For many people, organizing concerts seems to be a very easy task - the “stars” arrived, won back, received the money, part received the owner of the premises, part - the performer (s), the rest went to the organizer. Everything. However, the work of the latter is associated with the solution of a large number of tasks, and this is not only the search for the site, but also providing the concert with everything necessary - from lighting to the hotel for musicians. The organizer assumes responsibility for the fact that the event will not just happen, but will be properly organized and include everything you need. At its core, the organizer is the person who has nothing but a job offer. Considering that not a single participant wants to deal with such a global issue, the services of concert organizers are quite in demand. Moreover, in the early stages, you can do this business almost alone.
This niche is relatively busy, so it will be difficult for a newcomer to take his place. The main limitation is pop culture, performers who have gained popularity today are supervised by rather large companies, and it is unlikely that they will be able to drag themselves to work. And here more favorable conditions will not even help - neither the musicians nor their producers want to take risks by contacting an unknown company. In this case, it’s better to start with the organization of concerts by bands that are still unknown to anyone who want to go on stage, and here there are many prospects, if you approach your business correctly. It also all depends on the degree of activity of the organizer, if he does not wait until they come to him for services, but searches for clients on his own, then he can count on success. It is worth noting that the scheme of work, depending on many factors, may differ slightly.
In order to start a business, it is worth registering as a business entity. There can be any form of entrepreneurship, although clients will be much more willing to work with a legal entity, both partners and lessors will be more trustworthy. However, by law, you can remain an individual by registering as an individual entrepreneur. Among legal entities, the form of a limited liability company is preferable - just like in the case of individual entrepreneurs, a simplified taxation system is available in this way, allowing to deduct 6% (of income) or 15% (of operating profit) in favor of the state.
Registration of a legal entity will be somewhat longer, require more significant investments, and the document flow in this case is more serious. In the general case, if several people come together to organize a business, then they need to draw up a legal entity, otherwise, in the case of one person’s business, it is worth calculating the future plan to determine the form of entrepreneurship. It is also important to correctly indicate the OKVED codes, and such activity is suitable for encoding (OKPD 2) 93.29 Other services in the field of entertainment and recreation.
It is desirable to have your own premises, it will become a place where hired employees work and negotiations are held with clients. However, the work can be arranged without your own office, which often acts simply as a representative office. But this increases the prestige of the institution in the eyes of partners. But in any case, the room does not have to be large, unless it is planned to keep the requisite for concerts. Some companies also organize their own printing house for printing posters and leaflets, but this is not always economically feasible.
Work can be carried out in two directions: the organization of the ordered concert and the organization of the concert with the invitation of performers. In the first case, it will be their own concerts of groups and musicians, in the second - festivals and combined concerts, which are performed by teams of a similar genre, themes, or generally just focused on a certain category of listeners. Each businessman decides which one to choose for himself, but no one forbids doing both directions at the same time. Only the second type of organization of concerts is much more complicated than the first one and requires considerable experience in this area and the ability to attract many performers. Therefore, it is better to start with the organization of concerts for specific groups, and only then begin to engage in their own festivals. They can bring a lot more profit, as sometimes they last several days, and not a couple of hours, but they also require a much more serious approach. Moreover, almost all risks fall on the organizer himself, because he acts as the instigator of the event.
So, for your work it is immediately advisable to find partners who are ready to provide their venues for the needs of concerts. However, in big cities it’s unlikely that it will be possible to agree on the permanent provision of the stage - there are many others who want to use the rented space. Therefore, the site every time, most likely, will have to find and negotiate with the owners every time it is needed. But this does not mean that this issue should not be dealt with before directly preparing for the expected event, it is necessary to have a list of possible objects, as well as keep information about their workload. In this case, it is very desirable to establish at least informal good relations with the owner of the site, this will make it possible to negotiate a lease as soon as possible.
But it should be noted that the requirements for the premises of all artists are different, and therefore you need to have several options in mind - from relatively inexpensive to luxury rooms with a large number of seats. Depending on the format of the concert, types of venues are also selected: you can give a conditional example that for symphonic music you need a hall with seating, but for a rock concert, there will be enough venues with a simple dance floor. Therefore, the latter are often organized in sports arenas or in assembly halls. Music lovers will rarely deny themselves the pleasure of attending a concert of their favorite band just because it takes place in an institution "uncomfortable" in their opinion, but otherwise, the consumer can draw many conclusions only on where the event takes place.
Recently, events held in clubs have become very popular, and this option is attractive to listeners, as a rule, the musicians themselves like it, and the organizer greatly simplifies the work, because clubs, unlike the same sports arenas, already have lighting and sound equipment. And therefore, the increased cost of renting a club for one evening is offset by the lack of the need to rent part of the equipment. Moreover, many concerts are held on weekdays (when the club does not work or works in a slightly different format, for example, a bar) and therefore it is much easier to agree on a discount.
The cost of the sites varies greatly and depends on many factors. The most important thing is the location, then comes the size, format, options for additional equipment, the popularity of the place. All this should be taken into account by the organizer, and all this is interesting to producers and musicians. They may refuse to give a concert if it is not worthy, according to the artists of the venue, and here we are talking primarily about profit, and not about its prestige. And the organizer himself is surely interested in the fact that the arena will bring as much money as possible, why many famous musicians do not come to smaller cities: the point is not only that the population will not be able to buy expensive concerts, and sometimes vice versa, that there will be abundantly, but their site will not accommodate, and its possibilities for accommodation are unlikely to cover even their own expenses.
The following is a search for sponsors for your event. At this stage, there are many options for cooperation, up to the point that the sponsors conduct an advertising campaign on their own (though in channels that are only accessible to them) and provide the organizer with the necessary capacities: a printing house, equipment, staff, and ticket distribution. In principle, any partner can act as a sponsor, except for the musicians themselves with their producer or label. A rare sponsor gives money directly to the organization, usually it is barter, when one or another help is provided for placing their logo, messages about the sponsor at the event and holding promotions.
Sometimes this is even more beneficial for the organizer, because the sponsor has opportunities that allow you not to contact third-party companies, and then the expenses are reduced thanks to the partner’s advertising. Sponsor logos are usually placed on posters and banners - this is almost always a prerequisite for cooperation. With a successful settlement, sponsorship can be very good savings or additional funds. However, when organizing concerts of little-known groups or just a concert, which is not very popular among the population, some companies that are good from the point of view of sponsorship may refuse to cooperate or set up very unfavorable conditions.
Sponsors will have to sell a future event, and their main criterion, as a rule, for them is the number of visitors. In addition, serious demands are placed on the advertising campaign itself; but it should be large enough for the benefit of the organizer. The most common, at least slightly outdated, but still effective way of advertising is posting posters on specially provided places for this and placing banners around the city. Typically, this is done by advertising agencies that have sufficient contacts and cooperation agreements to provide informational distribution about an upcoming event throughout the city. Still, the personal pasting of posters is already gradually being supplanted by more advanced and modern methods. If you have your own website, then, of course, it is worth posting information on it, although the organizer’s website is usually his business card for partners, and not for concert visitors, for them all information about the event is posted on their portal by the ticket distributor.
Next, you need to agree with companies that are ready to rent and supply lighting and sound equipment. As already noted, some venues themselves have it, in some (for example, in thematic clubs) everything is usually ready for any concert - come and play. But more often it is necessary to find companies that rent equipment, to agree on the supply, installation and subsequent export. The equipment itself is either paid in packages (that is, for example, a complete set for a jazz concert), or ordered separately, and the rental of each device is paid separately. In addition to the standard light, you can get hold of a laser, fiery or some other spectacular show (and you will have to hire the appropriate workers), and the sound one is selected depending on the genre and features of the game (and even the concert itself) of the musicians. So, a symphony orchestra plays live, but a rock band will require amplifiers, sophisticated electronics, a drum kit, bringing with it only guitars (and not always that). Therefore, already at this stage, you need to have not only an agreement with the group or their producer, but also discuss the exact concept of the event.
The following is a search for a ticket distributor. Some companies generally combine this activity - distribution of tickets and organization of concerts, but strictly speaking they are completely different companies. It is practically impossible to sell a large number of tickets without having all the possibilities, which is why an agreement is made with a company that will ensure the sale of tickets for a concert for a commission. This office will have to cooperate very closely, because it will partly assume the responsibility for advertising, it will accept money for tickets, which means that it needs to be especially strictly accountable. It will not work to sell tickets only at the box office (which may not turn out to be); an established scheme is needed.
Negotiations with the musicians themselves take place either in person or through their producer - this is always the case, if any. The untwisted group will present a huge number of requirements for its visit to a city, they need a hotel, food, as well as accommodation details. Usually it is brought immediately to the site, where all preparations take place in a few hours (less than a day). Thus, in addition to agreements with many companies that provide for the event, you will have to agree with organizations that will provide services to the musicians themselves, and this is a prerequisite for artists to visit the city - so that everything is arranged by the organizer himself. Thus, in such a scheme, a huge number of enterprises are usually involved, between which the organizer runs and tries to launch this rather cumbersome scheme.
It’s better to start with little-known groups, acting as a replacement for the producer, but in this case it’s optimal to find several young talented groups and arrange either a combined concert (that is, including several teams similar in genre) or a local festival. True, in the latter case, sometimes the bet is not on the sale of tickets (and admission may even be free), but on the sale of additional services at the festival. This boils down to the fact that the organizer simply gives up seats at the festival to sellers who profit from a large number of people in one place. Many beginning teams are sometimes ready to speak only for an idea, wanting to make themselves known to the world, and do not require any part of the proceeds from the organizer. But here, he risks a lot by organizing an event that no one can possibly attend (usually, of course, friends and relatives invited by the musicians themselves come, but this does not save the situation). It’s worth starting with absolutely local events, when you don’t have to risk big funds and there is an opportunity, if not to make a profit, then at least get experience.
It will take a lot of time before you can work individually for each team from its submission; usually famous musicians work only with large players who can organize an event (and sometimes even the whole tour) as soon as possible, collect a lot of money and start selling a few months before the concert. Beginners in this case are not taken into account. Festivals, and in general, in the usual sense of the word, can be complete if they are located in a convenient place, surrounded by the necessary infrastructure, are interesting to visitors and a sufficient number of well-known teams perform at them. Designed for many days of events, the novice player, as a rule, is not able to do it; but nobody forbids coming up with a new format.
The business of organizing concerts at first will most likely be very difficult, and for a long time you will have to work for the idea yourself, investing your forces (and sometimes money) just to earn a name for yourself. However, in this case there are quite a lot of prospects, because having managed to establish an organization perfectly at all stages, you can successfully compete even with well-known companies, which, it is possible, have flaws in one or another area.
Matthias Laudanum
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08/18/2019