The Aboriginal Music Live panel on March 24, 2012

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The Aboriginal Music Live panel on March 24 was great! Patti Shaughnessy of Ode'min Giizis Festival, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Association's Adele Boychuk, Sky Bridges of APTN's Aboriginal Day Live, and Shawn Termin of the National Museum of the American Indian in New York talked about their events along with their expectations and the kind of fees they can offer.

The event was held at the Manitoba Music Resource Centre and 24 Aboriginal artists and managers were in attendance.

The main points made by the panelists were:

  • Presenters need technical riders and stage plots from you as soon as the performance agreement is signed.
  • A high resolution promotional photo is extremely important for the presenters- they can't create posters, print ads, or billboard ads with small photos or blurry performance shots.
  • Every presenter gets a tone of artist submissions, so it's a good idea to explain what you're willing to do to promote the concert if you get booked (eg. phone interviews with radio stations, publicity campaign, meet and greets, workshops for local youth, etc).
  • Some presenters like hard copy submissions with CDs, while others prefer emails with links to videos on YouTube or streaming music, so do your research and figure out the best way to submit your band before sending out a package.
  • YouTube videos of live performances help presenters determine if they want to book you or not. You should upload a couple videos to YouTube that sound good and aren't shaky or blurry.
  • Be on time for everything and don't skip sound check.

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