MU50167E Session Script

Session 5 The Promoters

BOLD MEANS ADVANCE THE PREZI
In your previous session you studied the booking agents and saw how a contract and
contract rider is issued.
You will examine the role of the promoter in this session, which has three parts.

1. What Do They Do?

The promoter is the final person in our live music business relationship. In the US they are
known as promoters, and also as talent buyers. Whatever the terminology may be, the
promoters goal is simple: Put bums on seats. This means the promoter takes an event
a concert, puts it into a suitable venue, and sells tickets to the public. Hopefully, a lot
of people will but tickets to that event, and the promoter will make some profit.
There is an enormous risk involved with concert promotion, but a promoter who wants to be
successful will look at turning a profit over the long term by developing good relationships
with the booking agents; good relationships with the agent means direct access to the
agents roster and her more successful acts for future concerts.
It is important to understand that this is what I mean by promoter people who put on gigs
and tours. I will include club promoters in these sessions but I do not mean promoters as in
people who hand out flyers or clubs (also called PRs). Yes. These people are promoting
(marketing the show or club night) but are not promoting in the industry-accepted sense of
the word.
The mechanism of concert promotion has not changed finds bands and pit bums on seats
but the role of the promoter has definitely changed.
The promoters role has become more like the old record company role. We do a lot of
groundwork with the bands from the beginning, we work a band, do the press, TV, radio, set
ups; that is a big change. Thomas Johansson, Live Nation. (Austin, 2013)

2. Who Are They?

MU50167E Session Script 2015 Andy Reynolds Page 1 of 4

The screen shows our chart of venue types. The type of venue will determine who promotes
the show. For instance, smaller capacity venues, and large clubs such as Fabric, will
probably have an in-house promoter, or booker, who is responsible for booking acts into
that venue. On the other end of the scale, venues such as stadiums and arenas will be hired
by promoters, usually the larger national promoters listed below, in order that they put on a
concert there. The arena itself is NOT the promoter and make no money from the selling of
tickets, although they will make money from the hire of the venue, food and beverage sales,
car parking, and other fees.
Most promoting today is done by companies that (like booking agencies) consist of a number
of individual promoters

Live Nation 23,000 concerts per year, selling $4.73 billion of tickets in 2014.
AEG
OCSEA based in Mexico City and the largest concert promoter in Latin America
T4F based in Brazil
SJM Concerts - UK
Frontier Touring - USA
Chugg Entertainment - Australia
MCD - Ireland
FKP-Scorpio Germany
SFX USA

Live Nation
AEG
SJM Concerts
Metropolis
DF Concerts
MCD
Goldenvoice

UK

Festivals & events (Brands)

Festival Republic
Mama Group
Broadwick Live
SFX Entertainment
Clubs
Look out for x, by arrangement with Y, present, where x is the promoter and Y the booking
agent.

3. How Do They Do What They Do?

MU50167E Session Script 2015 Andy Reynolds Page 2 of 4

So, promoters put bums on seats in order to make money. But how does the promoter know
what shows or tours to put on?
Baskerville, (2013) offers the following preliminary considerations for the promoter:
1) What are the artists fees and available dates?
Once promoters have connected with the acts agent, they may make preliminary
inquiries about the artists usual fees and available dates. These inquiries can set in
motion the preparatory steps necessary for a successful concert promotion, such as
placing a hold on a particular concert hall for a particular date in anticipation of a
formal booking.
Artist avails screen shot
2) What are the possible venues?
In many communities, the most attractive venues are booked months or years in
advance. Securing open dates can be difcult, and open dates are useless without
the coincidental availability of the featured acts. In selecting venues, promoters can
usually rent the facility for a at fee or a at fee plus a percentage of the gross ticket
sales.
3) What does the venue offer?
Venue management generally furnishes the stage manager, box ofce manager,
maintenance crew, and ushers. A facility may also provide security, or the city may
require promoters to hire security personnel based on the reputation of the acts
audiences. A venue may also offer promoters an option called four-walling. In fourwalling, the promoter takes all the ticket sales money and assumes full nancial risk
if ticket sales are insufcient to cover some of the operating costs that would
otherwise be absorbed by the venue.
4) What is the gross potential?
Here, promoters must be cautious to estimate costs accurately. For example, a
facility that seats 1,000 for a show with tickets at $20 each will obviously gross
$20,000 if the show is a sellout. But few shows actually sell out, and even if every
seat is sold, expenses that arent anticipated may gobble up any prot.
Promoters may more often come out ahead when they locate a 5,000-seat arena,
book a headliner, and pull together enough money to nance an extensive
promotional campaign. Regardless of a venues potential number of ticket sales,
MU50167E Session Script 2015 Andy Reynolds Page 3 of 4

experienced promoters dont budget for a concert thats standing room only (SRO)
but for a 60% house, meaning that 40% of the tickets just wont sell. Theatre
managers have used this 60% house gure since the 1800s in planning their concert
promotion budgets.
After the promoter has worked out a preliminary budget based on all the information
gathered, its time to contact the artists agent and make an offer.
The Offer
The promoter has to make an offer to the act, via the booking agent. She must therefore
calculate the gross potential and this involves working out a ticket price.
Artist fees and ticket prices.
The promoters make offers following the procedures outlined. If accepted, the booking agent
issues a contract. The contract is between the promoter and the artist. The promoter has to
then pay the deposit stipulated in the contract usually 50% of the guarantee.

MU50167E Session Script 2015 Andy Reynolds Page 4 of 4