MIKE MOUTOUX

THE MIND
&
MATTER
OF MUSIC EVENTS
By Joe Moralez
Corporate Sales & Marketing Strategist (MyTown Media)
Owner & Consultant dba Creative Oasis
Concerts or music events can have a predetermined success
rate based on the numbers alone. There are many components
and questions that must be answered prior to evaluating the
potential numerical success of the event. Three components
of any music event require honest consideration.
First, the event purpose must be clearly defined. Is the event
or concert intended to attract new listeners or is the intent to
provide a place for purists of the specific genre to enjoy the
show. Much in the same way a Mission Statement establishes
the objective of the company presenting a product or service,
so must an event. What is the purpose of the event? This is
inherently a psychological process and determination, as it
holds no numeric valuation, although directly impacts the
monetary success of the event.
The second component is choosing the audience to be
invited to the event. This may seem like a simple answer,
“we want everyone to come,” however the result is further
impacted by specificity. Predictive results can be determined
based on statistical marketing principles. For example, 1-2
% of consumers, on any given day, are in the market for
any given product or service. In this case, a concert. In a
population of 10,000 (multiplied by 1%), 100 people will be
immediately interested in a generic or popular style of ‘show’.
In this example though, as the genre of music becomes more
specified, the immediately available audience reduces in size
in accordance with its popularity. In this example, 64% (# of
Americans whom listen to country music) of the 100 will be
interested in the genre, equaling 64 people. Of these 64, only
25% will be immediately interested in Traditional Country
or Western Music, now the number of immediately available
interested persons has been reduced to 16 potential attendees,
based on reaching 1% of the audience that is immediately
interested in the ‘show’. In this regard, as the available audience
decreases the ticket cost must increase.
The third factor in this evaluation process is the marketing
of the event and promotions of the event. This component
can be impacted numerically by the psychologically
communicated invitation to the event. As an example, if an
individual hears an advertisement that states “Western Music
Concert this weekend,” the event is truly only talking to 25%
of the 64% of the people at any given time in the population
of 10,000 (or 1600 people, assuming that all of these persons
can be reached). However, if the event is communicated as
“The Roots of Country Concert this weekend”, the message
is now presented to 64% of the available population versus
the derivative of the more specified audience. In the case
of concerts, 5-10% of the population receiving the message
will attend the event. In this case, if Western Music Concert,
the likely result will be (1600 multiplied by 5% and 10%)
80 to 160 attendees. If the communication is more generic
in presentation, the likely result will be (6400 multiplied
by 5% and 10%) 320 to 640 attendees from the immediate
population. In this respect, if the available audience does not
meet the needs of the budgeted expense or the expectation
of return, the scope of the available population must be
expanded or price must be increased to meet the needs of
the investors in the particular show.
In addition to understanding the potential audience
attending, it is equally important to understand the economics
of the event. Most (if not all) concerts are sponsored by other
entities in order to insure the profitability of the event. In
this regard, the audience is inconsequential to the economic
success of the event. The formula most commonly used
is relatively simple in its calculation, but requires human
investment to achieve the desired results. If an artist is
booking for $10,000, the sound requirements or engineering
14 | Spring 2016 The WESTERN WAY