Free Performance Agreement Template

A performance agreement sets terms between a performer and whoever books them. It covers musicians, bands, DJs, comedians, speakers, and anyone else engaged to appear at an event.

The shape differs from most service contracts. A fixed hour on a fixed date leaves no room to reschedule quietly, and the audience has usually already paid.

Two parties carry unusual risk. The performer travels and may lose other work, while the promoter has sold tickets against somebody turning up.

Most of the document handles practicalities. Stage times, equipment, power, and who provides the sound engineer decide whether the night runs well.

Everything else concerns what happens afterwards. Recordings, photographs, and promotional use outlive the performance by years.

Scale changes the rider rather than the structure. A solo acoustic booking and a touring band both need stage times, a fee, and a recording position.

Put the whole day on paper, from arrival to the last note.

Date and Venue

Name the venue, the room, and the date. A festival stage and a headline show are different engagements even at the same site.

Load-In and Soundcheck

Set arrival, load-in, and soundcheck times. Soundcheck is the first thing an overrunning schedule sacrifices, so protect it in writing.

Set Length and Breaks

State how long the performer plays, how many sets, and the length of any interval. Two shorter sets is a different booking from one long one.

Doors and Stage Times

Confirm when doors open and when the performer takes the stage. Then say who may change those times on the day.

Support Acts and Running Order

Where others appear, agree the order and who approves it. Billing matters more to performers than promoters often expect.

Curfew

Name the time the music must stop. Then confirm who tells the performer when the end approaches.

Overruns and Encores

Say what happens if the show runs long, particularly where a venue curfew applies. Curfew breaches can cost a venue its licence.

Attach a rider rather than describing this in prose, and confirm the venue has read it.

Sound and Lighting

State what the venue supplies and what the performer brings. Name who provides the engineer and whether they attend soundcheck.

Stage and Power

Give the stage dimensions needed and the power available. Outdoor and non-standard venues cause most trouble here.

Backline and Instruments

List shared equipment and who supplies it. Then say who takes responsibility if borrowed gear fails or suffers damage.

Green Room and Hospitality

Set out dressing room access, food, and drink. Include dietary requirements, since everybody forgets these until somebody arrives.

Access for Equipment

Confirm loading access, parking, and whether the route runs via stairs or a lift. A van that cannot get near the door changes the whole evening.

Rider Changes

Say how either side flags a rider item they cannot meet, and by when. A problem raised a week out is solvable, and one raised at load-in is not.

Crew and Guest List

Agree how many crew attend and how many guest places the performer receives.

Live work runs on trust and cash, so write the money terms down clearly.

The Fee and What It Covers

State the figure and whether it includes travel, crew, and equipment. Then say whether it is a flat fee, a door split, or a guarantee against a percentage.

Securing the Date

Confirm the amount payable on signing and whether it is refundable. That payment is what stops somebody offering the date elsewhere.

Balance on the Night

Say when the balance falls due and how it changes hands. Where the venue pays cash, name who hands it over and who signs for it.

Travel and Accommodation

Confirm who books and pays for transport and rooms, and to what standard. Vague arrangements here sour an otherwise good booking.

Merchandise

Agree whether the performer may sell merchandise, where, and whether the venue takes a share.

Tax and Paperwork

Confirm what documentation each side needs for payment. Cross-border engagements often carry withholding requirements, so check those early.

A performance agreement should settle these before anyone points a camera.

Recording the Performance

State whether anyone may record audio or video, who may do so, and for what purpose. People treat silence here as permission far too often.

Live Streaming

Streaming is a separate right from recording. Say plainly whether the venue may stream, and who owns the resulting material.

Photography at the Event

Agree whether photographers may shoot, from where, and for how long. Many performers limit this to the opening songs.

Name, Image, and Billing

Confirm how promotion credits the performer, and that they approve the images and biography.

Music Licensing at the Venue

Public performance of music usually requires a licence, and venues typically hold one. Confirm who is responsible rather than assuming, since arrangements differ by venue and territory.

Content and Audience Suitability

Where an audience includes children or the event has a family billing, discuss material and language in advance. Neither side benefits from finding out mid-set.

Plan for the night that does not go as intended.

If the Performer Cannot Appear

Set out notice, whether a substitute is acceptable, and what happens to the deposit. Illness is the common cause and deserves its own line.

Cancellation by the Promoter

Agree a scale tied to notice given. A performer who turned down other work for the date has lost something real.

Weather and Outdoor Events

Say who decides that conditions are unsafe, and whether the fee is still payable. Outdoor stages and electrical equipment need a clear call made early.

Stage Safety and Effects

Confirm who is responsible for rigging, barriers, and stage construction. Pyrotechnics, haze, and strobe effects often need permits and advance notice to the venue and fire authority. Some venues prohibit them entirely.

Sound Levels

Where the venue operates a volume limit, agree it in advance. Provide hearing protection for crew working close to the stage.

Crowd Management

Name who provides security and stewarding, and who makes the call to stop a show if the crowd becomes unsafe. That authority should sit with one named person.

Insurance and Certificates

Require current public liability cover from both sides, plus equipment cover. Many venues will not admit a performer without evidence of it.

A show is a single evening that took months to arrange. Settle the terms in a performance agreement template while there is still time to fix them.