What's a 'Hold' in the live event industry?

Holds

When an event organizer or concert promoter wants to book a show, they will often request a "hold" on one or multiple dates at one or multiple venues. This essentially means that they are reserving the date(s) for their potential event, but it is not yet confirmed.

• If the venue has multiple requests for a particular date, the venue may ask the promoter to "pencil" in a particular date they have requested. At which point, a ranking system may come in to play based on numerous factors, such as, who requested first, the prior working relationship between the venue and the organizer, the attractiveness of the potential show to the venue and other factors depending on the venue.
• If the organizer or promoter is particularly interested in a particular date and is ready to confirm but they are not ranked first for that date, they can ask the venue to challenge any other holds or pencils on the date. If no other events confirm, they can usually get that date.

This process differs by venue or promoter/organizer. But in general terms a "hold" can be thought of as an event that is awaiting confirmation, based on certain factors.

It is important to remember that an event organizer could have many holds across numerous dates and venues at any given time. The same applies for venues, it is common for them to have multiple holds on multiple dates in their diary. Therefore, it is a process that requires rigorous oversight and control, to avoid missing out on potential business, or damaging working relationships in the industry.

Also see our glossary article for "Pencils" here, as the two concepts are closely linked.