Music has a huge impact on how we feel and behave, something which brands have known for decades.

There is a reason why certain commercials pull at our heartstrings or make us feel jubilant or joyous. It’s the combination of powerful, emotional sound with perfectly paired visuals.

This is exactly the same when it comes to event entertainment.

Live entertainment marries great sound with engaging visuals, and can make an event memorable, inject fun and help pull a theme together. Whether it’s a Christmas party or maybe a seasonal product launch, corporate meeting, Convention or Wedding live entertainment is in demand.

One of the most popular forms of live entertainment for events is the band. Why? Because bands are dynamic, fun and versatile, suitable for just about every kind of event from a corporate product launch to a conference after party, weddings to gala dinners.

This mini-guide gives you all the information you need to finding and booking a band quickly and safely, and in time for your event.

Step 1: Deciding what type of entertainment you want and need

Make sure to have an idea of what you want from the get go. Are you looking for a particular style like jazz, swing, funk, Cover Band Top 40 or themed music? Most good bands can cover all styles of Music.

However, you need to know a few things before you go searching for your dream entertainment. The location, shape, size and technical specifications of your venue could impact on your final choice of band. Here are a few things to ask your venue:

1. Is there a dedicated space for the band, and how big is it? Will it fit a 3 piece, 5 piece or maybe even a 9 piece band?
2. Is there a changing room for the band? This gives the entertainers somewhere to get ready, and means they don’t have to hang out in the main venue before going on stage. They may also have a few hours of travelling behind them, so it’s in your and the band’s best interest that they can freshen up a bit.
3. Does the venue have any constraints like sound limiters? A sound limiter is a device installed to control the level of sound, and the band needs to know the details of the venue’s specific sound limiter.  If outside is there any laws that you must be aware of that the music must not go past a certain time due to city or county noise ordinances.
4. Is there a loading area so the band can quickly and easily get their gear into the venue? Is there somewhere they can park afterwards?   Will you have to pay for Valet parking if there is not another for the band to park their vehicles after load in.
5. What level of liability insurance is required and do they need any documentation from the band? Typically at least 2 Million is fairly common.
6. Most bands will ask for a vendor meal also

Now that you have armored yourself with lots of information it’s time to wade into the sea of entertainers and choose your preferred act. Although there are other services out there, we obviously recommend CK Entertainment Inc as the best place to look. This is because we have quality screening, replacement acts for unforeseen artist cancellations, and in addition the entire process.

Step 2: Supporting the Overall Theme of the Event

Once you have found a selection of bands within the style you want, and supporting the overall theme of the event, these are the things we recommend you do:

1. Listen to their audio tracks. This might be obvious, but the most important thing should come first.
2. Look at their videos. You want to make sure that they can deliver visually too. This can also be a good way of checking how they perform live. Although you can ask, actually seeing the act live can prove tricky as many function bands play at private and corporate events only.
3. Look at their pictures. As with point no. 2, presentation is important and you want to make sure that they look the part.
4. You can ask if you can see the band perform on an event, but do not count on this since many events are private and no a guests may be allowed or travel may be too far for you.

When you have decided on the act you want it’s time to secure them!  If you book the band directly make sure there is a contract in place as it will protect both you and the band. For agencies and platforms their T&Cs will act as the contract, so be sure to read these.

Step 3: Sit back and relax

Good news, most of the hard work is now officially over! Now you hand over the big stack of information provided to you by the venue as well as any other practical information, sit back and get ready to enjoy.

Well, most likely you will be rushing off to sort the catering, sending out invitations and enticing press to attend your product launch event, Corporate Event, Charity, Convention or a Wedding. But at least you can rest assured that the entertainment has been sorted!