Overview of Concert and Live Event Promotion

1. Music Business Essentials
LIVE EVENT
& CONCERT PROMOTION
© 2006 musicbizclasses.com

2. Live Performance Intro
• The Live Performance Business includes:
– Club gigs
– Festivals, Fairs
– Charity Events
– Corporate National Meetings
– Live Concerts & Tours
– College campus events
• The Key Players are:
– The Artist
– The Booking Agent
– The Talent Buyer
– The Promoter
© 2006 musicbizclasses.com

3. The Artist & Live Performance
•New artists: Self-booking
– Send Press Kit with demo to local venue
booking managers
– Paid on a percentage of door or per draw
– “Pay to Play”
•Established artists: Hire a dedicated
talent or booking agent to:
– Work with promoters to book venues
– Plan overall tour strategy & budget
– Price tickets
– Negotiate contracts
– Commission approx. 10%
© 2006 musicbizclasses.com

4. The Talent Buyer
What a Talent Buyer does:
• Works as an employee of a venue or as
a contract employee to several venues
• Finds, develops and books talent exclusively
for the venue or venues for which they work
• Assumes no or very little financial risk
in presenting live events
• Talent buyers generally specialize in genres,
venues, or markets
–Usually Regional, Local, or College
© 2006 musicbizclasses.com

5. The Promoter
What a promoter does:
• assumes full responsibility for all financial
and operational aspects of throwing a
live event
• Take on 100% risk for success of a concert,
tour and/or venue
• Works with all genres and event types-
music, sports, family entertainment
• 2 Types of Promoters:
– Independent Promoters
– Venue Owners
© 2006 musicbizclasses.com

6. The Promoter
What a promoter does:
• Develops the complete vision for the event
or series of events
• Puts together the business plan
• Raises the funds
• Rents, manages or owns the facility
• Books all the talent/events for a specific
venue or live performance series
• Negotiates all contracts- talent, merchandising,
rental, support team, etc.
• Develops Marketing and Promotions plan
• Sell tickets
• Manages or hires management team for on-site
/day of event(s)
© 2006 musicbizclasses.com

7. National Promoters
Live Nation (spun off from Clear Channel)
AEG Worldwide
House of Blues
PromoWest Promotions
© 2006 musicbizclasses.com

8. The Agent
• Promoters and Artists usually work
through a “booking” or “talent agent”
or a “middle agent”
(if you are an unknown promoter).
Top agents include:
• William Morris
• Creative Artists Agency (CAA)
• International Creative Management (ICM)
• Monterey Peninsula Artists/Paradigm
• Booking Agents will negotiate deal
on behalf of artist (client) with
promoter
© 2006 musicbizclasses.com

9. Promoter & Agent:
Sample Deal Points
• Typical Negotiations between a
Promoter and the Booking agent
(representing an artist) for live music
events include:
• Artist fees- guaranteed fee plus
% of ticket sales
• Billing
• Available dates
• Venue
• Event personnel- stage manager, crew,
box office, merchandising
• Split Point
• Rider- additional requests for artists © 2006 musicbizclasses.com

10. Promoter Deals
In addition to the artist agreement,
the promoter must also sign contracts
with:
•Venue Management
•Lighting and Sound companies
•Insurance companies
•Transportation
•Catering
•Merchandising
•Ticketing company
•Plus: Police and Fire Departments require
agreements regarding safety and security
regulations
© 2006 musicbizclasses.com

11. Generating Revenue
It is the promoters responsibility generate
revenue for events via:
– Tickets sales
– Sponsorship sales
Promotional avenues include:
• Advertising- paid spots in Magazines,
Newspapers, Radio & TV
• Publicity/PR- free placements in all media
via interviews, reviews, video clips
• Sponsorships include:
• Record Company
• Radio Stations
• Arena Sponsorships
• Corporate Sponsors
• College Sponsors © 2006 musicbizclasses.com

12. Getting started…
• Volunteer to help on fundraising
concerts or events
• Help book campus events- via Student Life
Office
• Work for local promoters
• Work or intern at major venues;
work or intern at a talent agency
© 2006 musicbizclasses.com

13. Getting started…
• Develop your own niche with a group
of artists you are helping develop and promote
• Organize an annual local event
• Work or intern as an in-house talent buyer
at a smaller venue
• Approach a smaller venue for
“exclusive” booking rights
© 2006 musicbizclasses.com

14. Resources for Promoters
• Billboard & Billboard.biz
(Industry News- Touring)
• Radio & Records
• Pollstar.com
• NACA.org
• Conferences:
– Billboard Touring Conference
© 2006 musicbizclasses.com

15. For Educational Use Only
This slide presentation is part
of the Music Business Essentials series.
Contact
info@musicbizclasses.com
for more information
© 2006 musicbizclasses.com