Booking shows in any city can sometimes feel like a crap shoot. Knowing where to seek opportunities that build out your booking network helps ensure you create valuable relationships and a range of local fans. Learn from a variety of players in the live music landscape including independent venues, community programming, cultural institutes, etc. about how they approach programming, what relationships lead to more opportunities and why supporting micro music communities are always a win.

Not every artist will sell out ticketed shows or make money from streams. But there are live booking opportunities that help ensure you can solidify an anchor date in a city market.

Hear from band leaders, their management and booking team as they discuss how shows, tours and experiences create opportunity, relationships and growth. Learn how a reasonably smaller event can lead to a large opportunity and why timing is key in growth.

Most music venues have one or two talent buyers or bookers who hold and run their music calendar.

They tend to be portrayed as the gatekeepers or career makers, when in truth they are essential players in the building blocks of an artist's career. As you develop your fanbase, you build your music career. For a touring musician or band, building your booking connections are just as important.

Our booking panelists will discuss their experiences in music discovery and band development. They will speak first hand on how their relationships helped shape indie music scenes, build musicians' careers and create one of a kind music experiences over decades. When you see the concert promoter and buyer as an ally or partner, you tap into a much broader base of resources. And when you find ways to unite your fanbase, you will build a network of real connections.

A successful live music booking has always been -- and will always be -- a team effort. With all parties striving for success, any show, tour or event requires foresight, strategy, and determination. In the midst of a worldwide pandemic, our industry is facing anything but business as usual. More now than ever, it takes creativity, stamina and a heightened awareness of safety to move forward. For Mondo 2020, our annual booking panel looks at live performances from various angles: we'll hear from professionals and artists with expertise in booking, talent buying, touring, marketing and PR as they discuss how artists can remain active and engaged, while simultaneously reimagining their new future.