gigxchange/uk-live-music-glossary huggingface dataset:
Question: What does A&R stand for in UK live music?
Answer: Artist & Repertoire, the record-label function that scouts, signs and develops new artists. UK A&R reps work for major and indie labels and frequently attend grassroots showcase gigs in London, Manchester, Brighton and Glasgow. Less directly tied to the live booking market than to artist development, but a support slot played in front of working A&R can be career-shaping for an emerging act.
Question: What is an acoustic in UK live music?
Answer: A performance style using non-amplified or lightly amplified instruments, typically vocal with acoustic guitar, piano or upright bass. In the UK pub and wedding market, ‘acoustic’ usually signals a solo or duo background-music booking rather than a full-band PA setup.
Question: What is an advance in UK live music?
Answer: The pre-gig admin process where the venue or promoter confirms logistics with the artist, stage times, load-in, parking, rider, tech spec, payment terms. ‘Advancing a show’ typically happens 1–2 weeks out and is usually led by the promoter’s production manager or the venue’s bookings contact.
Question: What is an agent in UK live music?
Answer: A booking agent represents a roster of artists, pitching them to venues, promoters and festivals and negotiating fees on their behalf. UK agents typically earn 10–20% commission on confirmed bookings. Agents differ from managers (career strategy) and promoters (event-side risk).
Question: What is an artist in UK live music?
Answer: Any musician, band, DJ, solo act, or performer who creates a profile on GigXchange to be discovered and booked for live performances. Artists upload media, set their fee range and availability, and receive booking enquiries from venues and promoters.
Question: What is an availability in UK live music?
Answer: The dates an artist has marked as free for bookings on their in-platform calendar. Venues and promoters can see an artist’s availability when browsing their profile, making it easy to identify who is free on a given date.
Question: What is a backline in UK live music?
Answer: The stage instruments and amps actually used by the performers, guitar amps, bass amps, drum kit, keyboard rigs. Shared backline at multi-band shows can save 10–15 minutes per changeover. The rider will specify whether backline is provided by the venue or brought by the artist.
Question: What is a balance in UK live music?
Answer: The outstanding portion of the agreed fee, payable after the deposit. Common UK structures: 50% deposit on booking, 50% balance on the night or within 7 days of the gig. On GigXchange, balance is held in held securely via Stripe and released automatically on completion.
Question: What does BMG stand for in UK live music?
Answer: BMG Rights Management, one of the largest independent music publishers globally, with a significant UK presence. For live music, BMG matters mainly for publishing-rights clearance on original material; most grassroots UK acts will encounter BMG (if at all) through sync, not live.
Question: What is a booker in UK live music?
Answer: The person at a venue, festival or promotion company who decides which acts get booked. In smaller UK pubs the landlord is the booker; in mid-size venues it is a dedicated bookings manager; at festivals it is usually the head of programming or talent buyer.
Question: What is a booking in UK live music?
Answer: A confirmed agreement between an artist and a venue (or promoter) for a live performance on a specific date, with agreed terms, fee, and payment handled through the platform. Bookings follow a structured workflow from enquiry through to completion and review. See how UK artists land bookings in practice.
Question: What does BPI stand for in UK live music?
Answer: British Phonographic Industry, the UK trade body for recorded music labels. BPI runs the BRIT Awards and the Official Charts with OCC. Relevant to live music mainly through artist-development schemes and the Music Exports Growth Scheme (MEGS).
Question: What is a busking in UK live music?
Answer: Performing in public spaces (streets, transport hubs, markets) for tips. UK busking is regulated locally, some councils require permits (Camden, Westminster, Liverpool), others operate freely. Busking remains a core income stream and live-craft training ground for early-career UK musicians, and a route to be discovered by promoters scouting public spaces.
Question: What is a buy-on in UK live music?
Answer: A practice where a support act pays the headliner or promoter for a slot on a tour or bill. Widely considered exploitative on the UK grassroots circuit and distinct from legitimate tour-support investment. Reputable UK agents and the Musicians’ Union discourage it.
Question: What is a buyout in UK live music?
Answer: An all-inclusive fee that covers the performance plus travel, accommodation and any other expenses — the booker pays one number and the artist absorbs all costs. Common in UK corporate and festival bookings where the client wants budget certainty. Contrast with fee-plus-expenses, where travel and accommodation are itemised separately.
Question: What is a capacity in UK live music?
Answer: The maximum number of people a venue can legally hold, set by the premises licence and fire risk assessment. UK grassroots venues typically range from 80 to 500 capacity. Capacity determines ticket pricing strategy, PA requirements, staffing levels and insurance thresholds.
Question: What is a call time in UK live music?
Answer: The time the artist is required to arrive at the venue, typically expressed separately from load-in and soundcheck. A 5pm call time means the artist must be on site by 5pm, ready to load in, even if doors are not until 7:30pm.
Question: What is a cancellation fee in UK live music?
Answer: A pre-agreed sum owed if a booking is cancelled by either party within a set window. Typical UK tiers: 100% of fee if cancelled inside 14 days, 50% inside 30 days, deposit retained beyond that. Should always be set out in the contract before booking is confirmed.
Question: What is a cancellation policy in UK live music?
Answer: The full terms governing what happens if a gig is called off, who owes what, by when, and under which circumstances. A complete policy covers artist cancellation, venue cancellation, force majeure, reschedule rights, and deposit forfeiture. Required in any professional UK performance contract.
Question: What is a changeover in UK live music?
Answer: The time between one act finishing and the next starting on a multi-act bill — typically 15–30 minutes at UK grassroots shows, used to strike and reset backline, swap monitor mixes and line-check. Tight changeovers are the single biggest logistical pressure on multi-band nights and a key factor in building the running order.
Question: What is a ceilidh in UK live music?
Answer: A traditional Scottish or Irish social dance event with live folk music and a caller who instructs the dancers. Ceilidh bands are a distinct UK booking category, especially for Burns Night, weddings and hogmanay, with a strongly established fee expectation.
Question: What is a comp tickets in UK live music?
Answer: Complimentary (free) tickets allocated to the artist, crew or promoter for a ticketed show. UK grassroots norms are typically 2–4 comps per support act and 4–8 for the headliner. Comp allocation is a standard line in the booking advance because every comp reduces paid attendance.
Question: What is a club night in UK live music?
Answer: A regular DJ-led or curated event at a venue, usually themed by genre (indie, drum & bass, disco, techno) and running late. Club nights typically pay headline DJs a fee plus door percentage; opening and mid-slot DJs are often paid less or on a performance-cap basis.
Question: What is a curfew in UK live music?
Answer: The time by which all amplified music must stop, set by the venue’s premises licence or local noise conditions. UK pub curfews are commonly 11pm or 11:30pm; late-licence clubs may run to 2–4am. Missing curfew can result in licence review or fines, so it is enforced strictly — always confirm curfew during the advance.
Question: What is a consent in UK live music?
Answer: Under UK GDPR, the legal basis for processing personal data where the individual has given clear affirmative agreement. For marketing emails to individuals, consent is usually the required basis under PECR. Pre-ticked boxes and silence do not count as consent.
Question: What is a contract in UK live music?
Answer: The written performance agreement between artist and venue/promoter covering fee, date, times, cancellation, rider, and liability. On GigXchange, a digital contract is auto-generated from the booking terms and signed by both parties before the deposit is held.
Question: What is a corporate event in UK live music?
Answer: A private booking for a company, awards night, product launch, Christmas party, conference entertainment. Corporate fees in the UK are typically 2–4x the equivalent pub rate for the same act, with tighter dress code, set-length and content expectations.
Question: What is a covers band in UK live music?
Answer: A band whose setlist is built from other artists’ songs rather than originals. In the UK, covers bands dominate the pub, wedding, corporate and private-party market. PRS royalties apply to the original songwriters; the covers band do not need separate licensing beyond the venue’s existing PRS cover.
Question: What is a day rate in UK live music?
Answer: A flat fee for a full day’s work rather than a per-song or per-set rate. Common in UK session, corporate and festival contexts where the artist may be required for rehearsals, soundcheck, multiple sets or standby time across the day. Day rates are typically 1.5–2&times; a single-set evening fee.
Question: What is a dep / depping in UK live music?
Answer: A ‘dep’ is a deputy musician who covers for a regular member of a band who can’t make a gig. Common in UK function, theatre and residency gigs. Depping is a significant income stream for jobbing session players and requires the ability to learn a setlist fast.
Question: What is a deposit in UK live music?
Answer: An upfront payment made by the booker to secure the booking, typically 20–50% of the total fee. The deposit confirms the date and is usually non-refundable inside the cancellation window. On GigXchange, deposits are held in held securely via Stripe and released with the balance on completion.
Question: What does DI Box stand for in UK live music?
Answer: Direct Injection box, a small device that converts a high-impedance instrument signal (e.g. bass, acoustic guitar pickup, keyboard) into a balanced mic-level signal the sound engineer can plug into the mixing desk. Most UK venues have DIs available; high-end riders often specify preferred brands (Radial, BSS).
Question: What is a discover carousel in UK live music?
Answer: A featured-artist carousel on the GigXchange dashboard surfaced to venues, agents, and promoters. Featured artists rotate based on activity, profile completeness, and verification status, giving complete profiles extra exposure beyond search.
Question: What does DJ Set stand for in UK live music?
Answer: A performance by a DJ mixing recorded tracks, typically 1–4 hours. UK DJ bookings range from wedding receptions and corporate parties to club residencies and festival slots. Fees vary from &pound;150 for a local wedding DJ to &pound;10,000+ for a club headliner.
Question: What is a doors in UK live music?
Answer: The time the venue opens to ticket-holders or general public. Doors is distinct from stage time, a 7:30pm doors / 9pm stage means attendees have 90 minutes of the venue’s bar trade before the act goes on. Doors time is a key line on any gig poster.
Question: What is a door split in UK live music?
Answer: An arrangement where ticket revenue is divided between artist and venue/promoter. UK grassroots variants include 70/30 in the artist’s favour, 80/20 after the venue’s hire costs are recouped, and sliding scales triggered by headcount. On deposit-based bookings door split is rare; on ticketed club shows it is standard.
Question: What is a dry hire in UK live music?
Answer: A venue rental without in-house sound, lighting, staffing or promotion, the booker brings everything. Dry hire is common for one-off promoter gigs in converted warehouses, church halls, and multi-use spaces. Cheaper per-night than a wet hire but the booker carries all production risk.
Question: What is a duo in UK live music?
Answer: A two-piece act, typically vocal and guitar, vocal and piano, or two vocalists with backing. Pub, wedding and restaurant bookings often specify duo over full band for space, volume or budget reasons. Duo fees in the UK typically sit at 60–70% of a 4-piece covers band rate.
Question: What is an encore in UK live music?
Answer: One or more songs performed after the main setlist ends, traditionally in response to sustained audience applause. UK headline acts typically build a 1–3 song encore into the running order; covers and function bands more often respond to demand on the night. Earning a genuine encore (not a planned one) is a strong signal the audience wants more — and a key driver of five-star reviews and rebookings.
Question: What is an enquiry in UK live music?
Answer: The initial message sent from a venue or promoter to an artist (or from an artist applying to a gig listing) expressing interest in a booking. Enquiries are the first step in the booking process and are handled through the platform’s messaging system.
Question: What does EPK (Electronic Press Kit) stand for in UK live music?
Answer: A digital portfolio used by musicians to pitch themselves to venues, promoters, agents, festivals, and the press. A traditional EPK is a static PDF or paid hosted website. A GigXchange artist profile is a fully featured digital EPK that auto-updates as your gigs and content change, lives on a clean shareable URL, and connects directly to a live booking marketplace.
Question: What is an equity in UK live music?
Answer: The UK trade union for performers and creative practitioners, including many working musicians, MDs, dancers and variety acts. Equity publishes minimum rate cards for theatre and television work that often inform live-music negotiations at the higher end of the market.
Question: What is an explore in UK live music?
Answer: The search and discovery section of GigXchange. Users browse artist and venue profiles using filters for genre, location, fee range, rating, and availability. Explore includes audio playback and video previews so users can evaluate performers without leaving the platform.
Question: What is a fee in UK live music?
Answer: The total performance payment agreed between artist and booker, usually quoted as a single figure covering the performance (not the door split). UK fees vary enormously, &pound;80 pub solo, &pound;1,200 wedding 4-piece, &pound;5,000+ festival headliner, and should always be expressed as take-home, pre-agency commission. See the full UK fee breakdown by city, gig type and band size.
Question: What is a festival in UK live music?
Answer: A multi-artist event, usually over one or more days, curated around a theme, genre or location. UK festival fees are typically paid as a single guarantee, with artist bearing travel and accommodation unless otherwise negotiated. Slot position (opening, sub-headline, headline) materially affects fee.
Question: What is a first refusal in UK live music?
Answer: The right to match a competing offer before a booking is given to another act — typically granted by a venue to a preferred artist or by an agent to a priority client. ‘Right of first refusal’ is an informal but widely understood convention on the UK circuit, rarely written into contracts at grassroots level but standard in agency deals.
Question: What is a fold-back in UK live music?
Answer: British English term for on-stage monitoring, the sound sent back to the performers so they can hear themselves and each other. Fold-back can be via wedge monitors on the floor or in-ear monitors. Poor fold-back is the single most common technical complaint on UK grassroots stages.
Question: What is a force majeure in UK live music?
Answer: A contract clause excusing performance when an unforeseeable event (flood, pandemic, national emergency) makes the gig impossible. The 2020–21 COVID period triggered widespread use of force majeure in UK live-music contracts. Well-drafted clauses specify what happens to the deposit.
Question: What is a front-of-house engineer in UK live music?
Answer: The FOH engineer mixes the sound the audience hears. EQ, levels, effects, dynamics. At UK grassroots venues FOH is often the in-house sound engineer; touring acts may bring their own FOH. ‘FOH’ can also refer to the mixing desk position itself, usually at the back of the room.
Question: What is a function band in UK live music?
Answer: A band built for private events (weddings, corporate, parties) playing a broad mix of crowd-pleasing covers across eras. UK function bands typically offer 4–6 piece configurations, sometimes with DJ add-ons. It is one of the most reliably paid corners of the UK live market — browse function bands by city.
Question: What is a function set in UK live music?
Answer: The setlist format used by function and wedding bands, typically two 45–60 minute sets with a break in between, covering a rolling decade-by-decade selection plus current chart hits. Often paired with a DJ or playlist service during the break and after the band finishes.
Question: What does GDPR stand for in UK live music?
Answer: UK General Data Protection Regulation, the data-protection framework governing how personal data is collected, stored and processed in the UK. Venues and artists processing contact details, booking records or marketing lists must comply — including paying the ICO data protection fee if you handle personal data outside core staff records. Key lawful bases: consent, contract, legitimate interests.
Question: What is a gig listing in UK live music?
Answer: A post created by a venue or promoter describing an available performance slot. Listings include the date, time, genre preferences, budget, and any specific requirements. Artists browse gig listings and apply directly to the ones that match their style and availability.
Question: What is a grassroots venue in UK live music?
Answer: A small, usually independently operated music venue, typically 80–500 capacity, where emerging and touring artists play early-career shows. Represented by the Music Venue Trust (MVT). Grassroots venues are the foundation of the UK live pipeline and face significant commercial pressure.
Question: What is a green room in UK live music?
Answer: A backstage room where performers wait, warm up, eat and relax before and between sets. Green rooms vary wildly in UK venues, from a pub’s back corridor to fully fitted dressing suites at mid-sized venues. Rider requirements (food, drink, towels) are typically provided here.
Question: What is a guarantee in UK live music?
Answer: A fixed fee the artist is guaranteed regardless of ticket sales or door take. Often paired with a percentage upside: ‘guarantee vs. 80% of net door, whichever is higher’. UK grassroots touring acts frequently negotiate guarantees as protection against low turnout.
Question: What is a guest list in UK live music?
Answer: The list of complimentary admissions held at the door for invitees of the artist, venue or promoter. UK grassroots shows typically cap artist guest lists at 4–8 names per act; ticketed headline shows can extend to 20+. Guest-list pulls reduce paid attendance, so the size and split is a standard line in the booking advance.
Question: What is a headcount in UK live music?
Answer: The actual or projected number of people inside the venue for a given show. Headcount drives door-split calculations, bar-take projections, sound-limiter compliance and risk assessments. UK promoters track running headcount through ticket scans; venues typically use door clickers for free-entry shows.
Question: What is a headliner in UK live music?
Answer: The top-billed act on a gig, typically performs last and receives the largest share of the fee pool. UK headline sets typically run 60–90 minutes. Headliner status carries marketing obligations (being used to sell the show) and production priority (longest set, preferred soundcheck slot).
Question: What is a help musicians uk in UK live music?
Answer: An independent UK charity providing financial, health and career support to professional musicians, including hardship funds, mental health services (Music Minds Matter), and development grants. A key safety net for the UK working-musician community.
Question: What is a hold / pencil booking in UK live music?
Answer: A provisional reservation of an artist’s date before a full booking is confirmed — the date is ‘pencilled in’ but not contracted. Standard practice on the UK circuit when a venue or agent is waiting on budget approval, line-up confirmation or client sign-off. A pencil hold is not legally binding; either side can release it, but professional courtesy expects 48–72 hours’ notice.
Question: What is a holding fee in UK live music?
Answer: A (usually small) payment made to reserve an artist’s availability on a date before the full booking is confirmed. Less common in UK grassroots markets than in agency-led bookings. Holding fees typically credit against the final fee if the booking proceeds and are forfeited if the booker walks away.
Question: What is a house band in UK live music?
Answer: A resident band that plays regularly at a specific venue, often weekly. House bands build a loyal audience for the venue and receive either a retainer, a regular per-night fee or a door-split arrangement. Common in UK jazz clubs, blues bars and hotel lounges.
Question: What is an in-ears in UK live music?
Answer: In-ear monitors (IEMs), earpieces that replace stage wedges, delivering a personalised mix directly to the performer. Standard on professional UK tours and increasingly common at mid-tier function bands. Reduce stage volume and protect hearing.
Question: What is an input list in UK live music?
Answer: A technical document listing every audio source on stage and which input channel it maps to on the mixing desk, e.g. ‘Ch1 Kick, Ch2 Snare Top, Ch3 Hi-hat&hellip;’. Submitted with the stage plot as part of the rider so the sound engineer can patch the show in advance.
Question: What does IR35 stand for in UK live music?
Answer: UK tax legislation determining whether someone providing services through their own limited company should be treated as employed or self-employed for tax purposes. Relevant to session musicians and MDs working long-term engagements via a company structure; less relevant to one-off gig fees.
Question: What is a jam session in UK live music?
Answer: An informal, usually unstructured musical gathering where musicians take turns playing together, often over standard chord progressions or well-known songs. UK jam sessions run at pubs, jazz clubs and rehearsal spaces — distinct from open mics in that all performers play simultaneously rather than taking individual slots. A good way to meet other players and get noticed by bookers.
Question: What is a line-up in UK live music?
Answer: The full list of acts performing at a gig or festival, in running order. The line-up is a primary marketing asset, how the bill is constructed (genre alignment, draw balance between headliner and support, a buzz-act in the middle slot) often decides how well a show sells. Also used to mean the membership of a band itself, e.g. ‘current line-up: 4-piece’.
Question: What is a listening room in UK live music?
Answer: A venue configured so the audience is seated, quiet and focused on the performance, no chatter, no bar service during sets. Common for folk, jazz, acoustic singer-songwriter and spoken-word events. UK examples include the Green Note (London) and the Bush Hall’s seated shows.
Question: What is a load-in in UK live music?
Answer: The time window for the artist to bring gear into the venue and set up on stage. Pub load-ins can be 30 minutes; touring productions can need 4+ hours. The load-in time is usually the earliest point the artist is contractually required on site.