Tips for Getting Booked as a Remote Session Musician
I have been working as a session musician for over 20 years and 10 years ago decided to give AirGigs a try. Prior to AirGigs, I was only able to connect with people in my local music scene, but now I’m able to reach a much larger group of people at any time. I receive projects from artists and songwriters from all over the world in a multitude of genres. Much of my income is derived from remote recording work and I’ve dramatically improved my skills along the way.
If you’re just getting started or would like some advice on how to get more bookings, here are a few tips that I hope will be useful.
Create a Listing
Decide what services you’d like to offer and be sure to include as much detail as possible. Tell people what they can expect from you and why you’re the person they want to work with. List any achievements, awards, accolades or noteworthy people you have worked with previously. Don’t worry if you don’t have many awards or names to drop, that will come with time and experience. The most important thing is delivering the best service possible and figuring out how you can keep growing and improving.
Here are some elements you might want to include in your listing:
* Your current gear list
* Previous experience
* Turnaround times
* Photos (promo shots and any studio related images)
Audio & Video Clips
A great way to showcase your services is to let people hear work you have done previously. This can either be in the form of single tracks or a demo reel. The benefit of creating a reel is that you can highlight specific sections of a song without asking the listener to sit through the whole track. You can also put multiple tracks together in one reel, showcasing your talent in a concise way.
You could create a demo video that includes clips of studio work you’ve completed recently to give people a real sense of your working environment. This could also include a short segment where you are talking to the camera and letting your personality shine.
Setting a Price
We all have to start somewhere and in the beginning it’s helpful to check out other people’s listings in order to get an idea of how much you should charge. This doesn’t have to be fixed and can be tweaked over time. Be sure to set a fair price, but don’t sell yourself short. As you gain more experience and buy new equipment this should be reflected in your price.
Getting Reviews
It is important to build up your profile and get those all-important reviews. AirGigs now has a new feature called Street Cred, where you can send people from outside of AirGigs a link and ask them to leave you a Street Cred review. Street Cred reviews will appear on your account as ‘unverified’ (verified reviews are only from service users who have booked services from you on AirGigs) but when people go to your service / profile, these reviews (verified and unverified) will be counted together as one total. This is also a great way to bring awareness to your services on AirGigs.
Repeat Bookings
Every booking that comes your way is a chance for you to connect with your client and create long-term relationships. Show them why you’re a fantastic person to work with and always maintain high standards. Be accommodating and kind in all you do. Great communication is everything and it’s important your client understands exactly how the process works and that their expectations are either met or exceeded. You want to make sure when other projects come along that people come to you first before anyone else.
There’s Always Room for Improvement
Be happy with what you have, but never satisfied. There are opportunities to learn and grow from each and every session. Keep asking yourself where you can improve. What can you do better for the next booking? Always check out your services and see if there’s anything you can tweak or change to get more visibility or bookings.
Keep Up to Date
Make sure that your info is current and up to date. Be sure to include any new equipment purchases or achievements. Photos should be updated periodically. Your listings should always appear fresh and interesting in order to encourage people to want to engage with you.
Further Reading
If you’d like to read more about how to improve your AirGigs listings and get more work, we have this article in our Knowledge Base containing more great tips and ideas.
Be Part of Our Growing Community
If you haven’t done so already, sign up to our amazing community of musicians, engineers and songwriters. We’re run by musicians for musicians. Find your dream team here on AirGigs. Any questions? Message us: help@airgigs.com, we’re always happy to help.