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wsm
Sep-18-2007, 11:25am
I am a musician who plays out every once in a while. At the same time I am President of a nonprofit corporation that privides funds for a charter school.

Recently I had the opportunity to book a nationally known musician (mandolin player) to play a benefit show.

One of my fellow board members owns a sound company and he reviewed the contract and thought I was going to get taken to the cleaners. Anyway, we decided to not move forward with the benefit.

My question is, how do most artists handle benefit shows? Do they take a percentage of the gate? Is there a breakeven point at which the organization gets everything above? Do some artists just donate 100% of their fee as a tax write off?

I would like to try and pull off some type of a benefit show but I think I need to have the proper perspective from a profession artist point of view.

Thanks,

Yellowmandolin
Sep-18-2007, 11:43am
I know that at the MACC Bluegrass Classic in Columbus, Ohio the artists donate their time and sell boatloads of CDs... But that is a big festival, not a private party like how I understand your thing to be. Not really much help, but thats all I know! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

Bob_Blackman
Sep-18-2007, 12:42pm
In my limited experience with benefit concerts, I've seen many different arrangements:
1) Artist plays for no fee (especially if they're local).
2) Artist plays for expenses only (lodging and transportation).
3) Artist gets a flat fee, which might (or might not) be less than their usual, but they waive any percentage/bonus.

To explain that last one, at our local folk venue, artists will typically receive a negotiated flat fee as a guarantee, but if the concert does well, they'll also receive an additional percentage of the profit. So the venue might guarantee the artist a flat $500. Then the venue takes out their own expenses (renting the venue, advertising, etc.). If there is still some $ left after that, the venue splits that profit with the artist (maybe 80% to artist, 20% to venue -- it can vary).

In most cases, the artist can at least sell their own CDs and keep all or most of the revenue from that.

I've seen several benefit concerts that actually lost money, because the artist was promised such a large guarantee, in addition to high expenses (venue rental and publicity), that the show would have had to sell out to make any money. There are all sorts of factors to consider. Sometimes an organization charges a high ticket price, because it's a benefit, but that actually keeps people away and they draw a smaller-than-expected crowd. (For most audience members, while it's nice to support a cause, they won't really pay much more to attend a benefit than they would if the event was just an ordinary concert.) At the same time, if you charge too little, even a near-sell-out might not bring in very much $. Sometimes there are unexpected extra expenses (like the concert runs overtime and you have to pay an extra fee to the venue, or you didn't take into account the performer's demand for extra hotel rooms or a piano tuner, or the posters cost more than you realized). So you do need to budget the whole thing out, allow for the fact that you might only draw half of the crowd you expect, and see what sort of $ you can realistically offer to a performer.

It can be helpful to get local businesses to underwrite a benefit concert -- see if a local hotel will provide a room or two in exchange for mention on the posters and a thank-you from the M.C., or a local restaurant will provide food for the artists, or some local businesses will simply donate some $ in exchange for their name on the posters and ads, etc. Or if you're doing printed programs, you can sell ads (which collectively should cover more than the cost of printing the programs!).

It's all a tricky balancing act. A bigger-name artist will draw a bigger crowd (at a higher ticket price), but you'll probably have to pay more to get them, unless they happen to live nearby. Same equation that you have for regular concerts, in fact, except that it's even more disappointing to lose money at a benefit.

MikeEdgerton
Sep-18-2007, 1:37pm
The key to getting any nationally know artist should be some sort of a tie to whatever cause it is you are trying to promote. If they don't feel a personal connection to the fund raising effort I seriously doubt that they will see it as anything other than a job and as this is what they do to make a living they will expect to be paid.

Local artists are another animal.

jim simpson
Sep-18-2007, 10:34pm
I was involved with the Bluegrass for Rett Syndrome series of fund raising concerts that featured regional bluegrass acts. The idea started when a former bandmate who has a daughter with Rett's Syndrome proposed the idea. We started with 3 groups who all donated their performance - we quickly outgrew the community building our first year. The remaining years were held in a larger donated auditorium where we were able to bring in more folks and raise more money. We had Bob Paisley perform for several years as well as other notables. The performers always donated their performances. One year Gibson donated a guitar that we included in a silent auction. It was an overall positive experience. It also was a lot of work but hard work usually pays off. Years after the series, I would still get approached with inquiries about the series.