Can I Pay to Play if I Want To?

Sometimes artists just starting out will ask us, “Can I just choose to pay to play, and buy my own tickets so I can play a show?” Our answer to this is unequivocally no.

To be clear, Afton is adamantly against Pay to Play. We never want artists to buy their own tickets. So even if the artist wants to Pay to Play, we do not allow them to. If we find that an artist is doing this, we will stop booking them.

We believe that with the right tools, strategies, and with our help almost any artist no matter where they are at in their career is capable of selling 20 advance tickets in their home region. If an artist is truly unable to do that, we may in some cases choose to make an exception, but at the very least we will try to teach that artist how to grow their fan base in a way that is constructive and helpful. Buying your own tickets to play a show doesn’t teach you how to grow your fan base and promote yourself. You can’t take shortcuts. It takes effort to grow your fan base. After all, nothing that is worth doing is ever easy.

Afton focuses on empowering unsigned artists and showing them that they do have the ability to self-promote and improve their promotion skills to the point where they can see effective results. Where other promoters or players in the music industry might tell an unsigned artist that they “can’t make it,” Afton is here to not only tell you that “YOU CAN,” but to give you the support and tools you need to be the best musician, best marketer, and the best artist you can be.