Hold

What Is a Hold In Live Music?

A hold is a request from an artist to a venue to save a specific date for them to perform. It is the very first step in booking a concert.

When you get a hold, you are not signing a contract. It is just a conversation. You are telling the venue that you are interested in playing there. The venue adds your name to a list of artists who also want to play on that exact same day.

Getting a hold does not mean you have the gig yet. It just means you are waiting in line to get the gig. It gives you time to plan the rest of your tour before you make a firm commitment.

Who Uses the Hold Process?

You will mostly see this process at medium or large venues that book touring bands. Your small local bar or coffee shop probably does not use holds. They usually just pick bands to fill open spots on a calendar.

The hold process is built for touring bands. A touring band has to connect many cities in a row. They place holds at many different venues to build a tour route that makes sense. They want to make sure they do not have to drive too far in one single day to get to the next show.

How Do Holds Work?

Since many bands want to play on the best nights, like Fridays or Saturdays, venues keep a list. When you place a hold, the venue tells you your exact spot in line.

If you are the very first person to ask, you get the first hold. If someone else asked before you, you get the second hold. If two people asked before you, you get the third hold, and so on.

The venue will always offer the gig to the first hold before anyone else. But holds have a time limit. If the first band does not confirm the date quickly, they lose their spot. Then, the gig is offered to the second hold.

Challenging and Confirming

If you have a first hold and you are ready to book the show, you tell the venue you want to confirm. Once you confirm, the venue will send you a real performance contract to sign.

If you have a second or third hold, you can do something called challenging.

When you challenge, the venue calls the bands who are ahead of you in line. The venue gives them a very short time to either confirm the date or back out. If the bands ahead of you are not ready to commit, they will back out. Then, the date goes directly to you.

Read What Does It Mean to Get a Hold in Live Music? to learn more about how holds work.