Why did grassroots promoters need a manual?
For years, learning to run shows has been a trial-and-error apprenticeship: no formal training, just experience and, too often, the mistake that costs real money. Under-insure a show, sign a booking contract with no protection, leave a hole in your ticketing setup, or scramble an accessibility plan the night before, and the whole event can collapse, sometimes with legal exposure attached. The AFEM "Promoter Good Practice Guide", launched October 22, 2026, finally puts that know-how on paper, and gives it away free.
What's actually inside the guide?
Twelve chapters: ticketing, marketing, event insurance, ethical booking practices, accessibility, audience safety, transparent communication, post-show protocols, where to find funding, negotiating, marketing timelines, booking fees, weather and emergency alerts, and sustainability. AFEM describes it as a framework "shaped by the collective insight of our global membership, comprising managers, agents, ticketing providers, marketers, insurers, artists and, most importantly, established promoters."
"This guide outlines professional standards that strive to foster trust, sustainability, and fairness for all involved. It has been built by some of the most recognised organisations responsible for building artist and promoter careers from grassroots club venues to arenas and festivals."
Why are CAA, WME and Primary Talent backing a grassroots document?
The big agencies aren't doing this out of charity. Independent promoters are the farm system that feeds their future clients: an artist gets built in small rooms long before they reach the festivals and arenas that CAA, WME and Primary Talent book. When a promoter goes under from a missing insurance policy or a badly handled cancellation, it's the small-club circuit, the exact circuit that produces those agencies' next generation of talent, that takes the hit.
