Network Information
What is The Musicians Network?
The Musician's Network is a network of professional musicians who are passionate about playing music 'live' and want to earn their living from playing music live.
Our PURPOSE is to get musicians working more, whenever and wherever the opportunities arise. In other words our job is to 'get musicians more gigs'.
Our AIM is to improve the image of working musicians as skilled and valued 'professionals' and improve the industry for all who work within it.
Our TARGET is to get fair rates for musicians who dedicate their lives to the practice, performance and development of good live music.
What does The Musicians Network do?
We get you more gigs
In a nutshell, The Musician's Network comes up with creative ways to get more gigs for musicians. These are website based projects that offer a selection of musicians and bands to a specific market. For example, our most successful project to date is Wedding Music Scotland which offers musicians specifically for weddings. Other projects which are in development include Pipers Direct, The Harpists Network, The Musicians Database and more. We automatically include all musicians registered with the network, in all our projects, depending in their relevant genre of music. So, The Musician's Network is about getting you more gigs!
Plus extensive offline marketing campaigns to venues, companies, venues, tv, radio and anything else we can think of. All with the purpose of getting you more gigs.
We help you market yourselves
Also, we provide valuable services to you, the musician, in many areas of music marketing. Over the years, the comments we've heard most from musicians are; 'I really wish there was someone to do all this for me!' or 'I don't know how to do all that.' Well we've taken those comments in and decided on a way to help musicians with all the issues that face them when marketing themselves. This is the reason why The Musician's Network was formed.
Who runs The Musicians Network?
The Musician's Network is managed and run by us, fellow musicians Ben Edom (guitarist) and Debra Carey (harpist). We've been working in the music industry internationally for over 30 years, and in the UK for the last 8 years. Our experience spans many years in business, marketing, sales and PR and we feel we can offer much to the new independent music industry in the UK and Europe.
We sub-contract various professionals within and without the industry including copywriters, internet marketers, promotion specialists and more to help develop the various projects within the Network.
Who can join The Musicians Network?
Any musician who considers themselves a professional working musician can join the Network. Your music, attitude and presentation must suit the market you are targeting. What does this mean? Well, you should appreciate that each type of event you are playing for has it's expectations. For example, if you're playing at a wedding, you wouldn't turn up in jeans, would you?
What we are NOT!
The Musician's Network is NOT an agency! I repeat we are NOT an Agency. Agencies can take anywhere from 10% up to 50% of whatever fee that the agent decides upon. The Musician's Network doesn't do that!
We establish your rates with you based on your experience, professionalism and reputation. This fee will often be more than what you usually get for a gig through an agent because we are aiming to re-set rates for musicians in the UK. We add on a set booking fee for organising the event but keep it as low as possible so you the musician get a larger slice of the cake. The fee we add on is dependent on the project but we'll let you know what they are when you join. At the moment it ranges from £25 through to a maximum of £125 for large groups.
The other difference is that we don't just market a small group of musicians, we market ALL MUSICIANS who are willing and able to work in a professional manner.
What we ARE!
We are a central port of call for anyone wanting to book live music in Scotland, the UK and Europe. By creating a 'network' of musicians, the customers or clients have an easy way to access any musician in the country by calling just one number 0845 337 0588 - local rates (+44 1631 730469 if calling from outside the UK). We make it easy for people to book live music by providing an efficient and organised service, easy to use websites with plenty of music samples for customers to listen to and compare, plus photos and videos. Rather than searching for musicians on the web which can be frustrating at best, customers can go to just one place and browse through options or call for advice on the right type of music for their event.
These customers who are looking to book live music can be individuals who are arranging a wedding or event, a Corporate Company looking for entertainment, Event Organisers, Festival Committees, Venues arranging their own functions, Concert Promoters, Film Makers, Commercial Advertisers and any other situation where live music is called for.
We aim to be the central point of contact, so musicians know they can get regular work through the network without constantly needing to market themselves. Particularly handy when musicians are on tour and you need a central UK based office for organising your gigs. In fact, some of our musicians have already asked us to handle all of their gig bookings as it makes their lives so much easier. While out playing, if someone wants to book them for a gig, the musicians just asks them to get in touch with The Musician's Network. We do the rest!
The Deal .... what you get out of this!
- We get you more gigs by listing you and your music on specific projects and websites. Then we promote these projects to the right markets (customers).
- We negotiate with you your best possible rates so that we can be competitive and get lots more gigs for you.
- We arrange everything to do with the gig and send you a Booking Agreement (Contract) every time, so it's all in writing and legal.
- We arrange payment for the gig either direct to you on the day or through us.
- We get feedback from clients so that you know what people think of your music.
- We offer support in marketing and promoting yourselves independently.
Non-Exclusivity
We don't expect you to only get gigs through The Musician's Network. Working with us can be alongside any current activities, tours or bookings that you have.
What we do ask is that when you get a gig through the Network with a client who has dealt with us in the past, don't pressure them into contacting you directly in the future. We have established the relationship with them so they don't have to deal with individual bands, which alot of companies don't like doing. We can't stop you going direct but by being a central point of contact for all musicians we're providing a service which is very much for your benefit.
It's also to your benefit to pass bookings onto us, otherwise you'll need to deal with the details yourself. We do not provide support on gigs you have arranged yourself, particularly if something goes wrong and you need legal advice. Any gig booked through The Musician's Network is supported with a legal contract each time. If the client is unhappy with what you have provided, we'll do our best to sort it out for your benefit, but please understand there are situations where you will be required to refund the client if the services were not delivered as per the contract.
Also, if we have worked on arranging a gig for you and then you take on that gig directly with the client, we will look upon this as your request to leave the Network. We'll remove your information from our projects and not promote you any further.
You are free to leave the network at any time. Your web pages, information and mp3 samples will be removed from all projects.
The Money
Membership Fees for Musicians:
MuseNexus currently offers two choices of membership. Professional Membership is £145 per year or Business Membership is £145 per year. These memberships give you access to a host of benefits, information, guides and most important of all, they give access to the people who are looking for your type of music. For more information on membership go to Membership Options.
What we charge the Client:
We add a set fee per musician on top of your negotiated fee, per booking. This is what we keep and this is how we make our money. It's also how we fund future projects to bring in even more work for the musicians in the network.
Current fees:
Our Client fees range from £25 through to a maximum of £125 for larger bands and groups.
What our fees are for:
We're sure you're doing a great job of promoting your music and you may be thinking 'Why do I need The Musician's Network to get me gigs?'. Well, you don't! We're quite happy for you to continue your own promotional path but we know that every bit helps.
Our fees are added onto your current rates that we negotiate with you when you join, so there's no need to worry about how much is taken off before you get paid. We state clearly on each Booking Agreement what you get and any extras like overnight accommodation or extra travel expenses, which we negotiate for you with the client.
So whether you combine your own promotion with The Musician's Network or want us to handle all your gigs, you will want to know what we are doing for our fees! So here goes;
- Organising and negotiating the details of each booking, including fees and extras where necessary, such as accommodation or extra travel costs.
- Legal contracts are drawn up for each booking where possible, with terms and conditions that cover many situations including cancellations and liability.
- We represent you on each booking and present to the client your particular requirements on stage, etc.
- Our time and expertise in the music industry, including advice on legal aspects, insurance and changes to the industry.
- Accounting services such as invoices for bookings. We know some of you may already do this yourselves, but if not, it helps to keep your books straight.
- We pass on publicity photographs (provided by you) and information to clients where necessary for their own promotional use.
- Your own web pages - probably the best of the lot. We create tailored web pages for yourself or your band for each specific project, so that you're presented to clients in the best way. You can use these web pages for referring your own enquiries and all 'review comments' that we get from clients are yours to use freely. This means you may have specific web pages on each project that is applicable in The Musician's Network. You can then use these pages for referring clients to relevant information.
- We employ a professional copywriter to re-write your web pages if necessary. This then becomes copyrighted by The Musician's Network.
- We convert, digitise and edit demo music clips for use on websites.
- We have an in-house website designer and online marketing specialist to get your pages found on the web.
- We have a centralised database for all your demo music clips which people can download or listen to online.
- Provide a single point of contact for all bookings and enquiries, leaving you free to get on with playing music.
- Automatic inclusion in future suitable projects the The Musician's Network are developing.
- Offer advice on the most profitable section of the market for your particular type of music.
- Marketing services for promoting yourselves independently. (These services you'll need to pay for separately).
- Plus we are always available to talk to you on the phone or by email if you want to discuss anything to do with music and playing live.
Note: Some marketing and promotion services are chargeable. This is work you ask us to do specifically for your music or group such as press releases, posters, cd covers, websites and the like. These are additional services to the projects The Musician's Network undertakes and as they are specific to you, they incur fees. Having said that, we are working to negotiate the best rates with providers of these services so they are affordable for everyone. We'll soon be releasing a list of services and their costs.
I'm sure there's more but we'll add to this list over time and you can check it out on our website.
We NEVER ask for money for advertising or marketing our projects, we take care of that from what The Musician's Network earns and invests in.
Everyone is treated equally and fairly.
We NEVER sell your information to other companies. Your details are kept strictly confidential and only offered to the clients that are booking you, with your permission.
We ALWAYS endeavour to get the best deal for you, the musician, PLUS we will ALWAYS promote being a professional musician as a viable and valuable career choice, thereby improving the image of musicians in the public's mind.
What we need from you.
- Photos, biographies and music samples are the most important things we need from you. Without these we can't market you to anyone. It is usually possible to take these things from your website if you have one, but they need to be good quality and of a decent size. Also, we need your permission and your assurance we're not infringing any copyrights. Your current CD or album is fine as we can convert the music files as necessary, and as we are only using the music as samples, your permission is all that we need.
- Any videos you have of performances or professionally produced videos are great to help us sell you.
- A regular email from you telling us which dates you already have booked. We don't need to know where (except if a client wants to come and listen to you). It helps you to do this as well as us, since we can immediately offer you to a client rather than have to ask the client to wait and see who's free.
- An idea of where you are willing to travel to within and without the UK
- Stage plans, backstage requirements, etc that we need to know about.
- Your fees/rates for size of band/group, including how long you play for, any extra costs if after a certain time, etc, etc. Once we get these from you we will discuss them with you to make sure you are pricing yourselves correctly for the market you are aiming for. Important: You need to give us your BEST price. Knowing what we add on top, YOU get most of the money, so gigs are more profitable, but there's no benefit to anyone if you price yourself out of the market.
Why are we doing this?
Being musicians ourselves we are passionate about live music and getting a fair deal and respect for performing musicians. As the music industry has changed dramatically over recent years and is fast becoming an 'independent music industry' and this has opened up tremendous opportunities for musicians to become really successful. We have discovered new ways of doing things to earn a living from music and we now feel even more passionate about sharing those opportunities with everyone.
As we've been in business a long time, we've found ways to keep administration costs down so that we can maintain our fees as low as possible while at the same time getting better rates for the work you do as a musician. We make our money by being more efficient and by getting you more gigs. The more work, the more money we can all make!
Contact Information
Remember, you can call us to discuss any issues you have or if you just need more information. Our details are below.
The Musicians Network LLP
The Old Inn, Portnacroish
Appin, Argyll PA38 4BL
Tel: 01631 730469
Note: Please don't call us on our 0845 number! Our 0845 number is for clients and customers only and it costs The Network money to operate it. Use the telephone number above or our mobile numbers. If we save money here we can spend more on developing new projects to get more work for you!
Ben's Mobile: 07858 165934
Debra's Mobile: 07842 675776
Emails: members@musenexus.net
Members Website: www.musenexus.net
