– ANDY KAUFMANN saying everything’s broken. “Can you help?” Or, “We have a show, it’s sold out and we lost power. Can we move the show?” Agents know if there’s an issue I’m always reachable. There are a lot of places people can play. I’m proud when they choose Webster Hall. And we need to give them every reason to continue to.
Heath Miller
Vice President & Talent Buyer Webster Hall
BACKGROUND An entertainment venue since 1886, New York City’s Webster Hall has seen notable growth in recent years. Some of that credit goes to Heath Miller, whose talent bookings helped them earn last year’s Pollstar Nightclub of the Year award.
MATTHEW LYONS
Years with Company: 6 Address: 125 E. 11th St., New York, NY 10003 Web: websterhall.com Email: heath@websterhall.com Clients: Metallica, LCD Soundsystem Green Day, Bryson Tiller, Gary Clark Jr., Halsey, Jimmy Eat World, A$AP Ferg, Adam Ant.
From Sound to Booking My first foray into music was an internship at a local recording studio. That taught me how to do live sound, so I bought a PA system and started doing sound at local shows. One day, I was like, “Hey, the people who run these shows aren’t any smarter than me. I’ll try booking shows.” And I started going in that direction. I started working with Webster Hall at their studio as an outside producer, shortly after The Studio at Webster Hall started. I was a freelance person booking events there. The owner noticed I was booking successful events and approached me about coming in-house.
“I prefer an email that gives me a link to the best place to hear and learn about a band. I hate when people send really long emails with MP3’s attached.”
Starting Small My first interaction with the artists I’ve worked with was when they were a local band. For example, Coheed and Cambria, I remember when they were called Shabutie. I came across them and thought, “they’re pretty good, but I don’t know if it works live.” Now, they’re massive. I had them on a battle of the bands that they didn’t even win. They probably should have won, but they got there late because of traffic. That knocked points off their score. I think they came in second or third. Getting Booked [I’m looking for artists] who have a good balance between talent and originality, as well as actually having fans or the potential to have fans. I prefer an email that gives me a link to the best place to hear and learn about a band. I hate when people send really long emails with MP3’s attached. I don’t want to have to read through the email if they’re not good. [Approach me] any time but in the fall, which is incredibly busy. Faith in Artists I’m open-minded to taking risks that, on paper, don’t always make sense but my gut says there are fans out there. It’s taking that leap of faith ––“this is good, I think enough people know who this is, I think this is going to work.” A lot of it’s being forward thinking. When I’m booking six months out, I think “What’s about to be the new single?” or, “This will be big enough by June that this could sell at the main room.” If I was booking this for a show tomorrow it’s not big enough, but there’s enough of a team, a story and an exciting song that in six months 22 March 2017
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this will work. Sometimes we’re right, sometimes we’re wrong—we’re more right than wrong. Independence Many people have no idea Webster Hall is an independent-owned and -operated family business. It’s not a faceless corporation like our competitors. We’re not a public company playing with shareholder money. If I do a bad job, it directly affects people. It’s a lot of pressure, but it’s also inspiring that you work hard and hourly employees make more money. The Feel Good Industry You go to the doctor because you want to feel better. You go to a concert because it makes you feel good. Nothing has to be wrong to enjoy a concert. No one aside from people who work in the industry says, “Ugh, I have to go to a concert.” Music is fun and it’s awesome to do something people get to have a great time at. Problem Solving Things you never expect to deal with pop up. I’ve had standard things happen: “Our singer hit the mike last night and needs a dentist. Can you help us find a dentist on a Sunday morning?” Or, “Our equipment got stolen and we still want to play. Any ideas how we can get this equipment?” One year, our tech guy was away. A bunch of speakers got messed up and weren’t going to sound good. It was a smaller show, but it was still a big artist––people should get the sound they’d paid for. I pieced together monitors and things to replace the parts that were burnt out. So I said, “Okay, if we patch things together this way it won’t sound amazing but it’ll sound good enough that we can still have the show.” Always Available This business is not for everyone. People stay in music for a while and end up going into anything but music. Rock & roll doesn’t sleep. I’ve gotten calls at 7:00 at night from venues
It’s Your Money Artists may want something, but it’s not always in budget. I have a saying when marking up contracts: when in doubt, cross it out. I’d rather have the band know exactly what’s going on. When we talk to the artist or their team prior, it’s like “This is what we have, this is the budget. Is everyone happy with this?” To a degree, almost everything is a negotiation. An artist would love an entire case of wine, but is that realistic? Also, depending on how the show does, the artist gets a piece of the backend. They have their guarantee and get extra money if they over perform. Usually, these costs are paid by the artist out of their end or shared by both us and them. The artist is paying for part of it, so they have to be conscious of what they’re spending. This is your money. How do you want us to spend it?
Becoming a Buyer If you’re in a major city, I recommend an internship. If you’re in a place where you don’t have the means to get an internship, start booking bands that are small and happy to play for $100 or $200 a night. Build relationships with bands and their teams and hope they get bigger and start making money. You’ll grow with them. Where the Money’s At You used to tour to support a record. Now, you put out a record to support your tour. Bands are touring more now than ever before, because that’s how bands make money. Putting out a record doesn’t make enough anymore. It’s great for our part of the business. I have more awesome touring acts coming through. And there are more venues right now in New York and Brooklyn. Some have closed, but usually there’s a bigger reason. Insurance Woes Insurance costs have risen over the last few years. This is an ongoing conversation––“Do we add a fee to each ticket to cover the additional insurance costs?” It’s unfair to charge the artist. It should be passed on to the consumer or we just suck it up. It’s a challenge, because these are costs you would never really think about. Not Every Show Sells Out A big misconception is that the shows at Webster Hall are always packed. A lot of them are, but they don’t know about the ones that aren’t, because no one’s at those shows. There are shows we have to work really hard to get to half a house on. That’s a fact of the business. Persistence vs. Being Annoying I prefer email to phone calls, because email’s less intrusive. It’s annoying if I’m on a date and someone starts harassing me about booking their band. Or, “I sent you a resume—did you read it?” That has happened. Artists are people, too, so I try to be respectful of their space—like never barge into a green room uninvited—and it makes a big difference.