The Marketplace
Another part of NACA is the marketplace. This is an exhibit hall where agents meet acts face-to-face and the business talk begins. Musicians or promoters purchase a booth space and much like at a convention, buyers walk around to greet the businesses. Think of comic-cons, or NAMM, if you’ve been-the atmosphere is very similar. I noticed many booths at NACA West had the same elements. Obviously, these are the people who did their homework. Those who didn’t ran out of supplies very quickly.
Your NACA booth should include:
- Plenty of free demos to give out to booking agents.
- Business cards. A lot of business cards.
- A listening station: a laptop or music player with headphones so that booking agents can hear your music. It really helps the selling process. And don’t skimp on the headphones-marketplaces can be really noisy.
- Merchandise is OK. Have some items that can be given away for free, like the stickers and pins.
- Have a stack of one-sheets with details about your band to pass out (bio, past shows, reviews, websites, and a photo).
- A sign-up sheet. If your band has a mailing list or is looking to create one, make sure you have a sign-up sheet to collect names and emails. You can also collect business emails that you can use for sending out electronic press kits and planning tours.
Block Booking
Another option performers can offer at their booth is the chance for schools to ‘block book.’ An act that just played an amazing show can end up with 30 people at their booth, looking for more info. If several schools in the same region want to book you, you can offer them a discount in exchange for booking your act on consecutive nights (“aka, residency slots”) throughout the same region. They get a good deal, and you get a string of shows close together – a much better option than randomly crisscrossing the country for days trying to keep up with a haphazard gig schedule.
Those are the key details about NACA, but there’s a lot more information you should familiarize yourself with before making the commitment to apply. College gigging isn’t for everyone – you’ve gotta be a fairly noncontroversial crowd-pleaser, AND you’ve gotta love touring. But if you fit that bill, and you’ve got a band fund for the investment, the connections and relationships you develop through NACA just might turn ‘that music hobby of yours’ – as Uncle George calls it – into a lucrative career.
For more information on the application process, fees, and other opportunities, please visit NACA website. If you have NACA stories to share, please SoundOff! 
in the Sonic Weekly forums.
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