Let Me See That Song!*:
Pitch Page
Indie Eurovision, to sum it up in 2 words. As a small-time gig organiser, I think it's possible, which is why I'm hosting this pilot. I'm very excited about this plan and
I'm keen to make it into something nice, successful and sustainable. A sponsor can help that happen by providing some prizes and a feel of credibility via a respected name in the grassroots music space.
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*working title
The concept
This event is a song contest scheduled for Sunday 17 August at the 160-cap venue The Others in Stoke Newington, London. The video details most of the ideas I've had so far.
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I have a lot of experience of organising, promoting and hosting gigs of a similar size (see my Rock & Robots pages on this site for my music/robot fighting night series at the same venue at which I plan to host the contest).​​​​
​​​I'm planning to have at least 12, maybe up to 16 performers each performing one original song, unreleased prior to the event. This will be followed by a voting period on paper ballots, an interval act while votes are counted and a dramatic Eurovision-style 2-stage vote reveal process on a scoreboard which I meticulously designed in Excel. Artist and audience votes will be balanced so each group provides 50% of the points. All voters will give points to their top 3 songs. The rules and format are very closely based on those of the Eurovision Song Contest but fewer comparisons will be made to Eurovision once the project gets off the ground.​
What SAFO could provide
My main request from a sponsor would be prizes to incentivise entries. A prize structure could be as follows:
1st Place: 1 month of Premium SAFO membership
2nd Place: 1 month of Standard SAFO membership
3rd place: 1 month of Basic SAFO membership
Artist vote winner: 1 month of Starter SAFO membership (may stack with another prize)
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​​SAFO's involvement would solidify the event's message as one for grassroots artists and creatives. The contest could be advertised to users of SAFO's facilities via posters at the studio and in some capacity on SAFO's social media channels.
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The current contest name (Let Me See That Song!) is a working tile and I would be willing to consider any name ideas SAFO has.
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I will also request that the sponsor sends one employee or nominated person to the contest (they will be comped, of course), both to hand out the prizes and to supervise the vote counting alongside one neutral person (the person I'm employing to run the door, who won't be listening to any of the songs), ensuring that the result reflects the votes cast.
What I can provide for SAFO
I would be willing to make SAFO the title sponsor of the event, possibly with a "Powered by SAFO Music Group" subtitle to the event. I can also show and share SAFO promotional material during the contest and on social media in the lead-up. We can also discuss if SAFO's name makes it onto the competition's trophies, which I will be getting 3D-printed.
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SAFO will be recommended as the practice facility provider of choice to competitors in the contest, some of whom will use a SAFO space to rehearse or record their backing tracks for the contest. A special discount code for entrants to use in the build-up to the contest would incentivise that, although that's up to the company. The prizewinners, once they have used their month prize, may continue using SAFO for their future practice needs.
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The contest will need an interval act to perform while the audience's votes are counted. SAFO could nominate one of their coached artists for this 20-30 minute performance slot and there is money allotted in the contest budget to pay them.
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If this staging of the contest proves successful, I plan to run it 2, 3 or 4 times per year, continuning at the same venue until demand outstrips capacity. We can review after this staging if the partnership is one which should continue, which I hope it will.
Interested?
E-mail me at tolerablemusic@gmail.com to discuss more