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SHR5E018P~001 Case Study TEMPLATE
Case Studies
Approximately 1400 words
Case study – Promoter
The Role of a Promoter
The key role of a promoter is to coordinate a network of artists, venues, technicians, and staff to create a profitable and successful event. They do so through a web of connections, pairing up suitable artists and venues, as well as generating “visibility” for the artist. While some promoters work as part of a larger organisation, with individual in-house marketing and ticketing teams, it is equally common for independent, freelance promoters to organise the entire event themselves. I reached out via E-mail to Leeds based promoter, Lubomir Jovanovic, a.k.a DJ Lubi for some insights into his day to day work.
For larger scale artists, it is typical for an agent representing the artist to reach out and discuss their desired venues and dates, at which point the promoter will get in contact with the venues and form a budget sheet suited to the band/artist’s requests. For Lubi, who promotes medium size gigs in venues such as Belgrave Music Hall, Hyde Park Book Club, and Brudenell Social Club, he will speak directly to the artist and act as a middle man to the venue, using his network of industry connections to choose a suitable support. As he has become more well established, he has outsourced some of the workload, however he describes how his initial role required him to “book the bands, book the venues, sort the ticketing, sort the artwork, promote the show, go flyering and put posters up, go buy the drinks rider, run the soundcheck, host the night”. The role of a promoter can be “exhausting” and result in 12 hour days.
It is then down to the promoter to create interest and anticipation for the gig. This is essential, as if there is an insufficient number of tickets sold the gig will either have to be cancelled, or the money required to break even will come straight from the promoter’s personal funds. There are several methods for generating awareness for the gig, including posters, flyers, leaflets, and the increasingly important realm of social media. Lubi explained that he spends significantly more of the budget on Meta advertising than he does on any physical adverts. It is easier to target the desired audience, and will see far greater engagement. He also invests a large chunk of money into the artwork, working with graphic designers to create a professional looking media campaign for each major gig.
I was also able to ask touring band ‘Westside Cowboy’ a few questions after their headline show at ‘The Crescent’ in York. The Crescent is a 300 capacity venue which they were easily able to sell out, despite it being their first headline tour. I inquired about how they had managed to move from performing small venues to friends and family to generating enough excitement from fans to sell out larger venues. The guitarist – Reuben – explained the importance of the scarcity and quality of each gig. He advised not to book more than one show a month, as it would lead to few people attending all of them, thus losing money and creating a poor atmosphere at the gigs. This strategy is sometimes reflected contractually, as I found when messaging a Leeds based promoter 360 Club. Reuben also advised creativity in budgeting smaller shows, using indie band the K’s as a case study. In order to create atmosphere, sell tickets and attract label attention, they rented a coach to drive all their home town friends to each show, making each gig seem overwhelmingly successful. Lubi also described his creative problem solving for promotion, as he asks conservatoire students to distribute posters for events, in return for free entry to the gig. It can therefore be seen that creativity in problem solving and marketing is an essential skill for the success of a promoter.
The process of promoting a gig should also begin long in advance, as the number of moving parts leading up to a gig means a promoter’s time management must be flawless. Lubi’s recommendation was six months of preparation, due to the increased number of monthly paydays approaching the gig. He places a rough limit at three months for smaller shows, and described any preparation in under a month as “asking for trouble”.
Finally, it is important for a promoter to understand when to cut their losses in the event of a cancelled gig. Independent promoters such as Lubi use insurance with cancellation clauses to cover anomalies out of their control, including:
- Non-appearance of a key artist or performer due to illness, injury, or unavoidable travel delays.
Adverse weather conditions that make the venue unsafe or the event impossible to proceed (particularly for outdoor gigs). - Venue closure due to fire, flood, power outages, structural damage, or if the area is cordoned off by authorities (e.g., police activity).
- Civil disruption such as riots, strikes, or government actions affecting the event.
- National or court mourning
If the gig has simply not sold enough tickets, it can be financially beneficial to cancel it rather than continue and lose more money, demonstrating the importance of the months of preparation and attention to detail in advertising and promotion.
856 words
Case Study – Tour Manager
Role of a Tour manager
Whereas promoters primarily oversee the booking of the gig and securing personnel leading up to the event, tour managers are in charge of real time events happening at said gig. They usually work above a tour account manager, production manager and a production coordinator to ensure the whole process goes smoothly, as well as maintaining constant liaison with the artist and their specific needs. Often tour managers double as the artist’s personal manager, as they are responsible not only for the show running smoothly, but for the happiness and well-being of their clients. The role typically involves creating time sheets long in advance of the event, ensuring every moment of the day is accounted for and no time is lost or wasted. It takes stress off the artist so that they can focus on the performance, as the tour manager knows “everything they were going to do that day weeks in advance”. According to tour manager Alex Kosub, 75% of tour management happens in advance. The position involves extensive planning for every aspect of the tour, covering travel, accommodation, food, and much more. Should the artist require a visa, it would be the tour manager’s responsibility to ensure one was produced by the beginning of the tour.
All of these factors feed into the tour budget, which would be decided long prior to the beginning of the tour. Based on the size of the artist, the tour manager will work with the tour accountant and production team to make educated decisions on spending. For example, a smaller band would likely only require a few instruments to be transported, their accommodation would be far more rudimentary, often sleeping in tour vans or friends’ floors, they would load in their own gear and their rider may only consist of a few beers. For a larger and therefore higher stress operation, more personnel would be required, artists would require higher quality living conditions to prepare for the bigger shows, and with very high profile artists, increased security measures are essential. On top of this, the tour manager has to leave space in the budget for any anomalies or mishaps that could disrupt the tour schedule, such as health issues, delayed payments, faulty equipment, extreme weather, or hidden fees.
The most important trait of a tour manager is “organisational skills”, according to ‘Yellowcard’ tour manager Charlie Fox. They manage not only the show, but the “lives of the people they are on tour with”. Throughout my research, I noticed a frequent comparison of tour managers to parental figures, an essential role for artists in ever-changing, high intensity climates where mistakes are costly. It is also common that tour managers have experience of most other roles they are managing, to better understand the requirements and functions of each position. Maintaining a sense of calm and control is essential, as this attitude filters down into the jobs beneath the manager and helps to keep things functional.
Once the tour comes to a close, it is also the responsibility of the manager to settle, which essentially means checking that everyone in the crew is adequately paid, as well as paying off any remaining bills accumulated throughout the process. They will also often compile tour reports, which help to evaluate effectiveness.
In a 2020 interview, esteemed tour manager Callum Read stresses the importance of “thinking on your feet” in this role. The primary skills of a tour manager – alongside the less abstract skills such as first aid, communication and patience – revolve around improvisational problem solving regardless of what the issue pertains to; the overarching goal is ensuring the show is a success and everyone is kept happy and well.
611 words
Comparison
Approximately 600 words
Role Comparison
My hypothetical event is an indie/alt rock band showcase event, comprised of three acts. The headliner would be a well established band on the Leeds scene, to guarantee a crowd is drawn. The second support would also be an established band, but they would be a less well known group that plays a similar genre as the headliner. The first support would be an emerging band, offering a fresh and exciting sense of discovery to the audience, and a great opportunity for exposure for the band. The supports would have half an hour each, and the main act would be given a 40-50 minute slot. I would create a timesheet for the evening as a tour manager, and ensure that all acts receive it well in advance of the gig. It would state load-in at 4:30, soundchecks between 5:00 and 6:30, doors at 7:00, and the first band on at 7:30. This avoids wasting the sound engineers time.
I chose Hyde Park book club, as it is known for its strong, warm sound system that compliments guitar based music, and has a great intimacy to the basement venue without sacrificing too much space. As a promoter, it is important to match the genre of the performers to the venue to optimise the atmosphere and sound. This event would take place in early summer, attracting a crowd of mostly students before they return home from university, as well as maximising on the door tickets as people will be out at later hours. For a gig this size, a 150 cap venue is perfect, as it prevents the venue from feeling empty, without selling out immediately and struggling for space (which would occur in Sela Bar or the Snug).
To promote the gig, I used budget advice from DJ Lubi, a promoter who works with this venue frequently. Due to the younger age bracket of the audience, I budgeted £30 for local meta ads, allowing for targeted viewing by instagram and facebook users. I chose not to budget national ads, as the nature of this gig is centred around showcasing Leeds bands, and Hyde Park Book Club is not a destination location. It is situated in a student area, and so relies on footfall, word of mouth and social media exposure primarily. I set aside £25 for the artwork, in hopes to create an eye-catching stylised poster to promote the event. I would work with a Leeds Arts student who is keen to get involved in the music scene. When printing them, I would create A4 and A3 versions for various areas of the city, and print them on high quality paper to maintain the professional look. As the promoter of this gig, I would distribute the posters myself, so I budgeted enough money to get a bus to the opposite end of Leeds, and enough to pay to put them in record shop windows (e.g. Crash, Jumbo). These locations act as hubs for music enjoyers, the most likely people to purchase tickets.
The book club does not include a lighting technician in its package, so I would outsource this to a fellow student, paying a flat fee for the evening. For the rider, I set aside enough money for three cases of beers and waters. This is for each of the bands, to ensure they feel accommodated and welcomed, the duty of a your manager. For the box office staff, I paid the minimum hourly rate the book club allows, meaning the box office would be open between 7:00 and 10:00. This is the only staff I would include, as I would have set up a table for the band’s merch which they would man themselves after the show. This not only cuts costs, but allows audience interaction with the bands and builds community.
636 words
Show Budget
Use the file block to upload your Budget Costings Sheet.
Final Settlement Sheet
Use the file block to upload your Gig Settlement Template.
Bibliography
References
Primary:
Lubi. J, 9/12/2025
Haycocks. R 30/11/2025 – Westside Cowboy
Watson. R 10/10/2025 – 360 Club
Secondary
Articles
Leeds Conservatoire. (2024). The Life Of… a Tour Manager. [online] Available at: https://www.leedsconservatoire.ac.uk/about-us/progression-portal/musicians-survival-guide-articles/the-life-of-a-tour-manager/.
Musicandgigs.com. (2025). Available at: https://musicandgigs.com/the-role-of-a-tour-manager-what-you-need-to-know [Accessed 10 Dec. 2025].
CareerExplorer (2017). What does a music promoter do? [online] Careerexplorer.com. Available at: https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/music-promoter/?
Johnson, E. (2024). What Do Promoters Do? [online] Soundon.global. Available at: https://www.soundon.global/forum/what-do-promoters-do?lang=en [Accessed 10 Dec. 2025].
Berklee.edu. (2025). Concert Promoter. [online] Available at: https://www.berklee.edu/careers/roles/concert-promoter?
GRAMMY GO. (2024). The Complete Guide to Becoming a Tour Manager. [online] Available at: https://go.grammy.com/music-careers/tour-manager
Videos
www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Music Promoter – Career Insights (Careers in the Creative Industry). [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY2MrD0N9H8.
the Entertainment Institute (2015). TEI Presents- Spotlight: Tour Manager. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk8oiACS-Y4 [Accessed 10 Dec. 2025].
Kamen, A. (2020). Day in the Life of an Indie Tour Manager. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTc9dSn9aZo [Accessed 13 Dec. 2020].
creativelive (2015). Dave Shapiro: The Life of a Booking Agent. [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8js3RzLn9d4.
www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Music Touring Management 101 – Ep. 1: Management Structure and Production Team. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzh2m4JYH84 [Accessed 12 Jan. 2022].
