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Got questions on how to make money as an artist? NSF’s got answers

National Seat Filling is a Seattle music consulting agency that focuses on dialing in to artists's specific needs

Dan Ray November 14, 20191 Comment
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Got questions on how to make money as an artist? NSF’s got answers November 14, 20191 Comment

Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).

Mackenzie McAninch is the founder of National Seat Filling (NSF), a consulting business that focuses on dialing in to artists’s specific needs through one or more one-on-one consulting sessions. Through NSF, McAninch is also putting forth a concentrated effort to create more managers and booking agents in the Seattle area to help keep the local scene thriving and competitive with other major-city markets across the country. Dan’s Tunes founder and editor Dan Ray sat down with McAninch to chat about the services NSF offers and his thoughts on the local scene.

What NSF offers

Through NSF, McAninch offers three types of one-time or multi-time sessions:

Basic

McAninch will sit down with you for an hour and answer any questions you bring. As there is no prep beforehand — McAninch will not look into your project prior to the meeting — we recommend you come prepared with a host of questions in order to get the most out of your consulting session. There is no follow-up to this session, either, but McAninch may provide you with connections or resources if it seems like a good fit.

Standard

The Standard session comes with everything the Basic session does, except you will sit down with McAninch for 90 minutes instead of 60. McAninch will look into your project before your consulting session and provide you with a project analysis at the session. We still recommend you come prepared with questions, but you’ll want to remain open to any changes presented within your project analysis. McAninch will also provide you with a social media guide with tips for how to best post to reach your audience.

Deluxe

The most popular package, the Deluxe session comes with everything the Standard package comes with, with the addition of follow-up. Directly after your session, McAninch will send you a list of points you discussed during your consultation as well as reminders/links of items to look into. Three months after your session, McAninch will send you a follow-up to find out how you’ve been able to implement these points and what has and hasn’t been working for you. From there, he will answer any additional questions you might have about either what was discussed in your original session or new questions that have emerged.

Pricing

The prices of the packages range from $75 – $250.

Some general tips

Unsure if you’re ready to book your own consulting session? Here are a few tips to keep you busy in the mean time:

  1. Stay in Seattle. Even though you might feel like other major cities have more resources for musicians, Seattle is unique in that it’s a big city that’s still relatively small. Read: the world has its eyes on us, but the market isn’t oversaturated. You’ll have an easier time getting noticed in The Emerald City than other music cities around the county.
  2. Start small and do your research. When you’re just starting out, bigger venues like Neumos and Barboza won’t book you, because they don’t have any way to know what size crowd you’ll draw. Pick smaller venues that fit your genre: Substation primarily books hardcore/metal acts; Conor Byrne tends towards more singer-songwriter or acoustic vibes; Cafe Racer spans across the board but focuses on smaller, more up-and-coming acts. Find where you fit, and go from there.
  3. Be honest about where you’re at. Bookers and venues want to know what they’re dealing with. If you’ve never played a show and all you have to showcase your sound is a phone recording, tell them that; we all start somewhere, and the most important thing is to try to present the most accurate picture of your project as possible. (This is also a great rule for submitting to music publications.) Tell them your influences so they know what you sound like and who they could pair you with on a bill. And, perhaps most importantly, be honest about how many people you think you can draw. If you’re only confident you can draw five people, that’s still five more people than would be at that venue otherwise. Plus, if you end up drawing 10, they’ll be pleasantly surprised.
  4. Accept that you won’t make money on your first tour. Tours are expensive — from travel costs to food, you’re footing the bill. Hopefully, you’ll break even, but a good rule of thumb is to expect to lose money. That way, if you do break even, it’s a bigger success. Also keep in mind that a tour can be as small as a three-day weekend or as big as a year on the road.
  5. Use the “Spider Web” method. Just like a spider builds its web, start from the center and then branch out. For your first tour: Seattle, Everett, Bellingham. For your second tour: Seattle, Everett, Bellingham, Vancouver; etc. Ideally, once you’ve played a spot, you’ll have built a small fan base, and you can expect a few more people the next time you play. That means, hopefully, you should be able to make money off of those shows. With the Spider Web method, you’re able to grow what you’ve already started while still continuing to build outward.
  6. Pick something you love. If you’re looking to get into management or booking, make sure you pick an artist or band to manage that truly resonates with you. If all goes well, you’ll be watching them play every night on tour, and you want to make sure you won’t tire of the act. Plus, if you’re sincere about your belief in a group, venues and bookers will sense that, and you’ll have an easier time finding your artist the right gigs.
  7. Pick something unique. Every artist needs something that differentiates them from the crowd. If you’re a band, find something that makes you unique. If you’re a booker or manager looking for a band to work with, make sure you feel like there’s something that stands out about a project before committing to a working relationship.

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Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).