I've been the beneficiary of a lot of free smooth/contemporary jazz concerts in my lifetime.  As a matter of fact, the prelude to my move back to Jacksonville was a really big free concert - The 1986 Jacksonville Jazz Festival.  This festival had recently expanded from a small one-day straight-ahead jazz event to two days of big names encompassing all facets of jazz.  In '86 they had Miles… for free, along with Special EFX, Spyro Gyra, and Flora Purim and Airto.  A local Adult Contemporary station had started a brunch show by the time I moved back, and they were promoting free concerts at a new outdoor shopping/entertainment center.  Over the years the Jazz Festival continued to expand and bring even more star studded lineups - for free.  Various radio stations continued to bring big name artists to the downtown center too, often every weekend in early fall and late spring.  At the time - the late 90s -  the economy was chugging along, and a network of radio stations across the country were basking in the afterglow of their recent success.  Locally we had a full-time station and two brunch shows that were all thriving.  A beautiful local theater was booking quite a few shows, so the music was heavily promoted and exposed in the market.  The freebies were actually turning people on to the music; the airplay gave them a way to hear more and become fans.  Then they were willing to buy concert tickets.  It was a very nice synergy at first, but eventually the inevitable happened.  Attendance at ticketed smooth jazz concerts went into free fall.  There were other factors in play, including the star-studded lineups at the free Jazz Festival and a beachside concert series, plus the local station playing more pop and oldies than smooth jazz.  But ultimately, it came down to this: why pay for something you can get for free? 

 Free concerts have been part of the scene in every type of music, especially over the last few years.  They are usually downsized versions of the ticketed experience - shorter sets, smaller bands or tracks, and little or no production (lighting, special effects, on stage theatrics and such), and they have been after-work or weekend afternoon events rather than prime-time evening concerts.  They have their purpose.  It's a good chance for the artist to get exposed to people who are not yet familiar with them, and it's a good way to sell some CDs.  People tend to loosen their grip on their wallets when they are front and center for an artist who can throw it down live.  It's also a good way for a radio station to show their appreciation for their listeners, and a way for artists to show their appreciation for the exposure the station gives them.  That's where it gets murky though.  When does this whole process cross the line between being an appreciative love-fest and sucking the life out of the musicians and promoters who need the revenue from ticket sales to do things like, say... support their families and continue to run their businesses? 

Free concerts can be an effective marketing strategy in the proper setting.  People will attend a free event out of curiosity or because they are in proximity.  When it comes to laying some money down they are going to go with what they know.  In my little corner of the world, it was a big freebie, the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, that created the demand for more of this music.  People came out for the sun, beer, and atmosphere and discovered a whole type of music they probably would not have sought out otherwise.  That spawned the brunch shows and full-time stations that exposed more of the music and created a demand/support base for year-round ticketed events.  Our beach series could have the same effect if there was any 'aftercare" for new fans.  It draws hundreds of people off the beach and boardwalk to hear really exciting, fired up live performances that defy every radio-generated perception of what we call smooth jazz.

In-store appearances also serve a purpose.  The artist gets to play some music, people show up to hear it, meet the musician and get their newly purchased CD autographed.  Browsers throughout the store get to hear what the excitement is about.  If a free event creates and cultivates a fan base it is worth it, but only if that fan base can be monetized in the future.  Monetized not by force but because music is important to them, and they want to own it and experience it at the next level.  The next level being full length, well produced, ticketed concerts.  Free gigs should not displace the experience of a ticketed concert; they should give the artist just enough exposure to make the fan willing to commit some cash to seeing more.

In a perfect world that is how it would work.  An artist would do a free gig at a public place where the discovery factor would be in full effect.  That would win over new fans and reinforce the relationship with old fans.
Then when that artist returned to do a full-scale ticketed concert this fan base would come out and support it.  There are too many glitches in that system for it to work so beautifully, though.  A lot of free gigs are in "preaching to the choir" settings like indoor listener appreciation parties with attendance sometimes restricted to people who are in a radio station database or won a contest.  These gigs don't expand the fan base.  They do nurture the current fan base, but at what point does that become counter-productive in the long run?  If there are a lot of free concerts in the area, then the core fan expects them and won't go to anything but free concerts.  The concert experience has often become user-unfriendly too.  There are some incredible independent promoters out there who are working hard to provide reasonably priced shows and an exceptional experience overall, but there are still a lot of corporate-promoted concerts that just leave you wishing you had stayed home and watched a video.  Nobody can blame someone for not wanting to pay $75-$100 per person, plus add-on service charges and parking, to be herded into a room where you sit 50 yards from the stage behind a person who yaps away on their cell phone.  Or where you stand in the aftershow autograph line for 20 minutes with your classic album cover before someone comes out and tells you the artist will only be signing copies of the new CD that are bought on-site.

What is the solution?  I don't know.  What I do know is that the first step toward creating a solution is becoming aware of the problem, then getting creative and sharing ideas until solutions begin to emerge.  Yes, we are in a recession and a lot of us have been hit by layoffs, cutbacks, rising prices, the housing crisis and question marks at every corner.  Musicians and their families are experiencing these same challenges.  So are concert promoters, especially the independent promoters who are a part of our community and do this because of their love of the music.  The music business is their job.  Yes, they get to do what they love, but it is still their job - the way they support themselves and their families.  They deserve to be paid for their work just as much as their desk-bound compatriots do.

One of the things I have heard pretty often these days is that one of the big lessons of this downturn we are experiencing right now is that we can't get through it alone.  After years of self-reliant bravado we are beginning to realize that, not only can we not make it on our own, but 'on our own' is not a healthy place to be.  We are a community, and we need to take care of each other.  How can we begin to make the live music experience beneficial to everyone concerned?