Event Planning

This project centres on the planning and preparation to deliver a successful live music event professionally. Our event will take place at Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds on the second of March, selected due to its established popularity among the student and local scene, as well as its strategic position within student areas. The event will feature four emerging rock-centred bands: Janata, Bio Exile, New Damage, and Sair as the headlining act. All artists operate within a similar genre space, allowing for a cohesive identity appealing to current trends in the local student scene. 

The primary aim is to stage a professionally planned small-scale live music show that supports local and student-based grassroots artists, offering audiences an affordable experience. The project directly responds to the realities of grassroots music promotion, where events are often ‘delivered on limited budgets, rely heavily on collaboration, and must balance artistic ambition with operational feasibility.’ (Webster, 2013; Frith et al., 2015).

This rationale explores our prepared approach, focusing on time management, production, contingencies, finance and marketing. Supporting documents are included in the appendix. 

Time Management

With multiple stakeholders, audience expectations, and a fixed deadline, poor time management could face major consequences. For this event, time management has been approached through structured planning, assigning roles and using organisational tools such as an event advance found in the appendix.

Firstly, roles were allocated based on individual strengths, including things like artist liaison, venue liaison, venue and artist scouting, marketing, and finance. Clear role allocation can support accountability and reduce miscommunication, which is a common source of error in live events (Allen et al., 2011). These roles ended up being shared, for example each of us finding an artist and dealing with our respective liaison duties individually. 

To support these, shared tasks we implemented group meetings and regular communication to monitor progress, address issues, and maintain consistency. Instagram was used for group communication and sharing promotional materials, whilst Google Drive stored all documents in an easily accessible place. 

A backward planning model was utilised, beginning with the confirmed event date, and working back through key milestones on the build-up to this show. This approach is widely recognised as a key practice in event management, allowing organisers to identify critical deadlines and manage tasks accordingly and efficiently (Tum et al., 2006).

Hyde Park Book Club operates with a loading time from 4 pm and a sound cut off curfew of 11 pm. With this, we designed a detailed layout of timings within our event advance; listing load in, sound-checks, doors opening time, set times, and curfew/loadout. We also incorporated buffer times between sets to allow for technical changes and potential delays, reflecting industry recommendations for flexible scheduling (Martin and Adams, 2014). 

The importance of adhering to curfews cannot be understated, with The Noise Act 1996 stating that local authorities can “take action where noise emitted from premises exceeds the permitted level during the night-time period of 11.00 pm to 7.00 am.” (UK Government, 1996). Similarly, the Environmental Protection Act 1990 states that “Noise emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance is classed as a statutory nuisance, which local authorities have a duty to investigate and, if necessary, enforce against.” (UK Government, 1990), implying responsibility beyond just venue policies. Effective scheduling therefore supports both operational efficiency and professional credibility. 

Following the headline, we need to ensure closing the night with minimal error. We have an hour to pack away carefully and effectively, and although the venue handles duty of care with crowd management, we have assigned individual roles to assist all aspects of closing a show if any issues occur. 

Production Planning 

Technical Production

Our technical production has been designed to align with the existing space the show is taking place in. We came to a decision to use the house PA and sound engineer as an extra fee added to the hiring fee. This option was most logical, inflating cost but saving time and ensuring professional sound. Also, utilising in-house resources is regularly recommended for smaller events, as it ensures compatibility with the space and access to experienced staff who are familiar with the setup. (Brown and Knox, 2017). Additionally, excessive sound levels in a compact space can pose health risks, requiring an experienced engineer who understands the space to mitigate risks and comply with the Health and Safety Executive guidance on noise exposure (HSE, 2013).

The artists were asked to provide technical specifications including stage plots and input lists, which we have gathered into a single document found in the appendix. Whilst artists had minimal requirements which all aligned with venue specifications, some issues still arose with coordinating shared backline equipment. Where appropriate, we encouraged shared equipment to support much faster changeovers and reduce the hazard of stage clutter, which is especially important in small-scale venues like ours (Webster, 2013). Equipment from Leeds Conservatoire will be used where required, also acting as our spare equipment in the event of technical failure. 

To ensure efficient and quality production, we will provide the in-house sound engineer with a full list of technical specifications – such as input lists and stage plots – 2 weeks in advance to the event. This allows appropriate time for familiarisation with the setup and pre-configuration of the mixing desk, ensuring speed and efficiency through both soundchecks and changeovers.

Also, a minimal lighting setup was chosen to reduce costs and safety concerns, actually assisting the darkened, moody atmosphere we aim for. 

Logistical Planning

Logistical planning for the event considers artist travel, equipment transportation, spatial limitation and overall access to the venue. 

The venue pack offers rear parking to the building, with direct access to the basement venue area for artists and crew members. We will communicate this to the artists for an efficient loading process. Artists travelling via taxi will arrive from the front of the venue, strategically avoiding the risk of congestion in a small car park. 

Though most of the artists are local, we have implemented staggered arrival times to further reduce the impact of late arrival. These align with sustainable live event practices and reflect the economic realities of grassroots promotion (Bennet, 2018). 

A main challenge with the venue is spatial limitation, with primary research indicating that green room space is minimal. The use of our shared back line and minimal lighting approach will support this, with the staggered arrival times reducing problematic procedures, ensuring efficiency. Coordinating arrival times with the venue staff guarantees effectiveness. 

By anticipating setbacks, and efficiently communicating, we aim to maintain a professional and stressless environment (Tum et al., 2006). 

Artist Hospitality

Providing catered hospitality supports artists and ‘contributes to positive working relationships’, which are crucial for maintaining contacts within local music scenes (Webster, 2013). 

The venue provides a green room for artists, as well as a 10% discount on food and drink. Although we would like to offer more, with a restricted budget we are limited for options. No riders have been submitted by the bands, but in the event that requests are made, our contingency budget is accessible to accommodate their needs where necessary. Additional hospitality we will provide includes access to drinking water and tea, secure storage for gear and personal belongings, as well as a clear line of communication regarding all technical aspects, inquiries, and expectations from us and the venue. The compiled event advance will also be easily accessible for artists. 

Health & Safety

Health and safety is an integral aspect to all event planning. A comprehensive risk assessment has been carried out to ensure the safety of everyone involved, enclosed in the appendix. Identified risks include crowd management, noise exposure, electrical hazards, and fire hazards. Control measures have been implemented in accordance with legislation from The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (Great Britain, 1999), and guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE, 2013).

Firstly, although Leeds Conservatoire provides cover, we contacted the venue to ensure they hold valid public liability insurance, as this is a legal requirement for all licensed venues within the UK. This limits liability for third party claims.

Electrical hazards can also pose a major risk, not only to the technical running of the show, but the safety of others. Combatting this, we ensure all equipment has been PAT tested routinely. Equipment hired from Leeds Conservatoire delivers this practice. We will prohibit any use of equipment which does not have a valid safety sticker. 

Fire safety is another crucial factor. The venue has multiple fire exits to be kept clear at all times, with clear signs around the room in the event of emergency. The predicted exit is always accessible through signed double doors. Venue procedure indicates the duty manager to immediately stop the show and raise the house lights. To further mitigate risk, we developed a strategy to not use any naked flames or flammable backdrops during the show. 

The decision to not use extensive lighting rigs reduces the number of cables present in the room, reducing clutter, and stopping crowding issues for artists and public members. This also reduces the risk of collisions with equipment, as well as trips and falls, whilst stopping the risk of their excessive heat in close proximity to people. Adding to crowd control, ticket sales will be restricted to the venue capacity of 150, and the appropriate number of security personnel will be adhered to by venue management. 

Finally, sound exposure is an obvious concern with live music in a confined space. Many venues provide free ear protection, though we identified in the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 (Great Britain, 2005) that music venues in the UK are only legally required to provide these for staff members. We will communicate this with the venue, being prepared for the expenditure of ear protection through our contingency budget and ensuring public safety. 

Effective health and safety planning allows us to comply with legal obligations whilst demonstrating professional responsibility and practice within event management (Silvers, 2012). Alongside a detailed risk assessment, this ensures effective emergency protocols. 

Contingency Planning

Live events can be unpredictable, making contingency precautions crucial towards ensuring a professional and smooth-running show. For our event, we identified and addressed a range of potential scenarios. 

In the event a non-local support act cannot perform, we have deemed this an unfortunate but non-critical scenario as audience loss is minimal. Having three support acts gives us flexibility, where our procedure would be to extend the set times of the other bands by ten minutes each, making up the lost time and still providing value to the audience. Should a bigger act not be able to perform, this would be a more detrimental issue to overcome; we would find a replacement that guarantees audience engagement. There is a plethora of local bands that we are in connection with and can act as a standby procedure, as maintaining relationships with other local acts provides additional flexibility (Allen et al., 2011). Having done research to monitor the level of engagement their fan bases have maintained, we have an ordered list to work through in the event. This should reduce the impact on ticket sales and restore the profitability of our event. Following this, we would utilise the bulk-email feature on our ticketing platform, notifying attendees of the lineup change, and offering a full refund for those no longer willing to attend. This is in line with ethical business practice and maintains the reputation of our management team. In the case any of these acts arrive late, we have created flexibility in timings found within the event advance, allowing this not to impact the event. 

Technical failure is another key risk. While reliance on the in-house equipment and engineer reduces this likelihood, our contingency measures include bringing spare equipment such as microphones, cables amps DIs if a failure occurs or PAT testing credentials are to have expired. The buffer time between sets will allow room for troubleshooting these issues without impacting the overall schedule. 

Financial emergency is another issue we’ve considered. A contingency fund has been included in our costs budget should it be required. This demonstrates the awareness needed for financial risks, and aligns with industry standard event budgeting (Silvers, 2012).

Should an emergency happen that results in venue closure or event cancellation, such as power outage or staff unavailability, our priority becomes effective communication. We have clear channels between the venue management to ensure quick and effective decisions. Using the bulk-email system, we can announce the cancellation and return funds. We will have a draft email prepared to be sent to these recipients, as well as the artists, venue, and our social media platforms. This protects us and all stakeholders from reputational damage, giving the public enough time to change their schedules and travel plans, also minimising the safety risk of a large crowd gathering outside a closed venue. 

For unforeseen circumstances that we have not discussed, we will communicate effectively amongst ourselves and come to a solution. In failure of this we will contact our course representative for advice or look to the immediate contacts in our appendices or on site for related issues.

Using these strategies to overcome the most likely scenarios, as well as unforeseen circumstances, we can give room for problems and overcome them effectively if they occur. 

Financial Planning

Our financial strategy is realistic for grassroots level, where the budget is low and profitability isn’t necessarily guaranteed. A cost chart is included in the appendix, detailing full predicted cash flow.

Understanding our audience appropriated the pricings, expecting students local to the area. This equates to lower priced tickets for maximum experience. In group meetings we decided a £7 general advance ticket would provide affordable and attractive admission, whilst beating competitors such as 360 Productions at £9.90. Pairing this with an ‘early bird’ 2 for 1 deal capped at 30 tickets, as well as a £10 on the door price, creates incentive towards buying early and ensuring ticket sales. These strategies aid cash flow and reduce reliance on on-the-door buying, which is typically uncertain (Brown and Knox, 2017). 

Fixed costs include the venue, PA and engineer hire fee, marketing costs, and artist fees. We landed on the marketing price through an analysis of potential ticket sales to cost ratio, finding the logistical amount to benefit our event with. To remain professional, we have included flyer/poster costs, although this is most likely a resource we can source from Leeds Conservatoire. In line with our ethical outgoings, the artists will receive a set payment – £20 for support acts, £30 for headline – as well as a split of profits after expenditure deductions. Similarly, we will allow the sale of merchandise without income deductions. Variable costs include PRS licensing at 4.2% of gross ticket income, and ticketing platform fees of 8.2%. To ensure financial preparation, these have been calculated with a sold-out scenario in our cost chart. Our contingency fund further displays financial awareness if more costs arise. These factors informed our decisions on ticket prices and strategies, ensuring profitability amongst the multiple expenditures. 

To remove hardware costs and increase security, we have adopted a cashless system. Use of cashless pay means easily accessible digital sales logs, determining our gross income efficiently and paying all respective personnel upon invoice request, leaving us with a clean legal record of sales. 

With all of these procedures in place, we calculated our break even point and financial risks. The budget projects a minimal profit, prioritising sustainability rather than profit maximisation. This approach supports ethicality within grassroots promotion, contributing to the ‘resilience of local music ecosystems’ (Behr et al., 2016; UK Music, 2023).

In future, we recognise that arts funds could be beneficial to reduce the pressure of costs, such as the PRS Foundations ‘Early Career Promoter Fund’ that can provide grants of up to £3500. This would allow the further investment into marketing, payment of artists, and the delivery of higher quality production.

Marketing

To ensure profitability and engagement, our audience targeting reflects the limited budget and profit margin typical of a grassroots event. Digital platforms such as TikTok and Instagram form our main approach, reflecting contemporary media consumption trends among 18–30-year-olds (Baym, 2018). Demographically, we have located Hyde Park, Headingley and City Centre locations to be our main focus, with a young-adult student scene profound in an ‘alternative’ culture. Our marketing displays the event as a showcase for underground, student-based and emerging artists, aligning with current audience interests. These demographics demonstrate price-sensitivity, informing the promotion of low prices listed in the costs appendix. 

Firstly, our focus will be creating branding to reflect the alternative, underground nature of the lineup through a cohesive visual identity. We created a mood board by researching similar artists. The press kit included in the appendix reinforces the awareness of professional promotional procedure, including press releases, artist biographies and high-quality images to aid the identity of our event. Primary research with peers informed platform choices and content style. This approach uses modern marketing techniques, supporting audience engagement (Kotler, et al., 2017). 

To overcome the limited time frame, we will utilise the collaboration feature on Instagram, combining our followings and fan base. Using this, we will publish themed posts with increased reach and engagement. A budget of £60 has been allocated to Instagram advertisements, utilising Meta’s tools for targeting and demographics (a method suggested by local artists through primary research conducted by the team). This collaborative-based approach should show results without significant financial loss (Bennett, 2018). Recorded content, such as rehearsal footage, behind-the-scenes material and use of trends will support these tactics. 

We will also use physical promotion like posters and flyers, focusing on locations of cultural relevance and student density. “Despite the dominance of digital marketing, physical branding proves effective within local music scenes when strategically placed” (Webster, 2013). Cafes, record stores and university campuses ensure targeted exposure whilst avoiding legalities. We will also flyer in the venue itself in the run-up to the event, targeting a guaranteed interested audience.

We also plan to promote through local listing magazines and radio stations, using the press kit materials to create a ‘hype’ towards our event. In contribution, we plan to record short promotional videos of our artists to provide a ‘taster’ of their live material. 

Conclusion

Through a range of audience-targeted promotional strategies and efficient financial management, we have minimised attendance risk whilst maintaining our original aims. Similarly, our detailed planning in productional aspects and consideration of risks have supported a smooth-running event that is both enjoyable, and importantly, safe for the artists and audience alike. 

As a team, we are all aware that Hyde Park Book Club isn’t the most ideal venue, having relatively poor facilities and little hospitality for artists. Though considering this, I believe we have planned effectively enough to make this event successful, having developed the preparational skills to handle a range of venue conditions in future. Comparatively, I believe our time management could be improved, as we struggled to communicate at the level required for industry professionalism. Similarly, the prepared use of arts schemes could have seriously increased our profitability. Given these, we have overcome problems effectively and are confident that our strategies will prove effective on the night. 

In summary, the planning and preparation for our event demonstrates a professional approach to live music management at grassroots level. Delivering industry standard practice, we plan for a successful event which supports a profitable business model.

Artist Biographies

Bio Exile: “For the past year and a half, Bio-Exile have been making a name for themselves on the live circuit, both in their native Northampton, and as far out as London. Equipped with over an hour’s worth of original live material and a small selection of covers, no two shows are the same.

Bio-Exile takes influence from many hard rock and post hardcore acts that play before them adding in their own blend of grunge attitude and classic rock guitar wizardry to create a sonic experience unique to them. Bio-Exile has grown a small community on social media and has two songs on streaming. If Bio-Exile comes to your town, make sure you get there.”

Janata: Janata are a band hailing from Leeds, influenced by the progressive and experimental rock sounds of artists such as King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Geordie Greep, and Porcupine Tree. Their sound is characterised by powerful drums and catchy guitar riffs, with sporadic chaotic soundscapes scattered throughout.

New Damage: New Damage are a 4 piece post-punk band formed in 2023. With an emphasis on fusing the relentless energy of punk music with dissonant jazz harmony, they have gained a reputation around the Leeds underground scene as a result of their intense live sets and fugazi-esque rhythmic hooks. New Damage draws influence from old as well as modern post-punk bands, with the recent wave of acts from the post-brexit UK scene inspiring a great deal of the band’s songwriting, coupled with an infectious rawness in their delivery that perfectly translates from a live setting to the studio. With their long-anticipated debut single, ‘Loud In The Ken’, the 4-piece outfit captures the vigour of their live shows as well as their tight musical chemistry to create a tirelessly dynamic track with infinite energy.

Sair: Drawing influence from Madison Cunningham and Jeff Buckley, his music strives to evoke emotion out of an audience – whatever the feeling.

Artist HD Photographs

Risk Assessment

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Additional Material

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Email Chain with Venue

Reference List

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