What is a show settlement?

The end-of-night reconciliation where the promoter and the artist's tour manager go through ticket counts, expenses and the agreed deal, and the artist gets paid the balance. It's where the night's actual money is worked out.

What is the nut in touring?

The promoter's pre-agreed show expenses – venue rent, production, marketing, staffing, security – recouped from the box office before any backend split. Because the nut is whatever both sides agree to, an inflated or vague nut directly shrinks the artist's share.

What's the difference between a day sheet and a settlement sheet?

A day sheet is the operational schedule for a show day – load-in, soundcheck, set times, contacts – shared with the touring party. A settlement sheet is the financial document completed after the show: ticket sales, expenses, the deal, and what the artist is owed.

Settlement sheets and the venue nut

The settlement is the end-of-night reckoning where a show's real money gets decided. Two things drive what the artist actually takes home: the venue nut (the promoter's costs, recouped first) and how 'net' is defined. Get both agreed in writing before the show, and settlement is simple.

The nut

Before anyone splits a percentage, the promoter recoups the nut – the agreed costs of putting the show on: venue rent, production, sound and lights, marketing, staffing, security, ticketing fees. Only the box office above the nut gets shared on a backend deal. The catch is that the nut is whatever the two sides agree to, so a padded or vague nut directly shrinks the artist’s share. The fix is simple: get it itemized and capped in writing in advance.

The two kinds of "net"

“Net” is used loosely, and the difference is real money. Net box office is the gross minus taxes, facility fees and ticketing/card fees – taken off the top. That’s different from the box office after the nut. A versus deal often applies its percentage to net box office, while a backend split applies to the money over the nut. The contract has to say which net each percentage is calculated on, or you’re arguing about it at 1am.

The settlement

At the end of the night, the promoter and the artist’s tour manager settle: they go through the ticket count, the expenses against the agreed nut, the taxes and fees, the deal, and the promoter pays the balance. The things that go wrong are predictable – expenses appearing that weren’t in the deal, a disputed ticket (“drop”) count, comps not accounted for, or terms that were only ever verbal. Every one of those is prevented by a written deal memo. Review it before the show so you already know roughly where the night should land.

Day sheet vs settlement sheet

Two documents people mix up. The day sheet is operational – the schedule for the show day (load-in, soundcheck, set times, venue contacts, curfew), shared with the whole touring party. The settlement sheet is financial – the after-show record of ticket sales, the itemized expenses, the deal calculation, and the final amount owed. One runs the day; the other proves the money.

The manager's takeaway

You don’t have to settle every show yourself – the tour manager usually does – but you do need to know the deal cold, make sure the nut and the net definition are in writing, and check the settlements against what the deal should have paid. That reconciliation is the job, and it’s where money quietly goes missing across a tour. See the show deals guide for the structures.

Common questions

What is a show settlement?: The end-of-night reconciliation where the promoter and the artist's tour manager go through ticket counts, expenses and the agreed deal, and the artist gets paid the balance. It's where the night's actual money is worked out.
What is the nut in touring?: The promoter's pre-agreed show expenses – venue rent, production, marketing, staffing, security – recouped from the box office before any backend split. Because the nut is whatever both sides agree to, an inflated or vague nut directly shrinks the artist's share.
What's the difference between a day sheet and a settlement sheet?: A day sheet is the operational schedule for a show day – load-in, soundcheck, set times, contacts – shared with the touring party. A settlement sheet is the financial document completed after the show: ticket sales, expenses, the deal, and what the artist is owed.