The price paid by the consumer for an MC or CD can be split between a number of companies or individuals involved in the sound recording process. 16 Concerts and other performances . Figure 2 shows the flow of payments to those involved in the organization of concerts. The important professions in the organization of concerts are the artist's agent and the promoter. The artist's agent is a specialist who matches musicians and singers with suitable venues for their performances or with a promoter who can organize and publicize performances successfully.
Musicians normally sign an exclusive contract with an agent.
The concert promoter is responsible for hiring the venue, for publicizing the concert and organizing all the necessary equipment needed for the concert which is not provided by the artists themselves. Both artists and promoters will often pay different groups of ancillary staff for a concert. The primary financial agreement in staging a concert is between the promoter and the agent, as the representative of the performer. This agreement can take various forms, although the key element is how far the agent can be persuaded to share the financial risk taken by the promoter. If the agent agrees to share the risk, the agreement will be based on a percentage share of the money paid by consumers for concert tickets.