Promoters are often shady and take advantage of artists. I have pointed this out in several blogs on here. But not all promoters are snakes. Not all promoters want to screw the artists over. The one thing all promoters have in common is they invest their own money into booking shows. They have to pay for artist travel, hotel, riders, venue cost, ticket cost, promotional materials, and much more. This can be a very expensive venture and a promoter wanting to protect themselves so they do not continue to hemorrhage money hosting shows should be acceptable. At the same time not every artist is shady. They all don't want to get on shows for free, be allowed to not sell any tickets or get fans in the door, or have nothing invested in the shows they do. This blog is here to clear up my thoughts on show promotion and how in the end everyone can make money and be happy.
One of the most popular and shady promoter tactics is called Pay to Play. I recently started planning a
show here in Tucson and was accused of this tactic. So this blog is my response to this accusation and hopefully a better understanding of what the term means and why what I do is not pay to play.
The most simple explanation is this, paying to play is where artists pay the promoter a certain amount of money to secure a spot on the show. That money gets the artist nothing in return except a 10-20 min slot on the show. The artist gives the promoter the cash and gets no money in return. Quite simply they "Pay to Play." The biggest problem with this is that most promoter that do this do not care about the show. They only care about the money. They will book 10-15 openers at $150-200 per opener and essentially make their money off of the artist. They don't care about getting fans in the door or "Promoting" the show. To them their money is made off the openers. This leads to minimal crowds for the headliners and really poor performances. By doing this these promoters ruin tours and shows for everyone. All the benefits are on the promoters side.
Another tactic promoters use is having openers sell tickets to secure the spot. They will consign the openers a certain number of tickets (25-50 usually) and have them give them the money from the sales the day of the show. This is a perfect scenario for the artist. They get the tickets and are expected to sell them to secure the spot. There are three major problems with this. First all of the money from those sales is expected to be handed over to the promoter the day of the show. So the artist once again makes no money. It becomes a pay to play scenario which brings in fans by the artists hustling ticket instead of the promoter. These shows have a better turn out because of this but the artist is still without payment. The second problem is in the fact that the artists don't have to sell the tickets, they simply have to give the promoter the cash the day of the show. So this still allows for artists with minimal skills or hustle to get onto shows and not have to bring one person in the door. And finally if the artists do not sell tickets and show up with no money the promoter is really assed out and either has to let them perform or have a huge hole in their lineup. The benefits work more in the artists benefit here but still leave the financial benefit in the promoters hands.
The final way of promoting and booking a show is what I prefer. I ask the artists put a deposit on the tickets I ask them to sell. In this case I am asking the artist "buy" 25 tickets from me for $6 per ticket. This means when they pick up the tickets I receive $150. After they have the tickets they are allowed to sell them for $8 per ticket and keep all of the money from the sales, this is $200. So by selling the 25 tickets required they make $50 in the end. After the 25 tickets I sell them tickets at $4 per ticket and they sell them for $8 per ticket making $4 for every ticket they sell. So lets do some simple math:
Artist buys 25 tickets at $6 per ticket-I (promoter) get $150
They sell them for $8 per ticket- They (Artist) get $200. A $50 profit in their pocket.
Lets say they sell another 25. They purchase them from me for $4/ticket- I get another $100.
They sell those for $8/ticket. They get $200. Another $100 in profit.
So as you can see in this scenario I as the promoter am able to protect my investment in the show, the artists has a chance to make some good money with their hustle in ticket sales, and the fans are brought to the show because of the sales. This is the closest thing to a win-win in the business. The artist does take risk in the ticket deposit but that is mitigated when they sell the tickets. I as the promoter take a risk someone will "pay to play" and not bring anyone in the door but that is mitigated by the fact the artists have an opportunity to make money. I don't know anyone in their right mind knowing they can sell 25 tickets that wouldn't take the risk in the deposit to make $50 or more.
No situation is perfect and all can be abused. But I can promise any artist I work with an honest and fair deal that can be mutually beneficial. I can also promise that any artist on my shows that "pay to play" will never be asked to do any of my shows again. I am willing to give anyone a chance until they burn me. I want artists that are willing to put in as much effort as me in promoting, getting fans in the door, and putting on the best shows in Tucson.
We need to start being fair and helping each other make money. We need to get away from the me first attitude. The what are you going to do for me while I do nothing for you mentality. I would love to get your thoughts and opinions so feel free to let me know!
MMFWFL,
Juggalotus
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