what would be a good endorsement deal?

[JofZ]

What would be considered a reasonable endorsement deal with a touring musician of good reputation frequently fronting bigger acts? What would be required of the endorser in return?
Free gear is not an option.

Great questions Alex!

Endorsements in my mind are always some sort of commercial contract. An obligation the talent makes in return for goods or financial reward. If you are on tour with say an A list group or artist and opening for them I would say you are already benefiting from substantial exposure. You are selling t-shirts, hats, posters, cd's and hopefully you are playing well enough to attract the attention of who ever is around during your set. Typically, the first ones to see any benefit from being attached to you are the gear companies. They will offer you free stuff in return for you basically selling your soul to them, yes that is how it works. You play their guitar, amp what ever and nothing else exists. You are seen smiling with it when ever you are in public and you build their sales.
If we take free gear out of it, the only thing left is demo's, and advertising.
You'l be required to visit music stores, play songs for small groups, make sure you talk about that amp, or guitar (after all, you tone is coming from it :) ) and off you go from town to town. If you are lucky you'll appear in ads across magazines, and maybe even land some studio demo's.

From where I sit, there is no reason to be a sell out unless you benefit financially. Free gear is really silly in the end. Companies like Mesa have never given anything away and they never have a problem attracting the pros. I say make em pay for your stuff and never offer an endorsement. This isn't the NBA :)

[PeeWee]

I know a few guys who have endorsement deals with various companies. Very few get the product for gratis as well as payments. One of my best friends who is a drummer that I work with weekly has deals in place with Remo, PorkPie, Vic Firth, Zildjian and a few others. He's one of the few that gets all his stuff on the cuff and receives a very nice check every quarter; he's pulling in 6 figures from his endorsements alone. The only requirement is that he be seen in public playing and using the products. It also doesn't hurt that he's recorded and played with some top tier musicians in Jazz, Blues and Rock. He's also on Remo's R&D team and has a best selling book available through Hal Leonard Publishing.

The other folks get deals in which they get product at cost through the manufacture and will receive a year's free product if they are used in an ad campaign. GHS, Eden, Epiphone, D'Addario, Peavey & Gibson are a few companies working this way with a number of guys I know. Most of these manufacturers require that you work steadily, have product ( ie: recordings) and have faith in that you're on your way to the next level.

However, one has to wonder just how some of these players are getting the deals. When I see their schedules, they work maybe 3-4 times each month at local joints. A few are nowhere near being in the top tier of talent in the area and when compared to working schedules of others, appear to be "weekend warriors". I'd tried to get a deal with GHS at one point but stopped using their products and gave up on the idea; I can't justify endorsing something that I'm not completely satisfied with. Anson Funderburgh had tried to get me to become an endorsee for Dr. Z amps about 3 years ago, but I'm a Fender guy and always have been. I like a few of the amps they're producing but not enough for me to give up using my '66 Deluxe Reverb or '59 Deluxe.

[soulsonic]

Here's my take on the situation with total unknowns and endorsements: It seems to me that alot of less experienced players get endorsement mixed up with sponsorship. When a company gives a relatively unknown player free strings or maybe a guitar at dealer cost and possibly a little blurb in an ad, the player isn't so much an endorser as he is someone who's being sponsored by the company. It's sort of the opposite of an endorsement. Companies want big names to endorse their products so fans of those artists will want to buy that same equipment. But why would a company be interested with an endorsement by an unknown? I think it's just the same kind of sponsorship like you'd see with other things - they throw the unknowns a little bone so they get some free advertising at shows or something by requiring a banner being prominently displayed, etc... it seems like its alot cheaper to give out a bunch of free strings and picks than it is to run full-page ads in the big magazines. The sponsored "endorsers" then become a pseudo "street-team" for the company.

[PeeWee]

Here's my take on the situation with total unknowns and endorsements: It seems to me that alot of less experienced players get endorsement mixed up with sponsorship. When a company gives a relatively unknown player free strings or maybe a guitar at dealer cost and possibly a little blurb in an ad, the player isn't so much an endorser as he is someone who's being sponsored by the company. It's sort of the opposite of an endorsement. Companies want big names to endorse their products so fans of those artists will want to buy that same equipment. But why would a company be interested with an endorsement by an unknown? I think it's just the same kind of sponsorship like you'd see with other things - they throw the unknowns a little bone so they get some free advertising at shows or something by requiring a banner being prominently displayed, etc... it seems like its alot cheaper to give out a bunch of free strings and picks than it is to run full-page ads in the big magazines. The sponsored "endorsers" then become a pseudo "street-team" for the company.

I never really thought of it in those terms but damned if it doesn't make a ton of sense. Great observation, soulsonic!