Top 6 Tips for Concert and Music Festival Staffing Success

With nonstop discussions and negotiations, last-minute changes, and unpredictable incidents, staffing large, fast-paced events with many people involved, like concerts and music festivals, can be overwhelming. But you don’t have to be stuck in the same vicious cycle. Just as you create an unforgettable experience for attendees, you can also enjoy a smoother, stress-free staffing management process.

In this guide, we’ll share six essential tips for concert and music festival staffing, covering recruitment, scheduling, communication, and payroll management to help you build an efficient team, reduce stress, and ensure a successful event.

6 Tips for Concert and Music Festival Staffing Success

Did you know that the global live music ticket sales market is projected to reach $36.71 billion by 2025? With an estimated annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.62% from 2025 to 2029, this figure is expected to climb to $45.69 billion by 2029. This rapid growth isn’t just exciting for producers; it also highlights the increasing demand for skilled concert and music festival staffing.

As a staffing manager, ensuring your team is well-prepared is more important than ever. Suddenly got stressed? Well, the good news is that with the right strategies, event staffing can be less of a headache. Here are six essential tips to help you manage concerts and festivals successfully every time.

1. Assess Your Staffing Needs

The rule of thumb for event staffing is simple: you can’t staff a concert, music festival, or any event without first understanding its specific staffing needs. Examine the key aspects that influence your staffing decisions, such as the expected number of attendees, event perks like food, and technical requirements. By assessing these factors, you can accurately determine the necessary roles to fill. For example, if you’re organizing a festival for 100 attendees, hiring staff with emergency response training enhances safety. Similarly, if food is being served, you’ll need servers, and if electronics are involved, technicians will be essential.

In addition to ensuring you hire the right personnel, assessing staffing needs helps you determine the optimal number of staff to employ. This prevents understaffing, which can lead to inefficiencies and overwhelmed employees, as well as overstaffing, which can unnecessarily increase labor costs and reduce productivity.

2. Conduct Comprehensive Recruitment and Onboarding

Like your other events, we are sure that you want your concert and music festival to have the best staff. As you probably can already guess, this starts with recruitment. Your hiring process directly impacts staff quality, so ensuring it is as thorough as possible is essential. Find the best staff by tapping into various recruitment channels such as social media, job boards, and staffing agencies. You may also use personal connections, contact previous hires, and tap into your existing talent pool if you have any.  When you already have applicants, screen through applications and interviews to determine the best fit. 

Following recruitment, onboarding is the next step you should focus on. Like the recruitment stage, onboarding can impact your staffing success more than you expect. If you haven’t heard, effective onboarding can enhance employee retention and productivity by 52% and 60%. To ensure a successful onboarding, prioritize providing detailed information about the event and addressing any confusion among your staff. Additionally, make sure they understand their roles and your expectations of them. If training is required for your staff, take the necessary steps to provide it.

3. Develop a Strategic Scheduling Plan 

Concerts and music festivals are not built equally; it’s essential to recognize that each event has its own program and schedule. Make sure to review the event's timeline to make informed staffing decisions. After that, implement general scheduling principles for efficiency, such as the following:

• Pairing staff with similar expertise for better teamwork
• Ensuring you have more staff on duty during peak times, such as when attendees arrive
• Planning for staff breaks during downtimes, like between performances, to reduce your workforce’s fatigue and allow staff to recharge
• Assigning experienced staff during busy periods to effectively manage high-pressure situations.

To make your scheduling more efficient, check out these six key strategies for effective event staff scheduling.

4. Enhance Team Communication 

Did you know that 72% of business leaders agree that effective communication boosts workplace productivity? Just like in any workplace, communication is vital to your event’s success. Establishing seamless communication strategies before, during, and after the event is essential to keeping all team members aligned, motivated, and able to contribute effectively to the event’s overall goals.

Utilize user-friendly tools, such as mobile apps or dedicated group messaging platforms, to ensure accessibility for all staff members. You may also consider walkie-talkies to enhance real-time communication, especially in areas with poor cellular signals. Regular check-ins at key intervals help maintain information flow and address any issues as well. Another best practice to employ is assigning a contact person for your team to facilitate quick communication, especially during emergencies.

Want to learn how to effectively make a communication strategy for your event? Here’s a guide for you.

5. Gather Post-Event Feedback 

Conducting post-event surveys helps gather valuable insights on staff performance, attendee experience, and event logistics. By using clear, concise questions and distributing the survey promptly, you can analyze feedback effectively and implement improvements for future events. Nowadays, these surveys can be administered in either paper or digital format, though digital surveys tend to be more efficient. Digital tools like StaffConnect allow for the efficient collection and analysis of results, providing detailed feedback that can inform future events.

Learn more about why StaffConnect is your ultimate partner for collecting staff feedback and tracking performance in this post.

6. Ensure Accurate Payroll Management 

As a staffing manager, a vital part of your job is ensuring accurate payroll management, not only for legal compliance but also to build a strong reputation for both yourself and the agency. Reliable payroll management also leads to improved employee satisfaction and encourages staff to work for you again.

Managing payroll is generally a straightforward process. It begins with accurately tracking work hours and calculating salaries, bonuses, and other incentives. Once these figures are determined, salaries are distributed through the preferred or pre-agreed payment methods, all of which should be carefully recorded for both you and your employees.

If you’re operating in the U.S., here are the payroll laws and best practices to learn.

Simplify Concert and Music Festival Staffing With StaffConnect

Concert and music festival staffing doesn’t have to be exhausting. With modern tools like StaffConnect, managing your team is now simpler and more efficient than ever.

StaffConnect features tools designed to simplify staffing and event management processes from start to finish. It boasts of a centralized communication hub with instant messages and automated reminders that keep everyone in your team on the same page. Its real-time GPS check-ins and check-outs help monitor attendance and track work hours with accuracy, eliminating uncertainty while its protected database safeguards staff records. That’s not all; StaffConnect has integrated scheduling tools, payroll management, and performance analytics to take further weight on your shoulders. For businesses looking to maintain a distinct brand identity, our app offers customizable white-label branding as well. Schedule a free demo today to learn more!