expenses. That way, if an unexpected expense occurs, within the defined 10% boundary of
course, the production can still remain inside the planned financial parameters.
Once the venue fees are defined, and the venue itself contracted, the act’s technical rider
needs to be addressed, and the relevant live production gear and services obtained and
secured. Stage, light, and sound can be a major part of the budget, and is absolutely
crucial element of the live performance. Local and regional live production companies that
provide such equipment and services are versed in the technical details and execution of
an act’s rider, and it is often enough to simply share a copy of the rider with them
in order to obtain an accurate price for their engagement, including all the necessary equipment
and personnel. Like the venue, this entity normally requires a down payment at the signing
of the contract, and the remainder of the agreed upon sum on the day of the concert,
prior to loading and assembling the gear.
The act’s transportation and hospitality rider would be the next in line. The rider
may specify the details of these two areas that are to be organized by the promoter,
or the act may only define the mode of transportation they will utilize to arrive on location, as
well as the quality of hotels they will use, but prefer to organize it all themselves,
and simply bill the promoter accordingly. In either case, the expenses for these items
are easily researched and defined, and should not differ drastically between the “estimated”
and the “actual” columns on the settlement sheet. The catering is also specified in the
same rider, and is normally organized and contracted by the promoter according to the
rider’s specifications.
The next budget item to define is the promotional budget. The promotional budget for a live
performance needs to reflect and be in balance with the overall scope of the event. It is
usually recommended that this figure should be around 20% of the total cost of the production.
It should be further subdivided into the planned funds for different kinds of promotion: print,
broadcast media, Internet, etc. This is also a good time to contact all the possible coop
ads partners, such as radio stations, music stores, or any other local businesses that
might want to place their ads with the local media, which would include a mention of the
live performance being organized, and share the cost with the promoter.
Ticket printing, and ticket sales mechanisms need to be budgeted as well. The venue may
have a contract with one of the online ticket sales companies, and it may be a requirement,
or an option of the promoter’s contract with the venue to use the venue’s online
ticket sales company. If not, the promoter needs to contract an online ticket sales company
of the promoter’s choice to handle the Internet based sales, and a number of businesses in
the area to serve as the physical ticket sales points. In addition, the operation of the
venue’s box office needs to be contracted and budgeted as well.
The ushering, entry points and parking management, security, and basic back stage management
budget will depend on the size of the venue and on the consequent number of workers needed.
The venue may have these type of services offered as well, and the promoter might decide
to have these budget items defined and contracted within the venue contract itself. If not,
each one of these services would need to be staffed, budgeted and contracted separately.
And now that all the budgeting, scheduling, and organization is done, including arranging
for all the licenses and insurance we talked about earlier in this module remember?, all
that’s left to do is stick to the plan, and execute it in a disciplined and methodical
way. The weather, traffic, ticket sales, profits and loses, are at that point in somebody else’s
hands, a little further up the chain of command.