How to grow a live music venue with a little budget

Imagine a nice, tiny venue located in a small town.

Imagine the food there is excellent, every single detail is handled with passion, and the customers base is growing.

Nonetheless, something is still missing in order to make the atmosphere warmer: live music.

When I visited the Cyclery, a cozy pub in the centre of Varese, Italy, and met the owner Edoardo Campi and the cook Roberto Allegri, this is exactly where they were.

To bring bands to a venue is not as simple as it seems: the research of good musicians, the organization of the event and the related communication are time-consuming activities. A tiny pub with little personnel cannot deal with all these aspects by itself without risking to lower the quality of other experiences; typically those for which it is already known and appreciated by customers.

Outsourcing music-related activities on the other hand, is extremely expensive: artists’ agencies, communication agencies and PR services are out of reach for a small venue.

To find a solution, Edoardo and Roberto, after a brief research on the internet, found a set of services provided by AMY Network, a musician-oriented platform. 

They discovered artists can be researched, evaluated and contacted through AMY at zero cost. In addition, AMY’s Team provides low-cost services such as logo design, event communication tips & tools, and suggestions on how to organize the stage (or the space dedicated to musicians). To make this happen, all that is needed are a few detailed pictures of the venue.

Following this path, Cyclery booked and created an entire season of live shows in just a few weeks, having everything managed by AMY but keeping full control over the entire organization. All musicians are found or apply to play through AMY Network app, other forms of booking are not taken in any consideration.

A related but different name and logo (LOOP Cyclery) has been created to brand their musical nights, but also to keep it different from the day-time activities of the pub.

AMY’s Team is constantly dealing with Edoardo and Roberto, to share profiles of musicians who apply to play at LOOP: the structure of the app makes the choice quick and easy for them.

“The point is” said Edoardo Campi “that AMY’s people understood our organizational and budget constraints immediately, they tailored a live music service to our needs, and I notice very little difference in my daily routine.

But now many music fans are discovering Cyclery through LOOP shows, and then they keep coming back over and over again.

Music customers became loyal pub customers, even when the music is off. Awesome.”