Music and arts festival programmers and bookers playbook · 8 jobs

AI for music and arts festival programmers and bookers: 8 jobs to hand to AI this week (drafts only: acts, contracts, safety and licensing stay with you)

This page is for the person or small committee who books the acts, makes the offers, builds the timetable and chases the paperwork at a music or arts festival. It is not for choosing acts or billing: those calls are yours. AI here only lays out blank sheets, checklists and short drafts. It never sees an artist, agent, volunteer or sponsor name or contact, a fee or contract term, or any access or health detail: the prompts use blanks and you fill them in afterwards, in your own document. Offers, contracts, licensing, safety, safeguarding, access promises and ticket terms are checked or signed by a named person (the budget holder, a solicitor, your safety lead, your safeguarding lead, your ticketing company), and nothing you send to an agent, artist, sponsor or funder needs to mention how it was drafted. UK rules and guidance are labelled UK.

Never used ChatGPT or another AI tool? Start with job 1 below. Each job tells you which tool to open, the exact words to paste, and what to check before you send. New to all this? Read how to use AI at work, for beginners.

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Job 1 of 8ChatGPTClaude

Draft an artist advance email, a per-act checklist and one plain access question from your own festival details

Between confirming an act and the day, someone has to get arrival times, soundcheck details, technical needs, hospitality and a day-of contact from each act, usually by email and usually through an agent. One Welsh festival describes a typical festival-season day as starting with checking ticket sales, answering artist emails, confirming sound checks and sorting out the day’s logistics. A missing answer is better found early than on the day. One email that asks for the same things in the same order, and a checklist with one row per act, makes the gaps visible early. The email also carries one plain, optional question about whether the act or crew need anything arranged; a guide for promoters from a charity and Independent Venue Week quotes a solo artist saying asking about access should be as simple as asking for dietary requirements. AI lays out the blank email and checklist only: you decide what the festival can offer, the budget holder confirms anything that costs money, and access answers go to one named person and stay out of the AI tool.

Time: About an hour once, then 10 minutes per actTool cost: you can start with a free AI tool

An AI chat tool you already use

Steps

  1. In your own document, write what the festival has actually agreed to give every act: load-in window, how soundchecks are arranged, the stage and backline that exist, hospitality, travel or accommodation if any, and the advance deadline. Write TO BE CONFIRMED beside anything not decided. Type no act, agent or fee detail.
  2. Choose the one person who will read access answers (a role and a name in your own notes) and where answers are kept: your own records, not a shared inbox and not the AI tool. Write down what the festival can really provide for access, copied from your own access information, so a reply can be answered truthfully.
  3. Run the prompt below with its brackets left as they are. Do not type an artist, agent, crew or access detail into the AI tool. You get back an email and an empty tracking table.
  4. In your own email, fill in the brackets from step 1. Ask the budget holder to confirm every line about hospitality, travel or accommodation before it goes out, and read the access question once more to check it asks nothing about any specific condition.
  5. Send the email through your usual route, and update the checklist row for that act as replies come in: done, chase or TO BE CONFIRMED. When an access answer arrives, pass it only to the named person; in the checklist record only “answer received: yes or no”.

The exact prompt

Copy, paste, then fill in the [brackets]
Write two things for a music or arts festival programmer.
1. A short advance email (under 220 words) from [PROGRAMMER NAME] at [FESTIVAL] to [AGENT OR ARTIST CONTACT] about [ARTIST], who plays on [DATE] at [STAGE]. It asks them to reply by [ADVANCE DEADLINE] with: arrival and load-in details, the number of people travelling, technical needs or a link to their rider, and the best contact on the day. It gives only these facts from the festival, in this order: load-in window [LOAD-IN WINDOW]; soundcheck [SOUNDCHECK ARRANGEMENT]; stage and backline [STAGE AND BACKLINE DETAILS]; hospitality [AS AGREED, OR TO BE CONFIRMED]; travel and accommodation [AS AGREED, OR TO BE CONFIRMED]; contact on the day [ROLE AND PHONE: FOR THE PROGRAMMER TO COMPLETE].
Near the end, include one plain, optional question asking whether there is anything the artist or their team would like the festival to know or arrange to make their visit easier. Say the answer is optional and that replies go to [NAMED PERSON, ROLE] only. Do not mention, suggest or ask about any specific condition, disability or health matter.
Do not mention fees, contract terms or payment, and do not add any other fact or promise.
2. A blank tracking table with one row per act and these columns: act, date and stage, advance sent (date), reply received (date), arrival details, technical needs, hospitality confirmed (yes, no or TBC), travel and accommodation confirmed (yes, no or TBC), access answer received (yes or no only), contact on the day confirmed, chased on (date), notes. Leave ten empty rows.
RULES FOR THIS CHAT: I will give you only my own festival wording, headings and dates that I have typed in. I will not give you, and you must not ask for, any artist, agent, manager, volunteer, sponsor, funder or ticket-buyer name, email address, phone number or address, any fee, deposit or contract term, any access need or health detail, or any ticket-sale figure. Use the blanks in square brackets exactly as I give them. Do not invent fees, dates, availability, terms, facts about any act, or claims such as “sold out”, and do not say what is standard, usual or legal. Do not give legal, licensing, safety, safeguarding or access advice. Where something is missing write [FOR THE PROGRAMMER TO COMPLETE]. Everything you write is a draft that a named person will check before anything is sent.

✓ Check before you send

  • No artist, agent or crew name, access answer or fee was typed into the AI tool: every bracket was filled in your own document.
  • Every line about hospitality, travel, accommodation or a soundcheck time is something the festival has agreed, confirmed by the budget holder; anything not agreed says TO BE CONFIRMED.
  • The access question is optional, appears once, and names the one person who reads the answers; answers are kept in your own records.
  • The email promises no access feature the festival does not have: any provision named was copied from your own access information.
  • The email restates no fee or contract term, and nothing in it mentions how it was drafted.

UK notes extra

  • UK: Attitude is Everything and Independent Venue Week’s “Just Ask” guide for promoters quotes the solo artist Ruth Lyon: “Asking about access requirements for artists and crew should be as simple as asking for dietary requirements in riders and common practice.” It is charity practice guidance, not law, and this job states no legal duty about access. Attitude is Everything and Independent Venue Week: Just Ask, guide for promoters v2.0 (PDF; UK; charity practice guidance, not law).
  • UK: an answer about access can reveal something about a person’s health. The ICO lists “data concerning health” among the special categories of personal data under the UK GDPR, which get extra protection. Keep access answers in your own records, share them only with the named person, and ask the ICO or your adviser what you must do: this job does not say. ICO: what is special category data? (UK).
  • Jurisdiction: the festival wording in this job works anywhere. Items marked UK are UK rules or UK practice guidance. If your festival is outside the UK, rules on contracts, personal data, licensing, safety and access will differ: ask a local adviser, and do not rely on this page for them.
Last reviewed Oct 2026. Free tools change. If a screen looks different, the steps still apply.Back to top ↑

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Job 2 of 8ChatGPTClaude

Draft a blank offer sheet and a short covering email to an agent, with blanks for your own deal terms

Offers to agents move fast: The Guardian reported in January 2025 that top agents say they are being given 48-hour expiry times on offers. An offer that leaves out the date, the slot, the hold or the expiry costs a round of emails and, sometimes, the act. The same fields come up every time, so a blank one-page offer sheet and a short covering email in a consistent order saves time and makes gaps obvious. The AI lays out the blanks only: it is never given a fee, a deposit, a contract term or an artist name, it never says what is usual, and it never says whether an offer is binding. The deal terms are decided by you and your budget holder, and a signer or solicitor supplies any wording about the offer being binding or what happens on cancellation.

Time: About an hour once, then 15 minutes per offerTool cost: you can start with a free AI tool

An AI chat tool you already use

Steps

  1. In your own document, decide the terms for one act before you write anything: date, stage and slot, set length, fee, any deposit, whether the offer is held and the exact date, time and time zone it expires, travel and accommodation, hospitality, how the rider is handled, billing if agreed, and anything else you will put in writing. Write TBC where undecided. Do not ask the AI for any figure or any term.
  2. Get the budget holder (the person who can commit the festival’s money) to approve those terms in writing before the offer goes anywhere. Decide who will check any wording about whether the offer is binding, exclusive or cancellable: a solicitor, or the contract wording the agent already uses.
  3. Run the prompt below with its brackets left as they are. Do not type a fee, name or term into the AI tool. You get back a blank offer sheet, a short covering email and a blank offers tracker.
  4. In your own document, type the approved terms into the sheet and the email, put the same expiry date, time and time zone in both, and add the wording about binding status from the named checker where the prompt shows a bracket for it.
  5. Send the offer from your own email. Add a row to the tracker the same day with the act, date sent, expiry, status and who replied, and set a reminder for the expiry time.

The exact prompt

Copy, paste, then fill in the [brackets]
Write three things for a music or arts festival programmer.
1. A one-page offer sheet as a blank two-column table. Left column headings, in this order: Festival, Artist, Date, Stage and slot, Set length, Fee, Deposit, Offer held until, Travel, Accommodation, Hospitality, Rider, Billing, Other terms, Contact for this offer. Put every right-hand cell as the bracket [TO COMPLETE]. Do not suggest values, do not say what is usual or standard, and do not add headings or clauses that are not listed.
2. A covering email of under 120 words from [PROGRAMMER NAME] at [FESTIVAL] to [AGENT NAME] about [ARTIST] for [DATE]. It says the offer sheet is attached, that the offer is open until [EXPIRY DATE, TIME AND TIME ZONE], asks them to reply to confirm or decline, and gives [CONTACT ROLE AND PHONE] for questions. After the expiry sentence put the bracket [WORDING ON WHETHER THE OFFER IS BINDING: SUPPLIED BY THE SIGNER OR SOLICITOR]. Do not say whether the offer is binding, exclusive or cancellable, and do not mention fees.
3. A blank offers tracker table with columns: act, date sent, offer expires, status (open, accepted, declined, expired), reply received (date), notes. Leave eight empty rows.
RULES FOR THIS CHAT: I will give you only my own festival wording, headings and dates that I have typed in. I will not give you, and you must not ask for, any artist, agent, manager, volunteer, sponsor, funder or ticket-buyer name, email address, phone number or address, any fee, deposit or contract term, any access need or health detail, or any ticket-sale figure. Use the blanks in square brackets exactly as I give them. Do not invent fees, dates, availability, terms, facts about any act, or claims such as “sold out”, and do not say what is standard, usual or legal. Do not give legal, licensing, safety, safeguarding or access advice. Where something is missing write [FOR THE PROGRAMMER TO COMPLETE]. Everything you write is a draft that a named person will check before anything is sent.

✓ Check before you send

  • Every figure, date and term in the sheet and the email was typed by you after the AI step and matches what the budget holder approved in writing.
  • The expiry date, time and time zone are the same in the sheet and the email, and a reminder is set for that time.
  • The email says nothing about whether the offer is binding, exclusive or cancellable except the wording supplied by the named signer or solicitor.
  • Nothing in the sheet or the email says what is standard or usual, and nothing mentions how it was drafted.
  • The tracker row was added the same day the offer went out.

UK notes extra

Last reviewed Oct 2026. Free tools change. If a screen looks different, the steps still apply.Back to top ↑

Open this job on its own page →

Job 3 of 8ChatGPTClaude

Set up a pitch record sheet and three short reply drafts (received, on hold, not this time) for artist submissions

A festival that takes submissions or gets unsolicited pitches builds up a backlog quickly. A festival job advert from Australia lists entering each application into a spreadsheet with technical needs, accommodation preferences and requested fee, with a committee deciding. Two things go wrong: pitches get lost or answered late, and a careless reply reads like a promise. A blank record sheet with the same columns for every pitch, and three short replies that commit to nothing, fixes both. The AI lays out the blank sheet and the replies only: it never sees a pitch, a name, a link or a fee ask, because those are artists’ personal details. Whether an act is right for the programme is a taste decision that stays with you and your committee.

Time: About 45 minutes once, then 5 minutes per pitchTool cost: you can start with a free AI tool

An AI chat tool you already use

Steps

  1. Decide the columns you need and write them down: act, contact route, link to music, available dates, fee asked, technical needs, accommodation needs, date received, status, decided by, decision date, reply sent date. Cut any column you will never use; a long sheet does not get filled in.
  2. Decide who makes the decision on each pitch (you, or a committee) and which status words you will use (for example new, under consideration, on hold, declined, moved to an offer). Write them down. Decide, with your committee, whether you can promise a reply date: if not, the replies will not mention one.
  3. Run the prompt below with its brackets left as they are. Never paste a pitch, an artist name, an email or a link into the AI tool. You get back an empty record table and three short replies.
  4. Build the sheet in your own spreadsheet and enter each pitch by hand. Keep the sheet where only the people who need it can open it. Decide how long you will keep pitches that go nowhere, and say so on your submissions page or in your own privacy notice.
  5. For each pitch, a person makes the decision first. Then fill in the brackets of the matching reply in your own email, check it for any hint of a booking, fee, date or slot, send it, and put the date in the sheet.

The exact prompt

Copy, paste, then fill in the [brackets]
Write two things for a music or arts festival programmer.
1. A blank pitch record as an empty table with these columns: act, contact route, link to music, available dates, fee asked, technical needs, accommodation needs, date received, status, decided by, decision date, reply sent date. Leave ten empty rows. Do not fill in anything.
2. Three short replies from [PROGRAMMER NAME] at [FESTIVAL] to someone who sent a pitch, each under 90 words, in a warm, plain tone, each starting “Hello [FIRST NAME],”:
A. Received: thanks for sending it, it is with the programming team, no decision has been made, and [IF A REPLY DATE HAS BEEN AGREED BY THE COMMITTEE: we will reply by DATE; OTHERWISE LEAVE THIS SENTENCE OUT].
B. On hold: thanks for your patience, we are still deciding on parts of the programme, nothing is confirmed either way, and [IF A DATE HAS BEEN AGREED: we will be in touch by DATE; OTHERWISE LEAVE OUT].
C. Not this time: thanks for getting in touch, it is not right for this year’s programme, we wish them well. Give no reasons, do not say “maybe next year”, do not offer feedback.
None of the replies may say or hint that the act will be booked or give any fee, date, slot or opinion of the music. Under each reply add the line: Send only after a person has made the decision.
RULES FOR THIS CHAT: I will give you only my own festival wording, headings and dates that I have typed in. I will not give you, and you must not ask for, any artist, agent, manager, volunteer, sponsor, funder or ticket-buyer name, email address, phone number or address, any fee, deposit or contract term, any access need or health detail, or any ticket-sale figure. Use the blanks in square brackets exactly as I give them. Do not invent fees, dates, availability, terms, facts about any act, or claims such as “sold out”, and do not say what is standard, usual or legal. Do not give legal, licensing, safety, safeguarding or access advice. Where something is missing write [FOR THE PROGRAMMER TO COMPLETE]. Everything you write is a draft that a named person will check before anything is sent.

✓ Check before you send

  • No pitch text, artist name, email address, link, fee ask or technical need was pasted into the AI tool: the sheet was filled in by hand.
  • No reply says or hints at a booking, a fee, a date or a slot, and a reply date appears only if your committee agreed one.
  • Every decline or hold reflects a decision made by a named person or the committee, not a sorted list.
  • The sheet is stored where only the people who need it can open it, and you have chosen how long unsuccessful pitches are kept and told submitters.
  • The reply was sent from your own email and its date is in the sheet.

UK notes extra

  • UK: if you keep names and contact details from pitches, tell people what you do with them. The ICO’s small-organisation guide to privacy notices lists what to cover; the ICO marks that page as under review, so check it on the day. This job states no data protection duty. ICO: how to write a privacy notice and what goes in it (UK; the ICO page says the guidance is under review and may change).
  • Jurisdiction: the festival wording in this job works anywhere. Items marked UK are UK rules or UK practice guidance. If your festival is outside the UK, rules on contracts, personal data, licensing, safety and access will differ: ask a local adviser, and do not rely on this page for them.
Last reviewed Oct 2026. Free tools change. If a screen looks different, the steps still apply.Back to top ↑

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Questions music and arts festival programmers and bookers ask

Is it safe to put artist or volunteer details into an AI tool?

Don’t. Artist, agent and volunteer names, emails, phone numbers, fees and any access or health detail stay in your own records. The prompts on this page use blanks such as [ARTIST] and [FEE], and you fill them in afterwards in your own document. In the UK, details about a person’s access needs can count as health information, which the ICO lists as special category data, so ask for them only when needed and keep them with one named person.

Can AI write my offer to an agent or my artist contract?

Not the terms. The offer job lays out a blank sheet and a short email in a consistent order, and you and your budget holder decide every figure and term. An offer or a signed contract can commit the festival, so a named person who can commit the money signs off, and any wording about whether an offer is binding comes from a solicitor or the contract the agent already uses, not from an AI tool.

Does AI choose the acts or the billing order for me?

No. Choosing acts, billing and the running order is your job and your committee’s. The jobs here only handle the paperwork around those decisions: records, replies, packs, grids, briefs, copy and announcement plans. Any draft that goes to an agent, artist, sponsor or funder is yours: you read it, check it and send it, and a named person checks anything about contracts, licensing, safety or access.

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