Live music - band aid for pubs

There was a time when licensees could take a casual approach to live music - but that was last year. Since the new licensing regime came in, putting an end to the two-in-a-bar law which allowed pubs to host an act without having to apply for a licence, a more considered attitude has been necessary.

Many feared the change would kill live music in all but the more specialist venues. But that's not necessarily the case, as pubs like the Swan (see case study) are proving.

To take advantage of the new laws, however, you do need to take a more professional approach. Not only to prove to the licensing authorities that you have a fit venue, but in going about it in a way that can really add something to your business that customers will appreciate - and will give your trade a boost.

For Dave Bevan the key for most pubs is definitely quality, not quantity. Dave is managing director of agency Alive Network, which helps venues and party organisers book acts and offers event planning advice through its website - www.alivenetwork.com.

"Any venue can make a success of live music - if you choose the right bands," he says. "Just putting on any live music is not enough, though. In fact it's counterproductive.

"Pubs that go into live music that don't have much money to spend can make the mistake of staging a gig once or twice a week and booking a lot of cheaper bands for £100 each, but that doesn't work. No one wants to see rubbish.

"But if you go for, say, a monthly event with a good band people will think it's brilliant."

The Swan's modest programme of one gig a week through the summer (see case study) is the kind of approach that would make sense for a lot of pubs that don't necessarily want to become a specialist music venue, he believes.

"If you're relying on live music to get your customers in you need to have a programme of events that can build your reputation as a venue," explains Dave. "It's a real commitment and you've got to have consistently high quality on stage - and not every pub can afford to do that."

When choosing your band, you also need to think hard about your audience and what, exactly, you are trying to achieve.

Are you staging live music as a "thank-you" to existing customers with the aim of encouraging them to stay in the pub a little longer? Or do you want to use it to win new customers?

If, like the Swan, you already have the customers you want it's likely to be the former reason so you need to choose music with a broad appeal.

Tribute bands, for instance, happen to be extremely popular at the moment, but Dave doesn't think they are appropriate for the average pub that wants to do regular music.

"People who want to see a tribute band will buy a ticket and go to the theatre. Most pub customers want a kind of live jukebox, a band that will play a selection of stuff. If you don't like The Beatles or Abba you won't want to listen to them all night, but if there's a variety of music being played you won't mind if there's the odd song you don't like."

The kind of act you choose will also depend on the size of your pub.

"Live music should be tailored to each individual venue," explains Dave. "If you've only got a small venue, don't choose a loud rock band, for instance. Your barstaff won't be able to hear the orders at the bar!

"You may want something that's not too intrusive but can add to the ambiance, like a solo piano or jazz duo, or it could be that you want something more fun and informal, and you could try an open mic night.

"If you're looking for a big one-off event, that tribute band could work, perhaps as part of a combined beer and music festival."

CASE STUDY - Swan Hotel, Stafford

Over the last three years the Swan Hotel in the centre of Stafford has earned quite a reputation locally for its live music - on the basis of only eight or nine events during the summer.

Each Friday night in July and August the former coaching inn turns its secluded courtyard into a wild open-air party venue. People turn up from miles around for the free gigs producing a significant increase in trade across the bar for what is already a successful business.

This July the uplift made the hottest month of the year "like Christmas" according to manager Ben Lain.

"Now we know the formula that works and got the organisation and promotion slick it's getting easier and easier to pull it off," he says.

The Swan, part of the Lewis Partnership which also owns the Moat House pub and hotel just outside of town, first experimented with live music in 2003 when it introduced jazz.

That went down so well that the pub's team decided to be more ambitious and make use of the outdoor area at the back of the pub's main Courtyard Bar.

"We go for crowd-pleasers, party bands, the kind of acts that will do requests rather than just play their own stuff," says Ben.

"The fact that's it's free makes it different and a great selling point. People are always asking us what's on next week."

The band comes on at 8.30pm, playing from a decking area that doubles as a stage, and people will often make an evening of it, taking dinner early in the brasserie and then going out for the music.

The audience can buy drinks from a large outdoor bar, designed to the Swan's own specifications, so they don't have to keep going indoors.

While the season might be extended into September next year, there is no intention for the Swan to become a specialist music venue.

"It's about making the best use of space," says Ben. "It's something extra, it adds value and creates a fantastic atmosphere. The customers just love it."

MUSIC MARKETING

Making sure people know about your live music is obviously crucial to its success - especially at the Swan where the programme only runs for a limited period.

That's where professional marketer Ben Sutcliffe comes in and he deploys a variety of strategies to publicise the Swan's events.

"It starts in-house," he says. "Bands are advertised on the bottom of receipts, there are posters designed by us all round the venue and gigs are also advertised on our plasma screens as part of the Avanti Screenmedia programming.

"Events are featured in the Lewis Partnership's twice-yearly glossy customer magazine, Occasions, which piggy-backs on the distribution of Staffordshire's lifestyle magazine with goes out to 8,000 homes in the county.

"We have great support from local press and radio, too," adds Ben. "They love supporting local music. I send out a press release telling them what's coming up at the start of the season and another midway through to let them know how it's going, including quotes from the bands.

"It's important to talk to the bands, before and after the show, to find out what they like and don't like, then you can improve what you do."