Rationale
For this project, we plan on delivering a night of Indie-Folk music at the Lending Room in Leeds. The event will take place on the 25th of February and will consist of two support acts and a headline act. All three acts that we have chosen are emerging local artists based in the Leeds and West Yorkshire area.
The venue we have chosen, The Lending Room, is a smaller to midsized venue with a maximum capacity of around 200 people. As these artists are still establishing themselves within their scenes and are in the earlier stages of audience development, we saw it fit to go with a smaller venue of this size as to reduce financial risk while also supporting a more intimate environment, appropriate to the music that will be showcased.
The purpose of this essay is to show justification for the decisions that we have made in planning this event, to show consideration of risks to health and safety as well as financial risk. To show plans of contingency and our use of time management, as well as a plan for promotion and marketing, as well as planning for the production requirements involved in delivering a show of this nature.
Event Concept
The format of this event has been deliberately chosen to align with both the genre of the music showcased and the rationale for this project. For example, we have chosen to host our event on a Wednesday evening as we are aware that a large demographic of the audience attending will be university students and young people, with Wednesday being a popular night to go out for that demographic.
For our lineup, we have chosen to use people that are already involved in the organisation of this event. (Leo Hoad, Gracie De Wolfe, and myself) are songwriters who already align with each other in terms of genre, while still being diverse enough within their influences to create a cohesive bill that will allow for contrast and diversity of sound between the sets.
The fact that the artists are already within the project grouping is also beneficial as it will reduce the reliance upon a third party, which lowers the risk of cancellation or negligence towards the project or performance as well as reducing costs in hiring a third party act.
We have deliberately chosen to curate a bill of 3 artists as to extend more reach of ticket sales than if we chose less acts, while still having a bill and stage timings that will feel expected and familiar to an audience. The first two support acts play thirty minute sets, while the headliner follows with up to a 50 minute set. The set times are shorter for the first two acts as they may have less repertoire or audience development than the headline act.
We have also chosen to put on a night of Indie-Folk music as the stage production and technical specifications will be more manageable and realistically achievable.
There will also be a reduced chance of risk to both health and safety and to the flow of the night as there will be fewer people on stage and less equipment to be used.
The venue that we have chosen being the Lending Room was also a deliberate and justified choice as it is already a popular Leeds venue for university students and young people, who we are aware are the target demographic for this event. The Lending Room also has a 180 person capacity which will accommodate this event well, it will be a large enough room to allow profit from ticket sales, while still being conducive to creating an intimate environment, which will align with the genre of the event. This capacity is also a realistic expectation of the audience draw that we will have as the artists are still developing their audience. The Lending Room also has already hosted similar nights and artists to our event, such as Benjamin Steer.
By choosing the Lending Room, we will also be able to benefit from the existing resources from the venue such as a sound engineer, PA, staffing and lighting which has been agreed with the venue. The venue is also appropriate as the deposit of £130 will be realistically recoupable upon ticket sales and correct pricing.
Time management and production planning
For this event we implemented both a pre-production plan as well as a day of show timeline which is found in the advance. This way we were able to break down tasks into smaller and more manageable portions that would be easier to tackle as time went on.
For our pre-production time management, we have broken our tasks down into a plan spanning 12 weeks from the show date. These are as follows
Weeks 12-10: Confirmation of venue reservation, confirmation of artist booking and contracts.
Weeks 10-8: Completion of risk assessment, event budget and technical advance and specifications.
Weeks 8-4: Marketing and publicity campaign begins, including; press release distribution and social media promotion.
Weeks 4-2: Confirmation of hospitality requirements and confirmation/ any adjustments to final production details
Weeks 2- event day: final checks, published advance distributed to artists and promoters, contingency planning.
With this plan we will be able to ensure that we have enough time for each section of the pre-production process, allowing adequate time for promotion as well as mitigating risks that may incur as a result of poor planning.
For this show we have also employed the use of an advance to help the day of show scheduling.
The advance can be found attached to this assignment.
The Advance is a document that is distributed between the acts, the promoters and the venue to help create a clear understanding of what is to take place on the show date and to share any crucial details among these parties e.g.Ticket price, contact information, load in/ sound check times, set times, and venue details (address).
We have organized the sound check and load-ins in the reverse order of the set timings; this was a deliberate move as to have the stage ready for the first act to play, and to help the changeovers be as seamless as possible.
We have also allowed 15 minutes between each soundcheck and 20 minutes between each set time to allow for smooth changeovers that don’t feel rushed. The 20 minutes between each set has been chosen as a good amount of time to let the audience take a break between each artist. These both will help allow for any delays that incur on the day.
Production management
Technical Production
We have made deliberate choices in our technical production as to reduce the chance of risk and to make the event run as smoothly as possible. Due to the nature of the event showcasing Indie-Folk artists, we can afford to use more minimalistic equipment and have more simple stage layouts/ setups.
The Artists have each given their own technical specifications for the night, with stage layouts for each set, also shown in the tech spec.
We have also received a technical specification from the venue itself. This is useful in planning and understanding what equipment will be available from the venue for the event.
We have tried to plan the event so that we can utilise in-house equipment as opposed to having to hire equipment or rely on others, which will reduce both the cost and risk of production.
The first two acts, (Hoad, and Gracie De Wolfe) will be using very simple setups of acoustic guitars through a Direct Input box, as well as a Sure SM58 mic(s) for their vocals that will then be played through the in-house PA system. Other than the performers guitars, all of these items will be supplied by the venue.
The headline act, Thomas Jason, will be using a 4 piece band where more equipment will be introduced; such as, guitar and bass amplifiers, drum kit, and mics for each of these. The venue has all of this equipment except for cymbals and cymbals stands as well as personal instruments, which have been arranged by the artist.
All equipment mentioned in the technical specification has been deemed necessary for the production of this event and is considered standard and appropriate of the genre of the event.
Logistical Production
We have also realised that strong logistical production will help the event flow without disruption and will mitigate the likelihood of risk.
We have supplied an advance for everyone involved in putting this event on, most importantly the artists and production team. This will help to ensure that load-in times, soundchecks, set timings and other jobs such as on the door sales and other production considerations can be easily followed within a deliberate structure.
The venue has also provided both, equipment storage and in house production staff such as a sound engineer and any other crucial staff e.g. lighting, bar staff, stage hands.
The venue has also specified an end of production time which has been considered in the structure of our advance, with plenty of spare time to allow for any delays as well as enough time to pack up and load out.
Hospitality Management
We have also made considerations for the artist’s welfare during the event, we realise that by trying to make the experience as positive as possible for the artists, it will help to create an environment that will nurture relationships between the artists, promoters, sound engineer and the venue staff, and may also contribute to the performance quality.
None of the artists have made rider requests; however, there will be a green room provided by the venue, and a selection of beverages and snacks will be supplied by us, the promoters. These choices have been made in consideration of our smaller budget for running the event, while still taking into account the smaller things that we can do to improve the experience for all involved.
Health and Safety
A risk assessment has been undertaken to determine any potential hazards that may cause risk to the performers, production team or to the attendees of our event. The formal risk assessment is attached to this assignment.
In our assessment, we have identified any potential risks and scored them on both probability and severity on a scale from 1-6. These are then multiplied to create a total risk score. We then consider what precautions we can undergo to reduce the chance of these risks happening, and state them clearly in the risk assessment. We then repeat the scoring of probability and severity after precautions are considered. The new total score for each risk is then used to determine if and when action will be required for the risks stated.
Contingency planning
By using a contingency plan we will be more prepared to respond to adverse situations that may arise in the running of this event. This will reduce the risk of loss of money, to health and safety, as well as ensuring that event will run smoothly.
A copy of our contingency plan is attached.
For our contingency plan, we have set out to identify the risk, the reason for that risk, steps to take if that risk happens, identifying who would be responsible (or liable) for it as well as the probability of the situation arising.
By identifying the potential risks that may happen during this event, and by having plans in place to respond to those risks, we will be able to identify and manage a problem in a more timely and efficient manner than opposed to if we had no plan. This will be particularly important as the event will be live and disruptions and unplanned steps have the potential to disrupt the experience of the audience particularly easily.
Financial Planning
We have used financial planning so that we can manage the money that will be used in the production of this event. A Financial plan has also helped us to estimate the potential income to be made off of the event, as well as helping us understand the financial risk involved in putting the event on, and how best to reduce any potential of loss.
A costing chart and financial risk plan is attached on this assignment,
As this is the first event that we are putting on as a group, we have tried to keep costs as low as possible, which in turn will help to reduce any substantial risks to money.
As a group we have also decided to split all the costs incurred between us evenly, and after we make our money back, we will make sure that each person is paid back their share towards the event. With profits split among the group.
The venue that we have chosen has cost us £130 to rent out for the evening. This includes, sound engineer, bar staff, venue equipment, lighting and PA. The Venue also has a capacity of 200 people (standing) which means that we have more than enough capacity to make our money back via ticket sales, while keeping them reasonably low priced.
We have deliberately curated the artists playing to be people that are already in the group promoting the event. We made this choice so that we would not have to pay a third party to come and perform, which will reduce the cost of putting on the event. To reduce costs, we have also found an amateur photographer who is a friend of the group who has agreed to take photos of the event for us.
We have also budgeted a total of twenty pounds for local online advertisement for the event. This will be talked about in more detail in the next section of this assignment.
The tickets for this event will be available for purchase both online and on the door, the online tickets sold in advance have been priced at five pounds. At this price we will need to sell between twenty and thirty tickets to fully cover the costs of putting the event on and promoting it.
We have also decided to not disclose the price of tickets on the door, simply saying ‘More on the door.’ This way we can price them as necessary on the day, for if we have not made enough money back, we can price them slightly more, towards eight or nine pounds, to recover our money or alternatively, we can keep prices lower and encourage more people to come.
We have also kept in mind that most of our audience will be students, for this reason we have decided to keep the ticket prices relatively low.
Marketing strategy
For our marketing and promotional strategy we have to first identify our target audience.
We believe that the majority of people who are likely to buy tickets will be young adults and students between the ages of eighteen and twenty three who have an interest in Indie-Folk music and/or are already fans or friends of the artists.
Due to the nature of this demographic, we have chosen to promote the event mainly on online platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, as well as creating physical posters to put up in spaces such as Leeds Conservatoire.
We are also going to pay twenty pounds for targeted meta ads that will promote the event specifically to people who already have an interest in the genre, and who are of the mentioned age range.
For the promotional material, we have been able to keep costs low in creation of content by using a very DIY format in the style of our posters and posts. This is also fitting to the vibe and nature of the Indie-Folk scene.
We are also going to implement artist led promotion, this will help to make the audiences of each artist aware of the event and encourage more ticket sales. Once the promotion for the event has begun, we will be scheduling posts quite regularly to create a constant buzz around the event.
Conclusion
The event that we have decided to put on has been designed using deliberate decisions that focus on; the appropriateness to the genre, the venue, and of having realistic expectations with the budget and experience we have as a group.
By choosing to host our indie-folk event in the Lending Room, we have chosen a venue that is appropriate in both the vibe and size of this event. With enough capacity to comfortably make profit while keeping ticket prices low, while the venue isn’t too big where we wouldn’t realistically be able to fill it with a decent amount of people.
We have also made choices in our time management and production planning as to be able to effectively and deliberately announce and host this show, breaking down the event planning into smaller tasks with strict timelines that will assure our success.
In our production management, we have made deliberate choices as to how to successfully run this show while also using realistic and achievable planning. The event will conform to the industry standards that are set of the genre of Indie-Folk music at smaller venues, with a focus on the quality of sound and professionality, the artist, venue and guest experiences, as well as the timings and health and safety precautions that should be observed on the day to assure a smooth and safe execution of the event.
We have also taken much consideration towards the risks that may incur of hosting an event such as this. With carefully considered contingency planning, formal risk assessments and full costing charts and plans; with these in place, we will be more easily able to adapt to adverse situations if that should arise.
Deliberate choices have been made on how to announce this event to the public as well, with timelines and promotional material already prepared, as well as a target demographic to aim our promotional material to.
Overall, this event has been designed with a comprehensive understanding of risks and realistic ambition; and due to careful planning we feel confident in delivering this event.
Technical Specifications
A Copy of the Artist tech specs, Venue tech specs, the Advance and the costing chart for this project have been collated below.
Press Kit, Artist Biographies, (Including Artist Photos)
Risk Assessment
Promo Poster
