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Reggae Manifest Focus:

Perils of the South Florida Reggae Promoter

Paul Promoter, checks his reflection in the mirror, scoops up a pile of papers and scans the room to see where he left his laptop.  He retrieves it and mumbles a goodbye to his wife and something about wishing him luck on his test as he heads out the door.  He is leaving for the last day of classes for Succeeding as a Concert Promoter, and if he passes the final exams at the end of the week, he will graduate with his Bachelors Degree in hand and everything it takes to host the most successful outdoor concert in South Florida history.

Stop.  The class does not exist and neither does the concert that goes off without a hitch.  Summer is fast approaching and already you have heard the advertisements on the radio, read the hype in the papers, glanced at the posters illegally pasted to boarded up buildings that read ‘no bills posted,’ and picked up the flier while waiting for your steam fish and food order at your favorite take out Caribbean restaurant; but did you ever stop to think about the sweat and toil that goes into putting on the Biggest Reggae Concert of the Year?

The SFRM decided to speak to a number of promoters who have staged concerts in the state famous for its sunshine and famous for its tropical weather at the height of the summer season, and ask them – What gives?

“We begin with a list and a budget when it comes to choosing artists for stage shows,” offers Chuck B of Knox Entertainment.  “Then we go down the list calling the booking agents and putting our offers on the table.”  After budgeting for the various other costs involved in hosting a mammoth event, including venue rental, stage rental, sound equipment, tents, lighting, generators, security, police, advertising and insurance, just to name a few, many of the artist’s prices are larger than several of the other costs put together.  “It’s one of the biggest challenges we face as promoters,” says Chuck B, “the artists charge way too much and it’s unlikely that we will recuperate all that money.  It’s particularly hard when you put on a smaller event with just one or two artists in a club venue.  They want to charge you so much money that when you do the math, you realize it’s impossible to do it.  Let’s say the average pre-sold ticket is $30 and an artist charges you $20,000 for their services, then you have to pay for flights to bring them and who they are traveling with from overseas, accommodations, per diem, PA system, etc., by the time you’re done, and even if you get 1,000 people into the venue, there will be nothing left at the end to show for it.”

Chuck B has experienced this battle time and time again, and is yet to win the war.  He even conceived a proposition for artists when they request large sums of money for an event, where as the promoter, he would purchase the airline tickets, provide the accommodations and do all of pre-event promotions for it, and then he would deduct the cost on the night and split what is left of the gate with them.  “None of them have taken me up on the offer,” he laughs, “as they all realize they’re not making back the money that they’re asking for.  They comprehend what the risk is and they don’t want to take it.”

Several years ago, a topic was raised in the New York tri State area about promoters standing together and not meeting the monetary demands of overseas artists.  Bidding wars between promoters over recent months had raised the asking price of artists who now believed their value had increased, until it a reached a point where prices were totally unreasonable.  Once a promoter paid the high asking price, it was nearly impossible to bring it back down.  “This is what separates promoters who do promotions for a living from those who do it occasionally,” says Chuck B.  “A full-time promoter would never pay extortionate prices for an artist, because they know that many of these artists cannot make the money back.  You’ll see them participating in tours or sticking with two or three artists that they always work with on a regular basis.”

So when it comes to the battle of the dollar, with his list in hand, Chuck B goes down it one by one, calls the artist’s representative and tells them that they are working within a budget.  Prices are discussed and if an agreement cannot be reached, he politely thanks them for their time, says he would love to have them on the show, but hopefully next year he will have a bigger budget to accommodate them.

Nuff Musik Production out of West Palm Beach and headed by Garth Guthrie, believes that one of the biggest problems faced by promoters in South Florida is the saturation of Dancehall driven events regularly taking place here.  "If you have 5,000 people spending money on Reggae entertainment each weekend, and they have ten clubs to choose from, five special party events, and one stage show or indoor concert, they have to think carefully about where they will spend their hard earned cash," Guthrie explains.  “Each person could have an average $100 dollar budget for the week or for the month, and once they add up different ticket prices, parking, food, drinks and clothing it gets rough.  When a big concert is taking place, there are even more accompanying events to choose from.  The pre-party, the welcome party, the official welcome party, the after party, the list goes on.  For us to be successful as promoters, we have to work together more and not saturate the market so much."

Like a rose among the thorns, there are success stories from promoters who have overcome obstacles and learned to master their trade through trial and error.  One such promoter is Garfield Heron of Jammins/SimSav Promotions, who shared his experience with the SFRM.  His organization has earned the title of the first promoters to host a sold out concert for popular vocalist, Beres Hammond, in the tri-state area, as well as in South Florida.  However, what many people fail to realize is how long it took them to reach that benchmark.  "The first show we did with Beres was back in 1992 and a handful people turned up," says Heron whose personal theme song is Buju Banton's 'It's Not an Easy Road'.  "We had thunderstorms that day and evening, so the weather played a big part in the failure of that show, but we also realized that it wasn’t the weather alone.  We learned not to take certain things for granted just because you have a big name artist billed, such as the venue, which was wrong for Beres, as certain people will not go to certain venues.  You have to consider the venue, the neighborhood, parking, date, and other factors that will determine whether or not you will have a successful event, reaching the market you require." 

It took almost ten years of persistence for Jammins/SimSav Promotions to perfect their trade, and finally in 2001 they hosted a sold out concert with Beres Hammond at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, then brought the same successful formula to Miami’s James L. Knight Center on Valentines weekend 2002.  “When you have the right package in place, the show will sell itself.  People won't hesitate or complain about paying the ticket price, and they'll go all out spending even more money at the venue.  It's a win, win situation for everyone!"

For seven years    Andrew Minott and his business partners hosted the most anticipated pre-Thanksgiving show in South Florida, the Caribbean Reggae Fest.  Minott, a navy veteran, is the pioneering founder behind the event that brought another popular weekend into the entertainment limelight in 1997, even after many people tried to talk him out of getting involved in what they perceived as a risky business.

“I was determined to put a show on, so I went ahead and secured investors, and got the line-up together for the concert that would become the Pre-Thanksgiving Family Fun Day Bash,” reminisces Minott.  “That first year, I did it by myself and had Beenie Man, Richie Stephens, Capleton, General Degree, Tanto Metro, Sanchez, Lady Saw, Spragga Benz and Sean Paul in the line-up.  Sean’s song ‘Infiltrate,’ was out back then, but he wasn’t very well known abroad and he had never done a show outside of Jamaica, especially with such a great line-up.”

Being a novice in the business, Minott had no street team to assist him with the promotions, and had to deal with problem after problem on show day; nonetheless, he managed to the pull the show off successfully with close to 8,000 patrons witnessing the premiere staging at the AT&T Amphitheater in downtown Miami.  “After the show was over, it his me what I had achieved and I said I would never stage another event.  I virtually went into hiding, I was so drained.”  But by the following year and joined by two new business partners, his feelings dissolved, and the 1998 staging turned out to be bigger and better than the previous year.  Years later, the stage show has evolved into the Annual Caribbean Reggae Fest, and with lessons learned from its early experiences, Anchor Minott, Inc. have become professionals in their field.

So the next time you attend the Biggest Reggae Concert of the Year, take a moment and put yourself in the promoter’s shoes.  This is a high-risk business where the goal posts move daily and where nothing is guaranteed at the end of the day.  With counterfeit tickets, tropical storm conditions, artist’s unrealistic demands, and much more, our promoters face these challenges as well as the normal expected ones whenever they plan and prepare to host such an event.  Then there are the tormenting questions they ask themselves many times over, until it is over - Will people turn up?  Will the artists deliver a good show? Did I do enough advertising and promotion?

After listening to the many stories from these prominent South Florida promoters, their frustrations, challenges and journeys, one question remains and that is ‘why continue to do what you do?’ 

The most common answer is for the love of the Reggae music business, and also for the rush once you accomplish it.  “Its like attempting to climb Mount Everest,” offers Heron in his explanation, “you plan everything out, prepare yourself and begin the climb.  When you reach the summit, the adrenaline is unexplainable.  Once you’ve experienced that feeling, it’s like a drug - it’s addictive!”