Promoters can be very effective in breaking new bands and creating a music scene. A promoter is a person that contacts venues, sets up shows and assembles a bill of bands that he thinks will draw lots of patrons to the venue. Successful ones are usually well-connected, popular and fair to the core bands they work with.
I have seen many blossoming promoters in town that get bad reps because they mistreat bands and venues. It is really easy to get burned and banned from clubs, so here I offer up some hard-learned tips.
This article appears in Apr 1-7, 2009.