A drum and bass headliner booking is a fragile financial equation. Most ticket buyers have no idea how thin the margins are. Here is the rough shape, without specific numbers.

What you pay the artist

An international DnB headliner costs roughly a third of the gross ticket revenue for a mid-size Baltic show. That is the artist fee paid to their agency. The agency takes 10 to 20 percent of that, the artist keeps the rest. The fee is a fixed cost regardless of how many tickets you sell.

What you pay for everything else

Flights and hotel for the artist plus tour manager, often a runner driver, dinner. Sound engineer if the artist brings one. Backline rental if the rider asks for it. Visa support, if needed. Roughly another 10 to 15 percent of the gross.

What the venue takes

Either a flat hire fee or a percentage of the bar. Combined with door staff, security, cloakroom and cleaning, that is another 20 to 25 percent of the gross.

What is left

Maybe 20 percent of the gross, if you sell out. If you do not sell out, the artist fee and venue cost stay fixed and the margin vanishes. This is why promoters obsess about advance ticket sales. The first 60 percent of tickets cover the costs. Everything after that is what keeps the next show possible.