How Do I Split Door Money Fairly With an Artist?
Split door money fairly by deciding three things in writing before the show: what counts as the door, what comes off the top, and the split percentage. Define whether the artist's cut is figured on the gross door or the net after agreed costs like sound, venue rent, and ticketing fees. For a single act, a common fair door deal runs from a straight 70/30 to 80/20 in the artist's favor up to 100 percent of the net once the room covers its costs, and many indie shows blend it as a guarantee versus the door, meaning the act gets a fixed minimum or a percentage of the door, whichever is higher. With multiple acts, weight the split toward draw, the headliner takes the largest share, openers a smaller flat amount or percentage. Whatever you land on, count the door together, settle the same night, and pay where both sides can see the math. iKonX is building the promoter side so you can agree the number and pay the artist directly, with the artist keeping 100 percent of their fee and iKonX taking 0 percent platform commission while the buyer pays a flat 10 percent on top.
Splitting door money sounds like simple division until you are standing by the cash box at midnight. The artist thinks the door means every dollar that walked in. You meant the door after the sound engineer, the venue rent, and the card fees came off the top. Nobody wrote down what the door actually was, who would count it, or what the percentage applied to, and now the fair number depends entirely on whose definition wins. That is how good shows end in a bad taste, and how an act you wanted to rebook quietly stops returning your calls.
The trouble is that a door deal has three moving parts and most handshake deals only nail one. People agree on a percentage, say 80/20, but never agree on whether it applies to the gross door or the net after costs, and never agree on which costs are allowed to come off the top. An 80 percent cut of the gross and an 80 percent cut of the net can be wildly different numbers in the same room. Without those definitions locked first, the split percentage is just a feeling, not a deal.
It gets harder with a full bill. When there are three acts, who is the draw and who is filler? Should the opener who brought forty friends get the same flat cut as the opener who brought four? And when the money is loose cash in a box that one person counts alone, the other side has no way to verify the count even if every percentage was agreed. The old way of doing this, a verbal split and a pile of cash settled in a back hallway, has no shared record, so the most honest promoter in the world still ends the night defending a number the artist cannot see.
How to split door money fairly with an artist, step by step
The fix is not a fancier percentage, it is a clear definition agreed before doors and a payment both sides can actually see. A fair door split is really a three-part agreement: what is the door, what comes off the top, and then the percentage. Settle those three in that order, in writing, and the actual division at the end of the night becomes arithmetic instead of an argument.
Start by defining the door in plain terms. Is the artist's cut figured on the gross, every dollar collected at the door, or on the net, what is left after a short, named list of costs like the sound engineer, the venue rent or minimum, and ticketing or card-processing fees? Both are legitimate. A gross door deal is simpler and favors the act; a net door deal is common when the room carries real fixed costs, but it is only fair if the deductible costs are named and capped in advance, not invented during settlement. Write the exact list down so there are no surprise line items when the cash box opens.
Then pick the structure. A straight door split hands the act an agreed percentage of that defined door, often 70/30 to 80/20 in the artist's favor at an indie show, sometimes 100 percent of the net once the venue's costs are covered. A guarantee pays the act a fixed fee no matter what walks in, which protects them but puts all the risk on you. The most common fair middle ground is a guarantee versus the door, sometimes called a plus or versus deal: the act gets a set minimum or a percentage of the door, whichever is higher, so a slow night does not bury them and a packed night rewards their draw. Whatever you choose, the artist should keep what they earn. iKonX is building the promoter side of the network so you can agree the fee or the split with an act directly, then pay it where the math is visible, with the artist keeping 100 percent of their price, iKonX taking 0 percent platform commission, and you as the buyer paying a flat 10 percent on top, instead of settling a loose cash pile no one can audit.
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$300 to $600
A local indie act for a small private show or pop-up.
100% to artist$600 to $1.5k
A headline slot or support for a ticketed venue night.
You pay flat 10%$1.5k and up
A lineup placement scaled to the act and the draw.
No broker cutDoor deal structures, compared
| How you settle with the act | How the artist gets paid | What it costs and who carries the risk |
|---|---|---|
| iKonX (agree the fee or split, pay direct · in development) | Artist keeps 100% of their listed price or agreed split · paid where both sides see the math | 0% platform commission · buyer pays a flat 10% on top · no loose cash pile, no trust-me count |
| Straight door split (cash) | An agreed % of the door, often 70/30 to 80/20 in the artist's favor | No platform fee, but the artist carries the turnout risk and the count is unverifiable unless done together |
| Guarantee vs the door | A fixed minimum or a % of the door, whichever is higher | Promoter carries the downside risk; fairest structure, but only if the door is defined in writing |
| Booking agent in the middle | Artist fee minus the agent's cut | Roughly 10% to 20% commission on the fee, and a broker between you and the act |
| Generic gig marketplace (e.g. GigSalad) | Booking price collected through the platform | A 10% to 12% event-planner service fee on top, layered onto the price you pay |
Door-split percentage ranges (70/30 to 80/20, 100% of net after costs), guarantee-versus-door norms, and multi-act draw-weighting are long-standing independent-venue and booking conventions that vary by market, room size, and turnout, not fixed rates; confirm every figure in your own written agreement (directional, current 2025-2026). Comparison platforms: GigSalad layers a 10% to 12% event-planner service fee on top of the booking price per its Help Center (current as of Fall 2025). Eventbrite's fee structure stacks a percentage service fee plus a flat per-ticket fee plus payment processing, typically passed to the attendee, per eventbrite.com pricing (2025-2026); exact rates vary by country and package. Booking-agent commissions of 10% to 20% of the artist fee are directional 2025 industry ranges and vary by deal. The only fixed claim is the iKonX model: the artist keeps 100% of the price they set, iKonX takes 0% platform commission, and the buyer pays a flat 10% on top. iKonX is free to download and explore, full access to paid features is a flat $9.99/month, and the only payout deduction is a low, sub-5% withdrawal fee, below the industry standard. iKonX Promoters is in development; the direct-pay marketplace described here is on the roadmap.
Splitting door money FAQ
How do you split door money fairly with an artist?
Agree three things in writing before the show: what counts as the door, what costs come off the top, and the split percentage. Decide whether the artist's cut is on the gross door or the net after a named, capped list of costs like sound, venue rent, and ticketing fees. For a single indie act a fair split commonly runs 70/30 to 80/20 in the artist's favor, or 100 percent of the net once the room covers its costs, and many shows use a guarantee versus the door so the act gets a minimum or a percentage, whichever is higher. Then count the door together and settle the same night. Paying direct on a platform like iKonX keeps it clean, since the artist keeps 100 percent of their fee, iKonX takes 0 percent commission, and the buyer pays a flat 10 percent on top.
What is the difference between a guarantee and a door deal?
A guarantee is a fixed fee the act gets paid no matter how many people show up, which protects the artist and puts the turnout risk on the promoter. A door deal pays the act a percentage of the money collected at the door, so the act earns more on a packed night and less on a slow one, sharing the risk. The most common fair middle ground is a guarantee versus the door, sometimes called a plus or versus deal: the act gets the guarantee or the door percentage, whichever is higher, so they are protected on a slow night and rewarded when they pull a crowd.
Should the door split be on gross or net?
Either can be fair, but you must define it before doors. A gross door deal splits every dollar collected at the door and favors the artist with simpler math. A net door deal splits what is left after costs and is common when the room carries real fixed expenses like a sound engineer and venue rent. A net deal is only fair if the deductible costs are named and capped in advance, not invented during settlement. The most frequent dispute in door deals is not the percentage, it is an undefined definition of the door, so write the exact list of allowed costs down before the show.
How do you split door money between multiple bands?
Weight the split toward draw, because money should follow the people who actually filled the room. Pay the headliner the largest share since they sold most of the tickets, and give openers a smaller flat fee or a modest percentage, rewarding any opener who brings a real local crowd. Agree every act's exact number before the show rather than at the cash box, so nobody is renegotiating in front of a crowd. A clear, draw-weighted split set in advance is what keeps a whole bill willing to play your next show.
Who should count the door money?
Count it together. The fairest practice is to reconcile the door with the artist or their representative present, rather than one person counting alone in a back room, so both sides see the same number. Use a clicker or a ticketing count to cross-check the cash, settle the agreed split the same night, and keep a simple written record. Paying through a platform where the figure and the payout are both visible removes the trust problem entirely, which is exactly the direct, see-the-math settlement iKonX is building for promoters.
Does iKonX take a cut of what I pay the artist?
No. The artist keeps 100 percent of the price or split they agree, and iKonX takes 0 percent platform commission. As the promoter you pay a flat 10 percent on top of the artist's number, so the figure you agree is the figure that reaches them. The only deduction is a low, sub-5 percent withdrawal fee when the artist transfers earnings out, which is below the industry standard and a standard transfer cost, not a commission, and it never comes out of your budget. iKonX is free to download and explore, and full access to paid features across the network is a flat 9.99 dollars a month. The promoter side is in development.
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