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 and shape 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!