A successful corporate event is not the one where the band plays best. It is the one your teams are still talking about on Monday morning. Here are six ways to bring in live music so everyone takes part.
And not just in the evening: live music works at any time. Our jam in Ghent started at 5 pm; a lunch, an afterwork or the end of a seminar work just as well.
1. The show
The simplest, and often the most effective. A live band, a setlist built so the energy keeps rising, and an audience invited to sing the choruses. The difference from a regular concert is the way we work the room: the singer gets teams singing, sets challenges between tables, calls a director on stage for a chorus. Within an hour, the room is united.
2. The corporate jam
Your accounting team might be hiding a drummer. The corporate jam puts your colleagues on stage, backed live by real musicians. The shyest come up in groups for a chorus, the amateur musicians get their moment of glory.
To make it work:
- Find out in advance who wants to sing or play, and which instrument.
- Amateur musicians ideally bring their own instrument. Otherwise, plan a rental: in Ghent, our client rented a guitar, a bass and a drum kit especially, so our musicians didn't have to lend their working instruments.
The people who go on stage are not always the ones you expect. In Ghent, an employee picked up the acoustic guitar and sang in front of the whole team, backed by the band. That kind of moment builds bridges between departments.
3. The live music quiz
The band plays the opening notes, teams compete to name the song, then the whole room sings the chorus. It is playful, just competitive enough, and perfect for breaking the ice at a seminar where teams barely know each other.
4. The custom song
Find someone in-house, or ask the band, to rewrite the lyrics of a hit with the company's story and in-jokes. When the whole room sings it, it quickly becomes the company's unofficial anthem.
It works for more personal moments too. For a retirement, a song written in tribute to the person leaving, sung by their colleagues, is deeply moving, and a memory they will keep for life.
5. The acoustic break
You don't need a big event to bring teams together. At lunchtime or at the end of the day, an hour of solo guitar and vocals or a cajon duo: a small sound system, a few mics passed around, and everyone sings together, no fuss. One-off or regular, easy to organise, and remarkably effective for team spirit.
6. The two-part format
A warm acoustic atmosphere during the cocktail, then the full band turns the room into a dance floor. That shift in energy marks the move from business to party, and gives everyone permission to let go.
Announce the band in advance
This is the most underrated tip. Corporate events often struggle with attendance: people don't really know what to expect, and they'd rather go home. If they know there will be a band, have seen a video and understood the spirit of the event, they are more likely to come, and to take part.
- Introduce the band internally, with a video or our brochure.
- Send a short survey to find out your teams' favourite songs.
- Ask who would like to sing or play with the band.
When you invest in an event, it is so that everyone takes part and grows closer, including the shyest, who are less used to coming.
Share the full schedule
The party part has to come at the right time, before the first people leave, and that time depends on your event: a gala dinner, an afterwork and a seminar don't have the same rhythm.
Speeches, awards, games, activities: give the band every detail of the programme. We have sometimes discovered a major activity in the middle of an event on arrival, which forced us to play less or to lift the mood at the wrong time. The more we know, the better we can place the music at exactly the right moments.
And think about placement: during a cocktail, guests gather around the bar and stay there. The band should be close to them, not in a corner.
We have worked with Ingram Micro five years in a row, Argenx and many others. Discover our corporate formats.
Carl, for JamBag
