CUN23084158

Why we went for an event like this

With the group that we had put together, we believed that with all our contacts we would be able to be a bit more ambitious with the venue that we chose. Because of this we all agreed that we should go with Belgrave Music Hall. This is an extremely well respected, and well-connected venue, making it a great place to host our event. Despite this there were a few worries I had. Firstly, I was worried that we would not be able to sell out all our tickets. Belgrave has a capacity of 350 meaning that if we did not sell a large amount of tickets then the room would feel empty, and we could potentially not make profit. Despite this, my group reassured me that with the acts that we could get for the lineup, we would have a good chance to sell a lot of tickets and at minimum break even.

With the acts that we had access to in a short time frame, we felt that a good way to promote the event would be as a Motown/soul night. Promoting the show like this made it much more inviting to people who were not aware of the bands and potentially just wanted to go to the gig to hear some soul music. This will make it much easier to sell, ultimately increasing ticket sales.

If we wanted to ensure that the show happened within the deadline we were given, we needed to make sure we found acts that could do it as quick as possible, whilst also still having the potential to help sell the event. We decided to have 3 acts for the show. Initially the headliner we chose was Hannah Rowe. Hannah had consistently played Belgrave, with these gigs all doing very well. Because of this we thought she would be a great headliner for the night. Early on, Hannah agreed to do the show, she just needed to confirm dates. These talks ended up going on for too long meaning we had to come to a decision to remove her from the lineup in order to progress with our plan.

The second act we chose was Pockets. This is Antonio’s band meaning that they were guaranteed to be confirmed for the gig. Continuing with this, they are also doing very well within the area, often times selling out their headline shows. Because of this, we thought that they would be a suitable replacement headliner for the show. Pockets is a 5 piece jazz/soul band that do covers of well known songs as well as their own original material. An act like this is perfect for a night branded as. A celebration of Motown/soul since they will be able to play renditions of popular songs that people may already know, increasing crowd interaction and overall enjoyment. which

 Will help out in the long term, building a good reputation for the company, as well as strengthening bonds with the venue.

The second act we chose to have on our lineup is Mikey & The G’s. this is a 23 piece jazz/soul big band. This band would also be playing various covers to provide a sound track that people will be able to dance to. This will also provide a change in sound to the other bands, creating a bit of variety throughout the night.

This third act is Chlöe. Newly coming into the Leeds music scene, we brought Chlöe on to play a short set with a mix of covers and original music to warm the crowd into the night. We decided to use a more upcoming band for this slot since we didn’t want to pay a large amount of money for a band that would not be playing a long set, since that would just be a waste of our budget. Furthermore, Chlöe has also had previous successful gigs, meaning that she brings the potential to sell tickets even despite having a short set.

Preparations

In preparation for the event, there were a few things we needed to get in order.

The first thing we needed to get in order were technical specifications for both the venue and the artists. This included getting a list of equipment provided from the venue, as well as a list of equipment required for each of the bands. By doing this it meant that we had an idea of what bands would need to bring to the show, much further in advance. This allowed for as much planning as possible, ensuring that once the event came round, everything would run as smoothly as possible. Another reason why we needed band tech specs was so we could plan out our stage plot and how we will set the stage for each band. Due to the drastic changes in size for each band, it meant that we needed to find a stage setup that would require as minimal amount of changing throughout the night as possible. This was extremely important since we had been given very strict times by Belgrave meaning that we did not have any time that we could lose.

Because of this, when approaching the bands with this gig offer, we asked to promptly be sent a press kit containing photos as well as a tech spec and bios that we could use in any promotional material. Doing this as early on as possible ensured that we would not need to spend time later on chasing the bands asking for any details.

We also needed to provide an advance schedule. This made sure that every body was on the same page about timings of sound checks as well as set times. It is crucial that this is made clear very early on since bands being late can result in the event lagging behind schedule, potentially resulting in us having to cut music early which would not be a great way to end the night.

Following this, we also needed to provide a costings chart for the event. This would give us a clear view of everything that we would need to spend money on, as well as how much these things will cost. This was extremely important since when it comes to the show we want to make sure that we are aware of what we are getting ourselves into and not massively cutting into our budget and potentially losing money. Our costings chart includes: 

• the different tiers of pricing for the tickets, as well as how many tickets held we have
• the costings for venue booking + fees 
• booking fees for artists
• pricing for advertisement

by having a clear idea of how much we would be spending on outgoings, it meant that we could go into the night with a clear goal in mind on how much money we need to be earning.

Finally, we needed a risk assessment prepared for the show. This comes in a standardised format and is a legal requirement before putting on any gig. It important to pre plan any issue that may arise during the show. By having everything prepared in advance it ensures that in a moment of need, anyone performing first aid etc is aware what they need to do and how to act moving forward.

 we needed a press release for the event. This is what we would put on ticket listings, giving people a general idea of what to expect from the event. For this, we needed each band to provide u with a bio that we could then change into our own words, creating our own press release. It was extremely important to make sure that we got this part right since this is what most general users of ticketing sites would be seeing, meaning that we really needed to sell the event.

The finalised press release:

 A Night of Motown at Belgrave Music Hall on 25th February

Belgrave Music Hall will be home to a vibrant celebration of soul and groove on Tuesday 25th February from 6:30pm, as a Motown-themed live music night takes over the iconic venue. Headlining the evening are Pockets, bringing their infectious energy, smooth melodies and deep-rooted love of Motown to the Belgrave stage. Known for their tight stabs, irresistible rhythms and unmatched crowd interactions, Pockets promise a headline set packed with feel-good grooves, classic influences and dancefloor-ready soul.

Supporting the night are Mikey & the G’s, delivering punchy, groove-led performances steeped in rhythm and swagger and rooted in big band tradition, alongside Chloë, whose soulful vocals and heartfelt songwriting add a modern edge to the evening’s vintage inspiration. Expect a night of rich harmonies, funk-infused basslines and timeless Motown spirit — from laid-back grooves to full-on dancefloor moments. Whether you’re a lifelong soul fan or just looking for a night of top-tier live music, this is set to be an unmissable celebration of sound and style.

Time management

Due to the assignment timeline, it meant we had a very short time frame to figure out who we wanted playing on our lineup, as well as choosing a feasible venue. Before we did anything, we had the idea to create a gantt chart. This would give us an easy way to view our plan and ensure that we do not lag behind, which could have various issues. We decided to go. For a more jazz/soul orientated lineup in Belgrave Music Hall. Belgrave is an extremely busy venue and constantly has acts looking to play there. To ensure that we could get a spot, we had to confirm our lineup early on. In turn, this gave us a lot of time to prepare for the event.

Production

One of the benefits of working with Belgrave is that we get to make use of their in-house staff, included in the booking fee. This meant that we would not have to pay or get someone we knew to do it, allowing us to solely focus our time on making sure that the gig can sell as many tickets as possible. Despite this, we will still have to set up the stage ourselves. In order to make this as seamless as possible, we had each band send in their stage plot sheets far in advance. This meant that we could create a stage plan that works for every band and minimises time in between sets.

Contingency plans

there were two main issues that we had to worry about with this gig.

The first thing we had to plan for was not selling enough tickets. There are a few costs we need to cover.

These costs are:

• Venue booking fee
• Artist booking fee
• Worker wage

In order to break even for this show, we calculated that we needed to sell 50 early bird tickets, as well as 86 normal tickets. Doing this would allow us to completely break even, allowing the rest of the earnings to be pure profit.

How to maximise chances of making profit

the first way that we can make sure to sell enough tickets is by ensuring that we start promo as soon as possible. There are various ways that we might do this. our main avenue for promoting the gig will be through social media. each of the bands playing have a good following, meaning that we already have a large target audience to sell tickets to. 

We can also do short form promo content through avenues such as tiktok or Instagram reels. Examples of content we can do is skits promoting the show, clips of the bands playing live etc. my producing as much content as possible, it maximises our chances of hitting the algorithm, or finding people in our target audience. 

Another way that we are planning on increasing ticket sales is by doing an ‘early bird’ release. By releasing a batch of tickets early, at a cheaper price, it greatly increases the chance of selling these allocated tickets. This will immediately make the room more full, potentially making people encourage their friends to come, or people buying tickets on the door. 

Posters 

Since we are hosting the event at Belgrave, it means that we are able to put posters around the venue. This is great since many students go through the venue on a daily basis. This is great for us since students are our target audience. We can also place these posters in other venues around town, as well as on social media, or pages such as life at Leeds conservatoire. This ensures that we are expanding our reach to as many people as possible to maximise ticket sales.

Finance

Order to ensure the show ran smoothly, we had to check what we would need to pay to the venue, as well as the acts playing, and the people who will be working.

Firstly, we discussed the booking fee for Belgrave this totalled to £180. We would not have to pay this all at once though, with Belgrave only requesting a deposit beforehand, with the rest being recouped after the event.

Following this was costings for prs which totalled to £130.20

After this we had costings for ads. We decided to go for a mix of media when it came to advertising, using social media as our main form of promotion since that didn’t cost anything. Following this, we also invested in some physical media such as posters or flyers. These could be placed around Leeds in order to maximise outreach as much as possible. 

Following this, we had to look into fees for venue production. Belgrave provides in house sound and light technicians. This was great since it meant that we could allocate more of our budget towards other things such as promotion for the show. Despite this, we would still need to pay for people to work the bar. This came out to £100. Extra roles such as box office could be ran by us, negating the need to pay for someone else to do the job.

Finally, we needed to discuss artist booking fees. This seemed to be where the majority of our money would be going since we would be hosting multiple large bands (Mikey and the G’s being a 23-piece band) because of this, they were requesting £500 or 60% of profits. Personally, I think these figures are a bit eager and should be discussed more as we get closer to the show. Following this, Mikey and the G’s requested a fee of £100. This would be fine. Finally, was Chlöe’s fee. Since they are a new band to the Leeds scene, they would not be getting much of a fee. This makes sense since they will also be doing a much shorter set than the other bands, only being half an hour at the start of the show. This overall meant that the costings for band booking fees would be a maximum of £700. With this in mind, it meant that if we were able to sell out Belgrave, we would make a profit of approximately £1900. Split between the 5 people in our group, that would equate to around £380 each.

Marketing and publicity

Since our target audience is mostly students, our best chance of reaching these people would likely be through social media. we will utilise paid advertisements, as well as posting on accounts in order to try snd reach as many people as possible. The event will also be promoted on the Belgrave account, reaching many followers, as well as each of the bands, all of whom have a good following on social medias. 

We will also be using physical media such as posters and leaflets. We can request for bars/other music venues to place their poster up on any windows or news walls, as well as post it on social medias etc. By sharing an already premade poster it already provides us with something that we can post on social medias without spending any money

Schedule

With the venue confirmed, all that was left to do was plan timings for sound checks, as well as when acts will be on.

Setup & Schedule:

• Setup and load-in from 3:00 PM
• Soundcheck Schedule: 
• Pockets: 3:00 – 4:00 PM
• Mikey & the G’s: 4:00 – 5:00 PM
• Chloë: 5:00 – 6:00 PM                                   
• Doors open: 6:30 PM

Performance Lineup:

• Chloë: 6:45 – 7:15 PM
• Mikey & the G’s: 7:30 – 8:15 PM
• Pockets (Headliner): ASAP – 9:50 PM
• Audience out: 10:00 PM
• Stage cleared and packed: 10:59 PM

One of our team will be at the box office during the evening.

This is the plan we have for timings. Initially we were meant to have bands on until 11pm, but a recent email from the Belgrave team told us that that was a mistake and we only had until 10pm. This meant that we had to shift the whole evening forward by an hour.

In conclusion, I believe that we are adequately prepared for this gig, and if we continue with our plan, will be able to leave with at least breaking even.

APPENDIX