You have partied hard, played harder and studied the heck out of the band you cover, and now you just want to get booked – or, more likely, get booked consistently.

If that is the case, it might be time to put down the guitar, escape band practise and instead of studying the band you cover start studying how to advertise and start promoting your band as well as playing in it. To help you do exactly that, here are three top tips for landing shows as a covers band.

Advertise Online

One of the most fantastic things about the internet is the scope to advertise and promote just about anything – and all for free. Of course, the downside of being able to do that is that, well, just about everybody is doing it.

So to try and keep things upbeat, no pun intended, and ensure your covers band gets noticed and booked, and in favour of any others also out there – create some killer videos and upload them wherever you can. Whilst they might not instantly go viral, they will almost certainly get seen. For some top tips as to making the biggest impact with a video created via a small budget, give the advice provided via the Evolver FM website a read.

Speaking of social media sites, if you haven’t already, you need to accept the reality – that is, you need to create a Facebook account. Ideally, you should also sign up to Twitter via which you regularly post pithy allusions, trivia, jokes, upcoming gigs and all things relating to your own band and the band they cover.

Offline Advertising

Social Media is not the only way to get some free promo though. So, get onto local newspapers, ring in to your local radio stations and even consider calling in at the local library.

Yes, really; many public libraries in England and the UK now are not just a place where loud folk get shushed by bespectacled librarians (if they ever really were). In fact, a lot of libraries now regularly put on gigs and events and endeavour to support all things arts, music and happening in the community. So, it is worth enquiring. After all, libraries being a hub for a lot of communities, even if they refuse to let you stage a gig, they may well be able to offer some suggestions or contacts, as well as agree to let you put up a poster or flyer.

Speaking of posters and flyers, have some good quality and carefully thought out ones made, preferably professionally via a company like Poster My Wall. Poster My Wall specialise in creating and printing band flyers and posters and can even help you with the design and take them into local pubs, clubs, bars, coffee shops and anywhere you can think of. Cafes and the likes attract a lot of different people (everybody needs to eat and drink), meanwhile building rapports with local business owners and even potential venue owners is never a bad idea. Plus, you can spend as long as you want poking people via Facebook and Tweeting about why you are the best cover band out there, or even practising set lists, but without working on your people skills and making contacts in the community, it is unlikely you will ever get booked, or regularly at least.

Get Signed

It is easy to advise a band to get signed, but as most bands will no doubt already know or have experienced, getting signed to a label (especially for as a covers band) can prove tricky, if not downright unlikely. So, whilst sending demos to Sony or Simon Cowell might not hurt, it sadly might not achieve much either.

Fortunately, there are alternatives out there, or at least outfits that can massively improve a band’s chances of getting booked, and even noticed by a label eventually. Hence, signing up to an Entertainment Agency such as Band Hire UK, is by far one of the most savvy decisions a cover band can make.