Q:TIP- Open Mic Night

We've touched on this in past Q:TIP blog posts, but one of the best ways to get college students out for shows is to have local talent play. The Mecca of local talent showcases is the infamous "Open Mic Night" where students can show up and share a song or two on an acoustic guitar or piano. We've got a few tips for your next open mic to ensure high attendance and a quality show.

1. Choose the nights' roster by having students submit a youtube video or mp3 recording weeks prior. This will ensure you are getting quality singer song writers. No one likes listening to off-key "talent" unless Simon is there to  giving them feedback after the performance.
2. Give promotional material to the students performing to help with marketing– after all, they want an audience to show up and listen to them even more than you do.
3. Make a facebook event page and encourage the performers to invite their circle of friends.
4. Only allow each performer 5-10 minutes to perform and keep the concert between 90-120 minutes long. Quality is better than quantity when it comes to concerts.
5. Invite a charismatic, professional musician to emcee the show. This will keep the transition between artists smooth and entertaining. Here are our RECOMMENDATIONS.
6. Have your emcee perform a periodic song between local performers, to hook people in to stay for the whole show, versus leaving right after they hear their friend play. 
7. Utilize a good sound system and have a professional sound engineer running it. Even Adelle can sound terrible if the music not properly mixed to fit the acoustics of the room.
8. Promote your next concert at the end of the show via flyer handout.

 If you have other ideas on how to successfully pull-off an Open Mic night, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a reply below.