Juried vs. Independent Showcasing at PAC Conferences

Showcasing at performing arts conferences is a great way to meet theater buyers (called “presenters”) from across the United States. Presenters travel to performing arts conferences mainly to meet with artists and agents, and to watch live showcases.

However, showcasing at a performing arts conference does not guarantee work. Conference showcases are extremely competitive, and like most things in entertainment, not all artists get a financial return on their investment.‍ ‍

This article is intended to assist artists in making that decision for themselves, and to outline the costs involved.

Performing arts conferences offer two primary types of showcases: juried and independent. Let’s look at each one.

Juried Showcasing: Extremely Competitive

Juried showcases are ideal for many artists because they guarantee an audience; with most juried showcases, all conference attendees will be present. Thus, juried showcases are extremely competitive; with acceptance rates as low as 10% (and the applicant pool is very strong, consisting of seasoned U.S. touring artists, international touring ensembles, etc.).

Some artists apply repeatedly yet never get a juried showcase. Furthermore, juried showcases do not guarantee bookings; most jury showcase lineups have anywhere from 18-24 artists, with many presenters booking just 5-6 artists in a season; and of course, presenters also book acts who were not in the live showcase, as they meet with agents at these conferences.

In our experience, often a few juried artists will get a high degree of interest from the conference, and see many dates as a result; others will maybe have at least a few bookings; and then a few juried artists may not see any bookings, sadly.

It is the harsh reality of entertainment that you must invest all of that time to be seen, but you may not be chosen. Of course, we still always recommend to artists to apply for all juried showcases they are able to do, as the potential payoff is significant.

Be advised also that juried showcase applications require significant time from the artist, as they require a lot of materials to be submitted (video demos, marketing materials / EPK, tour riders, etc.). Also, jury committees tend to select artists with momentum already established—as in, it’s often hard for a brand-new artist to get selected for a juried showcase.

Stylistically, juried showcases tend to not select many tribute artists; juried showcases are designed in large part to help give less commercial artists (i.e. classical, jazz, theater, dance) the opportunity to be seen.

Finally, juried showcases always have an application fee, typically ranging from $50 to $125 for an application. So applying to numerous juried showcases each year becomes expensive, especially given that most applications won’t be selected. But, the benefits of being selected are worthwhile for artists who are interested / able to apply, and who have a strong EPK and touring history.

Independent Showcasing: Pay to Play, and Maybe Get Seen

Unlike juried showcases, with Independent Showcases you can “pay to play.” Independent showcases have no barrier to entry; you can pay for a slot, and you get to showcase! This is the best part. But, it’s really the only “pro” to independent showcasing.

The main “con” to independent showcases: They do not guarantee an audience. For example, at the Midwest Arts Xpo (MAX), there are always at least 6-8 independent showcases happening at the exact same time. That means, at any moment you could choose to go see a one-woman theater show; a classical string quartet; a Broadway vocalist; a comedian; or probably 2-3 tribute bands—all at the same time. And at APAP in NYC, it’s much more than that—there may be 10-20 showcases at once, plus some people will choose to go attend Broadway shows at night…so you are competing with Broadway and NYC itself!

So the way you get people into your showcase room is by having a very compelling show concept that attracts their interest (see our article here), as otherwise, your room may be near empty. In that way…showcasing is the same as touring! You have to get ‘butts in seats.’

Of course, with that said…an ‘empty room’ does not always mean you won’t get work. If you have one person in your room, and that person books you, then that one booking alone may pay for your showcase! Likewise, a full room does not guarantee bookings either. If the room is full of artists / friends rather than presenters, that may not lead to a lot of bookings (though the extra bodies do help bring energy to the room!).

Let’s examine the cost of showcasing.

The Cost of Showcasing

For all showcases, the first and principal cost to the artist is the travel. No performing arts conferences reimburse travel expenses to artists. You are responsible to pay for your flight(s), hotel, food, etc. for the showcase conference.

Then, for virtually all showcases, you pay a fee for your showcase slot. For a conference like MAX, this varies from just under $1,000 to $1,800+, depending on the room you choose, and the technical capabilities provided. For APAP, this normally will run from $1,500 to $3,000+ depending on the room.

(What do we mean by “depending on the room”? Well some rooms have a grand piano, some don’t; some have an LED video wall, some don’t; some have a large stage that can hold a 10 piece band, some don’t; so there are a lot of variables).

For juried showcases, the showcase fee (typically referred to as a ‘tech fee’) generally runs $200 to $400 for smaller conferences, to $1,000 to $1,500+ for larger conferences.

Then, on top of the travel and the cost of your showcase slot, you will also have the cost of paying your crew / support musicians. For example, if you’re a headline vocalist or instrumentalist who sings with a 5 piece band, you most likely have 5 people to pay, plus their travel (if they’re from out of town), and so forth.

Finally, you have the actual cost of the conference registration itself. If you have an agent, the agency bears this cost. However, if you are a self-represented artist, you will need to purchase an exhibit hall booth in order to showcase. This runs from $500+ at smaller conferences to $1,200+ at larger conferences. Plus, most conferences require the exhibit hall representative to be a member of the conference organization (which is a separate fee of typically $200-$300 per year).

All told, showcasing can cost anywhere from $2,000 for travel & showcase slots for a one-person, low-tech showcase who has an agency representing them, to easily $7k-$8k+ for a full band traveling from out of state.

An Example Cost for Independent Showcasing

Let’s look at a vocal or instrumental headliner who performs with a 5 piece band (paid support players) at what their cost might be. We’ll assume they have an agent and do not have any costs of exhibiting, just of the showcase.

• Showcase Slot: $1,750

• Roundtrip flight for Headliner: $500

• Hotel for 2 nights (night before & night of): $400

• Ubers / Ground Transport / Food: $250

• Support players: $1,250 (assume $250 pp, for 5 local players)

• Banner / Promotional Materials: $250

Total: $4,400 for a showcase

That’s an example in which you use local players. If you need to travel in an entire ensemble, then your costs will be much higher. Also, flight costs may vary. Some artists incur costs much higher than the above; others may be below. Some artists also choose to showcase twice, though most artists book just a single showcase slot.

So, How Many Bookings Will I Get?

The answer to this question is…no one knows. And the bigger question it suggests—of “Should I Showcase?”—is important enough that we have an entire article on just that. Read on, here….

Quick Conference Reference

• APAP (NYC, January of each year): Independent Showcasing Only (largest conference in the industry)

• MAX (Milwaukee, September): Independent Showcasing Only, except for Theater for Young Audiences

• WAA (Variable cities, August/September): Juried & Independent Showcasing

The following conferences are smaller conferences:

• ArtsMarket Southeast (Durham, NC, November): Juried Showcasing Only

• Arts Northwest (Variable cities, October): Juried Showcasing Only

• OAPN (Ohio, October, every 2 years): Juried Showcasing Only

• MPAC (Montana, October): Juried Showcasing Only (this is a very small conference)

• Some states also have small conferences / meetings that allow for juried showcasing, typically targeted to local artists. Minnesota and Tennessee are both examples of this, as they are very small conferences. There are also conferences across Canada, though these typically don’t draw as many American artists, in part due to the currency / fee differences between Canadian presenters and U.S. presenters.

Want More Help?

Navigating the economic complexities of the touring industry is hard. Marcato Artists is proud to be the first PAC agency dedicated not only to representing our own roster but also to coaching off-roster artists. If you are interested in further support, reach out to us for a chat.

Human Authorship Disclosure: This post was written entirely by a human with many years of experience in these performing arts conferences. This post was not written by or using AI—it is based on real experience and industry-specific data.