Artist Booking Fees Made Simple

Let’s be honest, if any of us wanted to make money, we wouldn’t have chosen a career in live events. We all really want to pay artists fairly, but doing that AND keeping the event profitable often feels really hard to do. So whether you’re new to booking artists or an old hat at running live shows, you probably know that understanding artist booking fees is essential.

At Good Show we’ve used our own industry experience to put together a simple guide to explain the four most common artist payment models in the industry. Use this to help you decide which one works best for your event type, budget and risk level.

Alongside this guide, you can find downloadable spreadsheets which are 100% free to use and will hopefully take some of the work out of having to do it yourself!

Flat Fees

A flat fee is a fixed amount that is paid to the artist regardless of how well the show performs.

Pros:

• Easy to budget costs for
• No unpleasant surprises for either party
• Lower risk for artists

Cons:

• If ticket sales underpeform you could lose money
• Less incentive for the artist to promote the event
• Higher risk to the event organiser

Download our simple Flat Fee calculator HERE to find your breakeven point (how many tickets you need to sell) for your next show. You do not need to send this to artists or agents, it’s just a tool to help you perform a cost analysis of your events.

80/20 Revenue Share (after costs)

This is one of the most common fee structures when booking artists, especially with touring acts. Here, you offer a guarantee OR 80% of the revenue after your costs have been deducted. The final payout is whichever amount is higher. 

 We recommend always providing a clear breakdown of your costs when you make your offer to help avoid any disagreements later down the line. Make sure to carefully consider your costs when sending offers to agents and artists to avoid unnecessary losses. 

 Pros:

•  Both parties benefit from a successful event
• Your costs are covered 
• Higher incentive for artists to promote the event
• Lowered risk for artists

 Cons

•  If the artist has overestimated demand for the show they may be disappointed
• Higher risk for event organiser

 Download our 80/20 revenue share calculator HERE. You can also use this template as an offer sheet to send to touring artists and agents. 

80/20 Straight Split (No guarantee)

This model is more commonly found in comedy events. Here, no guarantee is agreed and instead the ticket revenue is simply shared - typically 80% to the artist and 20% to the venue.

 It is not uncommon in this model to exclude promoter costs before the split is calculated. It can be worth discussing if a small allowance can be provided here, particularly if you are a small venue and might struggle to cover costs on 20% of sales.

 Pros:

• Higher profit potential for artists
• Simple revenue sharing structure

 Cons:

•  No guaranteed income for either party
• 20% of sales may not be enough to cover promoter costs

Custom Revenue Splits

This is a flexible variation of the 80/20 model. Here you can set a custom percentage split based on your agreement with the artist, calculated after event costs have been covered. 

 Pros:

• Tailored to fit the event type and expected demand
• Gives promoters the potential to retain more than 20%
• More appealing to newer or independent artists

 Cons:

•  If sales are poor, organisers will still lose money. 

 Use our customer offer calculator HERE

Conclusion: Choosing The Right Model For You

Ultimately, there is no one size fits all approach to paying artists for live events, so it’s quite likely you will use all of these models at some stage or another. It might take some trial and error to find what works best for your events, but we recommend you always base your decision on:

• Anticipated demand for the show in the area
• Expected ticket sales
• Venue capacity
• Marketing abilities
  
  

If you’re still uncertain about how to pay your artists or have more questions about booking artists for live shows, then feel free to reach out to us at support@good-show.co.uk

We’re passionate about creating a fair and supportive ecosystem for independent event organisers, and we think sharing knowledge is a good place to start.

You can also find out more here about our profit share model HERE, designed to help put more money back into your events with every ticket sold.