All professional Israeli musicians/acts will have a set of riders that outline above and beyond the general performance agreement. A rider typically consists of 3 parts: Technical, Stage, and Hospitality.

Technical Rider

Like the name, this is a very technical document that outlines for the event’s sound man, which piece of equipment’s channel goes to which location on the sound board. As a promoter, you are not expected to be able to understand how to read the tech rider. You are however expected to have someone on your team understand it. This person can then clarify with the artist/representative any lingering questions before the day of the show, to ensure that there are no problems during the soundcheck or performance.

Here is an Example of a Technical Rider

Stage Rider/Plan

Also like the name, a stage rider or plan is a diagram that shows the sound man and the technical support of the venue where you need which instrument, sound monitor, guitar amp, mic stand, etc. This is to ensure that when the artist arrives for sound check on the day of the performance, you have everything ready in the place it needs to be. Every performer has unique preferences as to where their bass player stands, and where the lead mic stand should be placed or how many monitors should be facing the drummer and at which angle.

Here is an Example of a Stage Rider/Plan

Hospitality Rider

This is only necessary in specific instances.

If you are producing the Rolling Stones, the hospitality rider would consist ridiculous items that would be expected to be set up back stage in the green room to entertain the band, or spoil them before they were to go on stage, like bringing in a mobile hot tub, remote control dog butler, or a actual Japanese chef to prepare sushi that he brought with him that morning from Japan.

In the case of Israeli artists, we are talking about some fruit, Cola products, tea/coffee, nuts, chips, maybe a some beer or wine (depending on the policy of the venue).

You are never in a position to ask the artist/representative to send you their hospitality. In fact if they don’t mention it upon the signing of the performance agreement, it essentially indicates that they aren’t interested or have no hospitality agreement.

Should they ask for backstage extras on the day of the show, during soundcheck or before they hit the stage- you should have a runner available to take care of the small things. If they are asking for items that you aren’t in a position to retrieve at the last minute, tell them so. They should be fine without!

It is always important to remember, little things backstage like flowers, or candies, etc. make the artist feel more welcome and generally speaking increase their performance level. It never hurts to make the artist feel special before they get on stage to bring down the house.