--- title: "Work out the backline and production to hire for your event | Ticket Fairy Guides" description: "Turn every act's technical rider into one backline hire list for your event, add the PA, lighting, staging and power you hire yourself, and see how many of each item to hire across every stage and day. Gear you can reuse on other days counts once, for the busiest day, and anything a stage already has or you already own comes off the number." canonical: "https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/work-out-the-backline-and-production-to-hire-for-your-event" --- 1. [Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/) 2. [Guides](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides) 3. Work out the backline and production to hire for your event Site, suppliers and safety # Work out the backline and production to hire for your event You add up CDJs, amps and drum kits from dozens of riders, then work out what can move between stages and days. Hire and shopping reads the riders for you and works out one number for each item, so you hire what the show needs and nothing twice. Fai, your AI teammate, can check sales, update your event or change a ticket when you ask. Takes: 8 minutes [Watch the video: Work out the backline and production to hire for your event](https://d3lcdr963b5ubl.cloudfront.net/uploads/guides/video/work-out-the-backline-and-production-to-hire-for-your-event/463cfa06eaba2248998f6471795550e7bb15706a782b0a273551112e6eb63805/5c876cf90d1f359a/guide.mp4) · [English](https://www.ticketfairy.com/resources/captions/guides/guide-work-out-the-backline-and-production-to-hire-for-your-event-5c876cf90d1f.vtt) ***Watch how it's done** 3 min 24 s, with captions.* - [Open Hire and shopping](#step-1) - [Choose the list](#step-2) - [Read how the number was worked out](#step-3) - [Set whether an item can be reused](#step-4) - [Add production hire yourself](#step-5) - [Review a rider that changed](#step-6) - [Mark where each order stands](#step-7) ## Before you start - You are an owner, admin or producer on the event. Only those roles can open the event's **Operations** page. - Your acts are booked with their set times, and their technical riders are in Advancing, so each item lands on the right stage and day. 1. ## Open Hire and shopping [Play from here](#guide-video) Open the event, select **Operations**, then select **Hire and shopping** in the list of sections. **Note:** The totals at the top show how many items are still to order, the estimated cost and how many units you save by reusing gear. If Hire and shopping is not in the list, select **More sections** and open it there. ![Backline hire list for a festival, with CDJs, mixers, a drum kit, drumheads and guitar amps, how many to hire, each item's supplier and where each order stands](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-hire--backline.png) *Backline hire, worked out from the riders.* 2. ## Choose the list [Play from here](#guide-video) Choose a list at the top of Hire and shopping. - **Production hire**: What you hire yourself, such as the PA, lighting, screens, staging and power. - **Backline hire**: The instruments and DJ equipment the acts' technical riders ask for. Fai fills it as the riders arrive. - **Shopping list**: What to buy for the dressing rooms, from the hospitality riders and your standard packages. 3. ## Read how the number was worked out [Play from here](#guide-video) On an item, open **How we worked this out**. **Note:** Each day and stage shows what is needed, what is already on the stage and what to hire. Acts on the same stage and day share, so only the busiest act's need counts, and an act that needs its own gear adds to it. ![Backline item for CDJs opened to how the number was worked out, day by day on the main stage, with one already on the stage and reuse saving three units](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-hire--worked-out.png) *How the number of CDJs was worked out.* 4. ## Set whether an item can be reused [Play from here](#guide-video) On the item, turn **Can be reused on other days** on for gear, or off for things that get used up. **Note:** We count reusable gear once, for the busiest day on each stage, across the whole hire period. Things that get used up, such as drumheads, strings or tape, add up for every day you need them. **Tip:** Turn on **Can move between stages** for gear one crew moves where it is needed, so only the busiest day across all stages counts. 5. ## Add production hire yourself [Play from here](#guide-video) Choose Production hire, select **Add item**, enter **What is needed** and **How many**, choose **Where** and the **Days needed**, then select **Add**. **Note:** Under **More details: supplier, price and category**, add the supplier and price now or later. If an item has the same name as one already on the list, we add it to that one instead of making a second. ![Dialog to add production hire, with what is needed, how many, the stage, the days and more details for supplier and price](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-hire--add-item.png) *Add production hire.* 6. ## Review a rider that changed [Play from here](#guide-video) Open an item marked **Rider changed: review**, then select **Use the rider** or **Keep ours** on the need. **Note:** A rider change never overwrites a need your team changed by hand, so it waits here for you to review. Select **Change the rider** to correct the rider itself on the act's advance. ![The CDJ hire item with each act's need quoted from their rider, a rider change to review, what is already on the stage and the item's history](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-hire--line.png) *One item, with a rider change to review.* 7. ## Mark where each order stands [Play from here](#guide-video) In the item, under **Where the order stands**, select the next step, such as Mark as Quoted or Mark as Ordered. **Note:** An item goes from To order to Quoted, Ordered, Confirmed, Delivered and Returned, and you can cancel it at any open step. Items marked ordered count as committed costs in Budget. ## Or have it done for you Fai reads the hire lists with how each number was worked out, adds an item or a need, changes an item's details, reuse or status, answers a rider change and puts one item under another. She shows you each change and waits for your yes first. She also reads riders as they change and suggests adding items she finds in production documents you upload. ### In your dashboard, with Fai ``` How many CDJs do we need to hire for , and which acts need them on which days? ``` ## Change the hire period [Play from here](#guide-video) 1. ### Set the load-in and load-out days Select **Hire period**, enter **Days before (load-in)** and **Days after (load-out)**, then select **Save**. **Note:** Each item's hire starts a set number of days before its first day and ends a set number of days after its last day, and both are 1 unless you change them. Per-day prices use the same days. ![Hire period dialog with one load-in day before and one load-out day after](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-hire--hire-period.png) *The hire period.* Fai changes the hire period when you ask, after you confirm. ### In your dashboard, with Fai ``` Give every hire at two load-in days before the first day ``` ## Put one item under another [Play from here](#guide-video) 1. ### Join the two items Open the item a rider named differently, choose the item it is the same as under **This is the same item as…**, then select **Put it under** and confirm. **Note:** Every need moves to the item you chose. Fai remembers the name for your brand, so when the next rider uses that name, its need goes to the right item. Fai puts one item under another when you ask, after you confirm. ### In your dashboard, with Fai ``` CDJ3000 and Pioneer CDJ-3000 are the same thing at , put them together ``` ## Questions you might have **Why is the number to hire lower than the acts asked for?** Acts on one stage and day share, reusable gear is hired once for the busiest day, and what is already on the stage or in your own kit comes off. **How we worked this out** on the item shows each part of the sum. **How does the list know what a stage already has?** From the stage's technical specs in Stages, read line by line like a rider, and from what you own in Kit and equipment. Change them there and the list updates. **Some rider lines did not make it onto the list. Why?** We leave off any line that isn't clear enough to count, or that says the act brings its own gear. The list says how many lines were unclear, and **Open Advancing** takes you to the rider to check them. **An act has no set time yet. Does its gear count?** Yes, on top of the rest until it has a day, because it could play at the same time as any other act. The list says how many acts are waiting for a time. **Does the hire list add to my budget?** Items marked ordered count as committed costs in Budget. An item on a purchase order counts there once, and if you've added an act's backline cost to its booking, that cost counts instead of the list's share for that act. **What if a teammate changes the same item at once?** The second save does not overwrite the first. The item reloads with your teammate's change, and you make yours again. ## Still have a question? Book a demo and we will answer it on a call, on your kind of event. Or create your account and see it for yourself. [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) No setup fees. No monthly fee. No credit card required. ## Related guides - [More ways to use Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/features) - [Send your event hire lists to suppliers](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/send-your-hire-lists-to-suppliers) - [Build a dressing-room shopping list from your event's artist riders](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/build-a-dressing-room-shopping-list-from-artist-riders) - [Advance your performers before the show](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/advance-your-performers-before-the-show) - [Send your event contracts and get them signed online](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/send-contracts-and-get-them-signed-online) - [Raise purchase orders and track what your event owes](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/raise-purchase-orders-and-track-what-your-event-owes) - [Collect insurance and certificates from your event's outside teams](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/collect-insurance-and-certificates-from-your-outside-teams) - [Every Ticket Fairy guide](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides) ## Do this on your own event Create your account, build your event and follow the steps in your own dashboard. You do not need to book a sales call. [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) ## Sell tickets with Ticket Fairy Start free with unlimited events and no monthly fee, and choose a paid plan when you need more. - Set up your event in minutes - Free events are free - Fai, your AI teammate, is built in [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) No setup fees. No monthly fee. No credit card required. ## See it on a call Book a demo and we will show you how Ticket Fairy handles your kind of event. [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) [More ways to use Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/features) ### Tips for selling more tickets Practical advice from working event organizers, and every new guide as it is published. We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime. --- This page is on Ticket Fairy, a ticketing, marketing and operations platform for live events and the venues that host them: festivals, club nights, concerts, conferences and tours, and night clubs, beach clubs and concert venues. It grows revenue with fan rewards that turn an audience into a sales channel, and runs the money side with payments and payouts, Vault business banking, and working capital advanced against ticket sales. [How Ticket Fairy ticketing works](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing) · [Ticket Fairy for AI assistants](https://www.ticketfairy.com/llms.txt)