Offer

The offer is where a request becomes a deal. Usually the promoter sends it, and the agency confirms, counters or declines. Some agencies write it themselves from the promoter’s request and send it for acceptance. Either way, anything left out, such as who pays the hotel, comes up again during the advance, when it is harder to change.

Example

A complete club offer, in nine lines:

• Show: [Artist A], a Saturday in March, a 600-capacity club in Vienna, set 01:00–03:00 on the Sunday
• Tickets: €18 presale, €22 at the door
• Fee: €2,500 plus flights, hotel and ground transport (fee plus)
• Deposit: 50%, €1,250, within 14 days of signing; balance of €1,250 seven days before the show
• Who covers what: flights and hotel booked by the club once the artist side approves them; pickups by the club
• Announcement: not earlier than six weeks before the show
• Radius: no other show within 150 km for 30 days before and after (radius clause)
• Billing: headliner
• Valid: 14 days

What to watch for

• Validity. Until the offer is accepted, the date can go to someone else. A hold is not an offer.
• Subject to. Offers are usually subject to the artist’s confirmation and a signed performance contract.
• Announce with the contract. An accepted offer is not yet clearance to announce.
• Tax. Net or gross, and any withholding tax, belong in the offer, so they don’t first come up on the invoice.