We’ve probably all done it.
You spot a show you’d like to see, make a mental note of the date and think, “I’ll book that nearer the time.”
But when it comes to live entertainment, waiting until the last minute can sometimes mean there is no longer a show to book.
Across theatres, arts centres and live music venues, advance ticket sales play a huge part in determining whether a performance can go ahead. For independent promoters, touring productions and smaller venues in particular, those early bookings can make all the difference.
“I was going to book!”
It’s one of the most frustrating things to hear after a show has been cancelled.
People comment on social media saying they were planning to come. Others tell the venue they were waiting until payday, checking whether friends were free, or simply hadn’t got around to buying their tickets yet.
All completely understandable.
The problem is that promoters, venues and performers can’t make decisions based on how many people *might* attend. At some point, they have to look at the number of tickets actually sold.
And that decision often needs to be made long before the day of the show.
Why do advance ticket sales matter so much?
Putting on a live show involves considerably more than booking an artist and opening the doors.
Depending on the production, costs can include venue hire, artist fees, musicians, sound and lighting, technicians, travel, accommodation, insurance, advertising, printing and many other expenses behind the scenes.
A significant amount of that money may already have been committed before the first audience member takes their seat.
Promoters and venues understand that ticket sales usually accelerate as a show gets closer. Nobody expects every performance to sell out months in advance.
But there needs to be enough early interest to demonstrate that an audience is building.
If a show reaches a certain point with sales still extremely low, continuing can become a considerable financial risk.
Sometimes, the sensible decision is unfortunately to cancel.
A cancelled show doesn’t always mean there wasn’t an audience
This is perhaps the biggest misconception.
When an event is cancelled because of poor ticket sales, it doesn’t necessarily mean nobody wanted to see it.
There may have been dozens, or even hundreds, of people who intended to buy tickets eventually.
But intention doesn’t appear on a sales report.
If too many people wait until the final few days, the show may never reach those final few days.
It’s one of the strange realities of modern live entertainment: a performance can potentially have an audience and still be cancelled because that audience didn’t book soon enough.
Early bookings give shows confidence
Every advance ticket sale provides a little more certainty.
When sales are moving well, promoters can confidently continue investing in advertising and promotion. Venues can see that their audience is responding. Artists can see demand for their show in a particular town or city.
It creates momentum.
Strong advance sales can also influence future decisions. If audiences support a production, it makes it much easier to bring that show back or to take a chance on other productions at the same venue.
The opposite can also be true.
If shows repeatedly struggle to sell in a particular area, promoters may eventually decide that bringing productions there is simply too risky.
So supporting the shows you want to see can help protect something bigger: the variety of live entertainment available locally.
This matters particularly to independent live entertainment
Major arena tours and West End productions operate on a very different scale.
For independent theatres, regional venues, tribute productions and smaller touring shows, the margins can be considerably tighter.
These productions are an important part of the UK’s live entertainment landscape. They bring professional shows to towns and communities that may be many miles from the nearest arena or major theatre.
But they depend on audiences supporting them.
At Start Events, we work with theatres and venues across the UK to bring high-quality live entertainment to local audiences. Like every independent promoter, we want every show we announce to go ahead, play to a fantastic crowd and hopefully return again in the future.
Advance ticket sales help make that possible.
There are benefits to booking early too
Of course, supporting live entertainment isn’t the only reason to book ahead.
For seated shows, booking early usually gives you a much better choice of seats. Popular performances can sell out, and some venues offer different ticket prices or early booking incentives.
More importantly, once you’ve booked, the date is in the diary.
No remembering three days before the show, discovering the seats you wanted have gone, or realising that the performance you kept meaning to book has sold out.
Or, worse still, been cancelled.
If you want to see it, book it
We’re certainly not suggesting everyone should buy tickets for every show the moment they’re announced.
Plans change. Money matters. Sometimes you genuinely don’t know whether you’re going to be available.
But if you see a show you’d really like to attend and you’re in a position to book it, buying your ticket early makes a bigger difference than you might realise.
Because a ticket bought today is more than a seat in the auditorium.
**It’s a vote of confidence that helps make sure the curtain actually goes up.**
So next time you see a show and think, “I’d love to see that,” perhaps don’t leave it sitting on the mental to-do list for too long.
Book the ticket. Support the show. Support your local venue.
And we’ll see you there.