Real-Life Communication
Profit margins in the concert industry are small. Unforeseen and
unexpected expenses can ruin the bottom line quickly.
Communications
skills are therefore very important if you want to work as a concert promoter,
says Markian Saray, an independent promoter.
"Everybody tends to 'misunderstand
each other' in order to [get] more money," he says.
Such deliberate
misunderstandings do not have to happen if you can draw up clear and concise
contracts that cover all areas of the relationship between the artist and
the promoter.
Whenever an American act crosses the border to play in
Canada, for example, it must pay an immigration fee. Local promoters usually
deal with this fee. But sometimes there are questions about how much they
have to pay.
You worked with promoters in seven other cities to book
three acts on the same bill. Your share of the immigration fee is $50 per
act, as agreed upon by everybody in the signed contract.
But the manager
of one act -- let's call him Marvin Drue -- wants you to pay $50 per person,
not per act. Why? Because his client wants to bring his brother and a friend
along, even though they are not listed as part of the act crew.
He
is starting to throw a fit. He says his client will walk away from the show
if he you do not give in to his demand.
That would cost you another
$100. How do you respond?