Why play at smoky bars, and schlepp around the country in clapped-out vans, when you can turn up to someone’s house, play a private concert to thirty of their closest friends, earn more than you ordinarily would in a month, get fed, stay in a comfortable bed, and then move on, in style to the next town?
Concerts in your home connects musicians who want to play live in private houses with people who have private houses in which they would like to host musicians who want to play live.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments…
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14 Comments
So glad you posted this, as I’m in the process of setting up something very similar in South Africa!
This site is really well designed and contains some great ideas.
I’d love to hear from others who are doing this sort of thing: Any tips/advice?
It would be great if the site actually worked! :/
I go to Berklee where there are more musicians than there are opportunities to play, so I started having concerts in my apartment. It’s a slightly different approach than the “concert in your home” site: not better, just different. (click on my name to see the specific post from my blog about the shows in my apartment)
I love going to house concerts. I’ve come to prefer the intimacy of house concerts and small venues to bigger shows.
My band has not yet played any, but we’re gearing up to try it out after reconfiguring our repertoire. There’s nothing better than playing for an attentive audience.
I always thought this was a great idea but i pictured a more “acoustic” vibe for these events.
Anybody see any bands do this?
great, easy to get to comment form!
i’ve been a member of ciyh for a year, and i won’t be renewing when my membership comes due. my judgement about this site, is that much like taxi, there are just far too many musicians vying for a very few slots. i think that any hosts that do sign up for the site, immediate get inundated with tons of queries from musicians, which put them off. i’ve played a bunch of house concerts, and none of them came from my affiliation with ciyh. my experience is that they copme from letting your fan base know what a great thing a house concert can be, educating them as to how to do it, and then asking if they’d like to host one. musicinas don’t need ciyh for this, and further, using ciyh’s widget’s will direct your fans to the ciyh site, and away from your site.
i think that the kernel of gold in ciyh is that it may bring the awareness of the house concert movement to a wider audience, thus supporting indie musicians by priming potential audiences. at the end of the day though, i think that the sites creator probably makes a bunch of money from musicians’ fees, disproportionate to the percentage of shows that musicians are bboking through the site.
great, easy to get to comment form!
i’ve been a member of ciyh for a year, and i won’t be renewing when my membership comes due. my judgement about this site, is that much like taxi, there are just far too many musicians vying for a very few slots. i think that any hosts that do sign up for the site, immediately get inundated with tons of queries from musicians, which put them off. i’ve played a bunch of house concerts, and none of them came from my affiliation with ciyh. my experience is that they copme from letting your fan base know what a great thing a house concert can be, educating them as to how to do it, and then asking if they’d like to host one. musicinas don’t need ciyh for this, and further, using ciyh’s widget’s will direct your fans to the ciyh site, and away from your site.
i think that the kernel of gold in ciyh is that it may bring the awareness of the house concert movement to a wider audience, thus supporting indie musicians by priming potential audiences. at the end of the day though, i think that the sites creator probably makes a bunch of money from musicians’ fees, disproportionate to the percentage of shows that musicians are booking through the site.
i’ve seen bands do this in back yards. alot of folks have a big back yard, or a farm, great places for shows.
Although this concept is not new–it was popular with blues musicans as far back as the 1930s, then they were called “rent parties,” popularly used to help the house or apartment owner to raise money for the rent–this is the first service that I was aware offered to set musicians up for this kind of gig.
I have attended several house parties over the years. In each case–unless the band, or musician played in the garage, or in the back yard–the houses where they were held had to have a sizable open floor plan. The audience was always small and more intimate.
It’s a great gig for an accoustic band, a solo/duo, or someone wishing to supplement an income. I don’t know of anyone who is doing this exclusively.
If your experience is otherwise, let me know.
Dave King
http://www.crossharpchronicles.com
This is a wonderful idea!
This increases the potential for more bands and artists to reach more audiences nationally, even globally. I can foresee the network organically growing at such a rapid rate soon every city will be tapped into the site, and bands can literally go to any city they want. And, the greatest part of it really is saving money..
This is good cost-effective way to do some major touring and promotion. Hotel costs are quite expensive a month out on the road, even two weeks, a week! This way bands can travel for much longer and really worry more about just gas money. Chances are though tips at the house parties will cover gas :) Debatable, but I believe you’re much more likely to receive tips at a house party than at a bar! It wouldn’t surprise me to see indy labels jump on this opportunity right away!
This can work good for brand new bands wanting to get more exposure, or even great for up and coming bands who are actually signed. Not to mention bands need to be personable with their fans, entrepreneurial such as selling and promoting THEMSELVES, and a concert/social gathering is the perfect place to do so. Fans respect groups more who take the time to chat. They also remember them more :)
On the issue of not needing a site like this I disagree. If managed correctly It’s very practical, synthesized, and convenient. Most of all it connects bands with their fans more, and creates more opportunity. In a changing music industry this is a practical solution. It may not be the end all be all, but a great platform!
every house show that I’ve ever gone too has had a “warmer” feel than bar, lounge, and even coffeeshop. I definitely think they are a better route. I wrote a blog on how to use house shows and a few other ideas to create music community. Click my name!
This site is great – Fran really knows this scene, and it’s a fantastic tool to help those in it connect with each other!
I’ve gotten five bookings through this site, with an acceptance rate of about 1 in 10 inquiries. For something as exclusive as house concerts, I think that’s actually a great ratio — especially because I never could have happened upon these venues without CIYH.
I encourage fans & friends to host house concerts all the time; most think their house is too small or not pretty enough, but I’ve played in tiny apartments and itty living rooms — you just change the guest size to accommodate the house.
A house concert is ALWAYS preferable in a new town for an acoustic singer-songwriter — much better than a cafe or bar, and here’s why: when folks go to bars or cafes, they EXPECT to hear music. You’re replaceable; you could have been any artist, you’re just part of their eating or drinking or socializing experience. So unless you completely wow them, catch their e-mail, and turn them into fans, they won’t remember you.
But in a house concert, every person will remember the experience as special. They’ll all remember you, and converse with you, and go home with snatches of songs stuck in their heads. You can get all their contact info and invite them to another show, and tell them to invite their friends — and they WILL, because they feel like they know you. And most house concert goers aren’t necessarily concertgoers in the first place.
Whether you book through CIYH or some other way, never underestimate the power of a tiny living room concert. I’d rather play for 10 folks in a crowded apartment than 100 not listening in a cafe.
Found this site from Marian’s Twitter post so I’m following her around :-)
I want to make two points here – 1) to dispell some of the assumptions from earlier posts in this thread about what a house concert is and what it is not, and 2) to specifically comment on Fran Snyder’s ConcertsInYourHome.com
House Concerts come in all shapes and sizes and I suppose some could be called parties with tip jars, but the majority are CONCERTS where guests are there to listen to the music. There is typically a suggested donation of anywhere from $10 – $25 per person. And yes, I do know many touring acoustic musicians who have shifted from the venue scene (which is drying up) and do house concerts nearly exclusively. Sure, it is geared toward acoustic music, but in our living room we’ve also had a 5 piece jazz group that had just headlined the Monterey Jazz Festival the week before, and last ngiht we had Houston Jones, a 5-peice Americana band, complete with drums, keyboard and stand up bass. We’ve also had Grammy-nominated songwriters, internationally renown fingerstyle guitarists and young singer-songwriters.
As a presenter AND performer I will say to artists thinking “I could do that,” that you really need to go to a few and see how its done. Holding an audience of 30 totally quiet and attentive listeners is nothing like playing a club or a bar. You’d better be authentic, right there with your audience willing to share yourself with them unconditionally. This is a place where it is all about the experience for the audience. Your stories and how you weave them into your presentation are just as important as your music.
Concerts in Your Home is a great concept and Fran has done a good job with it. He’s definitley NOT raking in the dough on the backs of poor starving musicians. He’s creating something of value and asking for membership fees to support it, and I think that’s fair.
I’m a member as an artist and as a presenter. I just renewed my artist membership, primiarly to support what Fran is doing. The reality is, as a presenter, we book primiarly from aritsts we meet at Folk Alliance conferences. We only present 8-10 shows a year, and we have to LOVE the music and LOVE the artists, and want to have them in our homes to share with our friends. Its not a business. Its simply not the same as a venue that has to put butts in seats to sell drinks. Booking a house concert is very personal.
That’s the short version.