Background
For a band to make a living from performing, you can’t quote from scratch and rehearse a new set every time. I wanted to run “live performance” as a product: a clear position, repeatable content, and packages I could pitch to different kinds of clients.
What I did
- Built a product line of shows. I designed a series of themed concept performances — “Real Taiwanese Soul”, “Drama Night”, “I Love Eason”, “Rock with Mayday”, “The Songs That Grew Up With Pixel” — each with a full setlist, visuals and a script, ready to pitch to government bodies, companies and shopping malls.
- Built distribution and credibility. Earned certified street-performer licences in seven cities/counties and used them as a base to work with public bodies and event agencies — recurring clients included the Workforce Development Agency, Taipei City and Yilan County cultural affairs bureaus, the Douliu City Office, SET TV’s creative marketing team and 7-Eleven’s North Region sales office.
- Led a team of three-plus. Owned rehearsals, roles, quoting, on-site delivery and wrap-up, plus equipment, transport and cost control.
- Gave back through performance. Scheduled charity sets for the Homeless Taiwan Association, the New Taipei Street Friend Outreach Association and the Children & Youth Hope Association.
Selected performances
- New Taipei Christmasland concert opener — ~10,000 in the audience
- Hualien Summer Festival concert opener — ~10,000 in the audience
- Yuanli Cihe Temple gala opener — ~6,000 in the audience
- Taipei City cultural affairs bureau — Shilin Residence chrysanthemum show
- Performing act at the Excellent Journalism Award ceremony
- Yilan County street-performer certification press conference
- 7-Eleven North Region events — 20+ shows
Outcome
100+ commercial performances over six years, opening for events such as New Taipei Christmasland and the Hualien Summer Festival (~10,000 people each), and selected as a role-model venture in the government’s “Phoenix Micro-Entrepreneurship” programme.
Running a band taught me the same thing HR later would: take a craft and turn it into something you can deliver, measure and scale — and bring a group of people along to do it well.