Glad you found this one useful!

Regarding lead times, the easiest way would be a spreadsheet with each promoter (organised maybe by country or period) and a notes section where you add any info you have about when they book. So if you get in touch 3 months before a tour and they tell you they already finished 2 months ago, you can note that. It will help future tour bookings as you start to build up a picture of how and when different promoters work. As with all of this, pitching is a long term game so it makes sense to be thorough with all this. There are more sophisticated ways (like a CRM system) but for now a spreadsheet is more than good enough.

Regarding how you do this after college, just remember everyone is at a different point. As Alan mentioned, he’d done a few gigs before. So you can start by targeting 1 or 2 clubs in other countries and building from there. Long term goals, again. And on the ‘profile’ side, brainstorm the things you can do to gradually build your reputation. Do you want to apply for awards? (Not everyone does). Could you – cheaply – put together video content from a gig with a studio track to make a quick music video that people might share? Can you get funding for a small PR campaign in your home country to get people knowing you? Are there any promoters who are already supportive who could introduce you to other similar connections overseas?

It’s try, you have a lot to do! But it’s possible to take care of all these things well enough – as Alan shows. Just try to be organised and keep an eye on the big picture.

Matt

Thanks again for all great info!