A Refundable Booking Deposit? I Thought Afton’s Booking Services are Free?

Don’t worry! As long as an act is in good standing with Afton, all booking services are FREE. Since 2004, we’ve been able to operate without being pay to play and without charging for our booking services.

That’s why it is so important to everyone here on staff that we continue to keep our booking services FREE to the artist!

However, we can’t do that if acts breach the eContract over and over by canceling, not showing up, or by failing to sell 20 Tickets as agreed. So if you cancel or don’t sell the agreed upon number of Tickets for your upcoming show, we’ll require a $29.99 Refundable Booking Deposit for the next show you book with us. This deposit is refunded as long as you sell 20 Tickets. If you keep breaching the eContract the deposit amount will increase. This allows us to give a “2nd chance” to artists without having to permanently block or blacklist them.

How the Deposit Works

• The deposit is 100% refunded once the artist sells 20 Tickets.
• The deposit allows us to print and ship 40 thermal tickets to the act for FREE. (Typically $14.99).
• The deposit allows us to give the artist a “2nd chance” rather than block or blacklist them from all future bookings.
• The deposit allows us to continue to offer our booking services for FREE to all of our other artists who are in good standing with Afton.

Many venues and promoters will refuse to book an act who does abide by their end of an agreement or contract. The refundable deposit allows us to work with that artist again and teach them how to promote more effectively. We like to give artists a 2nd chance to continue to book with us.

This is a “Test.” 

The Refundable Booking Deposit is essentially a “test” so we can see – if we give an artist another chance, are they serious this time about fulfilling their eContract agreement? If they aren’t serious, or they know they won’t abide by the eContract then they probably won’t put down the deposit and Afton avoids booking a flaky artist. But if the act knows they’ll take the eContract seriously and do what it takes to fulfill it this time – then that act already knows they’re going to get their Booking Deposit 100% refunded. So there’s nothing to worry about.

Is a Refundable Deposit Being Required for Your Next Show?

If your Booking Rep is requiring a Refundable Booking Deposit from you, it’s probably for a good reason. You either canceled, did not show up, or you sold 0 or very few Tickets in advance on the last show – which is a violation of your eContract with Afton.

That means you’re not currently in good standing with Afton. Don’t worry! We are not blacklisting you from future shows. Instead, we’re giving you a “2nd chance” to show us you can be relied upon. As long as you put down the Refundable Booking Deposit ASAP you’ll get booked and we’ll print and ship you 40 thermal tickets (usually $14.99) to help with promo. As soon as you sell 20 Tickets in advance we’ll 100% refund your deposit! If you sell 20 Tickets in advance for this show you’ll be back in good standing with Afton and the next show will not require a booking deposit.

Note: You can always email your Booking Rep asking for the show date and info about your eContract breach. We keep record of every show you play with us.

Our goal is to provide booking services for free to our artists without having to ban or blacklist acts if they mess up. This policy helps protect our artists and venues and ensure every show is as well attended as possible!