Deal Types Explained: Door Deals, Guarantees, Vs Deals, and Promoter Profit

Quick Reference

Door deal: You get a percentage of ticket sales. No guaranteed money. If nobody shows, you get nothing.

Guarantee: You get a fixed amount regardless of attendance. The venue carries the risk.

Versus deal (vs deal): You get whichever is higher: your guarantee OR your percentage of the door. This is the deal that protects you on both ends.

Promoter profit deal: The promoter's costs come off the top first. Then the promoter takes a percentage of what's left. Then you get paid from what's left after that. This is where most bands lose money without understanding why.

Deal Types at a Glance

Door Deals

This is the deal you'll see most at your level. The math is simple: the venue charges at the door, and you split that money by a percentage.

Common splits:

• 80/20 (artist/venue): standard for a band with a real draw
• 70/30: common when the venue is providing sound, door person, and promotion
• 60/40: you'll see this from venues that are doing heavy lifting on promotion
• 50/50: usually means the venue doesn't believe in your draw yet, or there are multiple bands splitting the artist side

Here's what a door deal actually looks like at the end of the night:

Example: 60 people pay $10 at the door. Gross door is $600. Your deal is 80/20.

• Band gets: $600 × 80% = $480
• Venue gets: $600 × 20% = $120

Sounds clean. But here's what actually happens: maybe only 45 of those 60 people paid. 8 were on the guest list. 4 were staff. 3 walked in during changeover and nobody caught them. Now your gross door is $450, and your 80% is $360. That's $120 less than you expected, and you have no way to verify it unless you had someone counting at the door all night.

When you'll get this deal: Almost always when you're starting out. Most venues under 300 capacity default to door deals for bands without an established draw.

The risk: It's all on you. If 12 people show up on a Tuesday, you're splitting $120 and wondering why you drove three hours.

Guarantees

A guarantee means the venue promises you a specific dollar amount regardless of how many people come. If the room is empty, you still get paid.

Example: Your guarantee is $300. Show draws 20 people at $10. Gross door is $200. The venue still pays you $300 because that's the deal. They eat the $100 difference.

When you'll get this deal: When you have enough of a track record that venues trust you'll draw. Or when the venue wants you specifically and is willing to invest. You probably won't see guarantees until you're consistently drawing 50 to 75 people in a market.

The downside: If the show sells out and the venue grosses $2,000, you still only get your $300 guarantee. The upside all goes to them. That's why the next deal type exists.

Versus Deals

The vs deal is the best deal structure for a band with a growing draw. You get whichever is higher: your guarantee OR your percentage of the door.

Example: Your deal is $300 guarantee vs 80% of the door.

• If 20 people show up at $10: gross is $200. 80% = $160. Your guarantee of $300 is higher. You get $300.
• If 80 people show up at $10: gross is $800. 80% = $640. The percentage is higher than your guarantee. You get $640.

This is the deal where you're protected on bad nights and rewarded on good ones. If someone offers you this, take it seriously. It means they believe in you enough to guarantee money but are also willing to let you earn more if you deliver.

Promoter Profit Deals

This is the structure most bands don't understand until they're staring at a settlement sheet wondering where the money went. It's most common at mid-level and large venues, but you'll start seeing versions of it as you grow.

Here's how it works:

1. All ticket revenue comes in (gross box office receipts)
2. Taxes and facility fees come off first
3. The promoter's expenses come off next (sound, security, marketing, hospitality, sometimes production)
4. The promoter takes their profit percentage from what's left
5. What remains is the artist's share

Example: 200 tickets sold at $15. Gross is $3,000.

• Taxes and fees: -$300
• Promoter expenses: -$800 (sound $200, security $200, marketing $200, hospitality $200)
• Net after expenses: $1,900
• Promoter profit at 15%: -$285
• Artist gets: $1,615

That looks reasonable. But here's where it gets dangerous for bands who aren't watching: those "promoter expenses" are where money disappears. If the promoter charges $400 for marketing you never saw, or $300 for hospitality that was a case of water and a bag of chips, your payout shrinks and you may not know why unless you read every line of the settlement sheet.

This is exactly why settlement transparency matters. Both sides need to see the same numbers.

What to Remember

The deal type determines who carries the risk. On a door deal, you carry it. On a guarantee, the venue carries it. A vs deal shares it. A promoter profit deal spreads it across the whole show, but the expenses are where the trust breaks down.

Whatever deal you're offered, get it in writing before show day. A text confirmation with the terms is the bare minimum. A deal memo is better. A confirmation email with every number spelled out is best.

And at settlement, know your deal terms cold. Don't rely on the venue to remember what was agreed. Have it on your phone, ready to reference, before you walk up to settle.