Settlement

On a flat fee the settlement is mostly a formality, because the balance is often due before the show. On a versus deal, a door deal or a bonus, this is where the fee is decided, so it needs figures both sides can check.

Example

[Artist A], €2,000 versus 65% of the door after costs. A deposit of €1,000 was paid with the contract. Online sales close at 23:00, so the final report is in before the set ends and the sheet is signed in the office at 04:30.

What to watch for

• The ticket report. The ticketing system’s final report for presale, the box office count for the door, free tickets listed separately.
• A receipt for every cost, checked against the agreed list and its caps.
• Both sign. On the night with the tour manager or the artist, or by email within an agreed number of days when online sales close late.
• A deposit above the fee. On a door deal with a deposit, a weak night can mean money goes back to the promoter. Say so in the contract.
• Tax withheld appears as a line of its own.

Afterwards the agency settles with the artist: the fee received, the travel it paid, its commission and the payout.