No guarantee, no floor. The artist is paid from what comes through the door, and an empty room pays nothing.
Where it happens
- Small clubs and bars building a night
- Local support slots
- Promoters who cannot carry the downside on an artist nobody knows yet
How the split works
Usually a percentage of net receipts after agreed costs: room hire, sound engineer, door staff. Once those are covered, 60 to 70 percent to the artist is common, and some rooms pay the whole door and keep the bar income instead.
What to agree first
- Which costs come off, as amounts rather than descriptions
- Who counts the door, and whether the artist can watch
- How guest list entries and reduced tickets are treated
- When the money is paid, and in what form
Get the numbers in writing before the show. A door deal argued at 01:00 in a corridor rarely goes the artist's way. See Settlement.