Executive summary
This proposal will set out the aims in the setting up and development of a function band, made up of a two-piece of multi-instrumentalists, one of them a singer; able to play guitar, piano and bass. We aim to provide personal, adaptive and reliable service for a range of events, with customers being able to specify their choices for the evening in advance so a set can be arranged to their exact preferences.
Description of service and our market
Although we will not be specifying a completely specific genre for our services, so as to keep ourselves open to more opportunities, we will be able to provide for many genres; especially when given at least short notice of the requests. Having both played a range of styles and arranged songs in different styles we will be able to play an arrangement or straight cover of the song choices that have been requested by the client in advance or on the day. Whilst having the facilities to play songs with drum machines and synths, for example, we can play in more traditional formats too with piano and vocals as one option. We will be able to travel to and from events across the country, however, additional costs will be accrued with a longer distance needed to travel for an event.
We aim to offer services to a wide market of people due to our flexibility in musical style, ranging from more personal events like weddings and birthdays to more band focused events put on by promoters and music venues. Our prices will be affordable for most people, in line with average prices for the specific event with additional higher priced options for more specific requests outside of the normal services. Despite being able to provide music in a range of genres, we will be offering more specialised alternative-rock sets if wanted by the client. Overall, our primary audience will be smaller scale events to begin with an average budget, however, as we develop this venture over the year then we hope to advance what we offer further and play for larger scale and more high-end events.
Market research
This proposal fits into the broad events-based services market which has been shown to be in a revival post-pandemic with a higher focus on more human and personalised experiences. Evidence of the increase in demand for function sets at events is clear with Alive Network boasting stats of over 10,000 events a year, additionally since the increase in AI more people are focused on supporting real musicians in different ways. This can be seen in the UK with the rapidly rising contribution of music to the UK economy which rose from £7.6 billion in 2023 to £8 billion in 2024.[2] Although a lot of this stems from much well known and established artists which is not directly relevant to our more specific portion of the market, there is still a noticeable rise in the smaller scale end of the market.
In regard to average rates: according to the Musicians’ Union the cost of a casual performance for an hour and a half is £86.85, whilst special events like festivals and weddings on average pay £142.40 for the same period of work. This shows that our approach to costs needs to be structured so that we stay in line with the average, affordable price that is feasible for us to successfully reach our initial, primary target market.
Depending on the kind of event we are hired for the market changes slightly, according to Entertainment Nation newly engaged couples are the demographic that hire the most event bands, aged around 31 on average. The more middle aged market that will be booking musicians for significant birthdays or weddings etc means that our marketing strategy will need to factor in the demographic we are targeting that have comfortably have the disposable income.
Competitor analysis
One of the main disadvantages we face in relation to competition is the reach of our marketing at first and lack of testimony and reputation within the industry, at first it will be difficult but with successful marketing through social media which has been seen to have an ever increasing influence on music promotion and building a brand. We hope to cultivate our image and reputation early on through the more unique set up of a duo with drum machines and synths with more personalised service that many of the larger companies can not offer to the same extent. Furthermore, many competitors have larger scale staff with many musicians playing in a larger band and more ease of transport with their gear over longer distances. The smaller scale of our lineup will mean that we are cut off from some opportunities that require many more musicians and equipment, however we will be able to meet the transport requirements for ourselves as it is so that is less of a pertinent issue. Whilst these issues are challenges for this venture it is important to additionally consider the positive implications of having a smaller, especially in an industry which is so closely linked with personal engagement. The limitations in our size can also suit us more to some more intimate events where only piano, guitar and vocals are wanted whilst still being able to offer a unique rearrangement of songs whilst still staying true to the track. In addition to this we will also begin to bring in other musicians who we know are looking for work to play with us for events that need a full band or something more specific. This will be another way of beginning to scale up the business and progress further as it would allow us to broaden our range of services and play at larger scale events.
Requirements
The operational requirements for this service would stem from having to hire a sound engineer which is estimated at the average cost of around £400 pounds a day[3], however, it is possible that we either do it ourselves or find someone else to come into the company and do the sound for us. If the latter is achievable, we would both save on the operational costs and gain from charging more for higher end events that needed it, also with another choice of musician. Despite this early on we will only have two people, so the cost of a sound engineer needs to be counted into the operational requirements and costs. Additionally, the cost of travel will be something else that must be factored into the costs and pricing, especially for longer journeys and overnight stays where we need to find somewhere to stay. Some purchases will need to be made upfront like a PA system and a mixer that we can take with us to gigs and then any replacements or repairs for any of our gear. On top of this the cost of rehearsal space will eventually become a problem after leaving university, contributing to the operational costs of this plan, however the costs of these can be managed either by finding a more semi-permanent space to record and practice as we will not need to practice with drums very often, at least at the outset. Furthermore insurance is another requirement however this shouldn’t factor into our finances too much at this point.
Marketing plan
For marketing our primary strategy will revolve around social media promotion with posting short form content of us playing covers and possibly some originals to gain more attention. With posting regularly and promoting our services on there with recordings at home and videos from our events that we do, additionally if we do any gigs put on by promoters, we can further promote those and our business within that by increasing our reach. By increasing our social media presence and building a brand online by doing the aforementioned and creating a showreel to show us playing, we will be able to attract more custom and use it as a way of showing our work and providing testimonials from customers which will further increase our requests for service.
We will also use more traditional means of promotion like building a website for a more formal way of presenting ourselves to events like weddings and displaying costs for our services. Physical posters will also be put up in events spaces and in public to hopefully attract more customers.
On top of this we will contact agencies and use event platforms to develop our relationship with promoters, eventually building up a solid range of steady work.
Costs
Primarily with costs the main issue will be the startup costs, with the purchase of a PA system, a mixer and insurance for the band. We could delay purchasing the PA and hire one for individual gigs, but this would cost around £200 a day whilst purchasing one outright for smaller gigs would be around £1300, so although it will make money tighter early on it will pay off long term to buy one instead. Public liability insurance costs £60 annually as well but apart from travel and accommodation costs, which will be factored into the pricing, these will be the only necessary costs for us for the foreseeable future aside from repairs for instruments and other equipment.
Pricing
Small events, e.g. pub gigs, private parties – £400 for 3 hours then £75 per extra hour.
Large events, e.g. festivals, weddings – £1100 for the day.
Additionally, fuel costs will be 56p per mile.
After a year we will re-evaluate our prices to hopefully accommodate the increase in demand for our services.
Group session and evaluation
In one of the group sessions, we discussed pricing together and it was beneficial to hear other people’s ideas about how they were managing their prices and costs, especially in relation to performing as I was unsure about how to do it. Additionally, other things like more specific insurance and sound engineers I had overlooked with the costs so that was helpful for me to gain more of an understanding of the financial side.
Furthermore, in the group sessions someone else had the idea to have an advertised part that fits more directly into your style or niche, so therefore be able to appeal more to a smaller audience that acts as further income outside of your broader set style. This seemed to be a good idea as it will distinguish us from some of the other function bands whilst still being able to appeal to a broad audience. Although many people will want straight covers of songs for events, being able to play songs with only us two with drum machines and multiple instruments in an art rock sound adds to the authenticity seen in our brand image. Alongside this the benefits would also be seen on social media as covers done in different ways often do well in very broad demographic of people on TikTok.
[1] “Alive Network is the biggest and best-loved live entertainment agency providing…entertainment… for over 10,000 events a year”- https://www.alivenetwork.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
[2] https://www.ukmusic.org/news/new-report-reveals-uk-music-industry-contributes-record-8-billion-to-uk-economy/
[3] https://www.yunojuno.com/freelancer-rates-job-role/sound-engineer
