A first-time organiser's checklist for booking an artist

An artist can't give you a real rate until they know the date, the city, and roughly how long they're performing for. "Sometime in the next month or two" gets you a rough estimate at best — a real quote needs a real date.

Set length, whether you need them to bring their own sound equipment or the venue is providing it, whether it's a private function or a public ticketed event, and roughly the crowd size. Two artists quoting for "a 3-hour set at a 40-person birthday" and "a 3-hour set at a 400-person public show" are pricing two completely different jobs.

Set length, start time, what happens if the event overruns, and the cancellation terms — all of it belongs in the booking itself, not a side conversation on chat. Once it's in the booking, both sides can point to it later; a promise made outside the booking isn't something either of you can act on if it's forgotten.

It can be tempting to agree a lower price for a direct bank transfer instead — but that also means giving up the escrow protection, the dispute process, and the record of what was agreed. The commission is what buys you the guarantee that the show either happens or the booking gets resolved; paying around the platform removes the guarantee along with the fee.

Load-in time, parking, who's meeting the artist, and a phone number for whoever's on-site that day. This is the step that gets skipped most often on a first booking, and it's the one that causes the most stress on the actual day.