Contract Negotiations in the Music Industry

On September 18, 2011, I spoke with Brad Stewart, Founder and CEO of Dynamic Artists Management, LLC, San Pablo, California.  Dynamic Artists Management, LLC, has provided management and booking services for eclectic music clientele since 1999.  Brad has worked in the music industry since 1990 and has been involved as a booking agent and manager for a variety of music artists such as rock, blues, R & B, jazz, world, reggae and pop. Brad believes that Dynamic Artists Management (DAM) is built on offering potential clients a go-getting work ethic and personal attention.  Brad referred to DAM as a boutique agency; a smaller, specialized agency servicing a specific group of artists for highly focused industry needs in California’s Bay Area.

Brad has had plenty of experience in negotiating contracts, as a large part of the business is contract negotiation, finding the best “buyer” for the artists.  The buyer would be the promoter or venue, and can be anything from a smaller club to a large festival.  Over the years Brad has established good relationships with the buyers and this is a very important part of negotiation. 

I asked Brad how often he used objective criteria to come to a mutual benefit when negotiating contracts for the artists and his response was that all negotiations should result in a mutual benefit.  He stated, “In realistic contracts you have to first understand who your buyer is, what their needs are, and what their capability is before bringing up what he needs.  This way you know if they are in the same ballpark.”   Brad also stated that part of mutual benefit is making sure that the artist is as comfortable as possible and that they receive high profile visibility.

Of course when negotiating contracts with the buyer, mutual benefit is also about the money.  In negotiating contracts it is important to find a mutual cash benefit for all of the parties involved.   


A few of the artists that are represented by DAM are: George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic; Peppino D'Agostino and Frank Vignola.

Peppino D'Agostino

The Concert Runner

As I was attempting to find a recent news article about the concert industry to post on my blog this week, I thought about what it really was that brought out my passion to pursue a career in concert production.  From 1992-1998 I was a Runner/Production Assistant in Vermont.  Although being a runner is really the bottom of the ladder in the concert industry, it isn't as easy as you may think and several performers and road crew have told me that there are few good runners.  

Just like the road crew for a concert tour, a runner is the first one to arrive at the venue and the last one to leave after the trucks are loaded and the crew are ready to go.  Many times the runner picks the bus driver up at the hotel when it's time to leave.  It's kind of like that song The Load Out  by Jackson Browne, which by the way brings me to one of the many duties I had as a runner.  One time when I was copying a set list for Jackson Browne to hang in various places on stage, etc. I mentioned liking that song and he asked me to join his tour manager and crew member on stage to sing part of the chorus in Stay.  Some other duties were things like finding a certain shampoo, hairdryer, taking the performers bored teenagers sightseeing, finding the right birthday present for the performer, finding certain kinds of food that they didn't have in that area, buying all the cigarette lighters in the store, picking a performer up at the airport in a snow storm using my own vehicle, and following a tour bus to the hotel to retrieve stage clothes. These are just a few of the things you will be asked to do as a runner/production assistant.

What made being a concert runner fun was that you never knew what you would be asked to do from one show to the next.  And you were able to meet many interesting people, while seeing how a concert is produced from start to finish.  If I could make enough money to survive I would find a job as a runner again.  I believe it prepared me for something bigger.  

The Concert Business Update

Concert ticket sales declined in 2010 but what does it look like for 2011?  With the merging of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, and signing contracts with Madonna, U2, and Kanye West, things are looking up for the concert industry.  It seems like the promoters are trying new ideas to sell tickets and it must be working.  The new thing this year is pairing up top headliners together to sell more tickets, for example, Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks.  Some other reasons concert ticket sales may have increased are artist playing smaller venues at higher ticket prices drawing the attention of concert goers by making it a more intimate setting bringing the audience closer to the artists.  Better artist packages are something fairly new and though it increases show costs it offers the fans a better value for their dollar.

According to Pollstar reports, concert business sales are up 11% in the first half of 2011 (Lewis, 2011)  Totals from 50 tours added up to $1.65 billion, despite a 2/1% drop in the number of tickets sold to 194 million.  This means that the bump in the total box office is the result of higher ticket prices.  Ticket prices increased at an average of 13.6% or $10.23 worldwide.  North American ticket prices are better than worldwide at 16.2% to $1.12 billion.  I have to mention that leading the concert tours in ticket sales is U2 (my favorite band).  U2 sales had a total gross of $164 million in 6-months, the last leg of their 360 Tour, now the highest grossing tour of all time.

Following behind U2 is Roger Waters with an average ticket price of $112.99 selling $97.9 million, Bon Jovi, $96.26 average ticket price, $921 million, and Lady Gaga, $96.77 ticket price, at $65.3 million.  Compared to eight tours last year, 12 tours in 2011 charge more than $100 per ticket, and there were 22 tours charging more than $90 this year compared to only 12 last year.  In conclusion, even though ticket sales have increased, the consumer is still willing to pay the price to see their favorite artist(s) live.


Retrieved on August 6, 2011 at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/07/concert-business-is-up-11-in-first-half-of-2011-pollstar-reports.html

Marketwatch report on the concert industry

Tony Robbins asks why we do what we do - Ted talks

I watched a Ted talk with Tony Robbins about why we do what we do and what drives us.  I've heard about Tony Robbins before, a couple friends attended one of his motivational conferences.  They had good things to say.  Tony talks about the decisions we make and how they shape our destiny.  He talked about the invisible forces that shape us.  "Effective leaders have the ability to move themselves and others to action because of the invisible forces that shape us." (Robbins, 2011)  

These invisible forces are emotions and human needs.  Human needs are broken up into personality and spiritual. Personality needs are: certainty; uncertainty (which is really variety); significance; connection/love.  Spiritual needs are growth and giving to others.  People have mastered the art of personal fulfillment.  This can be achieved in different ways.  We can achieve personal fulfillment from doing things for ourselves, or we can achieve them from doing for others.  We all have to find our own belief system and act on it.  Some are more driven then others.

The reason I decided to write about this talk is because I can identify with emotional decisions shaping our destiny.  At one time, 14 years ago, my target (another thing Tony talks about) was to live my passion and work in the music industry.  At that time my targets were law and music.  My focus was to work as an entertainment lawyer.  I had many contacts in the music industry because I worked in concert production for a large promotor based in New York.  Then, one of those emotional human personality needs came into play...connection/love.  I met a guy in California, all the way across the other end of the country, and married.  Since he was involved in Criminal Justice and my BA was in Sociology Criminal Justice, I moved to another target....Criminal Justice.  Now 13 years later I am no longer married and trying to get back to the original target and it's not as easy to do.  However, I am driven and I have a new focus along with a variety of new experience.  

Now for Something Completely Different

My blog has been about the concert industry.  However, my interests stretch from concerts to sports, mainly baseball and auto racing.  In this blog I want to talk about NASCAR racing.  I have a part time job as a turn worker (corner worker is name for the job) at Infineon Raceway.  Sometimes I work at other tracks in California.  The track I work at is not a typical oval racetrack, it's a road course.  The drivers or riders if it is a motorcycle race, at times cannot see what is coming up around the corner (hence corner worker).  I wave flags to warn the drivers and call incidents in to race control.  Sometimes I run to crumpled cars to check on the driver until safety arrives.  I've posted an article that was recently written about my boss, Liz.  This explains what I do and if it sounds scary...it can be at times.  But I love it!  

A few weeks ago I worked the NASCAR race at Infineon.  This is a spectacle of fans, music, jets, marketing and celebrity drivers.  My daughter and I worked together, this being her first NASCAR race as a turn worker.  A fellow turn worker and I spoke to one of the drivers, Clint Bowyer, as we walked with him across the Golden Gate Bridge for a charity event.  We asked him if he ever noticed the turn workers.  His response was, "No. I usually don't because I am so focused on driving left and right."  My friend explained to him that last year she was a turn worker at turn 8 where he had wrecked with another car, forcing her to run down a hill to avoid getting hit.  He didn't remember seeing anyone there.  I found an article titled, Behind the Scenes as NASCAR Gets It Right, about the race this year at Infineon and it explains how the drivers have to focus on driving left and right at Infineon and the differences in this track.  

Racing is an interesting business.  Infineon Raceways tagline is Think Outside the Oval.   I think that in the business of racing if you think outside the oval there are many opportunities.  

I've posted this YouTube video....my daughter is waving the yellow flag.  I was behind her in the communication box at the time. Didn't get on the camera this time.  Next race is Indy Racing League in August.  Stay tuned.

What Does the 2011 Summer Concert Season Look Like?

The 2011 summer season starts out good for concertgoers, but not necessarily as well for the promoters.  Last year was a rough year for ticket sales.  This year several concert promoters are promising it will be more affordable to see your favorite band perform live.  This is also good news for the artists and venues because if the consumer does not go to concerts the seats are empty and they don’t make money.  Promoters are also hoping that if the consumer pays less for the ticket they may spend more on merchandise.  Of course there are some artists who charge high prices, especially for the seats up close, they will continue to sell out stadiums within hours of going on sale.   These ticket prices can go for as high as $275.00. 

So who is touring this summer?  First I have to mention my favorite band, U2.  For the most part U2 is finishing up a tour that started in 2009.  Last year U2 postponed their tour when Bono had emergency back surgery.  

It seems as though every year we get the usual 70’s/80’s bands touring and this year is no different.  Journey, Foreigner, Def Leppard, ZZ Top, Heart, Rod Stewart, Janet Jackson, Styx, Prince, Cheap Trick, Huey Lewis and the News, Poison, Howard Jones, Stevie Nicks, and Motley Crew are touring to name a few. 

Some other bands who are touring are Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Linkin Park, Kid Rock, Rage Against the Machine, Coldplay, Kenny Chesney, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Santana, Black Eyed Peas, and Madonna.  These are the top acts of the season.  I’m sure more artists/bands will be touring as the season comes upon us.   The summer of 2011 seems to be a promising season for the concert industry and those who are hoping to see their favorite artist/band perform.  Hopefully most ticket prices will be affordable to the consumer as promised.

                                                                                                                                                              Perpetua, Matthew (2010). Cheaper Concerts Coming in 2011 Declining ticket sales lead to lower prices Retrieved on May 22, 2011 at http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/cheaper-concerts-coming-in-2011-20101227

2nd Annual California Music Industry Summit

While searching the web for some news about what's happening in the concert industry for the summer of 2011, I came across the California Music Industry Summit.  The 2nd Annual California Music Industry Summit will be in Oakland, California June 10th - 11th.  Formally known as Soul Music by the Bay, this year the conference is more inclusive to all genres of music and entertainment.


The conference is two days of entertainment business education where the attendees will have the opportunity to learn and network with executives in entertainment law, music production, songwriting, publishing, studio engineers, radio station executives, record labels, social media and marketing, public relations, distribution, personal management, and much more.


The California Music Industry Summit will have live music events, thought provoking panels and expects to attract more than 600 music professionals and artists.  Joe Kennedy, President and CEO of Pandora will be a keynote speaker. Just a few of the additional speakers include American Idol Finalist La Toya London and Larry Batiste, Musical Director for the Grammy Awards, and Phil Tan, 3X-time Grammy Award Winner, Audio Engineer.  The California Music Industry summit prides itself with being the West Coast’s most informative and thorough music conference event.  


Artist Managers, Studio Engineers, Producers, Attorneys, Paralegals, Record & Music, Publishing Executives, Concert Promoters, Artists & Repertoire reps, Agents, Tour Managers,  Artists, Musicians, Students, and anyone seeking to get into the entertainment/music industry should attend.  I am fortunate to live close to Oakland, I will be there!