ARTICLES
Key Elements when starting an Entertainment Program
Bob Galombeck October 2019
A wealth of information of many of the key components and questions involved.
Get Your Event on Social Media
Kell Houston September 2019
In today’s world of event marketing, gathering insights about your target audience and sharing information on social media channels is indispensable. You should be considering which platforms your audience is primarily utilizing. Examples include Google My Business, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit and LinkedIn, among many others.
Artist Incremental Revenues
Bob Galombeck March 2019
We seldom talk about artist incremental revenues, but it’s worth noting. Artist incremental revenues are on the rise.
Increased EDM/DJ Music Trend
Bob Galombeck April 2018
EDM (Electronic Dance Music) is increasingly growing in our Industry. What first started out as simple DJ work playing self-chosen cover music and taking customer requests has expanded into full blown concerts with video, dancers, special effects, fog machines, complex digital audio, and Producer/DJ’s performing live at the same time. The number of EDM artists on the scene has become very significant in a short period of time. And pricings are just as widespread as what we see with musical arts.
Casinos Today: Contracts and Solutions
Kell Houston October 2017
The entertainment business is changing for tribal casinos. Since the beginning of Indian gaming in the 90s, hundreds of artists whose careers had either gone by the wayside or had been limited to fairs, festivals and the occasional private parties, got new life. Along with this came a new price point – “casino price” and a very long learning curve about what this new part of the entertainment industry was all about and how it worked.
The New VIP Experience: The Challenge for Casino Operators to Accommodate Artists’ Superfans
Kell Houston April 2017
There is a growing trend in the concert industry business impacting tribal casinos. The “VIP experience” is an add-on service that many artists have begun providing to enhance the concert experience for fans and fan clubs in order to increase their fan base and enhance their own revenue stream. To further complicate things, this type of add-on “enhanced or elevated fan experience” is usually handled directly by the group’s management, an outside company, or the artists’ agency. What this means is, you may find yourself with an additional entity in your mix to manage.
The Country Music Festival Craze
Bob Galombeck November 2016
The festival business is going totally crazy. Big festivals are selling out and drawing thousands upon thousands of concertgoers, mid-size festivals continue to grow their capacities and lineups, smaller festivals that have been running with regional talent are converting over to bringing in National Acts, and communities seeing other communities building their festivals are jumping in on the band wagon. An average of over 32 million people go to at least one music festival each year and casinos who are not partnered with a festival in their area in some way should consider doing so.
Five Myths About Casino Entertainment
Kell Houston October 2016
Over and over tribal properties are running into a lot of the same entertainment questions and concerns. Below is a list of five of those issues/myths to help clear up some of the confusion.
The Ever Growing Complexity of Confirming Artist Offers
Bob Galombeck April 2016
It used to be pretty simple. You want a group for your event, you call the agent and if the date was available and the price was right you got the band. Contracts issued, done deal. Groups wanted to work to support their records and generate sales and they pounded the road with a lot of single dates. Not a lot of time spent trying to figure out routing, the market, even capacities. Just go do the gig and build more fans to buy your records.
Setting Ticket Prices for Your Event: An Approach With Many Variables
Bob Galombeck March 2016
Setting ticket prices for concerts can be a real challenge, especially if your entertainment program is not soundly in place. A casino with a steady program has their formula’s pretty well established including what expense factors they use to establish ticket prices, how many ticket pricing tiers they offer and what those prices should be, how much they typically like to comp and who, and so on. They know what to expect from most all their events.
The Casino Entertainment Program
Kell Houston January 2016
Entertainment is the X-factor in all casino business. A good entertainment program helps your casino brand and drives strong consistent business. It ties into your customer data base, keeping your current customers coming back and creating new customers. A casino without a consistent and quality entertainment program is a casino that is missing the opportunity to stand out.
The Changing Landscape of Casino Entertainment
Kell Houston September 2015
In the casino business we speak about the “ageing out” of our core customer. The slot player has been the main revenue stream for casinos for years, and the discussion is now focused on how to attract and develop the next generations of customers. Indeed, the youngest boomers turned 50 last year, and so Generation X and the Millennials are becoming very relevant.
Don't Let Your Casino Entertainment Get Stale
Kell Houston September 2015
Today’s casinos are jumping in with both feet and bringing in rising stars, and artists who are on their way up, not on their way down.
The Changing Landscape of Casino Entertainment
Kell Houston July 2015
In the casino business we speak about the “ageing out” of our core customer. The slot player has been the main revenue stream for casinos for years, and the discussion is now focused on how to attract and develop the next generations of customers. Indeed, the youngest boomers turned 50 last year, and so Generation X and the Millennials are becoming very relevant. They are the target audiences for properties today, in order to keep growing and retaining their customer base.
The Power of a Strategic Partnership
Kell Houston May 2015
In today’s business world, partnerships are more important than ever before. In our casino world it is the same. Often these partnerships get referred to as outsourcing. Outsourcing just doesn’t sound as powerful as partnerships, and is often misunderstood. The reality here is that powerful and competent strategic partnerships are behind every successful business.
Talent Buyers, Agents, and Promoters – What's the Difference?
Kell Houston March 2015
The short answer is that in today’s entertainment world, so much of the business overlaps. We’ve been called all 3 within the past several months, so let’s examine each one and look at their true definition.
The Aging Entertainer
Kell Houston January 2015
In our casino business we speak about the ageing out of our core customer. The slot player has been the main revenue stream for casinos for years. In Indian Country the discussion has been building about how to attract and develop the next generation of customers. How do we attract and retain the younger generation? The youngest boomers turned 50 last year. The Generation X and the millennials are now becoming very relevant. They are the target for properties today, in order to keep building and retaining their customer base.
2015 And Beyond - Casino Entertainment Challenges
Kell Houston August 2014
My company is very active across the country with many casinos. There are several common entertainment challenges that all casinos are facing going forward. What are we doing with our entertainment program to develop the younger generation of customers and still keep our older customers happy?
Performing Rights Organizations (PRO's) and the Casino Industry
Bob Galombeck August 2014
ASCAP, BMI, SESAC – What are they and why are you paying them money? This is such a common ques2on and it is a somewhat vague and confusing subject at the same 2me. These PRO’s are licensing agencies. The public performance of any copyrighted music is subject to licensing. This is the law under the US copyright act which has been around for many decades. The proprietor of any establishment and any public event that incorporates music, whether it is live or recorded, must obtain authoriza2on to do so. This includes all types of venues including radio, television, corporate events, public fes2vals, concert venues, hotels, airplanes, circuses, bars and restaurants, and casinos.
Don't Forget the Personal Touch
Kell Houston May 2014
In today’s fast paced, technological world, it’s easy to forget that people used to actually have to speak to each other to communicate. In the past, many predicted technology would do away with the paperwork and paper trails every- one used in order to keep track of business deals and conversations. Today, the reality is everyone still uses paper and anyone with a computer or smartphone is now inundated by e-mails, spam, social media notifications, text messages, instant messaging... life used to be so simple.
Concert Entertainment Rider Basics
Bob Galombeck October 2013
Every National Artist has an accompaniment to their contract called a rider. It covers their ‘Wish List’ of items they’d like provided for your show as well as their basic ‘laws’. It’s a very important part of your legal agreement with the artist and needs to be fully addressed. Many venues with regular entertainment programs and experienced personnel know what to expect and what they will and will not adhere to.
How to Leverage Technology to Find the Right Entertainment
Kahlil Ashanti September 2013
The importance of solid and relevant entertainment programming is an often overlooked facet of a property's marketing strategy, and it's easy to understand why. With entertainment and marketing responsibilities stretching people thin, it can be a difficult task for anyone to stay abreast of how to locate the best entertainment for their needs. The workload has doubled, but the hours in a day remain the same.
What Makes Your Casino Stand Out Today?
Kell Houston October 2012
The casino business has always been about gaming – keeping customers on the floor and driving gaming revenue. In January 2012, the Nevada Gaming Control Board announced that gaming revenues for 2011 made up 46% of the total income in Las Vegas. A few years back,
gaming revenue was up to 60%. In 2011, a larger percentage was spent on food & beverage and other incremental amenities such as spas, golf and entertainment. Also noted was that during this period the visitor count was up 4% over 2010. So what does all of this mean and how can this information be applied to Indian Country?
The Venue Addendum: How It Benefits the Entertainment Program
Bob Galombeck August 2012
Whether a casino property has a regular and consistent entertainment program or just the occasional concert, a venue addendum is a document that can save time and hopefully take a fair amount of the guesswork and inefficiency out of the extensive communications involved in processing each concert.
Casino Outdoor Concerts
Kell Houston April 2011
Many casinos are stepping outside and doing special events and concerts. In many cases these concerts are being created in parking lots or other accessible areas close to the casino.
Whether it’s a classic car show, a motorcycle rally, a food oriented event and/or a concert, there are a lot of challenges that need to be met.
The Power of Strategic Partnerships
Kell Houston February 2011
In today’s business world, partnerships are more important than ever before. In our casino world it is the same. Often these partnerships get referred to as outsourcing. Outsourcing
just doesn’t sound as powerful as partnerships, and is often misunderstood. The reality here is that powerful and competent strategic partnerships are behind every successful
business.
Comedy - The Other Entertainment
Kell Houston June 2010
With the current economy, everyone needs to tighten their belts and casinos are no exception. It is important to get entertainment value, but still service your customerwith the “fun factor.” After all, you want themto come to your casino and have a variety of great entertainment experiences. Comedy is a great way of boostingmid-week business. Your costs can vary fromvery little, say under $1,000, to really big names at over $100,000. Comedy production requirements are simpler.There are fewer rooms required, typically no backline is needed, and your ground transportation needs are simplified.
Gaming and Entertainment = TIME
Kell Houston May 2010
According to several experienced and successful marketing directors out there in the gaming business, it’s all about time. Your customer has a certain amount of time allotted
for fun and entertainment when they walk through your doors. It’s very important that their experience is pleasurable and enjoyable and profitable for the casino. There are only so many hours in the day and with things being the way they are in today’s world, there is not enough extra time or money lying around. When your customer enters your casino they come with the hopes of winning some money, but in reality, they are coming to get away from it all and have a good time.
The State of Casino Entertainment
Kell Houston October 2009
Today’s economy has made many casinos rethink their expenditures. These are no longer the old, more profitable days where “If you build it they will come” was applicable. There are approximately 420 tribal casinos around the country and another 179 non-Indian, commercial casinos. The days of double-digit increases are behind us. Today, many casinos are struggling to drive their business and looking for ways to trim the fat. Executives are in and out
of positions weekly. To put it bluntly, it’s volatile out there.
The Outside Entertainment Buyer
Kell Houston July 2009
Many of you out there working with concert entertainment use the services of outside entertainment buyers. This would be a good time to educate everyone about what out sourced talent buyers really do and why they are so beneficial to your success. For those of you that buy your entertainment in house, this will give you cause to think over the advantages to working with an outside buyer.
Concert Entertainment - The Rate Of Return
Kell Houston April 2009
Entertainment and its impact on your casino revenue is somewhat intangible. The usual methods for calculating your rate of return or ROI (return on investment), have to be tweaked. Entertainment programs make considerable contribution in the areas of customer loyalty, brand
recognition, public relations,
Understanding Entertainment Contracts
Kell Houston March 2009
Those artist contracts with all the legalese and contract riders with pages and pages of specifications and requests are very difficult to pick through. All that information is very important for you to understand because you have entered into a legally binding relationship. Let’s take a look at the process that you have entered into, by starting at square one.
It’s All About the Casino Floor
Kell Houston October 2008
You have all had your share of poor performers at the box office but when it comes to results, it’s time to stop beating yourself up over missing the 100% mark. Time and time again, marketing personnel lament the fact that they haven’t sold out a particular concert.Was this because they wanted to look good to upper management or was this based on the real
results? Of course there is a lot of instant gratification when the marketing campaign creates so much buzz that box office phones ring off the hook, but what truly matters at the end of
the day?
Concert Tickets: Comps vs Paids
Kell Houston June 2008
An important question has been posed by several people in casino marketing. The question is about ticketing - not just how much to price tickets, but how to deal with comp tickets. What should your strategy be?