you are performing live at venues with live entertainments licenses. You can claim your live performance royalties from PRS licensing by joining them as a member, or through one of any number of agencies who will do this on your behalf, usually for a small percentage. The one a number of Springboard musicians use is Maori Music Publishing where you can fill out a claim form online for your performances and backdate it in most cases at least up to a year. We'd encourage all Springboard performers to claim for their royalties, whether you have writing credits or are part of a group performing original music. (Springboard isn't affiliated with either of the organisations mentioned above, and there will be plenty of alternative organisations available that offer similar services).
The original idea of the festival has always been to promote and showcase unsigned local and regional talent along side a few more established acts, and we hope Springboard is a good way of getting bands seen and heard. The BBC often broadcasts live from one or other of our venues and the festival always attracts press interest. Many of our performers go on to get paid gigs due to appearances at Springboard, whether from a Venue Organiser's other music events, the venue itself booking acts, or from other music promoters attending the festival. But we work on the general assumption that performers get involved for the experience, the publicity, and, of course, the enjoyment. And without their contribution, there would be no Springboard Festival.
7. Selling Your Music & Merchandise
We actively encourage acts to sell their music and merchandise if they wish. If you have CDs or anything else you are trying to promote, feel free to either mention it during your gig or ask the compere or Venue Organiser to give it a plug over the mic.
-