By Charlie Dahan

In the last article the discussion was about the building of a initial touring base and working on your performance. Where we left off the discussion left you at the building of a local and loyal following. Now you are ready to venture out of being the big fish in your small pond and develop a regional (this usually means within 4 hours of your hometown) base. Now that you are dealing with unfamiliar territory and having to sell yourself all over again, you should understand some of the language of the live concert business, especially when it comes to your money.

There are essentially three types of deals you can and will strike when you and the venue agree that you should perform and on the date. There are more than three, but for now you need to be concerned with these three monetary arrangements for your artistic services.

1. Door deal / straight percentage - this is when you are performing for a percentage or all the ticket receipts (cover charge or tip jar, also). If no one shows up then you make nothing, if 100 people show up and pay five dollars to hear you, then you can walk away with up to $500. Now it is rare that you will get 100% of the door (or gate), but you might get a percentage of the door so the venue can recoup some of their expenses. This will most likely be the arrangement you will reach in the beginning, especially when performing in a new town. So, be prepared to make next to nothing, but really focus on winning over any and all in attendance…if those two people (the bartender and bouncer) at the venue, then they will tell two friend and those two friend will tell two friends and so on.

2. Flat Guarantee - This arrangement means you will receive X amount of dollars to perform, no more and no less. If the night is a complete disaster, the you receive your guarantee, even if it means the club loses money that night. On the flip side, if the night is extremely successful, then you will share in none of the profits, just receive the agreed upon sum.

3. Guarantee plus a percentage - this arrangement is the best of both worlds. You receive a guaranteed sum of money for your performance plus if the night is successful and the club earns more than your guarantee in ticket sales, you will share in the profits with the venue. So the deal might look something like this ­ You will receive a $1000 guarantee versus 75% of the door. What this says in plain English is that you get the greater of the two sums either the guarantee or 75% of the gate. So, if the club sells 200 tickets at ten dollars a ticket, you will receive 75% of $2000 ($1500), which would be more than your guarantee.