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I played Borders too, as there are 3 within 50 miles of each other. About 5 years ago, I played each one, once a month for 3 years. It was great, either they paid money or got gift certificates (a few years, everyone got Christmas presents from Borders). I got a huge book and CD collection through them. Through their corporate office, we booked shows up the east coast for grand openings- one gig, we shared with a Tony Bennett book signing! We usually asked to play in the 'art' section rather than the café, since it was a big open space, and a lot quieter. They let us sell CDs freely. They even fed us. One day a few years ago they cut all compensation for artists- in fact, I heard that the company had expanded too fast, and was in trouble. The first to go was the music events. I had played 1 grand opening since, and was paid for it. Any other performances were to be for free. I have done a lot of free shows in my life, but I can't play for free for a corporation that used to pay me well. BTW, Barnes & Noble used to have music, but not pay. Not even free drinks. I'd rather play for free in a small independent coffeehouse. Dave Eichenberger http://www.hazardfactor.com > > Feel free to pass on the info to anyone who might find it useful. > > I used to play Borders a lot, five or six years ago. Their > booking policy used to be determined by the individual > stores, and the money varied between $50 to $150 if you > weren't a "name" act. Sometimes it was cash, sometimes store > credit, but they always had a PA (they'd done some national > deal with Carvin) and the people were friendly. Then > something changed, and suddenly there was a whole lot of > paperwork that needed to be signed, a lot of warnings > regarding volume, objectionable lyrics, and so on, and a lot > of the places (in my area at least) stopped having music > except for touring artists and such. But for a while it was > sweet--once you'd played one, you were pretty much an > automatic "in" at any of the others (I managed to book shows > in the UK from the States, although my travel arrangements > fell through, but the stores were good to go). > > On the other hand, there always seemed to be a high turnover > in the booking person ("Community Affairs" I believe they > called it), so if you tried to book a return gig you were > talking to a new person whose first action on the job had > been to roundfile the old calendar and all the demos. > > The good Borders gigs were the ones where they set you up in > the music department, where it was quiet. The sketchier ones > were the ones in the cafe area, where you had a decent chance > of encountering the "Hey--I guess I'm totally invisible to > these people..." phenomena. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Douglas Baldwin <coyotelk@optonline.net> > Sent: Apr 8, 2004 9:26 AM > To: Travis Hartnett <tiktok@sprintmail.com>, > Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com > Subject: Re: Getting Gigs > > Travis- > An excellent description of the gig-booking process. I'm > copying it and passing it along to some of my students (but > only with your blessings!) . I would add that it helps to > actually visit the places you intend to play whenever > possible and meet with the owners/managers/steady help. Find > out what they want and what they're looking for, and be > flexible in your approach until/unless your vision commands > significant crowds of moneyed listeners regardless of venue. > BTW, a good friend booked a "Borders tour" in the metro NY > area by simply hooking up with one, then calling the others, > using the first as a reference. Somewhat disappointing is > that the dollar figures are probably not much different than > I would have encountered twenty years ago. > dB > > > > > >