Transcript Music Business Handbook and Career Guide

Part 5: Live Music
Chapter 16
Start Thinking. . .
 Brainstorm all the factors you believe contribute to a
successful, well-planned concert.
Chapter Goals
 Gain awareness of alternative ways concerts may be
sponsored, financed.
 Learn realistic concert budgeting.
 Acquire understanding of how contracts may be
negotiated with artists, talent agents, venue managers,
and service companies.
 Discover effective concert promotion techniques.
 Learn production planning and methods of backtiming.
Concert Production
 Live music leaves a vast economic footprint
 Boosts record sales
 Increases demand for merchandise
 Three key players in the concert promotion industry:
 the event promoter
 the artist’s manager
 the tour-booking agent
Concert Promotion
 National promoters
 coordinate tours
 need local promoters
 negotiate share of net receipts
 Local promoters
 recommend venues, seating arrangements, promotional
tie-ins
 Key responsibilities of promoters
Getting Started
 Competitive pressures have led to consolidation in the
concert promotion industry
 Still room for small start-up promotion ventures
 Some book acts of their own before established
promoters take an interest in them
 Others serve on their college campus’s entertainment
committee
 Others put together performances to raise funds for a
charity or other organization in need
Getting Started
The Cost of Doing Business
 Initial investment of cash is required
 Promoters need cash to cover their expenses before the
first ticket may be sold
 There may be fees associated with establishing a
concert promotion company
Booking the Artist
Finding the Artist
 Promoters responsible for booking the full lineup of
artists
 opening acts should be suitable for the headliner’s
audience
 should not overshadow the main talent
 Contracts spell out how headliners and opening acts
are presented in advertising and promotion materials
 “Promoter of record”
Making an Offer
 The agent
 who represents whom?
 preliminaries
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what are artists’ fees and available dates?
what are possible venues?
what does the venue offer?
what is the venue’s potential?
 The offer
The Art of the Deal
 Negotiating artists’ fees
 split point
 deal point
 Potential versus reality
 net potential = gross potential – unsold/free tickets
 written agreements
 Control sheets
 see Table 16.2 on page 278 of textbook for an example of
how to back-time tasks
Contracts
 Face page
 Technical rider
 deal breaker
 finer points open to negotiation
 Sometimes rider requirements that can kill a deal
 The finer points of the rider can be negotiated and
may depend on several factors
Marketing
 Online and mobile
 artist and venue websites
 online ticket sales
 ads on third-party websites
 Radio and television
 television advertising can be used to reach a broad
audience
 Radio is cheaper, with a narrower demographic focus, a
combination which often makes the medium a good
advertising vehicle
Marketing
 Direct mail and email
 mailing lists tend to be small
 syndicated print mailing lists include thousands or tens
of thousands of consumers
 no postage and paper costs with email, but consumers
are weary of promotional barrages
 Print media
 include newspapers and magazines
 the main print buy is the “alternative” print media of
free weekly newspapers
Advertising Production
 More and more, artists themselves control
production of the commercials and print advertising
 Ad mat
 Nationally touring acts typically employ one set of
advertising materials that can be used for all their
concerts with minor customizing for a local venue
and date
 Professional production companies typically produce
higher quality commercials
Publicity and Public Relations
 Non-paid marketing function includes:
 issuing press releases
 providing news outlets with video and audio clips
 generating favorable news coverage by making artists
available for press interviews
 Postering/street teams
 placing posters in prominent locations with heavy foot
traffic
 temporary hires wearing identical clothing placing
posters and passing out fliers
Sponsorships
 Record company sponsorships
 Local radio station sponsorships
 Venue and corporate sponsorships
 College sponsorships
The Future of Live
 “Live” events transmitted as cable pay-per-view, to
movie theaters via closed circuit, or via online video
 3D hologram performances
 Electronic substitutes will never take the place of live
artists
For Further Thought. . .
 What is a split point and how does it affect a
promoter?
 What possible complications could arise from venue or
corporate sponsorships?
 What are a promoter’s options for filling up a venue
when ticket sales are weak?