CME Artist Services is looking for at least 6-10 Sonicbids artists to play up to five shows each at the Lancaster Music Festival in Lancaster, UK October 12-14, 2012. The festival is a celebration of Lancaster’s great musical talent and diversity while also inviting national and international acts to help provide a wide variety of world class music including, but not limited to, jazz, blues, world, classical, folk, indie, punk, rock, metal, pop and more.
Selected artists wil>...
CME Artist Services is looking for at least 6-10 Sonicbids artists to play up to five shows each at the Lancaster Music Festival in Lancaster, UK October 12-14, 2012. The festival is a celebration of Lancaster’s great musical talent and diversity while also inviting national and international acts to help provide a wide variety of world class music including, but not limited to, jazz, blues, world, classical, folk, indie, punk, rock, metal, pop and more.
Selected artists will be compensated for their performance – compensation is based on the venue (whether ticketed or flat guarantee) and the size of the act but will typically be between £50+GBP (soloists) and £100+GBP (bands) per show with most acts performing a minimum of three shows. All genres are accepted.
The Lancaster Music Festival started in 2009 with 18 venues, 60 acts and 80 shows. In many ways it was a pilot but it exceeded our expectations with many venues posting the busiest day, weekend or week since trading, many of the hotels and B&Bs fully booked, and an estimated 3-4000 folks attending the events. In 2010, with virtually the whole city behind the event, we broke all those figures again (despite the much touted recession) and in 2011 we broke all those figures yet again. Our estimated footfall is now between 5000 and 10,000 in 30 venues. In the 2011 festival we had 100% booking in all of Lancaster’s B&Bs and hotels and the venues that said they’d had the busiest weekend of trading ever said it in 2010 and 2011. Each year venues have run low or out of food and drink (but they’re learning!).
Lancaster is unique in the UK. A small city with hundreds of musical acts (over 300 registered in 2008 not including classical) representing all genres in a city that boasts over 30 live music venues all within walking distance of each other. The festival will feature over 100 artists. Sponsors include Lancaster City Council, Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, Mitchells of Lancaster Hotels and Inns, Bay Tourism, Astounded Sound, all the participating venues, and CME Artist Services who are based in the city.
Lancaster boasts views across Northern Europe’s largest bay (Morecambe Bay) to the English Lake District, a medieval castle in the centre of town, diverse pubs, restaurants and nightclubs, two universities, three playhouses, stunning surrounding countryside of moors, mountains, salmon rivers, estuaries, bays and beaches with key railroad links: Lancaster is less than two and a half hours direct on the train from London or Edinburgh. Manchester International Airport is a one and a half hour direct train ride.
Please note that artist travel costs to Lancaster are not covered, nor are we able to book you additional shows outside the festival though if you are selected we will provide you a list of UK venues relevant to your genre so that you can try and book additional shows yourself. Accommodation, where applicable, will be provided for international acts (though in some instances this might be placement with organiser’s families)
CME Artist Services has been running tours, exchanges, and events every year since 2001, mainly focused in the UK.
What other Sonicbids artists are saying about the festival:
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So wow, what a whirlwind trip! Thank you for inviting us to be a part of the festival. We think you did a great job organizing everything and I'm certain it will only get bigger and better each year! You really did do fantastic job! We met some great people in Lancaster who were giving us rides, showing us around, etc... I LOVED it and think we have to keep coming back to Lancaster."
Danika Holmes (Davenport, Iowa)
- "We just wanted to send along the biggest thank-you in the world for all that you did to make our first UK tour such an amazing time. We're so happy the Festival was such a success, you surely deserved it. We already can't wait for the next time we'll be able to make our way out there again. We so miss the real ales, the beer here has truly been depressing to drink!!!"
Brett and Geremy (Threefifty Duo, New York City, USA)
- "Bloody big congrats on getting this amazing festival together, you should feel rightly proud of what you've achieved. Everyone has been talking about it too - musos and others, with people asking each other 'what should I go and see at this festival', and others doing musical pub crawls."
Bill Roberts (Lancaster)
- "We just wanted to say thanks for everything you did for us with the Lancaster Festival, we had an absolute ball!! It was a really great festival and a pleasure to play at. I loved the venues, the audiences, the bands, the town itself and most of all the cast and crew, as everyone's enthusiasm was tangible."
Marisa Yeaman (Melbourne, Australia)
- "I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity to play there in your beautiful town. We really had a great time there this weekend and greatly appreciate the hospitality everyone extended to us. We felt very welcome and comfortable and truly had a bloody good time!"
Levy (Level 10, Tampa Bay, Florida)
- "Just wanted to say thank you so much for booking us for Lancaster and for organizing everything for us. We had a brilliant time and we were pleased with how well the gigs had been promoted. People really seem to care about the festival and I don't doubt it'll be even bigger next year!"
Los Salvadores (Canterbury)
- "I just wanted to say thanks very much for the gig at the merchants. It was actually one of the most enjoyable gigs I can remember. A great crowd and an overwhelming reponse. Everybody thinks the festival was an enormous success and I am definitely one of them - you should be congratulated massively on all your graft. I hope you do one next year and that powers that be recognise what an important (and permanent) part of the cultural scene your festival can become."
James and John (Get Carter, Lancaster)
- "Bonsoir! A big thank you to you for an opportunity of a great gig, for all the fantastic music you provided, what a weekend! It has been a pleasure viva live music."
Gobble De Gook (Lancaster)
Partners:
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CME Artist Services
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Lancaster City Council
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Lancashire Country Council
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Live and Unsigned UK
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Bay Tourism
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Lancaster Chamber of Commerce
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Mitchells Hotels and Inns
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Astounded Sound
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Choctaw Media
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St. Nicholas Arcade