Door Deal vs Guarantee for DJs: Which Gig Deal Pays More and What to Ask First

The offer lands in your inbox: "We can do 70 percent of the door after costs, or a small fee if you prefer." You have a decent local following, the party is new, and you have no idea which option is the better bet. Take the door and you might earn twice the fee, or almost nothing. Take the fee and you might be leaving real money on the table.

Door deals and guarantees are the two basic ways club gigs are paid, and most DJs pick between them on gut feeling. You do not have to. The right choice depends on who controls the promotion, how transparent the numbers are and how many people you can genuinely bring. Here is how each deal works, what the hybrid options look like, and the exact questions to ask before you say yes.

What is a guarantee in a DJ booking?

A guarantee is a fixed fee agreed in advance. You are paid that amount whether the room is full or empty. The promoter carries all the risk of the night: if ticket sales are weak, they cover your fee out of their own pocket.

That certainty is why guarantees are the standard for established DJs and touring acts, and why promoters are careful about offering them to artists who cannot yet prove a draw. A guarantee is usually written into the contract alongside a payment schedule, often a deposit on signing and the balance on or before the night.

The downside is the ceiling. If the night sells out because of you, a guarantee does not grow. Your fee was priced before anyone knew how well the night would do.

What is a door deal?

A door deal pays you a share of ticket income instead of, or on top of, a fixed fee. The share can be calculated on two very different bases, and this is where most misunderstandings start.

• Gross door: a percentage of all ticket and door money taken. Simple to check, and rare for DJs on someone else's night, because the promoter still has to pay for the venue, sound, staff and marketing.
• Net door, or door after costs: a percentage of what is left once agreed expenses are deducted. This is the common version, and the definition of "costs" decides whether the deal is generous or worthless.

A 70 percent net split on a night with tightly defined costs can beat a fee. A 70 percent split on a night where the promoter deducts venue hire, every other DJ's fee, flyers, ads, security, hospitality and a management fee for themselves can leave nothing to share.

Door deals are most common at the start of a career, at new or small parties, and at nights the DJ promotes themselves. They are also how many collectives pay their own residents.

Versus deals and bonuses: the hybrids worth asking for

Between a flat fee and a pure door split there are a few hybrid structures. Knowing their names makes you sound like you have done this before, and they often solve the problem better than either extreme.

• Guarantee versus percentage: you receive either the guarantee or an agreed percentage of the net door, whichever is higher. You have a floor and an upside. This is the structure most touring acts use once they can draw.
• Guarantee plus percentage: a smaller fixed fee, plus a share of the door once the night passes its break even point. It protects the promoter on a quiet night and rewards you on a busy one.
• Guarantee plus ticket bonus: a fixed fee, plus an agreed bonus if the night passes a set number of tickets sold, for example a bonus at 300 tickets and another at a sell out. It is easy to check because ticket counts are on the ticketing platform.
• Fee plus guest list or tickets: not a money deal, but worth noting. A few guest list places or tickets you can sell yourself have value, as long as you agree it in writing.

If a promoter offers a pure door deal and you are not sure, a versus deal with a modest guarantee is often the easiest counter offer. It tells them you believe in the night and you are willing to share the risk, but not all of it.

How to work out which deal pays more

Do the maths before you reply. You need three numbers from the promoter: the ticket price after fees and tax, the realistic attendance, and the costs that will be deducted before the split. Then run a low, likely and high scenario.

Here is a simple illustration with made up numbers, not market rates. Say the net ticket income per person is 15 euros, the agreed deductible costs are 3,000 euros and your share of the net door is 50 percent.

• 200 people: 3,000 euros income, 0 euros after costs, your share is 0.
• 300 people: 4,500 euros income, 1,500 euros after costs, your share is 750 euros.
• 400 people: 6,000 euros income, 3,000 euros after costs, your share is 1,500 euros.

Now compare that with the guarantee on offer. If the fee is 500 euros and you honestly expect around 300 people, the door deal looks better, but only if the costs are really 3,000 euros and the attendance really arrives. If the night does 200, the door deal pays nothing. That gap between the low and the likely case is the risk you are being asked to carry.

Be honest about your draw. Not how many followers you have, but how many people bought a ticket because of you last time. If you cannot point to that number, assume it is lower than you hope.

Questions to ask before you accept a door deal

A promoter running a fair door deal will happily answer these. One who will not is telling you something.

• Is the split on gross or net? If net, which costs exactly are deducted, and what is the cap on each one?
• Is the ticket price before or after booking fees and VAT? You should split the money that actually reaches the promoter, but you need to know which number you are looking at.
• How are guest list, comps and staff entries handled? Free entries reduce the door, and some nights give away a lot.
• How is the door counted? Ask for a ticketing platform report and the door sheet for cash or card sales on the night.
• When are you paid, and how? Cash at the end of the night, bank transfer within a set number of days, with a statement showing the numbers.
• What happens if the night is cancelled or moved? A pure door deal with no cancellation terms leaves you with nothing.

Get the answers in writing. An email confirming the split, the cost list, the reporting and the payment date is enough to make the deal enforceable and to make the conversation easier if something goes wrong.

When a door deal is the right call, and when to walk away

Take a door deal, or a versus deal, when the risk is one you can actually influence:

• You promote the night yourself or with your collective, so you control the marketing and the costs.
• You have a provable local draw and the promoter is transparent with the numbers.
• The party is new, you believe in it, and you want to build a residency there.
• The costs are small and fixed, for example a bar that takes the drinks money and gives you the door.

Push for a guarantee, or decline, when:

• You are travelling. Flights, trains and hotel nights are real costs, and a door deal on top of them is a bet you cannot afford to lose.
• The promoter will not share a cost list or a ticket report.
• You are one of several DJs and the split is "shared between the artists" with no fixed proportions.
• The night clashes with a bigger event in the same city and you have no control over the promotion.

If you are represented by an agent, door deals are something to agree with them first. Commission is normally calculated on what you actually receive, and many agents will only accept a door deal as part of a versus structure.

What to do this week

Look back at your last five paid gigs and write down two numbers for each: what you were paid and how many tickets were sold. That is your real draw, and it is the strongest argument you have in any negotiation.

Then write a one paragraph default for your booking emails: your standard guarantee, and the versus structure you will accept on a new or small night, with a request for a cost list and a ticket report. Next time an offer says "door after costs", you will reply with a counter offer instead of a guess.

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