Five minutes of fame 

• Individually, every performer is allotted five minutes on stage.
• A duo has 10 minutes, a trio has 15 minutes, a four piece band has 20 minutes…
• There is no limit to the number of supporting roles one can play.
• The final performances are the school band and orchestra.

I. Publish: Choose the material

• Obtain rights to play & record covers or write originals and get your copyrights.
• Follow my vision approach:
• In some shows one person chooses all the material and the rest of the players are “hired guns.” Hired guns can give their five minutes to a leader to increase the length of the show, otherwise the leader has just five minutes.
• Share the vision approach:
• In contrast, many bands are democratic and choose together. In this scenario, everyone contributes one song that they want to play, and everyone puts in their five minutes.

II. Produce:  Set up and run the show.

• There are many supporting roles behind the scenes of every performance. Contracts must be signed with management and crew.  Who owns the rights to the video and audio recorded?
• Stage: Someone has to set up and maintain it during the show.
• Audio: Someone has to insure balance and record audio.
• Video: Three cameras must be pointed and focused on the performance.
• Lights: The stage must be well lit and affects must be controlled.
• Management: Someone must ensure all the pieces are in place.

III. Promote: Book and advertise the show.

• There are many more jobs to do long before the performance date.
• Book the venue and get a signed contract.
• Print and sell tickets.
• Create posters, flyers and business cards etc. and distribute them.
• Obtain free publicity and/or paid advertisements in local media.
• Create merchandise to be sold at the performance.

IV. Perform: Practice, set up, play & teardown.

• Create a lyric sheet and chord chart for your song and distribute them to the band.
• Practice parts until you have them and then practice from start to finish. 
• Pay attention to dynamics in each song and in the show as a whole.
• Add choreography and stage antics to enhance the shows quality.
• Practice communicating with the audience… What will you say to them?
• Put your light show in sync with the music and rehearse cues.
• Rehearse camera movements, close-ups etc.
• Collect your five minutes of fame!

V. Post-production: Mold the performance into a marketable object.

• Review all audio and video footage and make note of highlights and mistakes.
• Learn from the mistakes and know what not to do next time.
• Remix and master the audio adding effects as needed.
• Remix the video into a sequence of shots from the three sources.
• Sync the audio and video together into a final version.
• Create a short commercial version and post it on your website and social media.
• Upload and sell the final audio & video versions through iTunes, cdbaby etc.
• Count up all the money and rejoice!