The Music Puzzle: exploring booking practices in Europe

In the bustling world of live music, there’s a key player often working behind the scenes: the music booker. Theyr role is to bring together the magic of music, the practicalities of money, and the desires of audiences. Recently, Live DMA, a European network for live music venues, clubs, and festivals, took a closer look at what these bookers do in their latest study.

Their study, “The Music Puzzle: Exploring Booking Practices in Europe” aims to understand what it’s like to be a music booker, especially in live music venues. They’re hoping to encourage fairer practices across Europe by being more open about how things work in this industry. Over the last 15 years, people have started paying more attention to how booking works in the cultural world. Live DMA’s study is based on both academic research and discussions with bookers themselves, especially during a special meeting in 2021 when COVID-19 was causing chaos in the music scene.

This meeting, with 15 bookers from different parts of Europe, highlighted the need for fairer practices in booking. This study is a step toward creating a set of rules everyone can agree on, making things clearer for everyone involved; hence, it looks at what bookers do every day and what challenges they face. It also looks at who bookers work with and how they make decisions.

Live DMA’s study shows that being a music booker is about making sure everyone involved, from musicians to audiences, gets a fair deal. And by being open about how things work, they hope to make the music world a better place for everyone.

You can check out a summary of the report here, or download the full report here.