Who's it for?
We are looking for talented performers who could benefit the music loving community of Lockdown Presents, and who would see benefit from being on the platform.
As such, our selection criteria are:
You are a talented professional musician, i.e. this is your main career
You have an online presence that will allow us, and any potential customer, to be confident of your musical talents. For example, videos on YouTube, an Instagram following with your own musical content and meaningful engagement, etc.
You are excited about the prospect of speaking to individuals and groups in the context of a virtual 15, 30, or 45 minute gig (i.e. are comfortable with small talk and enjoy talking about your performances)
You are happy to publicise your virtual gigs to your network - the majority of bookings come through word of mouth
Have a good enough Internet connection to perform on a Zoom call
Have a microphone set up that picks up your instrument/voice
Can commit to being punctual. After all, these are often gifts for people’s special occasions so it’s crucial you’re able to join Zoom meetings at the right time!
All genres are welcome, so long as your music can be performed live over video. We are particularly keen to hear from musicians in genres under-represented on the site, e.g. folk, hip hop, rock, pop, 'world' music etc. Our site receives a broad audience of all ages who are looking for all types of music. The initial focus has been on music, but we’d like to host a varied offering of performers so that anyone can find the perfect gift or virtual performance. So if you are a performing artist of a different kind, e.g. a poet, comedian, puppeteer etc, please do get in touch as we would like to add new categories soon.
We just completed a survey of our musicians, and this is what they told us they love about being part of Lockdown Presents!
New income stream - Our core aim is to create new paid work for musicians whilst live performances are cancelled. Musician's receive 80% of the booking fee (the base fee plus any 'pay what you want' additions) and 100% of tips (less payment processing fees of ~2%).
Our average performer income per performing hour was £130-150 across all gigs in 2020. Based on musician feedback the pay has been in line with industry norms, along with the benefit of no travel for gigs / carrying equipment and the ability to set your schedule to fit in around other performance commitments.
A reason to play / practice while live performances are disrupted “Its really useful to have a gig in the diary as it gives me a reason to practise and keep in shape.”
Intimate & interactive gigs - see the difference your performance makes to audience - “It's really wonderful to be able to share music in a way that is so personal for both performer and audience member. Bringing people together to listen to music is what motivates me outside of a pandemic, and this platform has proved a really great way of being able to continue doing so.”
Direct relationship with fans: Build new followers/fans who feel ‘invested in you’ e.g. book private events, come to shows, interested in personal music projects
Customer quote - “Now we've met xxx we'd like to follow her - we'd be interested to know how her career moves forward, what performances she does when things open up (perhaps we could go?) - she was so nice and so good, we now feel invested in a funny way.”
Low friction booking - No need to set up your own infrastructure, no need to go through an agency. You get direct access to the customer and we take care of the full customer journey and tech aspects. Our booking system syncs with your diary and you have full control over your availability. We take care of the customer booking process, creating an appointment and zoom link, and the follow up asking for reviews and tips.
