How Concerts Actually Make Money… and Why They Don’t | Ep 02

I’ve spent 25 years around concerts, and until I became a talent buyer, I thought the math was pretty simple: book a band, sell tickets, pack the room, make money. Nope. In this episode, I’m opening an actual concert deal and showing you where the money really goes. We’re talking artist guarantees, venue expenses, support bands, hospitality, backends, split points and all the other shit quietly eating that big impressive number at the top of the deal sheet. One show can gross $10,230. Sell 189 tickets. Have a room full of people drinking, singing, and posting videos like it was a massive success… And only be about $20 above break-even on tickets. I’ll also show you how another promoter put 223 people in a room and still lost $920, why “I fucking love this band” is not a business strategy, and how I accidentally proposed a terrible deal while sincerely trying to make it fair. I’m only a few months into doing this, so this isn’t some industry expert talking down to you. It’s me learning how concert promotion actually works and realizing that almost everything I assumed about it was wrong. So when you spend $30 on a concert ticket…where the fuck does that money actually go? how concerts make money, concert promotion, concert promoter, talent buyer, live music business, concert expenses, artist guarantee, concert backend, concert deal, split point, ticket revenue, venue expenses, concert break-even point, booking bands, promoter profit, concert settlement, concert budget, live music venue