Live Performance Agreements: Getting the Show in Writing

The short version

A live performance agreement is the agreement between an artist and whoever is putting on a show. It covers one show: where and when it is, the schedule from load-in to the set, how the artist is paid and when, what each side provides on the day, and what happens if the show is cancelled. Settling those things in writing before anyone travels leaves less to argue about on the night.

Who the two parties are

The artist is the act that plays the show, whether a solo performer or a band. It signs under its legal name, and the agreement can also give the name it performs under.

The promoter is whoever is putting on the show and paying for it. That can be a person, a venue that books its own nights, or a company that runs events.

How the artist gets paid

Show deals come in four common shapes.

Flat guarantee. A fixed fee, owed whatever the ticket sales. If the guarantee is $800, the artist is owed $800 whether 40 people come or 400.

Door split. The artist takes a percentage of the ticket money after agreed expenses, with no fixed fee. Reported splits run from 70/30 to 85/15 in the artist's favor. Say tickets bring in $3,000 and the agreed expenses come to $1,000. On an 80/20 split, the artist gets 80% of the $2,000 left, which is $1,600, and the promoter keeps $400.

Versus deal. The artist receives the guarantee or the percentage, whichever is greater. Take $1,000 versus 70% of net box office receipts. If net receipts come to $1,200, 70% is $840, which is less than the guarantee, so the artist is paid $1,000. If they come to $2,000, 70% is $1,400, so the artist is paid $1,400. The artist gets one figure or the other, never the two added together.

Guarantee plus percentage. The artist gets the guarantee, plus a share of whatever the ticket money reaches above an agreed split point. Take a $500 guarantee plus 60% of net receipts above $1,500. If net receipts come to $2,500, $1,000 sits above the split point, the artist's share of that is $600, and the artist is paid $1,100 in all.

keysig's live performance agreement is built around a guarantee. A share of ticket sales can be added to it, either as a versus deal, where the artist receives whichever is greater, or on top of the guarantee, paid on the net receipts left once the guarantee has been recovered.

What "net" means

Net is what is left of the ticket money after deductions. Typical deductions are sales and admission taxes and ticketing or card fees, and a door split can also take agreed show expenses off first. Disputes tend to come from deductions nobody listed, so a well-drafted agreement names each one.

In keysig's agreement, net box office receipts are the ticket money less sales and admission taxes, the ticketing and card processing fees actually charged, and any show expenses the two sides list. The promoter can make no other deduction without the artist's written approval.

Deposits and the balance

A deposit is part of the fee paid before the show. Half the fee, paid on or shortly after signing, is common, with the balance paid at or before the show.

In keysig's agreement, any deposit counts toward the guarantee. If it is not received when due, the artist may release the date and end the agreement by written notice. The two sides set when the balance is paid, for example before the set on the day, right after the set, or within three business days after the show, and can say how it is paid: bank transfer, cash or check. With no deposit, the sentence that sets one drops out.

Settlement on the night

Settlement is the count-up at the end of the show. Both sides go through the ticket count, the money taken and the deductions together, and work out what the artist is owed under the deal, including any share of ticket sales.

In keysig's agreement, on the night of the show the promoter gives the artist a written statement of the tickets sold, the gross receipts and every deduction. The artist's representative may be at the box office and review the ticketing reports, and the artist may inspect the promoter's records for the show for one year afterward. Any share of ticket sales is paid at settlement.

Riders and backline

A rider is the artist's list of what it needs at the show, and it usually comes in two parts. The technical side covers sound, monitors, lights, the stage, backline and who pays for any rentals. The hospitality side covers the dressing room, guest list places, and meals or a buyout in their place.

Backline is the stage equipment the band plays through, as distinct from each player's own instruments, and the agreement says who brings it.

In keysig's agreement, the promoter provides at its own cost a safe stage with adequate power, a professional sound and lighting system with competent operators, and a secure, private dressing area. The two sides choose who brings the backline: the artist, the promoter (with the artist bringing its own instruments), or the acts on the bill sharing it. The agreement can also set how many guest list places the promoter holds for the artist. Technical and hospitality needs can be written into the agreement, or a full rider agreed separately; a rider the promoter accepts in writing becomes part of the agreement.

Merchandise

The artist usually sells its own merchandise at the show. A venue fee of 10% to 20% of sales is common, and higher when the venue supplies the person selling it.

In keysig's agreement, the artist has the sole right to sell its merchandise at the venue, and the promoter provides a suitable, well-lit place to sell it at no charge. The artist keeps everything unless the agreement states a venue cut, such as 10%, 15% or 20% of sales.

Radius clauses

A radius clause stops the artist playing other shows within a set distance of the venue for a period around this one. It typically runs 60 to 100 miles, for 30 to 90 days either side of the show. Artists are commonly advised to narrow both the distance and the period.

keysig's agreement has no radius clause unless one is added. If it is, it names the distance and the period and applies to other publicly advertised shows, and the artist can still play one with the promoter's written consent.

Cancellation and force majeure

The cancellation terms say what each side owes if the show does not go ahead. A promoter who cancels usually forfeits the deposit, and a late cancellation can mean paying the full fee. An artist who cancels returns the deposit.

Force majeure covers events outside either side's control, such as severe weather, government orders and serious illness. Neither side is liable when one of them stops the show, and whether the deposit is kept or returned then varies from agreement to agreement.

In keysig's agreement:

• If the promoter cancels for a reason other than force majeure or the artist's breach, with at least the notice the two sides set, the artist keeps any deposit and nothing more is owed. On shorter notice, the promoter pays the full guarantee within ten days.
• If the artist cancels for a reason other than force majeure or the promoter's breach, it returns every payment within ten days and repays the promoter's documented advertising costs that cannot be recovered, up to the amount of the guarantee.
• If the promoter misses a payment, or fails to provide a safe stage and working production after being told and given a reasonable chance to fix it, the artist may decline to perform, and the full guarantee is still owed.
• If force majeure stops the show, both sides try in good faith to agree a new date. If none is agreed within ninety days, the artist returns any deposit, less its documented travel costs that cannot be recovered.
• Weather that does not make the show unsafe is not force majeure. If an outdoor show is cancelled or cut short by weather after the artist has arrived ready to perform, the full guarantee is still owed.

Recording and streaming

Usually the artist controls recording of its own performance, and the venue does not record, broadcast or stream the show without the artist's written consent.

keysig's agreement says no one may record, broadcast or livestream the show without the artist's prior written consent, and that the artist owns every recording of it. An exception can be added, such as short clips and photos to promote the venue and the show, a recording for the venue's archive that is not for release, or a livestream.

Licenses, permits and insurance

The promoter or the venue normally obtains the permits a show needs, the public performance licenses from the PROs and liability insurance, and provides security. Giving the license duty to one side in the agreement does not remove the other side's exposure if no license is held. PROs and registration explains what a PRO is.

In keysig's agreement, the promoter obtains and pays for every permit and license the show requires, including the PRO public performance licenses, carries commercial general liability insurance, and is responsible for the safety of the venue and for security for the artist and its equipment. The artist insures its own instruments and equipment, except for loss or damage caused by the promoter, the venue's staff or the audience.

How keysig helps

keysig's live performance agreement walks through one show a question at a time, and either side can draft it: you choose whether you are the artist or the promoter, and the other side signs opposite you. One agreement covers one show, so each date of a run gets its own.

Optional details left blank, like the set times, the act name, the deposit, the rider, travel, merch and a radius clause, drop out of the agreement cleanly. The start date, the venue, the show date, the set length, the guarantee, when the balance is paid, the cancellation notice and the governing law have to be filled in before it can be sent. Both sides sign electronically, and the signed copy stays in your account.