Gig rider template — technical and hospitality riders for musicians, explained
Download a free gig rider template for musicians. Covers technical requirements (PA, monitors, input list, stage plot) and hospitality (catering, dressing room). Reuse it for every booking.
A rider is a document. Not a diva request, not a power play, not something only famous acts need. It is a list of what you require for a show to happen properly — the equipment, the logistics, and the practical conditions you need to perform. Every professional musician has one. Every venue that books professional musicians expects one.
The reason most emerging musicians do not have one is not that they do not need it — it is that nobody told them what goes in it or how to write it. This page covers that, with practical templates you can use immediately. Once you have a rider, TYFRA Live handles getting it to the right venue for every booking.
What a rider actually is
A rider is attached to your booking confirmation and sent to the venue in advance of the show. It tells the venue two things: what technical equipment and setup they need to provide (the technical rider) and what practical conditions you need backstage (the hospitality rider).
The venue reads it, confirms they can meet your requirements, and flags anything they cannot provide so you can discuss it before the show. This conversation — which used to happen in person on the day of the show — happens in writing, in advance, when there is still time to fix anything.
Why venues want riders
A rider is not a burden for professional venues — it is information they need. A venue that books 50 acts a year wants to know the technical requirements of each one before the show so they can brief their sound engineer, prepare the stage, and manage the load-in schedule. A venue that receives no rider from an act has to ask every question on the day. That is inefficient for the venue and stressful for the act.
A well-written rider makes you easier to work with. It signals that you are professional, organised, and have done this before. It is the kind of document that gets you invited back.
When to send your rider
Send your rider as soon as the booking is confirmed — not the week before the show. The venue's production team needs time to prepare. For smaller venues, two to four weeks notice is sufficient. For larger venues, festivals, or any event with complex production, send it as far in advance as possible and follow up to confirm receipt and acceptance.
The technical rider
The technical rider covers everything the venue needs to know about your technical setup. It is read by the venue's sound engineer and production team, so it should be precise and unambiguous.
What goes in a technical rider
PA system requirements. What kind of sound system do you need? For most acts, this means stating the minimum specification of the front-of-house PA — the speakers and amplification that deliver your sound to the audience. If the venue provides a sound engineer, note that. If you bring your own mix engineer, note that too.
Monitor requirements. Stage monitors — the speakers on the stage that allow you and your band to hear yourselves — are listed separately from the front-of-house system. How many monitor mixes do you need? What do you want in each mix? "Vocal and guitar in floor wedge stage left" is the format.
Stage plot. A diagram showing where each performer stands, where their equipment is positioned, and how everything connects. The sound engineer uses it to know where to run cables and where to set up microphone stands before you arrive for soundcheck.
Input list. A table listing every audio source that needs to go into the mixing desk: each microphone, direct injection (DI) box, or instrument feed. It typically includes the channel number, what it is (e.g. "Channel 3 — Bass DI"), the type of microphone or connection, and any specific notes (e.g. "phantom power required").
Backline. If you need the venue to provide backline — amplifiers for guitar or bass, a drum kit, keyboards — list the specifications here. If you bring all your own backline, state that clearly so the venue knows they do not need to provide anything.
Soundcheck time. How long do you need for soundcheck, and when do you need it? "45 minutes, starting two hours before doors" is a typical format.
Technical rider template
Copy this template, fill in your details, and save it as your starting document.
TECHNICAL RIDER — [Artist Name] For: [Venue Name] | Date: [Date] | Show time: [Time] SYSTEM Front-of-house PA: Professional system capable of providing clear, full-frequency sound to the full audience area. Front-of-house engineer required unless stated otherwise. MONITORING [Number] monitor mixes required via floor wedge monitors: Monitor Mix 1 (Stage Left): [contents — e.g. Lead vocal, guitar, click track] Monitor Mix 2 (Stage Right): [contents] [Add or remove mixes as required] STAGE PLOT [Attach a separate stage plot diagram, or describe the layout in text] Stage left: [description] Centre stage: [description] Stage right: [description] INPUT LIST Ch | Source | Type | Notes ---|---------------------|---------------|------------------------------ 1 | [e.g. Lead vocal] | [mic type] | [e.g. SM58 or equivalent] 2 | [e.g. Guitar DI] | [DI box] | [e.g. passive DI] 3 | [e.g. Bass DI] | [DI box] | [e.g. active DI, no phantom] 4 | [e.g. Kick drum] | [mic type] | [e.g. inside kick] [Continue for all channels] BACKLINE PROVIDED BY ARTIST / REQUIRED FROM VENUE [State clearly what you bring and what you need the venue to provide] POWER Standard UK mains power outlets required backstage: [number] [Any additional requirements] SOUNDCHECK Duration required: [e.g. 45 minutes] Requested time: [e.g. 2 hours before doors] TECHNICAL CONTACT Name: [Your name or engineer's name] Phone: [Number] Email: [Email]
The hospitality rider
The hospitality rider covers what you need backstage. It is read by the venue manager or production coordinator, not the sound engineer.
What goes in a hospitality rider
Dressing room. A private dressing room or equivalent backstage space. For most small venue shows, this might simply be "access to a backstage area before and after the show." For larger shows, specify the requirements more precisely.
Catering. What food and drink do you need before and after the show? Be specific and realistic for the size of the venue. A small venue cannot cater a full sit-down dinner for a band of six. A reasonable request — "hot food option for [number] people, to be available after soundcheck" — will be met. An unreasonable request will be ignored.
Dietary requirements. If anyone in your group has dietary requirements — vegetarian, vegan, coeliac, allergies — list them clearly. This is not optional information.
Drinks. A standard drinks rider for most small venue acts: a case of beer or equivalent soft drinks for non-drinkers, water (still, sparkling, or both), and coffee or tea. Scale to the size of the act and the size of the venue.
Access times. When do you need access to the venue? Load-in time, soundcheck time, the window during which you need the dressing room. Clear access times prevent the situation where you arrive at the venue and nobody knows you are coming.
Parking. If you have equipment and are loading in by vehicle, is parking available? Is there a loading bay? Where is it? For touring acts this is critical information.
Hospitality rider template
Copy this template, fill in your details, and save it as your starting document.
HOSPITALITY RIDER — [Artist Name] For: [Venue Name] | Date: [Date] | Party size: [Number of people] DRESSING ROOM [Private dressing room / backstage area required / shared area acceptable] Required from [load-in time] until [departure time] CATERING Pre-show: [e.g. Hot meal option for [number] people, available from [time]] Post-show: [e.g. Post-show meal or bar tab — discuss with venue] Dietary requirements: [List any dietary requirements here — vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, allergies etc.] [If none: No dietary requirements] DRINKS [e.g. 24 x bottled water (still)] [e.g. 1 x case of beer (or equivalent soft drink alternative)] [e.g. Tea and coffee making facilities] [Adjust to reflect your actual requirements and the scale of the venue] ACCESS Load-in: [Time] Soundcheck: [Time] — see technical rider Doors: [Time] Performance: [Time] Load-out: [Time] PARKING Vehicle type: [e.g. Van / car / trailer] [Note any specific parking or loading requirements] HOSPITALITY CONTACT (venue side) Please confirm this rider has been received and is accepted. Contact us in advance if any requirements cannot be met.
Things to keep in mind when writing your rider
Be proportionate. A rider for a band playing a 100-capacity venue should not read like a stadium production specification. Request what you actually need for the show to work. An unreasonable rider gets ignored or creates a bad first impression. A proportionate, clearly written rider gets met.
Be specific, not vague. "Good PA" is not a technical specification. "Full-range front-of-house system capable of delivering clear audio at 100+ capacity" is. Vague requests create room for misunderstanding. Specific requests create room for confirmation.
Update it. As your requirements change — you add a band member, you change your monitor setup, your dietary requirements shift — update the rider. Sending an outdated rider creates exactly the confusion a rider is supposed to prevent.
Always send it. Even for a small show. Even if the venue "doesn't really do riders." Sending a clear, proportionate rider is professional practice regardless of the scale of the event. It protects you and it makes the venue's job easier.
Using TYFRA Live to manage riders digitally
Creating a rider document is one thing. Making sure the right version reaches the right person for every booking, is reviewed and confirmed, and stays accessible when you need it — that is the operational side of rider management.
TYFRA Live lets you create technical and hospitality rider templates and attach them to bookings. The venue receives the rider digitally, reviews it, and confirms acceptance or flags anything they cannot provide — all within the booking record. There is no separate email, no attachment that gets lost, no "did you get the rider I sent?" conversation on the morning of the show.
When your requirements change, you update the template once. Every future booking uses the updated version. For artists with multiple riders — different setups for different show types (full band, solo, DJ set) — the rider management tools let you create and manage multiple templates, selecting the right one per booking.
The rider sits alongside the contract, the financial tracking, the day sheet, and the guest list inside the same booking record. Everything the venue and the artist need for a show is in one place.
After you have the template — what to do with it
Copy the templates above, fill in your details, and save them as your starting documents. Then:
- Send your rider to the venue immediately when a booking is confirmed, before you are asked.
- Follow up a week before the show to confirm the venue has received it and everything is approved. Ask if there is anything they cannot provide.
- On the day, arrive knowing exactly what the setup should look like because it was agreed in advance. Spend your energy on the show, not on resolving logistical surprises.
If a venue cannot meet a requirement — for example, they can only provide two monitor mixes and you requested three — it is almost always resolvable with a small adjustment. The key is knowing in advance rather than discovering it during soundcheck.
Related on TYFRA
Common questions
Yes. A rider is not reserved for established acts — it is a professional document that any gigging musician should have. It does not need to be complicated: even a short, clear list of your technical requirements and basic hospitality needs is better than nothing. It signals professionalism, prevents misunderstandings, and makes the venue's job easier.
Send one anyway, framed as a brief summary of your requirements rather than a formal demand. Most venues that say they do not do riders simply mean they do not have a standard form they send out — they will still want to know your technical requirements and will appreciate having them in writing rather than discovering them on the day.
Contact them as soon as they flag it — ideally two or more weeks before the show — and discuss what is possible. Most rider requirements have workable alternatives. The key is knowing in advance rather than discovering a problem during soundcheck with no time to fix it.
As detailed as it needs to be to give the sound engineer enough information to set up before you arrive. At minimum: channel number, what it is (lead vocal, guitar, bass DI), the type of connection or microphone, and any specific notes. The more complex your setup, the more detail is helpful.
Yes, if your setup changes between show types — for example, a full band show has different technical requirements from a solo acoustic show or a DJ set. Keep separate templates for each configuration and select the right one per booking. TYFRA Live lets you create and manage multiple rider templates.
Send it as soon as the booking is confirmed. For most small and mid-size venues, two to four weeks is sufficient. For larger venues and festivals with complex production, send it as far in advance as possible — some festival production teams close their technical specifications months before the event.
Your data flows with you across TYFRA
These aren't separate apps. Your tracks, metadata, splits, contacts, and conversations stay connected—so every tool in the TYFRA suite can work from the same source of truth.