Music Promoters who work with mega stars who sell out huge venues can make some serious money. But music promoters can easily find themselves working all day, every day, and only getting deeper into debt. Many music promoters have a day job that supports their promotion job. For becoming music promoters, a clear understanding of the money involved is needed, and there is a need to make deals with bands and venues very carefully. For any given show, music promoters’ expenses include: Venue rental, Advertising (posters, newspaper/magazine advertisements, etc), Backline rentals, Accommodation for the band, Rider and Payment for the band.
There are ways of mitigating some of the expenses involved in promoting, and for staying in this for the long haul, cutting costs as much as possible is needed. For instance, the band/label/agent is required to print posters and send them, instead of taking that cost on self. Accommodation should not be provided if the band’s show is not going to generate enough money to cover the costs, or if it is must, the band ought to be put up at the house.
Some of the expenses can also be cut down by working under a door split deal arrangement, instead of paying the band a set fee. That way, one can make all of the money back first, and then the band gets paid if the individual gets paid. Bigger artists will balk at this kind of deal and will want a set fee – paying a set fee is fine, and even ideal, when working with a band who will sell enough tickets to recoup the costs. But if the band putting on with, is just building a name for themselves, a door split deal is fair for everyone. It should be ensured that the band try to sell some merchandise at the show to give some extra money. The truth is that many shows lose money, especially the shows featuring new bands. As long as no one is withholding earnings from the band, it is perfectly OK to set up the shows so that one can lose as little as possible. Most up and coming bands will recognize that and will work. After all, if one succeeds, they succeed. Being fair to both parties – including self – is the name of the game.