Introduction

For our Live Music Management assignment, we will be staging a headline performance for Leeds alt-pop/jazz artist Romy Taylor, at the prominent Leeds venue Brudenell Social Club. The event will take place on 17th March 2026 to launch Romy Taylor’s new single and marks a new landmark for her career, having sold out previous headliners at Oporto and Hyde Park Book Club. This makes Brudenell a perfect next step, as a series of support gigs have gained Romy a loyal following eager to see a headline performance in a larger capacity venue.

The team planning this show consists of myself, Nathan Thomas, Bradley Cobb, Jethro Holmes and Romy Taylor. We are all taking on specialist roles that play to our strengths to help make the show as successful as possible. Due to Romy’s existing connections within the Leeds music scene, she will be the chief communicator, artist liaison, and take the majority responsibility for marketing, as she is the face of the event. Brad will take charge of finances, accounting and logistical aspects such as advances.

Jethro and Nathan are managing stage elements such as stage plots, input lists and technical specifications. I will undertake production design elements including lighting and stage design. We are all responsible for overseeing both individual and collective elements such as risk assessments, hospitality plans, research, show advances and budget sheets to ensure equal contribution, whilst also playing to our strengths.

Initial Planning

In our first meeting in September, we discussed initial ideas for the module. There was talk of staging a headliner using the 2 bands within the group, however, due to stylistic differences between the two, and Romy’s higher establishment, it made sense to stage a headliner for her, as it was also a natural progression for her career to do this.

When discussing venues, Romy was keen on Brudenell from the start. Headrow House and Belgrave were also discussed, however Headrow’s capacity is similar to Hyde Park Book Club, a venue Romy has already sold out, so it was dismissed. It also didn’t align with the artistic vision of the gig due to its size and aesthetics.

Belgrave was dismissed due to the room being too large, meaning it could look empty if we didn’t sell many tickets. Additionally, the majority of our target audience, students, live within walking distance of venues like Brudenell, and not in the city centre (where Belgrave and Headrow House are) making it the more suitable choice- this also encourages walking to the gig, helping to significantly reduce the environmental impact of our show.

Contacting Brudenell proved difficult, as they seem selective in who they reply to. Numerous emails were sent requesting dates and outlining our plans, but weeks passed with no reply. Romy then visited the venue in person, which led to our first reply providing basic details and tech specs. A few weeks later, we received a proper reply from the venue owner, Nathan, who gave us available dates, and eventually led to confirmation a few weeks later. Thanks to Romy’s persistence, we managed to secure the venue after 3 months of deliberation, but it is still extremely difficult to communicate with the venue due to their lacklustre replies.

Support Acts and Hospitality

Once the venue was confirmed, we discussed support acts. We needed stylistically cohesive artists, so Romy selected Lauren Mikki and Emma Coates, both of whom fit her genre and have existing professional relationships with her. We collectively decided to treat the support acts professionally rather than as “friends doing a favour,” so they will be paid a fair flat fee outlined in a contract. Romy is responsible for liaising with the artists and collecting their tech specs before passing them to Jethro to create stage plots.

For budgeting reasons, we won’t provide rider requests or food, however, £30 has been allocated for beer and bottled water in the dressing rooms. Food suggestions have been provided in advance, but because all the acts live locally, catering isn’t essential.

Production

Jethro, Nathan and I are managing production elements. Jethro created the stage plots and Nathan created the input list. Using the venue’s tech spec, he selected which microphones we’re going to use and has created patch notes for the sound desk- this improves setup efficiency and provides clear instructions for the sound engineer, helping to save time during load-in.

Instrument backline, will be provided by Romy Taylor’s band. Drum shells will be provided by the drummer or loaned from Leeds Conservatoire- this will be confirmed closer to the date, though all drummers must bring their own breakables. Backline, including microphones and monitoring, will be provided by the venue, with placements of all items clearly labelled in the stage plots.

Sound will be done by Jo Desund, an audio engineer that Romy already has a professional relationship with, having worked previously with her on other shows. Because she knows Romy’s sound well, and each band members monitor mixes, soundcheck should be efficient and high quality, as Jo is known to be knowledgeable and work at a very high standard, improving reliability meaning we shouldn’t face any major issues on the day regarding audio engineering, helping with time efficiency. 

I will be managing lighting and stage design, using the software Capture to design a 3D render of Brudenell’s stage, including its lighting fixtures. Using the information we gathered from the site visit, I was able to map out fixture positions and type. This allows me to create lighting designs for each of Romy’s tracks, which I will communicate to the lighting engineer on the day – this will give the event a higher production value and engage the audience more compared to shows you’d normally see at grassroots venues in Leeds. Audience engagement is incredibly important in the live music industry, so if we can bring that to a grassroots venue, then it would be incredible to do so and engage audiences. Allied Market Research states: “The convergence of enhanced production values, state-of-the-art technologies, and superior amenities creates an event that is not merely attended but experienced in its entirety. This elevation of the experiential quotient in an event resonates profoundly with attendees, which gradually draws them into an immersive world of engagement, interaction, and lasting memories.” (Allied Market Research, 2023). Engagement is what live music is all about in my opinion, so if I’d love to help out in engaging audiences by providing lighting design. Cashman and Gariddo (2020, p.16) write in “Performing Popular Music” “if your performance is to truly be an experience, it needs to engage as many of the senses as possible”… They also write “… a performance is more than just the music. It’s an experience” (Cashman and Gariddo, 2020, p.16), and I want to make Romy’s headliner into an experience. 

Unfortunately, I am new to the lighting design software, so will be unable to set a timecode to program the lights exactly to the songs, however this is something I would want to improve on in the future next time I do something like this. Paying for a knowledgeable lighting engineer is invaluable to ensure our ideas are executed in the most engaging way on the night.

Romy has previously used decorations to immerse the audience during her shows, and we will be doing this for our show, implementing banners and fabrics. We haven’t discussed logistics of decorations yet, but for health and safety reasons, we will be notifying the venue of any decorating that involves flammable materials so we can mitigate risk. 

Health and Safety and Risk Assessment

After receiving the confirmation from the venue, we went in to conduct a risk assessment and collect information to help with things like stage and lighting plots. We went around the venue, checking fire extinguisher dates, fixture security, uses of safety chains, fire exits and potential hazards, and collated this information in a risk assessment document. The main hazards were things like tripping, falling due to misplaced objects or lack of a barrier on the stage, however everything is manageable and the venue is very safe- all fire extinguishers are in date, fire exits are clearly labeled and lots of effort has been made to ensure that audience and performer safety is imperative. 

Finances

The budget for this event has been calculated based on projected outcome vs income, as we needed to set out prices first to calculate things. We decided on the tickets being priced at £8 advance, £10 on the door, with a cheap list set at £6 for selected individuals allocated via competitions and marketing. These prices were calculated based on similar ticket prices in the area, taking into account pricing from Romy’s previous shows, and the fact that our target audience is students and we want to sell as many tickets as possible, so we can’t put people off with the pricing. This model of pricing is called the “Everyday Low Pricing” strategy where “a business achieves profitability through high sales volumes and operational efficiency rather than high per-unit margins. This model is used by retailers such as Walmart” (Flintfox, 2025)- the low pricing is an attraction that will hopefully lead to more sales. The average cost of a ticket at Brudenell is £18.80, but for student gigs, at a venue like Hyde Park Book Club the average is £8 (these figures have been worked out from the prices of 3 shows of each type at the beginning of February). Tickets cost more for acts at Brudenell, as they are often touring so need higher incomes to support broader expenses, whilst student gigs most often only need enough money to break even. 

After deciding the ticket prices, we calculated potential incomes (with the average ticket cost set at £8.50), with the maximum being £3750 (this is the maximum amount of money possible from ticket sales assuming there’s 20 guestlist and 20 cheap list), and a realistic figure being around £1900. Using this, we decided on artist fees- opener receives £175, main support receives £225, and headliner receives £500. As I mentioned previously, we wanted to pay fair prices, and because of the potential incomes from this gig, we had the financial freedom to be able to do that. These figures were again calculated by taking into account fees received by artists we know who have performed at Brudenell or similarly sized venues throughout the city. 

All expenses totaled £1440, meaning the breakeven ticket sales number is 170. In the spreadsheet, we have calculated a realistic outcome using estimates of advance tickets sold vs on the door tickets. Eventbrite says in a study “a whopping 56% of people paying £1-£10 per ticket booked on the day of the event or on the door, while a further 8% booked the day before.” Due to our target market being students aged 18-24, we needed to research this age group, as Eventbrite states: “11% of 16-24 year olds purchase their ticket on the day… A lot of events see a lot of last-minute activity (in general up to 20% of sales but in some cases nearly 50%)” (Eventbrite, 2019). Using that information, and also information of sales from Romy’s previous headliners (150 tickets sold at Hyde Park Book club compared to 100 sold at Oporto meaning a 50% increase in sales between headliners), we can estimate 225 people will attend this show, and that 34% will buy tickets on the door (using the average of 56% and 11% due to our prices, and the age group using the information eventbrite provided). Therefore 77 people will buy on the door and 148 will buy in advance. Of that 225, we are including the cheaplist but not the guestlist, as these will most likely be guests of the performers, so unlikely to affect attendance figures. This means that our estimated gross is £2074, plenty to break even, with £634 in profit. Estimating a sellout, 34% will buy on the door (122 people), meaning 238 people will buy in advance. This results in £3,720 gross, with £2,280 profit. 

Upfront money for expenses is coming out of Romy Taylor’s band pot, which will be reimbursed after receiving profits. Any remaining money will be split equally between the promotion team. Additional funding could be acquired via external grants if needed, such as “PRS’ Early Career Promoter Fund” or the “National Lottery Project Grant”, both of which would be able to give us the £1440 required if our applications were successful. The PRS grant gives up to £3500, and the National Lottery Arts fund gives between £1000 and £100,000, both figures are enough to support the show if our applications are successful. 

Marketing

We will be deploying multiple strategies to market this show. Instagram will be our main platform for marketing and promotion, where we will be posting between 3pm-6pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Sundays- data shows that these are the most effective times for content engagement on Romy’s account, which is where the majority of content will be posted. 2 weeks prior to announcement, we will notify the gig to local press (LSR, Roots Mag, LSCU, Girls Got Guts Podcast, and Content Nausea) so they can promote it on their platforms. We’ll increase the volume of posts closer to the event date and the day of announcement so you can’t escape seeing it. This marketing strategy is called “always on marketing” “a strategy that involves continuous marketing activities… This approach to marketing gives your brand a continuous presence online, which can bring many benefits. It strengthens the relationship with your existing customers, engages potential customers, and increases overall brand awareness, recall, and loyalty.” (StackAdapt, 2023) 

Regarding Romy’s upcoming single release, we will get people to review it pre-release, and conduct interviews to build hype and generate more material to post, building anticipation and further promoting the show. Brudenell will also be promoting the gig on their social media accounts, which have over 15,000 followers combined, giving us a wider outreach across the country. The support acts and promoters will also be using their social media platforms to promote, giving another total of over 6,000 extra followers, extending the reach further. For ticketing, we will print out 20 tickets to sell in person, taking down people’s names to add to the cheap list so they can gain entry with a physical ticket. We will also run games and prizes to promote the gig in the Cafe bar of Leeds Conservatoire, which helps target our primary market of students- prizes include Romy Taylor merchandise, free tickets and drinks tokens. 

We will announce the gig on January 30th, giving about a month and a half for people to plan, book tickets and to give us enough time to promote. Regarding when people book tickets, Eventbrite says: “For events targeting the 16-24 demographic, the most important time period is 1 week to a month out from the event, when 35% tend to register; a further 23% book 1-3 months in advance.” (Eventbrite, 2019) If we can ensure that our promotion is efficient and regular, then people will be booking in advance within that 40 day time period. If not, people will be buying on the door, meaning we will make more money, effectively profiting off poor organisation (something 16-24 year olds are renowned for). As long as people know the event is taking place, and plan on coming, it doesn’t matter how they acquire tickets.

Logistics on the day

Due to our intricate planning, everything should run like clockwork on the day. Any gear or personnel that needs transporting to the venue can be provided by me, as I have access to a car, helping reduce transport costs. Other people will walk as they live nearby. Acts will then begin to load in around 3pm, and decorations can begin to be set up by myself and Jethro, as well as the merchandise tables, as we are not performing. I will also liaise with the lighting engineer when they arrive and we can have a production run through once soundchecks have finished. 

The venue will handle box office, and me and Jethro will be on the merch table throughout the night. Cash will be stored in a locked cash box that will be under permanent supervision to maximise financial security- other risks to the event will be mitigated via the venue security. No valuables (such as merchandise) will be left unattended, and at the end of the night, no one will leave the venue alone if they are handling valuable assets.  

Contingency

In the event that things do not go as planned, we have a number of contingency plans. If for whatever reason we cannot use Brudenell as a venue, which could happen, then we have pencilled in a date at Belgrave as a backup. If one of the support acts are unable to play, then all of us have a vast network of musicians and bands which we can use to source a last minute replacement in the event of a dropout- Romy’s first choice is local artist Emily Trease. 

In the event of gear failure, we can also use this vast network of musicians to borrow gear, whether that’s guitar pedals, drums, amps or cables. For example, Romy’s guitarist uses a BOSS ME-85 guitar pedal, and I have a BOSS ME-25 pedal at my house, which is a 15 minute walk away from Brudenell. If Nathan’s pedal isn’t working, then I can quickly source mine as a replacement, as it’s similar to his. We have also pencilled in Dan Clifford, another local sound engineer as a backup if our requested sound engineer is unable to work the show. If there is a major catastrophe and we can’t do a large scale venue show, we could very easily stage an event in someone’s basement in a last ditch effort, which is common as we know people who have staged these types of shows at their houses.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I think we have planned this gig extremely well, and can forecast that it will be successful based on the quality of the planning. We have a strong rationale, strong work ethic and lots of ambition going into the project, and have thought of lots of minute details, which puts us in good stead going forward. Billie Eilish’s team talk about the “1% theory” which they apply when they are creating her shows (Learn Live Music, 2023). The “one percent theory” refers to the idea of working meticulously on the intricate details of every aspect of the show, down to the last “one percent” for each element, so that every small piece of the show adds up to be the greatest it can possibly be. Taking from this ideology and applying it to our event can ensure that for us, everything will run as efficiently as possible, and that we’ll have worked to our absolute maximum capabilities, making the show as spectacular as possible, both production wise and operationally. This level of perfection is what makes music productions incredible, which help turn casual fans into loyal, long term followers that repute you for spectacular performances.

Artist Biographies

Show Opener– Emma Coates

Artist Bio

Leeds singer and saxophonist Emma Coates weaves jazz and folk songwriting to create her unique, intimate sound, taking inspiration from the likes of Men I Trust, Adrianne Lenker and Snowpoet. Along with Tom McEwen (guitar), Nika Ticciati (bass) and Louis Berthoud (drums), she creates deeply personal storytelling, exploring feminine identity and growth, complimented by the delicate and airy tones of her voice and band. Her debut EP ‘Borrower’ was released in October 2025, with acclaim from BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio.

Main Support – Lauren Mikki: 

Artist Bio:

Lauren Mikki fuses ethereal vocals with a literary-inspired lyrical depth, shaping an indie-soul sound beyond genre. Influenced by Laufey, Clairo and Olivia Dean, she has earned plays on BBC Radio 6, a Spotify Fresh Finds UK&IE feature, and BBC Introducing’s praise as ‘one of the most exciting artists in the uploader’.

Artist Portfolio/Achievements:

Recorded:

– 3x Track Of The Weeks BBC Introducing Leeds & West Yorkshire 

– BBC Introducing Live Session and Interview

– BBC Radio 6 Music plays

– Spotify Fresh Finds UK&IE playlist placement

Live:

– BBC Introducing stage at Live At Leeds festival

– Cross The Tracks fringe event with Global Soul

– Leeds Jazz Festival

– Supported Mica Millar at The Wardrobe

– Played Lawrence Batley Theatre

Headliner- Romy Taylor

Artist Bio

Romy Taylor is an independent, Leeds-based vocalist and songwriter whose music sits at the intersection of alt-pop and contemporary jazz.

Drawing inspiration from artists such as Lianne La Havas, Björk and Lucy Rose, her sound is characterised by expressive vocals, thoughtful songwriting, and a fluid, genre-blending approach. With roots in southern Spain, Romy’s heritage subtly informs her musical identity, influencing her melodic sensibilities, rhythmic feel, and emotive performance style both in the studio and on stage. Within the last 14 months Romy has sold out 2 headliner shows in Leeds and packed out various other venues including the Brudenell, Belgrave Music Hall and Canteen, the Wardrobe and The Attic. Festival appearances include WeOut Here Festival, The Brudenell Piano Sessions, Leeds Jazz Festival, Live at Leeds and Main Stage at Humber Street Sesh.

Romy Taylor EPK

Support Artist Press Shots- Emma Coates (Top) & Lauren Mikki (Bottom)

Risk Assessment

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Replace this example with your risk assessment as a PDF.

Risk Assessment Photos

Show Advance

Financial Risk Assessment

Artist Contracts

Budgeting Spreadsheet

Communication with the Venue and Artists

Gannt Chart Timeline

Marketing Plan Notes, Timeline and Data Analysis

Venue License

Brudenell Lighting Plot and Stage Renders

Bibliography

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Arts Council England. (2024). Our funding programmes for individuals. [online] Available at: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/developing-creativity-and-culture/supporting-individual-creative-and-cultural-practitioners/our-funding-programmes-individuals [Accessed 19 Dec. 2025].

Cashman, D. and Garrido, W. (2019). Performing Popular Music. Routledge, p.16.

Clegg, J. (2023). Billie Eilish’s FOH Engineer, Drew Thornton (Podcast Episode 6). Learn Live Music. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjRdjHVZ9fE [Accessed 28 Dec. 2025].

eventbrite (2019). Event Ticket Sales Statistics (Infographic) | Eventbrite UK. [online] Eventbrite UK. Available at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/blog/when-do-people-buy-event-tickets-ds00/ [Accessed 18 Dec. 2025].

https ://www.alliedmarketresearch.com, A.M.R. (2023). Live Events Industry Market Size, Share, Trends | Forecast 2032. [online] Allied Market Research. Available at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/live-events-industry-market-A156718 [Accessed 16 Nov. 2025].

King, S. (2023). What Is an Always-On Marketing Strategy | StackAdapt. [online] Resources. Available at: https://www.stackadapt.com/resources/blog/what-is-an-always-on-marketing-strategy [Accessed 22 Dec. 2025].

Moss, J. (2025). Everyday Low Pricing Guide | Flintfox. [online] Flintfox. Available at: https://www.flintfox.co.uk/resources/articles/everyday-low-pricing-edlp-strategies-compliance-and-industry-insights/ [Accessed 18 Dec. 2025].

PRS for Music Foundation. (n.d.). Early Career Promoter Fund. [online] Available at: https://prsfoundation.com/funding-support/funding-for-industry-professionals/early-career-promoter-fund/ [Accessed 18 Dec. 2025].

Service.gov.uk. (2019). BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB LIMITED overview – Find and update company information – GOV.UK. [online] Available at: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12363496 [Accessed 28 Dec. 2025].