datamusicata

Wow, you know you are wearing too many hats, when you write a blog post and then forget to post it. Sorry. Those two weeks of one nighters with John Batdorf (www.johnbatdorfmusic.com) really wore me out, I guess. Anyhow, someone asked me about guarantees and the ramifications and I thought that this might be helpful...

What do you do when you have been given say, a thousand dollar guarantee, and you journey thousands of miles and you don’t draw but twenty people, who pay $15.00 a piece to see you? This means that the promoter is now going to have to go seven hundred dollars in the hole to pay you the guarantee.

First, we have to decide what a guarantee means. It is a two edged sword, cuts both ways and both the artist and the promoter are agreeing to certain things.

In an ideal world, to the artist it means, you guarantee to show up, sober and prepared, and to do the very best show you know how. You also guarantee to do all you can to promote the date and to get people into the venue.

To the promoter it means that in order to get the artist to perform in his venue, he is guaranteeing that no matter what happens, the artist will be paid at least the agreed upon sum. And the promoter is going to do all that he can do to promote the date and to get people into the venue in the hopes of actually getting more people to pay the entrance fee than he must pay the artist. The promoter thereby makes a profit.

The promoter usually also has ancilliary income in the form of food, beverages, parking, and venue merchandise. It is also frequently agreed upon that the promoter will participate in the merchandise sold by the artist, a percentage between a dollar a unit and fifty percent of the retail price of the artists merchandise.

I also believe that by demanding a guarantee, you are creating a situation where the promoter is enrolled. If he doesn’t get people into the venue, he loses money, so he should do all he can to assure an audience.

Now let us get back to our imaginary scenario, what does the promoter do; what does the artist do?

First of all the artist must do the best show he possibly can, no mater how few people show up. The quote I’ve heard is, “there are no small audiences, just small artists”. So in that, the artist is delivering on his guarantee and holding up his end of the bargain. The artist can by rights, demand that at least the guarnatee be paid.

But there are always considerations. What is the relationship that the artist has with the promoter? The history? Does the artist want to return to the venue? What is the financial status of the venue? Are there some extenuating circumstances that must be taken into consideration?

In my decades of performing, I have always tried to put myself in the promoter’s shoes and I have always asked him what is the amount he’d be losing and I offer to split the loss with the venue. So instead of the thousand dollar guarantee that would be paid in this fantasy scenario, as the artist, I would be paid all of the door (the three hundred dollars), plus half of the difference between the thousand and the three hundred (which would be $350.00) for a total of $650.00, instead of a thousand. Both the promoter and the artist would be losing $350.00. Sometimes the promoter goes with that, sometimes he refuses to give the guarantee or any money at all.

These things have all happened to me, at one time or another.

I can also tell you that, in my experience, no promoter has ever hired me back when I have done cost them money. In the venues where I have taken no guarantee and had a small turnout, I have been rehired—for the same no guarantee and the same small house.

And from the promoter’s side, he’s in business to make money. He makes money when the acts he hires bring in patrons. When they don’t, why should he hire that act again?

Now sometimes a promoter believes in an act and brings them back anyhow believing an audience can be built for the act. And the act reciprocates by performing, even if it is initially at a personal loss. But very few people possess this sort of perspicacity. It seems to be that if you cost someone money, they don’t hire you back.

If the artist agrees to waive the guarantee and just take the door, does this guarantee that the promoter will have the artist back? No, it does not. It does demonstrate that the artist is a decent sort and that the guarantee wasn’t a guarantee.

So what are we to do?

It goes back to my favorite question...what do I want to have happen here?

If I want to come back to the club, then what I have to do is create a situation that will guarantee that (as best as guarantees can be upheld). I have never been a bridge burner so...

Perhaps suggesting that if they will hire me back again at some specified date for a smaller guarantee, I would be willing to waive the guarantee and just take the door this time.

If the promoter isn’t willing to do that, then you must face the fact that he’s not going to hire you back anyway and try to get him to live up to his guarantee, though how you can do that without spending even lots more money is beyond me.

The union won’t back you up in that situation, in my experience, though they still expect their work dues. You are thousands of miles from home and would have great difficulty suing the venue. What do you do?

Maybe be a nice guy and just take the door and assume the entire loss yourself? It doesn’t seem fair, but this isn’t fair...this is showbusiness.

I would love to hear some other suggestions as to what to do in this case, because sooner or later, it happens to all of us. What would you do?