Managing Artist Riders for Music Festivals.

Managing the artist riders is a crucial element in the smooth operation of any music festival and typically includes numerous aspects of technical set up and the provision of hospitality services. Festival organisers must balance budgetary constraints with satisfying the demands of performance artists. What are the key considerations for organisers when managing artist riders?

Top get the most out of an artist's performance they often require an environment that puts them at ease and reduces stress. All their instruments, stage set up and sound system should meet their exact requirements. Their set preparation process can often be quite demanding and may involve very specific hospitality demands. For organisers they will need to control the hospitality costs whilst meeting artist demands to ensure optimum performances. How can organisers manage the artist rider challenges for smooth operations. 

Technical Riders. 
The technical rider specifies what the artist requires for their performance and will normally include aspects like stage set up, sound systems, lighting and crew arrangements. With numerous artists scheduled to perform on a single stage organisers need to manage set time logistics making allowances for pre-show sound checks and live date artist changeovers. On-site stage managers and production teams will need to manage technical staff and engineers to ensure they have a clear plan of each artist’s requirements. Their planning will always be based on the technical rider submitted by the artist or their management team. It is not unusual for a festival with multiple acts to utilise a common back line and lighting arrangement which can be pre-programmed for each artist. 

Hospitality Riders. 
The management of hospitality requirements can cover accommodation and transportation arrangements as well as green room and dressing rooms with the provision of food and drink. The hospitality rider submitted can be vague requesting bottled water and snacks for example but in many cases will be incredibly specific. It is not unusual for riders to specify particular branded soft drinks or alcohol and explicit dietary requirements for food. Additional wardrobe requirements may include towels, mirrors and even facilities for ironing clothes for example. 

Rider Planning. 
When an artist has confirmed a booking during the curation process organisers will formally request riders from the artist or their management team. Most festival teams now use event management software where rider forms are in electronic formats and sent to artists with a specified completion date. Once completed riders are submitted, they will appear in a software system together with all the artist’s details. These riders are then accessible by organising teams like stage managers, hospitality managers and artist management staff. Submission of riders need to have deadlines in order for fulfilment to be made and logistics scheduling. Where a festival is using a single outsourced catering provider organisers may insist that artists select their food and beverages from a given menu, this can help reduce the overall hospitality costs. In most cases organisers will have to negotiate with the artist’s management team to arrive at a compromise in the provision of hospitality services that balances artist’s needs with costs. 

Troubleshooting Hospitality Riders. 
Even the best plans can go awry and festivals with numerous artists will be subject to last minute changes. In addition, poor communication can lead to issues and it can be common for artists to demand something not on the submitted hospitality rider. This is often caused by the artist management team not submitting accurate information. Organisers need to have someone responsible on-site to resolve such issues to ensure artists are satisfied, however, given the remote location of many music festivals, it can be challenging to obtain obscure branded drinks or food at short notice. 

For festival organisers planning their next events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics including comprehensive rider management. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, site planning, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

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