Booking FAQ

About Magnus Music

Charlottesville VA-based Live Music and DJ booking and promotional company

We book and promote for Rapture Restaurant, The Whiskey Jar, Hollys Diner, Moe’s BBQ, Commonwealth Skybar and help fill the calendar at The Southern Cafe & Music Hall.

Bands: Please read the information on this page before contacting us.  It answers some of our most frequently asked questions.

After reading the FAQ feel free to contact us by clicking on the button below.

Contact Us

Fill in the contact form or email booking@magnusmusicllc.com.  PICK ONE, don’t message all outlets. The more you spam us, the less likely we are to respond or book your band. We don’t have the time to respond to every inquiry we get, so if we don’t get back assume we either don’t want to book you or don’t have anything available for you in the near future.

Venue Info/Requirements

Venues have certain expectations for genres, full bands vs. soloists, etc. Please review these and make sure your act falls into the necessary categories prior to requesting to be booked at a particular venue:
  •  The Whiskey Jar: Full bands only, only booking late nights on Fridays and Saturdays, accepted genres are folk, bluegrass, americana, blues, jazz, country, rockabilly, and rock n’ roll. Must bring PA, must have 2.5 hours of material (covers and originals are both welcome), must be high energy.
  • Rapture: Rapture has a variety of live music and DJs, however we are primarily responsible for booking the late night Wednesday slot, called the Charlottesville Music Showcase. CMS bands must be high energy, and we’re usually looking for funk, rock, jam, EDM, jazz fusion, and reggae, or bands that appeal to fans of those genres. All CMS shows require 2.5 hours of material. The house provides pro PA and sound.

Do:

  • Send us links to your YouTube, Bandcamp, Facebook, and any other social media you think we need to see. Definitely include at least one place to actually listen to your music.
  • Include a *short* bio in your email. Genres are important, as are “sounds like”/”for fans of” type descriptions. No life stories or large works of speculative fiction please. Keep your NaNoWriMo submissions to yourself.
  • If you’re a touring act, send us your target dates, or at least a general timeframe you want to be booked in.
  • Send us hi-res promo material, tour ad mat, etc. after confirming a date.

Don't:

  • Spam us nonstop with emails, FB messages, etc., especially that stupid thing where you Re: your own email repeatedly with a “Just circling back around on this one” every day. Passive-aggressive comments and page posts on FB are also a good way to never get booked.
  • Argue over what the venue pays, especially if it’s your first time out at that particular venue. The venue (not us) decides what they want to pay bands, so haggling just wastes your time and ours. If you don’t like the guarantee, don’t take the gig. Alternately take the gig and blow their minds with your massive musical talent and huge draw so they want to pay you more next time.