What to Include in a Musician Rider (Simple Template 2026)

A band I know showed up to a mid-size venue last year without an input list. The house engineer had no idea how many channels they needed, what microphones they used, or where the monitor sends went. Sound check took 75 minutes. The set started 30 minutes late. The venue did not book them again.

That is not a story about incompetent musicians. They were good. It is a story about not having a rider.

A rider is a document that travels with your booking agreement and tells the venue everything they need to know to host you properly. A good one takes an hour to write. A bad one, or a missing one, can derail a show before the first note.

What You Will Learn

• The difference between a hospitality rider and a technical rider
• What to include in each section
• How to write a stage plot that a house engineer can actually use
• What to put in your payment and cancellation terms
• Common mistakes that make you look amateur
• A clean template you can fill in and use tonight

Hospitality Rider vs Technical Rider

Most established artists send two documents: a hospitality rider and a technical rider. For smaller gigs, you can combine them into one page. For anything above a mid-size club or festival stage, keep them separate.

Hospitality rider: Covers the non-technical requirements. Food, water, green room, parking, lodging, guest list.

Technical rider: Covers the stage setup. Input list, stage plot, microphone requirements, DI boxes, monitors, lighting, power.

At the bar and small venue level, a combined one-page rider is enough. At festivals, theaters, or multi-act bills, venues expect separate documents and the technical rider goes directly to the production manager or house engineer.

What to Include in Your Hospitality Rider

Keep this section focused on what you actually need to perform well. Over-requesting makes you look difficult. Under-requesting means you are eating fast food before a three-hour festival set.

The Essentials

Food and drink:

• Specify whether you need a hot meal or snacks. For shows under two hours, a deli tray or equivalent is reasonable. For longer days or touring, a hot meal matters.
• Water on stage is non-negotiable. Request one bottle per performer at minimum.
• List any dietary restrictions if they are real. Do not add fake restrictions to seem high-maintenance.

Green room or backstage access:

• Request a private or semi-private space to warm up and store gear.
• State whether you need a mirror, a table, or seating for your party.

Parking and load-in:

• State how many vehicles you are bringing and whether you need load-in access to a specific entrance.
• Specify your preferred load-in time (usually 2-3 hours before showtime for a full band, 1 hour for solo or duo).

Guest list:

• List how many complimentary entries you need. Be reasonable. Two to four is standard for local shows. More for a tour date.

Lodging (for touring):

• If the venue or promoter is providing accommodation, specify the number of rooms and beds needed.

What Not to Include

Skip the brown M&Ms if you are not Van Halen and do not have the leverage to enforce it. Silly or demanding hospitality requests from emerging artists read as self-important and create friction with venue staff. The goal is to make the venue want to work with you again.

What to Include in Your Technical Rider

This is the more important document, especially for bands. A venue's house engineer reads this before you arrive and uses it to set up the stage. If it is wrong or missing, you are starting sound check at zero.

Stage Plot

A stage plot is a simple diagram showing where each performer and piece of equipment will be on stage. You do not need design software. A rough hand-drawn layout or a simple text description works fine for small venues.

For a four-piece band, your stage plot might look like this:

[Stage Left]  [Center]        [Stage Right]
 Guitar Amp    Drum Kit        Bass Amp
 Guitar (DI)   Kick Drum Out   Bass (DI)
               Snare/OH x2

 [Front Center]
 Lead Vocal - SM58
 Keys (DI L/R)

Tools like StagePlot Guru let you build a visual stage plot for free in about 15 minutes. A PDF stage plot attached to your rider looks professional and saves time at load-in.

Input List

The input list is a channel-by-channel breakdown of every signal the house engineer needs to manage. Each line in the input list corresponds to a channel on the mixing board.

Here is a sample input list for a five-piece band:

Adjust this to your actual setup. Solo artists might have two or three channels. Full bands with keys, strings, or horns might have 20+.

Microphone and DI Requirements

State whether you are bringing your own microphones and DI boxes or relying on the venue's backline. For small shows at established venues, the house usually provides SM58s for vocals and SM57s for guitar amps. For anything more specific, bring your own or state clearly what you need.

Monitor Requirements

List how many monitor mixes you need and what should be in each one. A common request for a four-piece band:

• Monitor 1 (drummer): kick, snare, bass, lead vocal
• Monitor 2 (bass): kick, bass, lead vocal, guitar
• Monitor 3 (guitar): guitar, keys, lead vocal
• Monitor 4 (lead vocal): lead vocal, guitar, keys

If you use in-ear monitors (IEMs), specify whether you are bringing your own system or need the venue to provide a personal monitoring system. Most small venues do not have IEM capability. Confirm this in advance.

Power and Backline

State whether you are providing your own backline (amplifiers, drum kit) or relying on the venue's house backline. If you need specific power requirements, such as a dedicated circuit for sensitive audio equipment or a specific voltage for international touring, include that here.

Cancellation, Payment, and Load-In Terms

Your rider is also the right place to confirm the financial and logistical terms that complement your booking agreement.

Include:

• Payment amount and method: The agreed fee, cash or transfer, and when you expect it (at load-in, at the end of the night, within 30 days).
• Deposit: If you require a 25-50% deposit for private events, state the amount and when it is due.
• Cancellation policy: If the venue cancels within 48 hours, state whether you retain the deposit or receive a partial kill fee. For private events, a 100% kill fee within 7 days is reasonable.
• Load-in time: The exact time you need to access the venue for setup and sound check.
• Set times: Your expected start time and set length.
• Photo and recording policy: State whether photography and video recording of your performance is allowed, and whether you need to approve recordings before they are shared.

Common Mistakes That Make You Look Amateur

After looking at dozens of riders from artists at various stages, these are the errors that come up most often:

• No contact person listed. Every rider should have a specific name and phone number for the production contact and for your side. The house engineer should not have to track down your manager on show day.
• Input list that does not match the actual setup. If your input list says 8 channels and you show up needing 14, the engineer has to scramble and you lose time.
• Missing load-in time. Venues book multiple events. If you do not specify when you need access, you may arrive to find the stage occupied.
• Impossible gear requests for the venue size. Requesting a full concert PA and six monitor mixes for a 50-person bar is unrealistic and creates friction before you arrive.
• No cancellation clause. Leaving this out gives you no protection if the venue cancels your show at the last minute.

For more on protecting yourself with proper agreements, see our guide to music contracts.

A Ready-to-Use Rider Template

Copy this and fill in the blanks. Remove any sections that do not apply to your setup.

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PERFORMANCE RIDER Artist: [Name] Date: [Date] Venue: [Venue Name and Address] Production Contact: [Name, Phone, Email] Artist Contact: [Name, Phone, Email]

Set Time: [Start time] for [Length] minutes Load-In: [Time] at [Door/Entrance]

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HOSPITALITY

• Water: [X] bottles on stage
• Snacks/Meal: [Specify or "deli tray for X people"]
• Green room access: [Yes/No] from [Time] to [Time]
• Parking: [X] vehicles at [location]
• Guest list: [X] names

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TECHNICAL

• Stage size required: [Minimum W x D in feet]
• Input channels required: [Number]
• Input list: [Attach separately or list here]
• Stage plot: [Attach PDF]
• Microphones provided by: [Artist / Venue]
• DI boxes provided by: [Artist / Venue]
• Monitors required: [Number of monitor mixes]
• In-ear monitoring: [Yes/No, specify if bringing own system]
• Backline provided by: [Artist / Venue]
• PA system: [Venue provides / Artist requires specific minimum]

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FINANCIAL

• Agreed fee: $[Amount]
• Deposit: $[Amount] due by [Date]
• Balance: $[Amount] due [at load-in / end of night / within 30 days]
• Payment method: [Cash / Venmo / Bank transfer]
• Cancellation: If venue cancels within [48 hours], artist retains deposit. If artist cancels, deposit is forfeited.

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For more on the sound side of your setup, see our guide on how to run sound at your own gig. For tour logistics including routing and booking, see our first tour guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need a rider for every gig, even a $75 bar set? A: Not a formal one, but a one-paragraph email confirming load-in time, set length, and payment terms is a minimum for any paid booking. The full rider format is most useful for private events, theater shows, and festivals where multiple parties are involved.

Q: What if the venue ignores my rider? A: Follow up with your production contact 48 hours before the show. Riders are not legally binding unless incorporated into your contract, so your enforcement mechanism is communication and relationship, not legal pressure. If a venue consistently ignores technical requirements, it may not be a good venue to return to.

Q: How do I make a stage plot if I am not technical? A: StagePlot Guru has free drag-and-drop tools. For a solo or duo act, a simple paragraph description in the rider is enough: "Solo artist, one vocal mic on stand, one DI for acoustic guitar, one monitor wedge."

Q: Should my rider include social media and photo requirements? A: Yes, especially for larger shows. State clearly whether you allow photography and video, and whether recordings need your approval before being shared publicly. This prevents situations where a venue posts a bad-angle video clip without your knowledge.

Q: What is a kill fee? A: A kill fee is a payment you receive when a show is cancelled by the other party. It is typically 50-100% of the agreed fee and covers your preparation costs and blocked calendar time. Negotiate this upfront and put it in writing.

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Send your rider with your booking confirmation, not after the contract is signed. The earlier the venue's production team has your technical requirements, the smoother your load-in will be. And a smooth load-in almost always leads to a better show.