Live Music Archive

Three times in the last month I’ve been asked the question, “what do I need to do to organize a gig?” In reality, when this question is asked it could mean several things: How do I find a Club? How do I sort out the PA? How do I get an listeners? And so on.

But there is a stage before all of this: the budget. I would suggest that the moment you start thinking about organizing an gathering you ought to write a budget. This budget spreadsheet informs you of the majority things that you will need to contemplate and will likewise show you the risk, projected profit and the breakeven point. A sample spreadshhet is available to download from this address http://www.josaka.com/features/2005/Organize-A-Gig/Event-PandL.pdf

If the budget numbers do not look like they are working perhaps the get together is not the right thing to be running. If you do not like the level of risk, perhaps you aren’t cut out to be a  promoter.

So the start point is a spreadsheet. This should include all expenses and all incomes. The key headings for expenses should include: band cost, PA, lighting, Venue hire, marketing, box office expenses etc. The income is prefer ly to be largely ticket sales but don’t forget the chance to add a sponsor to the event.

The spreadsheet will advocate you work out the breakeven point for the party i.e. how a lot of tickets you need to sell to cover all expenses. Every sale beyond breakeven is of course profit (exluding any box office commision). The added bonus of creating an party spreadsheet is that advocates define all the key tasks to be performed.

The realisation of the forecasted numbers becoming actual figures suggests that all gatherings have got the deal they were looking for or agreed to. The sample speadsheet furthermore illustrates that anybody else involved in the concert is largely earning a fixed fee and and so the only person taking a financial risk is the  promoter.

So if you are thinking of organizing a live event I coomed you to work on the numbers 1st. This will help ensure you deliver a great show and have control over the resources.